"MARK FOR EVERYONE" by N.T. Wright

This book is worked well for my discussion group at St. Matthew's. We agreed that it generated good comments, opinions and insights. It was written as one of a series of "for everyone" books that include Matthew, John, Paul and others.The author knows what he's talking about because he is the Bishop of Durham in the Church of England and biblical scholar who has written over 30 books. Fortunately he wrote the "for everyone" series of books in layman's language.

The gospel of Mark is broken into sections and the author gives his explanation of how it applies to us today. Even for those who are quite familiar with Mark's gospel, will find a fresh approach from the author.I found it interesting, for instance, that Mark was from a wealthy family and was the nephew of Barnabas who was a traveling companion of Paul's. There was an incident when Mark went along on a trip with them but skipped out early. We don't know why. But the result was that when Barnabas wanted to take Mark on another trip, Paul was adamantly against it. He refused and there was a rift between Paul and Barnabas.

Little anecdotes like this make the people of the bible real to me. It helps me relate to what Jesus and his followers did and said. That, of course, is the author's intention.