Open Door on Mark

His Gospel Explored

Phillip McFadyen

First Published in Great Britain in 1997

Triangle

SPCK, Holy Trinity Church

Marylebone Road

London NW1 4DU

© Phillip McFadyen 1997

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Bible passages and quotations are from the New International Version © 1973, 1978, 1984 by the International Bible Society, Published by Hodder & Stoughton.

British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data

A catalogue record of this book is available from the British Library

ISBN 0-281-04998-X

Contents

Foreword

Preface

How to Use this Book

Introduction

Appendix 1: An Interview with Mark

Appendix 2: Palestine in the Time of Jesus

Foreword

If we want to love God totally, the way forward is through prayer. We must learn (as prayer makes possible) to see the beauty of God in all that we experience in our day—and we must read his Word, the Scriptures.

Reading the Scriptures is not an easy matter. Truly to understand demands attention, time and meditation. We must first grasp what these authors, so very far away from us in time, meant to express, literally. Then we must understand what they meant, spiritually. And then we must pray this knowledge into personal life within us.

What Phillip McFadyen does for us is to share his own meditation. He has read and reread every passage, using the tools of biblical scholarship, and then, bringing to bear his own faith, his own desire to come close to God. This treasure he offers us, for our own use. Notice this book is not merely to be ‘read’. It has to be savoured intimately, lived, prayed; just as the author did when writing it. It challenges our earnestness as Christians, and gives us the material to deepen our love for our Lord. There is nothing more precious. We owe Phillip McFadyen a deep debt of gratitude. Perhaps we could repay him in prayer?

Sister Wendy Beckett

Preface

‘I stand at the door and knock’ (Rev. 3:20) is the subtext behind Holman Hunt’s famous painting The Light of the World. Sadly this may be said of many who approach the Bible. It is a closed book to them. In the painting, the ivy-clad door stands barred to the disconsolate figure. There is little optimism that entry might be gained. All there is left to do is to stand at the door and knock.

The situation today reminds me of the time when Bibles were chained ...