March 26, 2026. Dear Jesus, I have been taught that you had twelve apostles; is this true? And who is John Mark, the one who wrote the Gospel?

 Dear Jesus,

I have been taught that you had twelve apostles; is this true? And who is John Mark, the one who wrote the Gospel?

As the Passover Feast approached, the apostles asked Me:

“Where would you like to celebrate the Passover this year?”

“Go into the city of Jerusalem; there you will find a man carrying a jar of water on his shoulder. Follow him into the house he enters and say to the owner:

“Our Teacher wishes to celebrate the Passover this year at your home.”

According to Jewish custom, the task of carrying water belonged to women, not men.

The apostles followed these instructions, and everything unfolded exactly as foretold. This house belonged to a wealthy family in Jerusalem; the owners were Elijah and Mary Mark, the parents of John Mark.

According to early Christian tradition, one of the four Gospel authors was John Mark, a companion of Paul and Barnabas, and a close associate of Peter. He is believed to have written the Gospel based upon Peter’s teachings.

Early Church Fathers, such as Papias, identified John Mark as the author of the Gospel of Mark, linking him directly to Peter and asserting that he composed the Gospel based on Peter’s instructions and experiences.

John Mark is mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as a traveling companion of Paul and Barnabas during their missionary journeys.

Tradition holds that John Mark’s Gospel was written in Rome, likely during the period when Peter was ministering there.

John Mark’s Gospel was written for a Gentile audience in Rome, focusing primarily on My life and teachings.

John Mark is also mentioned in other New Testament epistles, such as 2 Timothy 4:11 and Philemon 24.

So, who exactly is John Mark? Did he write his Gospel based solely on what was recounted to him by Peter? The truth is not quite as it seems. Mark had known Me since he was very young.

I had thirteen apostles, not twelve. John Mark was the "little apostle”, he followed Me from the time he was just twelve years old.

The day I was baptized by John the Baptist at the Jordan River, John Mark witnessed this baptism and followed Me and the twelve  apostles from that very day.

John Mark’s parents were Elijah and Mary Mark. They were a highly knowledgeable, wise, and open-minded couple. They allowed John Mark to follow Me despite his tender age. He listened to and absorbed everything I taught the apostles and disciples throughout those three years of preaching along the dusty roads of Palestine. 

And here is an event that the traditional Scriptures do not recount:

On Holy Wednesday, just one day before the day I was to be arrested. I wished to go to the mountain to pray. Just as I was leaving the camp at Gethsemane, I saw John Mark carrying a basket of food. He said:

“Master,

I know You will spend this day on the mountain in prayer, You will grow hungry, I have prepared this basket of food for You. Please allow me to accompany You so I may carry the food for You. I promise not to ask any questions, so You may have ample time to pray.”

“It’s alright. If you truly have the heart to follow Me, feel free to ask whatever questions and I shall answer them.”

“I regret that I am still so young, not yet mature like the apostles, and thus cannot go out and preach like them.”

“Do not worry; you will grow older, and you will have many years ahead of you to go forth and preach the Gospel.”

"I know that you will remain faithful to the Gospel of the Kingdom because of your faith and your love. These qualities are built upon the foundation of the upbringing you received from your parents during your childhood. You are the product of a home where parents shared a sincere affection for one another. You have enjoyed the love of your parents, but you were also fortunate in that your parents possessed both wisdom and love; and it was precisely this wisdom that led them to withhold from you most forms of indulgence and many of the luxuries that wealth can buy. They sent you to the school in the synagogue, yet they also encouraged you to learn how to live in this world by allowing you to have unique experiences on your own. I remember you went to the Jordan River, where John the Baptist was baptizing, together with your friend Amos. Both of you wished to accompany me. When you returned to Jerusalem, your parents consented; but Amos's parents did not, they loved their son so dearly that they refused to let him experience the happiness that you enjoyed. By running away from home, Amos could have joined us; but in doing so, he would have wounded the love and sacrifice of his parents. Even if it were a wise choice, it would have been a terrible price to pay for experience, independence, and freedom.

"Love, John, is the supreme reality of the universe when bestowed by the All-Wise One, God the Father”. "When you marry and have children of your own to raise, ensure that your love is tempered by wisdom and guided by righteousness.

Your entire future life will be happy and secure because you spent your first twelve years in a good family. Your character is strong because you grew up in a home where love reigned supreme and wisdom was held in high esteem. An upbringing rooted in childhood…"

It was at the home of John Mark’s parents that  I and the apostles celebrated the Last Supper, which took place in the upper room of that  house.

On the evening of Holy Thursday, when I and the apostles departed from John Mark's parents' home, He followed us into the Garden of Gethsemane. When I was arrested, John Mark was pursued by Roman soldiers and lost the cloak he was wearing.

John Mark remained unmarried, dedicating his entire life to preaching the Gospel.

He accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary journey.

He was martyred in Alexandria, Egypt, for his faith,

 sentenced to death and dragged through the streets of Alexandria with a rope tied around his neck.

A storm intervened, preventing his executioners from burning his body and allowing his followers to retrieve his remains and give him a proper burial.

John Mark was truly a great apostle who had followed Me from a very young age. His life is a testament of absolute self-sacrifice for the sake of the Gospel, living and dying to spread the Love of God the Father and of Myself.

The Gospel according to John Mark is not merely a record of what Peter recounted; rather, it comprises the very events that John Mark himself observed and committed to memory throughout the three years he followed Me, from the day he first met Me by the ford of the  Jordan river until the night of Holy Thursday leading into Holy Friday, when I was arrested.

Let me know You, and let me know myself. Know You to listen to Your Word, and put it into practice in my daily life. Know me to change my path to Your righteous one, to have Heaven in my heart, and You are always with me.

May my meditation bring many more readers,  who are not yet believers, into your Forever Family.

Please bless all those who read this meditation in my Blog.

AMEN.