📖 Utangulizi wa Agano Jipya — Sehemu ya 3: Marko: Matendo ya Mtumishi Anayeteswa📖 New Testament Survey — Unit 3: Mark: The Action of the Suffering Servant

I. Kijana AliyekimbiaI. The Young Man Who Ran

Usiku ule Bwana Yesu alipokamatwa katika bustani ya Gethsemane, kulikuwa na kijana aliyekuwa akimfuata katikati ya mizeituni. Hakuwa mmoja wa wale Kumi na Wawili. Hakuwa na sababu yoyote ya kuwa pale. Alikuwa amekuja bila viatu, akiwa amejifunika shuka ya kitani tu mabegani mwake, na huenda aliamshwa usingizini na kelele za askari waliopita karibu na nyumba ya mama yake huko Yerusalemu wakienda kumkamata Yesu. Alijifunga shuka ile, akatoka kimya kimya barabarani, akawafuata, kwa sababu alitaka kuona yatakayotokea. Na askari wale wa bustanini walipomwona na kumkamata yeye pia, "akaiacha ile nguo ya kitani, akakimbia uchi" (Marko 14:52).On the night the Lord Jesus was arrested in the Garden of Gethsemane, there was a young man following Him through the olive trees. He was not one of the Twelve. He had no business being there. He had come barefoot, in nothing but a linen sheet thrown over his shoulders, having most likely been wakened from sleep by the noise of soldiers passing his mother's house in Jerusalem on their way to make the arrest. He pulled the sheet around himself and slipped out into the street and followed them, because he wanted to see what would happen. And when the soldiers in the Garden noticed him and laid hold of him too, "he left the linen cloth and fled from them naked" (Mark 14:52).

Ni mistari miwili mifupi tu. Hakuna Injili nyingine inayoeleza tukio hilo. Na mahali popote katika mistari hiyo hatuambiwi jina la kijana huyo. Lakini kanisa la kwanza lilijua. Kijana huyo alikuwa Yohana Marko — na miaka arobaini baadaye angeandika kitabu cha pili cha Agano Jipya, ambamo sahihi pekee aliyojiruhusu ilikuwa ile picha moja isiyompendeza ya mgongo wake mwenyewe, akikimbilia gizani. Kati ya waandishi wote wa Injili, ni Marko peke yake aliyeweka kushindwa kwake mwenyewe kwenye ukurasa. Hakuweka jina lake kamwe. Aliweka tu picha yake mwenyewe akikimbia.Two short verses. No other Gospel records the episode. And nowhere in the verses themselves are we told the young man's name. But the early church knew. The young man was John Mark — and forty years later he would write the second book of the New Testament, in which the only signature he allowed himself was that one unflattering glimpse of his own back, running into the darkness. Of all the Gospel writers, only Mark put his own failure on the page. He never put his name on it. He only put the picture of himself running.

II. Mwandishi AliyerudiII. The Author Who Came Back

Miaka mingi iliyopita, juu ya ukingo wa mawe uliozunguka Ikulu ya Marekani (White House), mzee mmoja alikaa akiwa amevaa nguo zilizochakaa na machozi yakimtiririka usoni. Mwanawe, askari katika Jeshi la Potomac, alikuwa amekamatwa kwa kosa la kutoroka jeshini na kuhukumiwa kufa. Walinzi wa lango walikuwa wamemkatalia mzee huyo kupita ili akamsihi Rais Lincoln. Mvulana mdogo aliyekuwa akiviringisha gurudumu la kuchezea alisimama karibu na kiti kile akauliza kuna nini. Mzee yule aliyeinama akainua uso, na hadithi yake ya huzuni ikamwagika kwa mtoto. "Ninaweza kukupeleka kwa Rais," mvulana akasema. "Wewe?" mzee akauliza. "Ndiyo, yeye ni baba yangu. Ananiruhusu kuingia wakati wowote." Ndivyo mzee yule alivyopata njia ya kumfikia Lincoln, na ndivyo alivyompatia mwanawe msamaha.Years ago, on the stone coping that ran around the White House, an old man sat in threadbare clothes with tears on his face. His son, a soldier in the Army of the Potomac, had been arrested for desertion and condemned to die. The guards at the gate had not permitted the old man to pass through and plead with President Lincoln. A little boy rolling a hoop stopped at the bench and asked what was the matter. The bent form lifted, and the sad tale poured out to the child. "I can take you to the President," said the boy. "You?" asked the old man. "Yes, he is my father. He lets me come in any time." That is how the old man found his way to Lincoln, and that is how he gained pardon for his son.

Hiyo ndiyo picha ya Yohana Marko. Alikuwa amemwacha Paulo huko Pamfilia katika safari ya kwanza ya umisionari (Matendo 13:13). Paulo alikataa kumchukua katika safari ya pili. Ugomvi mkali ukawatenganisha — Barnaba, aliyekuwa binamu yake Marko, akamchukua kijana huyo pamoja naye kwenda Kipro, naye Paulo akamchukua Sila wakapita nchi kavu katika Asia Ndogo (Matendo 15:36–41). Kwa mwanafunzi kijana, ilionekana kama mwisho. Mtume mkuu alikuwa amekata tamaa juu yake. Alikuwa ameshindwa huko Pamfilia, na Paulo hakuamini kwamba watu walioshindwa na kuacha kazi wangeweza kuaminiwa.That is the picture of John Mark. He had deserted Paul at Pamphylia on the first missionary journey (Acts 13:13). Paul refused to take him on the second journey. The sharp disagreement broke up the team — Barnabas, who was Mark's cousin, took the boy with him to Cyprus, and Paul took Silas overland through Asia Minor (Acts 15:36–41). For a young disciple, it looked like the end. The great apostle had given up on him. He had washed out at Pamphylia, and Paul did not believe washouts could be trusted.

Haukuwa mwisho. Miaka kumi na mitano baadaye, akisubiri kuuawa katika gereza baridi la chini ya ardhi huko Rumi, mtume Paulo aliandika barua yake ya mwisho kabisa, kwa mchungaji kijana aliyempenda aitwaye Timotheo. Katika mistari ya mwisho ya barua hiyo, iliyoandikwa kwa mkono wa mtu aliyejua kwamba karibu atakatwa kichwa, Paulo alitoa ombi moja la binafsi: "Umtwae Marko, umlete pamoja nawe; maana anifaa kwa utumishi" (2 Timotheo 4:11). Yule aliyetoroka alikuwa amekuwa mwenye kufaa. Yule aliyekimbia alikuwa amekuwa mtu ambaye Paulo alimtaka zaidi kuwa kando yake mwishoni. Na katika maongozi ya Mungu, kijana yule aliyewahi kukimbilia gizani kutoka Gethsemane sasa angepewa kalamu na kuambiwa aandike habari ambayo hapo awali aliogopa sana kubaki na kuitazama.It was not the end. Fifteen years later, awaiting execution in a cold Roman dungeon, the apostle Paul wrote his very last letter, to a young pastor he loved named Timothy. In the closing lines of that letter, written by the hand of a man who knew his head was about to be struck off, Paul made one personal request: "Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry" (2 Timothy 4:11). The deserter had become useful. The runaway had become the man Paul most wanted at his side at the end. And in the providence of God, the boy who had once fled into the dark out of Gethsemane was now to be given a pen and told to write the story he had once been too afraid to stay and watch.

III. Kalamu ya PetroIII. The Pen of Peter

Marko aliandika Injili yake huko Rumi, mwanzoni mwa miaka ya sitini ya karne ya kwanza, karibu hakika kutokana na kumbukumbu za mtume Petro. Waandishi wa Kikristo wa kwanza kabisa — Papia wa Hierapoli takriban 130 B.K., Irenayo, Klementi wa Aleksandria, Origeni — wote wanakubaliana juu ya jambo hili. Walisema kwamba Marko alikuwa "mkalimani wa Petro," aliyeandika kwa usahihi yote aliyoyakumbuka kuhusu mambo yaliyosemwa na kutendwa na Bwana. Isome Injili ya Marko kwa sauti nawe utakaribia kuisikia sauti ya Petro. Inakwenda mbio bila kupumzika, na kwa ghafla. Inasonga kwa kasi ya mvuvi anayewasimulia wajukuu wake hadithi wakati wa chakula cha jioni. Neno analolipenda zaidi Marko ni kielezi cha Kigiriki euthus — "mara" au "mara moja" — analolitumia mara arobaini na mbili katika sura kumi na sita fupi. Mara Roho anamtupa Yesu nyikani. Mara anawaita wavuvi wanne. Mara pepo anatoka. Mara mwenye ukoma anatakasika. Mara, mara, mara. Yesu wa Marko hatembei taratibu; Yeye anakimbia.Mark wrote his Gospel in Rome, in the early sixties of the first century, almost certainly from the recollections of the apostle Peter. The earliest Christian writers — Papias of Hierapolis around AD 130, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Origen — all agree on the point. Mark, they said, was "the interpreter of Peter," who wrote down accurately whatever he remembered of the things said and done by the Lord. Read the Gospel of Mark aloud and you can almost hear Peter's voice. It is breathless and abrupt. It moves at the speed of a fisherman telling stories to his grandchildren over supper. Mark's favorite word is the Greek adverb euthus — "immediately" — which he uses forty-two times in sixteen short chapters. Immediately the Spirit drives Jesus into the wilderness. Immediately He calls the four fishermen. Immediately the demon comes out. Immediately the leper is cleansed. Immediately, immediately, immediately. Mark's Jesus does not stroll; He runs.

Ikiwa Mathayo alitupa Mtumishi-Mfalme, na Luka alitupa Mtumishi-Mwanadamu, na Yohana alitupa Mtumishi-Mungu, basi Marko alitupa kwa urahisi Mtumishi — Yule anayefanya kazi na kutoka jasho na kuharakisha na kuponya na kufa, yote katika sura kumi na sita za matendo yasiyo na pumziko. Hii ndiyo Injili kwa ajili ya Warumi. Warumi hawakutaka orodha ndefu za vizazi; Marko hatoi hata moja. Warumi hawakutaka falsafa za kinadharia; Marko anawapa miujiza, mapambano, na msalaba. Hata hivyo, Warumi ndio watu waliojenga barabara kutoka Hispania hadi Shamu. Walielewa mwendo. Walielewa watumishi. Walijua wenyewe kwa macho yao jinsi Warumi walivyowaua watu. Marko aliwaandikia wao, na kupitia wao, kila msomaji asiyetulia na anayependa matendo tangu wakati huo.If Matthew gave us the Servant-King, and Luke gave us the Servant-Man, and John gave us the Servant-God, then Mark gave us simply the Servant — the One who works and sweats and hurries and heals and dies, all in sixteen chapters of breathless action. This is the Gospel for Romans. The Romans did not want long genealogies; Mark gives none. The Romans did not want abstract philosophy; Mark gives them miracle, conflict, and a cross. The Romans, after all, were the people who had built roads from Spain to Syria. They understood movement. They understood servants. They understood Roman execution at first hand. Mark wrote for them, and through them, for every restless, action-minded reader since.

IV. Mstari MkuuIV. The Key Verse

Injili yote inazunguka juu ya mstari mmoja. Uandike kwa penseli pembeni mwa Biblia yako: "Kwa maana Mwana wa Adamu naye hakuja kutumikiwa, bali kutumika, na kutoa nafsi yake iwe fidia ya wengi" (Marko 10:45). Soma kila aya ya Marko ukirudi nyuma kutoka mstari huo nawe utaliona. Mtumishi anayeponya, Mtumishi anayelisha, Mtumishi anayefundisha, Mtumishi anayekataliwa, Mtumishi anayekufa. Injili hii inagawanyika nusu mbili waziwazi huko Kaisaria Filipi (Marko 8:29). Kabla ya sura ya 8, swali la Injili ni Yeye ni nani? — na jibu linatoka kinywani mwa Petro: "Wewe ndiwe Kristo." Baada ya sura ya 8, swali ni Kwa nini alikuja? — na jibu ni Marko 10:45. Alikuja kutumika. Alikuja kutoa nafsi yake. Alikuja kuwakomboa wengi kwa fidia.The whole Gospel turns on one verse. Pencil it into the margin of your Bible: "For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45). Read every paragraph of Mark backwards from that verse and you will see it. The Servant who heals, the Servant who feeds, the Servant who teaches, the Servant who is rejected, the Servant who dies. The Gospel divides cleanly in half at Caesarea Philippi (Mark 8:29). Before chapter 8, the question of the Gospel is Who is He? — and the answer comes from Peter's lips: "You are the Christ." After chapter 8, the question is Why did He come? — and the answer is Mark 10:45. He came to serve. He came to give His life. He came to ransom many.

Na kutoka katika mstari huo mmoja nyuzi tatu zinapita katika kila sura ya Marko, na kwa pamoja zinaunda uti wa mgongo wa sehemu hii. Imani. Utumishi. Kipaumbele. Hizo ni alama tatu za Mtumishi, na pia ni alama tatu za kila mwanafunzi anayemfuata.And out of that single verse three threads run through every chapter of Mark, which together form the spine of this unit. Faith. Servanthood. Priority. They are the three marks of the Servant, and they are also the three marks of every disciple who follows Him.

V. Imani — Tendo la KutumainiV. Faith — The Action of Trust

Hudson Taylor aliposafiri kwa meli kwenda China katika safari yake ya kwanza, upepo ulikoma meli ilipokaribia mlango wa bahari kati ya kusini mwa Rasi ya Malay na kisiwa cha Sumatra. Nahodha aligonga mlango wa chumba cha Taylor. "Bwana Taylor," akasema, "hatuna upepo. Tunaelea tukielekea kisiwa ambacho watu wake ni wapagani, nami naogopa kwamba ni walaji wa watu." "Naweza kufanya nini?" Taylor akauliza. "Ninaelewa kwamba wewe unamwamini Mungu," nahodha akasema. "Nataka uombe tupate upepo." "Sawa, Nahodha, nitaomba, lakini lazima uyatandaze matanga." "Lo, huo ni upuuzi! Hakuna hata upepo mdogo kabisa. Mabaharia watadhani nimechanganyikiwa." Lakini mwishowe, kwa sababu Taylor alisisitiza, alikubali. Dakika arobaini na tano baadaye alirudi akamkuta mmisionari bado amepiga magoti. "Unaweza kuacha kuomba sasa," nahodha akasema. "Tumepata upepo mwingi kuliko tunavyojua la kuufanyia."When Hudson Taylor sailed to China on his first voyage, the wind died as the ship neared the channel between the southern Malay Peninsula and the island of Sumatra. The captain knocked on Taylor's stateroom door. "Mr. Taylor," he said, "we have no wind. We are drifting toward an island where the people are heathen, and I fear they are cannibals." "What can I do?" asked Taylor. "I understand that you believe in God," the captain said. "I want you to pray for wind." "All right, Captain, I will, but you must set the sail." "Why that's ridiculous! There's not even the slightest breeze. The sailors will think I'm crazy." But finally, because of Taylor's insistence, he agreed. Forty-five minutes later he returned and found the missionary still on his knees. "You can stop praying now," said the captain. "We've got more wind than we know what to do with."

Hiyo ndiyo imani katika Marko. Katika Injili hii imani si ya kinadharia kamwe; daima ni kitenzi cha tendo. Mwanamke Msirofoinike ana imani na anaanguka miguuni pake (Marko 7:25). Mwanamke aliyetokwa na damu ana imani na ananyoosha mkono katikati ya umati ili aguse pindo la vazi lake (Marko 5:27). Baba aliyekata tamaa ana imani — pamoja na shaka ya kweli — na analia, "Bwana, naamini; nisaidie kutokuamini kwangu!" (Marko 9:24). Bartimayo kipofu ana imani na anapiga kelele kwa sauti yake yote hata umati unapomwambia anyamaze (Marko 10:47). Kila mmoja wao anatenda kulingana na anachokiamini. Na kila mmoja wao anasikia sentensi ile ile ya upole: "Binti, imani yako imekuponya; enenda zako kwa amani" (Marko 5:34). Mtumishi wa Marko anaiheshimu imani inayotenda. Pia anakemea ukosefu wake kwa wanafunzi wake mwenyewe kwa ukali zaidi katika Marko kuliko katika Injili nyingine yoyote: "Mbona mmekuwa waoga? Hamna imani bado?" (Marko 4:40). Imani ni tendo la kutumaini. Inayatandaza matanga.That is faith in Mark. Faith is never theoretical in this Gospel; it is always an action verb. The Syrophoenician woman has faith and falls at His feet (Mark 7:25). The bleeding woman has faith and reaches through the crowd to touch His hem (Mark 5:27). The desperate father has faith — and honest doubt — and cries, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!" (Mark 9:24). Blind Bartimaeus has faith and shouts at the top of his lungs even when the crowd tells him to be quiet (Mark 10:47). Every single one of them acts on what they believe. And every single one of them hears the same gentle sentence: "Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace" (Mark 5:34). Mark's Servant honors action-faith. He also rebukes its absence in His own disciples more bluntly in Mark than in any other Gospel: "Why are you so fearful? How is it that you have no faith?" (Mark 4:40). Faith is the action of trust. It sets the sail.

VI. Utumishi — Tendo la UpendoVI. Servanthood — The Action of Love

Mwaka 1878, Jeshi la Wokovu la William Booth lilipokuwa likianza kujulikana katika mitaa ya maskini ya London, kijana mmoja Mmarekani aitwaye Samuel Brengle — aliyekuwa mchungaji wa mimbari maarufu huko Boston, na aliyewahi kuota kuwa askofu wa Kimethodisti — alivuka Bahari ya Atlantiki ili ajiunge na Jeshi la Booth. Jenerali alimpokea bila kupenda. "Umekuwa bosi wako mwenyewe kwa muda mrefu mno," Booth alisema. Na ili kumfundisha unyenyekevu mtu huyu mwenye vipawa kutoka Boston, alimpa kazi ya kusafisha buti zenye matope za wanafunzi wengine wa mafunzo. Brengle alivunjika moyo. Alinung'unika moyoni, "Je, nimefuata matakwa yangu mwenyewe kuvuka Atlantiki ili nipake buti rangi nyeusi?" Kisha, kama katika maono, alimwona Bwana Yesu usiku wa mwisho wa maisha yake, akiinama juu ya miguu yenye vumbi ya wavuvi wakorofi wasio na elimu, akiwa na bakuli na kitambaa. "Bwana," Brengle alinong'ona, "Wewe uliwaosha miguu; mimi nitaipaka viatu vyao rangi." Tangu wakati huo huduma ya Samuel Brengle ilianza, na katika miaka ishirini alikuwa mmoja wa walimu wa Biblia waliopendwa zaidi katika harakati nzima.In 1878, when William Booth's Salvation Army was beginning to make its mark on the slums of London, a young American named Samuel Brengle — who had been pastor of a fine pulpit in Boston, and who had once dreamed of becoming a Methodist bishop — crossed the Atlantic to enlist in Booth's Army. The General received him grudgingly. "You have been your own boss too long," Booth said. And in order to instill humility in this gifted Bostonian, he set him to work cleaning the muddy boots of the other trainees. Brengle was discouraged. He muttered to himself, "Have I followed my own fancy across the Atlantic in order to black boots?" And then, as in a vision, he saw the Lord Jesus on the last night of His life, bending over the dusty feet of rough, unlettered fishermen with a basin and a towel. "Lord," Brengle whispered, "You washed their feet; I will black their shoes." From that moment Samuel Brengle's ministry began, and within twenty years he was one of the most loved Bible teachers in the whole movement.

Hiyo ndiyo dakika ya Marko 10:45. Huo ndio wakati ambapo utumishi unaacha kuwa kichwa cha somo katika teolojia yako na kuwa sabuni mikononi mwako. Yakobo na Yohana katika Marko 10 walitaka viti vya enzi, mmoja mkono wa kuume wa Bwana na mwingine mkono wake wa kushoto, katika utukufu wake. Bwana aliwapa mabakuli. Injili yote ya Marko imejaa mabakuli. Mtumishi anaosha miguu, anamega mkate, anawaponya wenye ukoma, anamfufua binti wa miaka kumi na miwili wa mkuu wa sinagogi, anawalisha watu elfu tano kwenye kilima kimoja na elfu nne kwenye kingine, na mwishowe anaenda msalabani Ijumaa alasiri nje ya mji — "si nitakavyo mimi, bali utakavyo wewe" (Marko 14:36). Katika Marko, utumishi si hisia tu. Ni tendo la upendo. Haujadiliani; unapiga magoti.That is the Mark 10:45 moment. That is the instant when servanthood stops being a category in your theology and becomes the soap on your hands. James and John in Mark 10 wanted thrones, one at the Lord's right hand and one at His left, in His glory. The Lord offered them basins. The whole Gospel of Mark is full of basins. The Servant washes feet, breaks bread, heals lepers, raises a synagogue ruler's twelve-year-old daughter, feeds five thousand on a hillside and four thousand on another, and finally goes to a cross on a Friday afternoon outside the city — "Not what I will, but what You will" (Mark 14:36). Servanthood, in Mark, is not a sentiment. It is the action of love. It does not negotiate; it kneels.

VII. Kipaumbele — Tendo la KuchaguaVII. Priority — The Action of Choice

Hapo zamani kulikuwa na mnara wa taa kando ya pwani tupu, uliotunzwa na mlinzi aliyepewa akiba ya mafuta ya mwezi mmoja hasa na kazi moja tu: kuhakikisha taa inawaka kila usiku. Siku moja mwanamke maskini aligonga mlango wa mnara akaomba mafuta kidogo ili awapatie watoto wake joto. Mlinzi alimpimia kiasi cha kutosha. Kisha akaja mkulima; mwanawe alihitaji mafuta ili asome masomo yake kwa mwanga wake. Mlinzi alimpimia kiasi cha kutosha. Kisha akaja mtu mwingine ambaye injini yake ilikuwa imeishiwa mafuta. Mlinzi alimpimia kiasi cha kutosha. Kila hitaji lilionekana kuwa jema. Karibu na mwisho wa mwezi, tangi la mnara likakauka. Usiku ule taa ikazimika, na meli tatu zikagonga miamba nje ya pwani, na watu zaidi ya mia moja wakapoteza maisha. Mpelelezi wa serikali alipokuja, mlinzi alijaribu kujieleza, kwamba wengine walihitaji mafuta, kwamba mahitaji yote yalikuwa mema. Ofisa yule akamkatiza. "Ulipewa kazi moja," akasema. "Ilikuwa ni kuhakikisha taa inawaka. Kila kitu kingine kilikuwa cha pili. Huna utetezi wowote."There was once a lighthouse along a bleak coast, tended by a keeper who was given exactly one month's supply of oil and exactly one task: keep the light burning every night. One day a poor woman knocked on the lighthouse door and asked for a little oil to keep her children warm. The keeper measured out enough. Then a farmer came; his son needed oil to read his lessons by. The keeper measured out enough. Then another man came whose engine had run dry. The keeper measured out enough. Each cause seemed worthy. Near the end of the month, the tank in the lighthouse ran dry. That night the beacon went dark, and three ships crashed on the rocks off the coast with the loss of more than a hundred lives. When the government investigator came, the keeper tried to explain himself, that the others had needed the oil, that the causes had all been good. The official cut him off. "You were given one task," he said. "It was to keep the light burning. Everything else was secondary. There is no defense."

Marko ni Injili ya kipaumbele kimoja. "Mtu ye yote akitaka kunifuata, na ajikane mwenyewe, ajitwike msalaba wake, anifuate" (Marko 8:34). Yule kijana tajiri mwenye cheo katika Marko 10 alikuwa na kila kitu — mali, ujana, maadili mema, unyofu wa moyo — isipokuwa jambo moja. "Umepungukiwa na neno moja," Bwana alisema, akimtazama na kumpenda (Marko 10:21). Mjane katika Marko 12 hakuwa na kitu — isipokuwa zile senti mbili, alizozitoa kwa sababu Bwana ndiye aliyekuwa kipaumbele chake kimoja. Na Mtumishi Mwenyewe, usiku kabla ya kifo chake, alisema huko Gethsemane, "Baba, yote yawezekana kwako; uniondolee kikombe hiki; walakini, si nitakavyo mimi, bali utakavyo wewe" (Marko 14:36). Kipaumbele ni tendo la kuchagua. Hakigawanyi upendo wake kati ya Bwana na taa nyingine yoyote.Mark is the Gospel of one priority. "If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross, and follow Me" (Mark 8:34). The rich young ruler in Mark 10 had everything — wealth, youth, morality, sincerity — except the one thing. "One thing you lack," the Lord said, looking on him and loving him (Mark 10:21). The widow in Mark 12 had nothing — except the two mites, which she gave because the Lord was her one priority. And the Servant Himself, on the night before His death, said in Gethsemane, "Father, all things are possible for You. Take this cup away from Me; nevertheless, not what I will, but what You will" (Mark 14:36). Priority is the action of choice. It does not divide its love between the Lord and any other lamp.

VIII. Ukiri wa AkidaVIII. The Centurion's Confession

Marko aliwaandikia Warumi, na mwishoni kabisa mwa Injili yake Mrumi ndiye anayesema neno la mwisho. Simama chini ya msalaba pamoja na akida. Nchi imetetemeka. Pazia la hekalu limepasuka vipande viwili toka juu hata chini. Anga limekuwa giza kwa saa tatu katikati ya mchana. Mtu anayekufa juu ya msalaba wa katikati ametoka kukata roho kwa sauti kuu. Akida — askari Mrumi mgumu ambaye huenda alisimamia makumi ya misalaba katika maisha yake ya kazi, anayejua jinsi mtu aliyesulubiwa anavyotarajiwa kufa na ameshaona hivyo mara nyingi — anatazama juu mwili wa Yesu na kusema sentensi moja inayokuwa kilele cha kitabu chote: "Hakika mtu huyu alikuwa Mwana wa Mungu!" (Marko 15:39).Mark wrote for Romans, and at the very end of his Gospel a Roman gets the final word. Stand at the foot of the cross with the centurion. The earth has shaken. The temple veil has torn from top to bottom. The sky has gone dark for three hours in the middle of the afternoon. The Man dying on the middle cross has just given up His Spirit with a loud cry. The centurion — a hardened Roman soldier who has supervised perhaps dozens of crucifixions in the course of his career, who knows how a man on a cross is supposed to die and who has seen it many times — looks up at the body of Jesus and says one sentence that becomes the climax of the whole book: "Truly this Man was the Son of God!" (Mark 15:39).

Huu ndio ukiri ambao Injili yote imekuwa ikiuelekea. Ukiri wa Petro huko Kaisaria Filipi katika Marko 8:29 ulikuwa ukiri wa wanafunzi. Ukiri wa akida msalabani ni ukiri wa Mataifa — mwamini wa kwanza asiye Myahudi aliyeandikwa katika Injili hii, na tena ni ofisa wa Kirumi. Marko anakamilisha mzunguko kwa wasomaji wake Warumi: Ikiwa akida anaweza kuliona, rafiki, wewe pia unaweza kuliona. Mtumishi ametoa nafsi yake iwe fidia ya wengi — kwa ajili ya Wayahudi waliongoja, kwa ajili ya Mataifa waliotazama, kwa ajili ya akida aliyetoa heshima, kwa ajili ya Yohana Marko aliyeandika, na kwa ajili yako.It is the confession the whole Gospel has been building toward. Peter's confession at Caesarea Philippi in Mark 8:29 was the disciples' confession. The centurion's confession at the cross is the Gentile confession — the first non-Jewish believer recorded in the Gospel, and a Roman officer at that. Mark closes the loop on his Roman audience: If a centurion can see it, friend, you can see it. The Servant has given His life a ransom for many — for the Jews who waited, for the Gentiles who watched, for the centurion who saluted, for John Mark who wrote, and for you.

IX. Mwisho Unaokimbia Nje ya UkurasaIX. The Ending That Runs Off the Page

Soma sura ya mwisho ya Marko polepole nawe utahisi Injili ikisimama karibu katikati ya hatua. Wanawake wanakuja kaburini alfajiri siku ya kwanza ya juma, malaika anawaambia kwamba Bwana amefufuka, nao wanakimbia wakitetemeka na kuogopa — "kwa sababu waliogopa" (Marko 16:8). Na hapo, kwenye sauti hiyo isiyokamilika, nakala za maandishi ya kale zaidi na bora zaidi za Marko zinakoma. Mistari ambayo huenda ukaiona imechapishwa baadaye, Marko 16:9–20, haipatikani katika nakala hizo za mwanzo kabisa na zinazoaminika zaidi. Ndiyo sababu tafsiri nyingi za kisasa huitenga — katika mabano, au chini ya mstari, au pamoja na maelezo ya chini yanayokuambia waziwazi kwamba ushahidi wa nakala za maandishi una mashaka.Read the last chapter of Mark slowly and you will feel the Gospel stop almost mid-stride. The women come to the tomb early on the first day of the week, an angel tells them the Lord is risen, and they run out trembling and afraid — "for they were afraid" (Mark 16:8). And there, on that unfinished note, the oldest and best manuscripts of Mark come to an end. The verses you may see printed afterward, Mark 16:9–20, are not found in those earliest and most reliable copies. That is why most modern translations set them apart — in brackets, or beneath a line, or with a footnote that tells you plainly the manuscript evidence is in doubt.

Jambo hili ni muhimu kwa jinsi tunavyosoma, na hasa kwa kile tunachojengea mafundisho yetu. Ni katika mwisho huo unaobishaniwa, na si mahali pengine popote katika Marko, ndipo tunapopata maneno kuhusu waamini kushika nyoka na kunywa sumu ya kufisha bila kudhurika. Harakati nzima ya makanisa yanayoshika nyoka imejengwa juu ya mistari hiyo michache. Lakini hatuweki maisha yetu, wala teolojia yetu, rehani juu ya kifungu ambacho mashahidi wa kwanza kabisa wa Marko hawakuwa nacho. Tunajenga juu ya kile kilichothibitishwa vizuri — na Marko aliyethibitishwa vizuri anaishia na kaburi tupu na agizo la kwenda kuwaambia wengine. Imani thabiti inasimama juu ya maandiko ya hakika, si juu ya pembeni yenye mashaka.This matters for how we read, and especially for what we build our doctrine on. It is in that disputed ending, and nowhere else in Mark, that we find the lines about believers taking up serpents and drinking deadly poison without harm. A whole movement of snake-handling churches has been built on those few verses. But we do not stake our lives, or our theology, on a passage the earliest witnesses to Mark did not contain. We build on what is well attested — and the well-attested Mark ends with an empty tomb and a command to go and tell. Sound faith rests on the sure text, not on the doubtful margin.

Na tazama kile ambacho mwisho huu halisi na wa ghafla unakufanyia wewe. Mathayo anakupa Agizo Kuu; Luka anakupa njia ya Emau na kupaa mbinguni; Yohana anakupa chakula cha asubuhi pwani. Marko anakupa jiwe lililovingirishwa, mahali patupu ambapo mwili ulikuwa umelazwa, agizo la kushtukiza — "Anawatangulia kwenda Galilaya; huko mtamwona" — kisha ukimya. Mtumishi amemaliza kazi yake na tayari yuko barabarani mbele yako. Injili hii haiishii ikiwa imefungwa vizuri kama zawadi; inaishia na barabara na ahadi, na inamkabidhi msomaji kalamu. Utafanya nini, sasa kwa kuwa kaburi ni tupu? Marko anaacha kuandika kwa makusudi ili wewe ulazimike kujibu.And notice what the genuine, abrupt ending does to you. Matthew gives you the Great Commission; Luke gives you the Emmaus road and the ascension; John gives you breakfast on the shore. Mark gives you a rolled-away stone, an empty place where the body had lain, a startled command — "He is going before you into Galilee; there you will see Him" — and then silence. The Servant has finished His work and is already on the road ahead of you. The Gospel does not end tied in a bow; it ends with a road and a promise, and it hands the pen to the reader. What will you do, now that the tomb is empty? Mark stops writing precisely so that you must answer.

X. Kutoka Pamfilia Hadi Kuwa Mwenye KufaaX. From Pamphylia to Profitable

Tunamalizia pale tulipoanzia, na Yohana Marko. Kijana yule aliyewahi kukimbia kutoka bustanini akiwa na shuka tu sasa ameandika Injili ambayo imekuwa chakula cha Kanisa kwa miaka elfu mbili. Mwanafunzi aliyemwacha Paulo huko Pamfilia akawa — kwa maneno ya Paulo mwenyewe mwishoni mwa maisha ya Paulo mwenyewe — "anifaa kwa utumishi" (2 Timotheo 4:11). Binamu wa Barnaba, ambaye wakati mmoja hakufaa hata kujiunga na timu ya pili ya umisionari, amekuwa mwana mwaminifu wa Petro katika Injili, mwandishi wa kitabu cha pili cha Agano Jipya, mtakatifu ambaye mapokeo yote ya Kanisa la Misri yanamhesabu kuwa mwanzilishi wake. "Anifaa."We close where we began, with John Mark. The young man who once ran from the Garden in nothing but a sheet has now written a Gospel that has been the bread of the Church for two thousand years. The disciple who deserted Paul at Pamphylia became — in Paul's own words at the end of Paul's own life — "useful for ministry" (2 Timothy 4:11). The cousin of Barnabas, who was once not even fit to make the second missionary team, has become Peter's faithful son in the gospel, the writer of the second book of the New Testament, the saint to whom the whole tradition of the Egyptian Church traces its founding. "He is useful."

Rafiki mpendwa, ikiwa moyo wako umewahi kujaribiwa kujihesabu kuwa huna maana tena — ikiwa umeiacha timu huko Pamfilia na kudhani kwamba manufaa yako yamekwisha — mkumbuke Yohana Marko. Bwana Yesu hapotezi watu walioshindwa. Anawarejesha. Anaandika vitabu kupitia kwao. Anawatuma Rumi ili waandike kumbukumbu za Petro. Anajenga Injili kupitia watu waliotoroka. Na anampa kila mmoja wetu, mapema au baadaye, 2 Timotheo 4:11 yetu wenyewe — "Umtwae Marko; maana anifaa kwa utumishi." Mwana wa Adamu hakuja kutumikiwa, bali kutumika, na kutoa nafsi yake iwe fidia ya wengi. Na bado anatutumikia hata leo, kwa kuwafanya wale wasiotarajiwa kabisa miongoni mwetu kuwa wenye kufaa kwa ufalme wake.If your heart, dear friend, has ever been tempted to write yourself off — if you have left the team in Pamphylia and assumed that your usefulness is over — remember John Mark. The Lord Jesus does not waste failures. He restores them. He writes books with them. He sends them to Rome to put a pen to Peter's memories. He builds gospels out of deserters. And He gives every one of us, sooner or later, our 2 Timothy 4:11 — "Get Mark; he is useful for ministry." The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. And He serves us still, by making the most unlikely of us useful to His kingdom.

Endelea mbele, rafiki yangu, katika Injili zilizobaki pamoja na Mtumishi yule yule aliyewahi kumtazama kijana akikimbia kutoka Gethsemane akiwa na shuka tu, akatabasamu kuiona ile nguo ya kitani iliyoachwa njiani, akasema kimya moyoni mwake, "Bado nitamfanya aandike habari yangu." Yeye ni Bwana wako, naye ni yeye yule jana na leo na hata milele. Amina.Press on, my friend, into the rest of the Gospels with the same Servant who once watched a young man flee Gethsemane in nothing but a sheet, smiled at the linen cloth left behind on the path, and said quietly to Himself, "I will yet have him write My story." He is your Lord, and He is the same yesterday, today, and forever. Amen.

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