Below, I have extracted from the gospels of Mark and John the elements of a story which, I believe, once was important to an influential group of early Christians. I have underlined certain phrases and words because, as you will see, these words and phrases are repeated, especially in Mark. I believe that whoever composed these phrases meant to call attention to these very passages for reasons which we now can only guess, but possibly these were markers showing where the text called Secret Mark was to be inserted into the text of Mark.
The Secret Gospel of Mark is a controversial gospel, only partially discovered in 1958 and about which I have written elsewhere. Below, the text of Secret Mark is followed by John 11:1-44, the well-known story of Lazarus, because what is called chapter one of Secret Mark (it really isn�t chapter one but is the first of the only two chapters we have found) closely resembles the story of Lazarus.
My suspicion is that many of the "youth" figures in the following passages were believed by some early Christians to be one and the same person. Now, it might be objected that the so-called Rich Young Man is not called young by Mark (10:17) and that Matthew's calling him young (19:20) does not count for anything in Mark's version. But Mark identifies the man as "one who runs up" to Jesus, much as John 20:4 identifies the disciple with Peter as a youth by describing him running faster than Peter to Jesus' tomb. It has long been argued that the swift-footedness of John's disciple shows him to be youthful.
Other clues to the identity of these figures are clearer. Note that John 12:9-11 says that people come to see Lazarus as well as Jesus because of the resurrection of Lazarus and that the chief priests decide to kill Lazarus, too, because he is such a popular attraction. John says nothing more about this conspiracy against Lazarus, but Mark 14:51-52 appears to continue this very storyline when a youth following Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane is grabbed by those who arrest Jesus. [Interestingly, the notion that John is both the beloved disciple and the nude youth at Gethsemane is popularized in Mel Gibson's treatment of "The Passion of the Christ."] Note that the youth in Mark 14 is draped in a shroud (Greek: sindona, often translated as "linen cloth") just as the Lazarus-like youth, whom we will meet below in the Secret Gospel of Mark, wears a sindona when he is apparently catechized and baptized by Jesus.
Although Mark mentions the attempted arrest of the youth without first mentioning the plan to take him (at least not in canonical Mark-no one knows what Secret Mark might have said about this), we have the opposite problem in John where the chief priests seem to change their minds about arresting the Bethany youth without explaining why-although John 18:15-16 does at least partially settle the matter: An unnamed disciple went into the high priest's court with Jesus and freely went out again because he was known to the high priest. If he is Lazarus, he is a brave man, even if, by seizing the initiative and walking right in among the conspirators, he made it painfully clear to them that he was too prominent a man for them to arrest.
But how could Lazarus/the Bethany youth be a disciple? While there may have been only twelve apostles, there was a much larger number of disciples. Even many scholars erroneously think of apostles and disciples as being the same, but Mark 3:14 (cf. Luke 6:17 and see also Mark 2:15) clearly says otherwise: ��He formed a group of twelve [some mss insert �whom he also named apostles�] to be his companions�.� [Robert J. Miller, ed., The Complete Gospels: Annotated Scholars Version, San Francisco:HarperSanFrancisco (A Polebridge Press Book), 1994.] In describing the same scene, Luke is more explicit in affirming that the apostles were chosen from a larger body of disciples, never counted in the gospels but numbered at 120 at Acts 1:15. Among so many disciples, the Bethany youth could have been following Jesus for some time, even before their personal meeting at Mark 10:17.
Acknowledging that arguments about my interpretation might go on and on, let us get on with the story. I call this �The Bethany Gospel� because I have strung together passages that seem to be connected by a strikingly familiar youth who is sometimes identified as coming from Bethany, a town a short distance east of Jerusalem. This translation is adapted from The New Greek-English Interlinear New Testament (Third corrected edition), Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, 1990.
The Bethany Gospel
Mark 1.11- And there was a voice from heaven, "You are my son, the beloved, in you I am well pleased."...
4.11- And he said to them, "You have been given the mystery of the kingdom of God. To outsiders all remains in parables, 12- so that, looking, they look but don�t see and, hearing, they hear but don�t understand, otherwise they might turn, and it might be forgiven them."...
Mark 9.1- And he said to them, "Truly I tell you that there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God arriving in full force. 2- And after six days Jesus takes Peter and James and John and leads them up a high mountain, themselves alone. And he transformed before them, 3- And his clothing began shining so white, that no bleach on earth can whiten so. ... 9.7 And there was a cloud over them, and a voice came from the cloud: "This is my son, the beloved, listen to him."... Mark 9.25- ... "I command you, come out of him".... 26- And, crying out and convulsing, it left. And he looked dead, so that many said that he had died. 27- But Jesus having grabbed his hand, raised him, and he stood. ...
10.17 And as he took to the road someone ran up and, kneeling to him, asked him, "Good teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?" ... 21- And Jesus having looked at him loved him and said to him, "You need one thing. Go, sell all you have and give it to the poor, and have treasure in heaven, then come follow me." 22- But, crestfallen at the word, he went away sadly, for he had great wealth.
SECRET GOSPEL OF MARK
1.1- And they come into Bethany. And there was some woman whose brother had died. 2- And, approaching, she bowed down to Jesus and says to him, "Son of David have mercy on me." 3- But the disciples rebuked her. 4-And becoming angry Jesus went forth with her into the garden where the tomb was. 5-And right away they heard from the tomb a loud voice. 6- And, going forth, Jesus rolled away the stone from the door of the tomb 7- and went in right away where the youth was and reached out a hand and raised him having grabbed his hand. 8- But the youth having looked at him loved him and began to implore him to be with him. 9- And coming out from the tomb, they came into the house of the youth, for he was rich. [Note: This might seem to be a non sequitor, but in first-century Palestine, people were so poor that anyone who owned his own home was automatically rich.] 10- And after six days Jesus commanded him. 11- And evening having come, the youth comes to him having put on a shroud over his nakedness 12- and stayed with him that night for Jesus taught him the mystery of the kingdom of God. 13- From there, arising, he returned to the other side of the Jordan.
Mark 10:46(a)- And they come into Jericho.
Secret Mark 2.1- And there were the sister of the youth whom Jesus loved and his mother [Note: It is apparently just as unclear in Greek as in English whether "his mother" refers to Jesus' mother or the mother of the Bethany youth; however, since no account mentions that Lazarus/the Bethany youth had a living mother, I assume that this is Jesus' mother.] and Salome, [Note: Aside from this non-canonical reference to Salome the few others are Mark 15:40 and, the non-canonical Gospel of Thomas: Saying 67.] 2- and Jesus did not receive them.[Note: The use of this phrase is troubling. Instead of a complete copy of Secret Mark, all we have is a copy of a letter which quotes Secret Mark. Up until this verse, what we have here conforms to canonical Mark in style and vocabulary, but Mark never uses the word for "receive" that is used here, yet the word is known to be used in the vocabulary of the author of the letter which quotes Secret Mark. Besides, would it be in character for Jesus to reject a group of women who wanted to see him? See Morton Smith's two books, Clement of Alexandria and a Secret Gospel of Mark, Cambridge, Ma.: Harvard University Press, 1973; and The Secret Gospel: The Discovery and Interpretation of the Secret Gospel According to Mark, New York: Harper and Row, 1973.]
John 11.1- Now there was someone who was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and Martha her sister. 2-It was Mary, the one who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother, Lazarus was ill. 3- So the sisters sent for him saying, "Lord, look, he whom you like is ill." 4- Hearing this Jesus said, "This sickness is not fatal but for the glory of God, to glorify the Son of God through it." 5- Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. [Note: Mary and Martha say only that Jesus likes their brother in the mundane sense, but Jesus loves Lazarus and his sisters spiritually (agape).] 6- So upon hearing that he [Lazarus] was ill, he [Jesus] stayed where he was two days, 7- then tells the disciples, "Let�s go to Judea again." 8- The disciples say to him, "Rabbi, recently the Judeans tried to stone you, and you go there again?".... 11- ..."Lazarus, our friend, fell asleep, but I go in order to awaken him." 12- So the disciples said to him, "Lord, if he fell asleep he�s well." 13- But Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he was talking about restful sleep. 14- So then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus died. 15- And I rejoice for you that I wasn�t there, so that you may believe. Let�s go to him." 16- So Thomas, called Didymus, said to [his] fellow disciples, "Let�s go, too, so that we can die with him." 17- So Jesus came to find him already four days in the tomb. 18- Now Bethany was near to Jerusalem�about 15 stadia away. 19- Many of the Judeans had come to Martha and Mary to commiserate with them about their brother. 20- So, Martha, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet him. Mary, however, sat at home. 21- So Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you�d been here my brother wouldn�t have died. 22-[Yet] even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you." 23- Jesus says to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24- Martha says to him, "I know that he�ll rise in the resurrection on the final day." 25- Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life [Note: Not all manuscripts of John contain the words "and the life." Note, also, that Secret Mark's version of this story is simpler and less augmented by highly theological confessions of faith.], one believing in me�even should he die�shall live, 26- and everyone living and believing in me shall not die in this age. Do you believe this?" 27- She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I do believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, who has come into the world." 28- And having spoken thus, she went away and called Mary, her sister, speaking in secret: "The teacher is here and he calls you." 29- When she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him. 30- Jesus hadn't yet come into the village, but he was still in the place where Martha met him. 31- So the Judeans who were with her in the house and consoling her, seeing how quickly Mary rose and went out, followed her, thinking that she went to the tomb to mourn there. 32- So when Mary reached Jesus, upon seeing him, she fell at his feet saying to him, "Lord, if you�d been here my brother wouldn�t have died." 33- So Jesus, when he saw her weeping and the Judeans with her weeping, was deeply moved in spirit and troubled in himself. [Note: Secret Mark has Jesus become angry with his disciples for trying to turn the Bethany sister away, much as they angered him when they tried to turn away the children (Mark10:14), while John gives Jesus two strong reactions, one spiritual, the other mundane, showing Jesus' dual nature as God Incarnate.] 34- And he said, "Where have you placed him?" They tell him, "Lord, come and see." 35- Jesus wept. 36- The Judeans said, "See how he liked him." 37- But some of them said, "Wasn�t he�the one who opened the eyes of the blind�even able to keep this one from dying?" 38- So Jesus, again deeply moved, comes to the tomb. Now it was a cave and a stone covered it. 39- Jesus said, "Lift the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to him, "Lord, by now he smells as it�s the fourth day." 40- To her Jesus says, "Didn�t I say that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" 41- So they lifted the stone. And Jesus lifted his eyes up and said, "Father, I thank Thee for hearing me. 42- I know that Thou hearest me always, but due to the crowd standing around, I speak so that they may believe that Thou sent me." 43-And having said this, in a loud voice he yelled, "Lazarus, come out!" 44- Out came the deceased, bound foot and hand in grave clothes and his face cloth-wrapped. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him and let him go." . . .
12.1- So six days before Passover, Jesus came into Bethany, where Lazarus, whom Jesus had raised from the dead, was staying. 2- Then they made him dinner there, and Martha served, and Lazarus was in among those reclining with him. ... 12.9- So the great crowd of Judeans knew he was there and came not because of Jesus alone, but also to see Lazarus whom he raised from the dead. 10- This convinced the chief priests that they should also kill Lazarus, 11- as many Jews, because of him, were going away and believing in Jesus. ...
13.22- The disciples looked at one another, uncertain about whom he spoke. 23- One of his disciples was reclining on Jesus� chest, whom Jesus loved. 24- So Simon Peter nods to this one asking, who�s he talking about? ...
Mark 14.51- And a certain youth was following along with him having put on a shroud over his nakedness, and they grabbed him. 52- But, leaving behind the shroud, he fled naked.
John 18.15- Following Jesus were Simon Peter and another disciple. But this disciple was known to the high priest and he went with Jesus into the court of the high priest, 18:16- but Peter stayed outside, so the other disciple, the one known to the high priest, went out and spoke to the porter and let Peter in. ...
19.25- Then, beside Jesus' cross, stood his mother.... 26- Seeing his mother and the disciple he loved standing beside her, Jesus says to his mother, "Woman, here�s your son." 27- Then he says to the disciple, "Here�s your mother." And from that very hour, the disciple took her into his own. ...
Mark 16.1- And the Sabbath having passed, Mary Magdalene and Mary, the mother of James, and Salome bought spices so that when they came they could anoint him. ... 3- And they said to themselves, who will roll away for us the stone from the entrance of the tomb? 4- Looking up, they see that the stone has been rolled away. And it was very big. 5- And having gone into the tomb, they saw a youth sitting on the right, having been clothed in a white robe, and They were thoroughly amazed. 6- But he says to them, "Don�t be shocked. You seek Jesus, the Nazarene, that was crucified. He was raised. He�s not here. Here�s The place where they laid him. 7- But go tell his disciples and Peter that he goes before you into Galilee. There you�ll see him, as he told you." ...
John 20.2- So she runs and comes to Simon Peter and to the other disciple Jesus liked and she says to them, "They took the Lord from the tomb, and we don�t know where they placed him." 3- So Peter and the other disciple set off, and came to the tomb.
John 20:4- Now the two were both running, and the other disciple ran faster than Peter and came to the tomb first, 5- And, stooping, he sees the grave clothes, but he didn�t go in. ... 8- ...So then the other disciple also went in�the one who came first to the tomb�and he saw and believed. ...
21.20- Peter turned and saw the disciple Jesus loved following (the one who reclined at the supper on his chest and said, "Lord, who is the one who betrays you?") 21- Having seen him, Peter asks Jesus, "Lord, what about him?" 22- Jesus says to him, "If I want him to stay until I come, What�s it to you? You follow me." 23- So he [Peter] went out and told the brothers that that disciple would not die. But Jesus never said to him that he would not die, but rather, "If I want him to stay until I come, what is that to you?[Note: Some manuscripts do not repeat "what is it to you?" this second time.]
The next to last verse of John (21:24) supports the tradition that "that disciple" (21:23) is the author of the gospel and, presumably, that he is John rather than the Bethany man. Yet it makes perfect sense, since the Bethany man was the only other resurrected person aside from Jesus whom Peter knew, that Peter's question, "What about him?" could only elicit an answer about whether or not the youthful disciple would die as other men do. The tradition of John�s authorship, as well as his identity with the beloved disciple, probably dates from the late second century (see Robert J. Miller, The Complete Gospels, HarperSanFrancisco, 1994, fn. p. 246). The question is whether or not the plausibility of seeing an identity between the beloved disciple and the Bethany man points to a lost-but once vital-alternative tradition about the multiple roles of a youthful disciple.
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