MARK’S GOSPEL IS THE MOST IMPORTANT BOOK IN THE WORLD!  So says Prof.  William Barclay of Scotland, the dean of New Testament Biblical commentators.  Why?  Because, says he, It is agreed by nearly everyone that Mark is the earliest of all the gospels, and is therefore the first life of Jesus that has come down to us.  (Daily Study Bible, Phila: The Westminster Pres, 1956.  P.  xiii.)  In other words, if there had been no Gospel of St.  Mark there would have been no Gospels.  Period.  It is an intriguing thought.  And I am indebted to the late Prof.  Barclay for many of the ideas in this opening sermon in my series on the Gospel of St.  Mark. 

I.  HOW DO SCHOLARS KNOW WHICH GOSPEL WAS THE FIRST?  They don’t.  Their theory is based on a highly-educated guess.  It is a complicated process an…