September 28, 2024

—Do you remember when Jesus once addressed his disciple Peter as Simon Bar Jonah? Simon, of course, was Peter’s Hebrew name, and his dad’s name was Jonah, so then it follows that Mara was the son of Mara then reminds his son that the Athenians, the Samians and the Jews would all suffer retribution for their mistreatment of the wise, but it’s Mara’s description of this wise man of the Jews that garners our interest here, for Mara can hardly be referring to any other person than Jesus. Called the “King of the Jews” by Pilate (Luke 23:3), by Roman soldiers (Matt. 27:29) and by the Jews themselves (Mark 15:12), Jesus fits Mara’s description perfectly. Mara would furthermore describe this wise king as one who had laid down new laws before his murder. 

—Mara bundled the historicity of Socrates and Pythagoras with Jesus. Being a Stoic philosopher who worshipped the Roman gods, Mara had no interest in adding gravity to any argument in favor of Christianity, and yet his words serve as one more proof that Jesus lived, taught a “new commandment” (John 13:34) to his fellow countrymen and then was killed by them.

—Daniel McCabe