His Italian mother named him after the gospel writer, Mark in the hopes that he too would tell the gospel truth. It is ironic that, later when he wrote a bestselling book on his world travels, cynics nicknamed it Il Milione: .The Book of a Million Lies.. And Mark, whose mother hoped would grow up to tell the truth, was called Marco Milione: Marco, the man of a million lies.
13th Century Europeans found it impossible to believe Mark’s tales of faraway lands. He claimed that, when he was only seventeen, he took an epic journey lasting a quarter of a century, taking him across the steppes of Russia, the rugged mountains of Afghanistan, the wastelands of Persia, and over the top of the world through the Himalayas. In Mongolia he witnessed the horrifying funeral of Mangu Khan where 20,000 prisoners of war were buried alive to accompany the powerful prince into the afterworld.
He was the first European to enter China. Through an amazing set of circumstances, he became a favorite of the most powerful ruler on planet earth, the Kublai Khan whose vast domain eclipsed that of the ancient Roman Empire. Mark saw cities that made European capitals look like roadside villages. The Khan’s palace dwarfed the largest castles and cathedrals in Europe. Made of gold-coated cane, each piece was held together by ropes of silk, so that the whole palace could be disassembled and moved at the whim of the Khan. Yet it was so massive that its banquet room alone could seat 6,000 diners at one time, each eating on a plate of pure gold.
Mark saw the world’s first paper money and marveled at the explosive power of gunpowder. It would be the 18th Century before Europe would manufacture as much steel as China was producing in the year 1267. He saw a postal service whose speed would not be equaled until the Pony Express some 600 years later. He became the first Italian to taste that Chinese culinary invention, pasta. As an officer of the Khan’s court, he travelled to places no European would see for another 500 years.
After serving Kublai Khan for 17 years, Mark began his journey home to Venice, loaded down with gold, silk, and spices. And, tucked away in his pocket was a recipe for making pasta! The Khan had sent him on his way with a guard of 1,000 men. By the time they reached the Indian Ocean, 600 had drowned or died of disease. After a harrowing two-year journey, a ragged Mark barely limped home, most of his riches lost along the way. People dismissed his stories of a mythical place called China. His family priest rebuked him for spinning lies. When further troubles landed Mark in prison, he dictated his fantastic yarns to another prisoner who had been a writer of romantic stories. His book was entitled The Travels of Marco Polo. But a skeptical public dismissed it as Il Milione: The Book of a Million Lies. He would never shake his new nickname: Marco, the man of a million lies .
At his deathbed, his family, friends, and parish priest begged him to recant his tales of China lest he rot in hell for his lies. Setting his jaw and gasping for breath, Mark spit out his final words,
"I have not even told you half of what I saw."
Listen to: Heaven Part 2: The Journey Home
Sermon Slides: Worship 03.25.12 Heaven5
Announcement Slides: Announcement Slides 3.25.12
Sermon Notes: Sermon Notes 03.25.12 Heaven 5
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