Mark because there was, in the Middle Ages, a popular belief that the young of the lion was born dead, and after three days was awakened to vitality by the breath of its sire; some authors, however, represent the lion as vivifying his young, not by his breath, but by his roar. In either case the application is the same; the revival of the young lion was considered as symbolical of the resurrection, and Mark was commonly called the ‘historian of the resurrection.’ Another commentator observes that Mark begins his Gospel with ‘roaring,’⁠—‘the voice of one crying in the wilderness’; and ends it fearfully with a curse⁠—‘He that believeth not shall be damned’; and that, therefore, his appropriate attribute is the most terrible of beasts, the lion. “Luke has the Ox , because he has dwelt on the priesthood of Christ, the ox being the emblem of Sacrifice. “John has the Eagle , which is the symbol of the highest inspiration, because he soared upwards to the contemplation of the divine nature of the Saviour.” ↩