John Mark a teenager who struggled in the early church
Icon of St. Barnabas (1921), Museum St. Barnabas Salamis (Cyprus). Deutsch: Ikone des Barnabas (Apostel), Ikonen-Museum St. Barnabas (1921), Salamis (Zypern). (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem2914 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Ananias restoring the sight of Saint Paul (Photo credit: Wikipedia)John Mark was perhaps the first real church kid. His mom, Mary, was a widow, and John Mark was most likely a teenager at Pentecost. The Jerusalem church met house to house, but one of their larger gatherings was in John Mark’s house. Because he grew up without a father around, and because Peter pastored the church in John Mark’s house (for his teenage years at least), the two of them had a special relationship. Peter even called him his own son (1 Peter 5:13).
John Mark had a front row seat to much of the drama and danger the first church experienced. When Peter was arrested, imprisoned, and miraculously released, the church was meeting in John Mark’s house, praying for Peter’s miraculous deliverance. In fact, when the angel did spring Peter, Peter found himself out on the streets of Jerusalem as a wanted man, in the middle of the night. Looking for safety, he went to the site of the prayer meeting, knocked on John Mark’s door, and in a familiar story, was briefly left outside while those inside conferred about the likelihood of God actually answering prayer.
It was after that humorous event that John Mark went on the church’s first authorized mission trip. There had been other missionaries before of course, but those went in the field as a result of persecution, not planning. This time it was different. The church met, and separated Paul and Barnabas to go to the Gentiles. They also sent along John Mark. Perhaps because he had two names (John being Jewish, Marcus being Greek—Acts 12:25 implies this was a factor), and perhaps because he was Barnabas’ cousin (Colossians 4:10), he was sent to be Paul and Barnabas’ assistant (literally, their servant, Acts 13:15).
The trip was to Cyprus, Perga, Iconium, and Atallia. Churches were started in a dramatic fashion (see Acts 13-14). But the trip was also filled with hardships and persecution. They experienced beatings, hunger, and rejection, and it seems the toil was too much on John Mark, who left and returned to Jerusalem.
One is left to wonder what John Mark’s reaction must have been to the reception that Paul and Barnabas received after their journey. They retuned to the church in Jerusalem like military heroes, telling stories of how God was reaching the Gentiles and the wonders that they experienced. We are left to imagine if John Mark shared in their rejoicing, or if he was disappointed that he was not still with them when they returned.
After the council in Acts 15, the church decided to recommission Paul and Barnabas and send them back to strengthen the churches. This would be the last conversation we know of between Barnabas and Paul. Barnabas insisted that his cousin be given a second chance, and be allowed to serve them again. Paul steadfastly refused. He refused to go with Mark, out of fear that he would desert again. Barnabas and Paul were so committed to their view on this, that they parted ways. The elders of the church took Paul’s side and commissioned him (and Silas), while Barnabas and John Mark went their own way quietly.
It is interesting that through this separation, God was at providentially at work. Paul lost John Mark, but gained Silas. Also, two verses after John Mark and Paul parted, Paul met Timothy, who became his son in the faith. Moreover, Luke grew in prominence as well (note the shift in Acts from the third person to the first person). Through this parting of ways, the Holy Spirit ended up brining not only Timothy to Paul, but also ensuring that both Luke and Mark would write separate gospels.
The Lord may have directed John Mark away from Paul, but he was not done with him. Some how, he reunited with Peter and continued his relationship with him. Can you imagine a better person to disciple John Mark than Peter? FF Bruce points out that it is difficult to envision a more suitable pair of influences for John Mark than Peter (who knew a thing or two about failure) and Barnabas (the son of encouragement).
It is possible that Paul and John Mark met again in Galatia, but that is not recorded. Somehow though, the two of them were reunited. As Paul’s ministry was interrupted by his arrest, he found himself with some interesting company. He told Philemon, “Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers” (23-24). Luke obviously remained with Paul, but somehow Paul gave Mark another chance (along with Demas!). Paul called those men his “fellow workers,” which gives Mark an upgrade from the title of “servant” he carried with him when he defected earlier.
And Mark proved to be faithful to the end. In Paul’s final NT epistle, 2 Timothy, he found himself facing what he surmised to be likely death. He was confined in jail, and with no friends and without even suitable clothing to survive. He turned to Timothy, his true son in the faith, and he made a few requests. He pleaded for his jacket, for books, and also for the parchments (a reference to the Gospels of Luke and Mathew?).
But that is not all. He implored Timothy: “Do your best to come to me soon. For Demas, in love with this present world, has deserted me and gone to Thessalonica…Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry.”
Twenty years or so had gone by since Paul had split from Barnabas over John Mark. But now that he was older, alone, and eager to be with the Lord, his last request is to see Mark again.
Think of all that has changed in those 20 years. Galatia was the final frontier in Acts 15, but now the gospel has gone to Rome, to Africa, to Cyprus, to Corinth, and to Crete. And John Mark went from the man who abandoned Paul on the first missionary journey, to Paul’s fellow worker, and finally to the one Paul wanted to see last.
It is generally agreed upon by evangelical scholars that Mark did come to Paul in Rome, and that Paul was released, and then journeyed to Spain. Mark, however, did not accompany him. Rather, he stayed behind in Rome until Peter arrived. There he served with Peter (1 Peter 5:13), and wrote the gospel that bears his name.
If the early church witness is to be believed (and I think it is credible), John Mark stayed in Rome when Nero reigned, and after Paul left he ministered with Peter until Peter was martyred, then he went to North Africa, where he finished his course pastoring a congregation there. He eventually followed Paul and Peter to the grave, being martyred under Nero while in Alexandria.
When reading the Gospel of Mark, it is helpful to remember that Mark knew what it was like to be persecuted. He knew that Christians were contending for their lives under Nero, facing wild animals in the coliseum. When he records Jesus saying that there will be persecutions, and Jesus will not return to rescue his followers from them until the gospel went to ends of the earth, it is essential to see those words through the pen of one who saw the man who raised him killed for his faith.
But even more personally, John Mark knew what it was like to fall away, and what it was like to be restored. He served with Peter, and he served with Demas. He knew there were two ways his own failure could go, and praise be to God that Paul went to his grave looking at Mark as a man who was “useful in the ministry.”
