Ray Stone
John Mark was the writer of the second Gospel account, yet he remains one of the more obscure Bible characters, easily overlooked. As with many such characters, there are several vignettes—brief glimpses—of his life from which we can learn some valuable lessons. Let’s see what we can learn!
Our first glimpse of Mark by name is Acts 12:12, though he may well have appeared earlier anonymously, in the Garden the night of Jesus’ arrest: His Gospel account is the only one of the four that recounts an incident there regarding a young man who (in one preacher’s words) “donated one linen cloth to the Roman Army!” Read about it in Mark 14:51-52. Its unique appearance in his Gospel may suggest Mark was relating his own experience there as a young man—maybe only a teenager.
As Acts 12 opens, Herod had killed the apostle James and imprisoned Peter (vv. 2-3). The Christians in Jerusalem had gathered for prayer “in the house of Mary the mother of John whose surname was Mark…” (Acts 12:12). He surely sported some pretty impressive credentials among the early Christians: His mother was a prominent member of the group, as shown by her home being the gathering-place in times of emergencies. Another influential member of this same family was her brother Barnabas. Barnabas would later become closely involved with the apostle Paul (then known as Saul), vouching for him to the Jerusalem church shortly after Paul’s surprising conversion (Acts 9:27); introducing him to the Gentile work in Antioch (Acts 11:26); finally becoming Paul’s partner in his first missionary journey (Acts 13:2). These two were close; and John Mark was this man’s nephew, “sister’s son” (Col. 4:2). Remember that relationship, for it would complicate an unfortunate situation years later.
After Barnabas and Paul began working together among the Gentile Christians at Antioch, a local famine occurred which hit the Judean area especially hard. In perhaps the first organized benevolent work of the church, these two men were chosen to carry relief to the elders at Jerusalem for distribution as needed (Acts 11:29-30). There they picked up John Mark, perhaps to serve as a protege, and the three made their way back to Antioch to continue their work there.
Opportunity sometimes knocks when you least expect it, and you need to be ready. John Mark was related to the right people, and was in the right place at the right time, to be invited to work directly under the great apostle Paul! But he had prepared himself by building his Christian character such that Paul could see his potential too. And on the way back to Antioch and in the days following, he impressed Paul even more. So when the Holy Spirit singled out Paul and Barnabas to go on that first missionary adventure, they brought “also John Mark as their attendant” (Acts 13:4-5). I suppose we could consider this something of an apprenticeship intended to further train John Mark for mission work. This would become a pattern with the apostle Paul—we see it with Timothy (Acts 16:1-3), we see it with Titus (Gal. 2:1), we see it with Silas (Acts 15:40). Paul took seriously the task of training others to carry on without him and after him (see 2 Tim. 2:1-2), so was nearly always with a pupil. John Mark was privileged to be the first—the opportunity of a lifetime!
But John Mark walked away from it. He was with them as they sailed to the island of Cyprus on the first leg of that journey (Acts 13:4-5). He witnessed the first negative reaction to their mission in the person of the false prophet Elymas (v. 8); he saw Paul work his first miracle as an apostle, striking the man blind to stop his opposition to their work (vv. 9-11). John Mark was still with them when they sailed from Cyprus back to the mainland at Perga to continue their quest. But there, the young man faltered. At Perga “John departed from them” (Acts 13:13).
We’re not told why, nor any details of the separation. Perhaps he had become homesick. Note that he returned not just to Antioch where they had been working, but all the way back to his home town of Jerusalem. Perhaps the confrontation with Elymas had shaken him—yet today young Christians, even new preachers, can be unnerved the first time they encounter unexpected resistance or downright open opposition to the truth. For whatever reason, John Mark was after all not ready for the opportunity given him.
And this is the first grand lesson we can learn from John Mark: Don’t quit! “No man, having put his hand to the plow, and looking back, is fit for the kingdom of God” (Luke 9:62). “My righteous one shall live by faith: and if he shrink back, My soul hath no pleasure in him” (Heb. 10:38). This was John Mark’s mistake.
The road gets long, discouragements pile up—no faithful Christian is immune to this. Paul’s advice in such circumstances is simple: “…forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” (Phlp. 3:13-14). This doesn’t say you’ll never fail—failures are part of the process of learning and growing. You’ll have things that don’t work out; projects that don’t succeed. We don’t read of any church established in Berea, nor Athens, in spite of Paul’s work in them (Acts 17:11, 16-17). These were some of Paul’s failures. The admonition is not “Don’t fail” but “Don’t quit.” Know that Satan is always delighted to see a Christian quit—it’s what he works for constantly. A recent internet comment would seem to be adaptable to this point: “When Satan whispers in your ear, You’ll never survive the storm, whisper back: I am the storm.” “Be strong” (1 Cor. 16:13). In Heb. 13:5-6 we have our Lord’s solemn promise: “I will never leave thee, nor forsake thee. So that we may boldly say, The Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me” (Heb. 5-6). Don’t quit, see it through; you’ll never regret it.
Besides John Mark’s own self-inflicted loss, imagine the effect this had on the others: “None of us liveth to himself” (Rom. 14:7); even younger ones influence their elders. Imagine How Uncle Barnabas felt, after encouraging him to come; how Paul felt, after extending such an opportunity to a young man to mentor under them. No matter the ultimate reason, he had betrayed their confidence—and you know it had to hurt, besides once again hindering the work ahead. We’re not told any of that, of course; we can’t know how John Mark’s decision affected the others—at least, not yet.
Maybe a year later, “And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do” (Acts 15:36)—a follow-up journey. It was a good idea, and Barnabas was on board with it. But then, he proposed bringing John Mark with them again—and finally, we learn just how important Paul considered his turning back the first time: “But Paul thought not good to take him with them, who departed from them from Pamphylia, and went not with them to the work” (v. 38). The Greek grammatical construction here is revealing: it actually says he “thought it good, not to take him.” The Greek word good means “deserving, suitable, due.” An accurate rendering might be “It’s right to leave him behind; he doesn’t deserve to go.”
Now Paul and Barnabas were at loggerheads. It is clear they were dealing with a difference of opinion, not doctrine: Barnabas “was minded” to bring his nephew along; Paul “thought” they shouldn’t—both expressions of judgment. Nonetheless, they held very different views of what was best for John Mark, and for themselves and their work; and they each felt very strongly about it! This was not a doctrinal matter; they had no inspired guidance on it. As always in such cases, it was incumbent upon them to talk it out and hammer out a compromise they both could live with. That’s what Christians do—or should. Perhaps Paul had expected too much of the young man, and needed to cut him some slack. He could have said, “I don’t think it’s a good idea, but he’s your nephew, you know him better than me—we’ll try him again, but I’ll hold you responsible for him!” Or perhaps Barnabas was guilty of nepotism, exercising a double standard for a blood relative. He could have said, “Well, you’re the apostle, I’ll check my opinion to you; perhaps we can take him another time.” But that’s not what we read. “The contention was so sharp between them, that they parted asunder (Gr. “with violence”) one from the other…” (Acts 15:39). Exactly what should never have happened, no matter how much one or the other had to compromise. Should we be so surprised, then, to see it happen between well-meaning brethren today? It is shameful, but don’t get to thinking you’re immune to it it. “Let him that thinketh he standeth take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10:12). Take a lesson: Be on your guard; do whatever you must to avoid getting crosswise with a brother or sister—in matters of opinion, of judgment.
Which one was wrong, Paul or Barnabas? We must conclude, both were guilty of sin. It doesn’t say “Barnabas parted asunder from Paul” nor “Paul parted asunder from Barnabas” but “they parted asunder one from the other…” Both had a meltdown that could have—should have—been avoided. The only real positive out of this is that the work itself didn’t suffer: Neither of them said I just won’t go then! Acts 15:39-41 informs us “Barnabas took Mark with him, and sailed away unto Cyprus,” their original plan (v. 36), “but Paul chose Silas, and went forth…through Syria and Cilicia,” starting at the other end of their former journey. (I’ve often wondered, what happened when they inevitably met in the middle of that trip? Surely cooler heads had prevailed by then!)
But let’s not leave John Mark just yet: Consider how hard it must have been, to hear that great apostle say “You had your chance, and blew it—I don’t intend to take you again.” How hard it must have been, to see two close friends and fellow-workers have such a falling-out, a winning team broken up, because of him! the temptation must have been great, to quit—run back home to Jerusalem—again. But here John Mark begins to redeem himself, for he didn’t allow that to discourage him. He was willing, even eager, to try again, to prove himself, having resolved his earlier issues. Surely that’s evidence of the basic soundness of his faith: Committed Christians can’t be driven off with a stick! They keep coming back, trying again, looking for another opportunity, until they finally get it right.
And then, almost anticlimactically, his final redemption: We don’t know when or how, but Paul eventually changed his mind about John Mark. At the end of his life, from a Roman prison cell, he wrote 2 Timothy 4:9, entreating Timothy to come to him—“I need you”—and “Take Mark, and bring him with thee; for he is useful to me for ministering” (v. 11). “I need Mark, too!” From “Good not to take him” to “Bring him with you; he’s useful to me.” Mark had to be proud of that triumph, of winning back Paul’s confidence in him.
So what can we learn from John Mark?
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When a golden opportunity arises, pause to “count the cost”—can you handle it; are you ready for it? If so, go for it. But it may be better to say “not yet” than to say later “I wish I’d waited a little longer, learned a little more, taken the time to further develop my abilities first.”
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When discouragements come as you work toward a worthy goal, quitting isn’t the answer. You may have to try a different approach, or a different time, or maybe even set that goal aside and go after another, but don’t just quit; it easily becomes a habit.
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When others give up on you because of your failures, don’t give up on yourself-—God won’t! Failure doesn’t have to be permanent. After all, God chose John Mark to write the 2nd account of the Gospel! Take a lesson and go on, a little wiser, determining to not make the same mistake twice.
Learn from John Mark!
