John Mark

JOHN MARK

Scripture references:
Acts 12:12, 25; 15:39;
Colossians 4:10;
2 Timothy 4:11; 1 Peter 5:13

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MARK’S LIFE AND TIMES

As a teen, Mark may have witnessed the capture of Jesus in Gethsemane (Mark 14:51–52). After the resurrection, Mark participated in prayer meetings of the young church held in his mother Mary’s home (Acts 12:12). He had another important Christian connection; his cousin Barnabas was one of the young church’s most notable leaders (Col. 4:10). It was not surprising that Mark should accompany Paul and Barnabas as a member of their team on their first missionary journey. However, for some reason, young Mark abandoned them and returned to Jerusalem (Acts 15:38). Later, when Barnabas wanted to take Mark on another missionary journey, Paul refused. Paul and Barnabas separated, and each led a separate missionary team. John Mark went with Barnabas.

Under Barnabas’s gentle tutelage Mark matured as a Christian. Years later, Paul asked Timothy to send Mark to him because “he is useful to me for ministry” (2 Tim. 4:1). Tradition tells us that Mark became the companion of Peter, who described him as “my son” (1 Pet. 5:13). The same tradition states that Mark related in his Gospel the stories he heard from Peter.

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MARK’S GOSPEL

Mark’s Gospel reflects the stories told by Peter in his ministry to the Jewish Diaspora (the Jews living outside the Holy Land). Yet Mark’s Gospel had a special appeal to the Roman mind.

The Romans who built and maintained an empire that surrounded the Mediterranean Sea—incorporating Europe and England, Egypt, and Asia Minor—were an eminently practical people. The Romans were people of action who appreciated decisiveness and strength of character. Mark’s portrait of Jesus, which tells His story briefly but with vivid scenes frequently linked by “then immediately,” appealed to the Roman mind. This Jesus was a Man of strength and honor, a Man of action, a Man with power and authority.

While Mark’s Gospel is the shortest of the four accounts of Jesus’ life and closely parallels Matthew’s Gospel in structure, it has a very different tone. Matthew presents Jesus the Messiah. Mark presents Jesus, the Man of action and authority, stripped of those details that were necessary to answer questions Jewish readers might ask. The Jesus of Mark’s Gospel was an attractive figure to the first-century Roman, a Man to whom one might confidently pledge allegiance and become His client, confident that Jesus would be able to protect and care for His own.

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MARK: AN EXAMPLE FOR TODAY

Mark at best is a peripheral character as far as the Gospels and Acts are concerned. Yet, he seems representative of many young people who come to faith early but grow into commitment only after a number of false starts or failures. From Mark we learn several important lessons about nurturing faith in young people.

•     Mark had many family and other links to Christian faith. Through them he was exposed to the gospel early in life. Mature believers need to help young people establish relationships with as many committed believers as possible.

•     Mark, in Barnabas, had a Christian friend who would not give up on him. Young people may fall short of our and their own expectations. We need not only to support them but also to give them additional opportunities to succeed.

•     Mark had a more significant role in God’s plan than anyone might have expected. When we invest in a young person, we never know how significant that investment might become!

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