The bible as well as church history are full of examples that prove that failure need never be the last word in our lives. John Mark in the New Testament is a great example of someone who failed in his early years but was spiritually restored and went on to become immensely useful to the apostles.
JOHN MARK (Acts 13; 15:37-39; Colossians 4:10, 11; 2 Timothy 4:11)
John Mark, often just called Mark, is the author of the gospel of Mark. He is first mentioned in Acts 12:12 as the son of a woman called Mary (there are six Mary’s mentioned in the NT). Some scholars suggest that since the incident of a young man fleeing naked into the night following Jesus’ arrest is only mentioned in Mark’s gospel (Mark 14:51–52) that the young man in question was Mark himself. He would then have been in his teens.
- Firstly, we can consider his early years. In Acts 12:12 we are told that his mother’s house (his father may well have died) was used as a place for early believers to gather and pray. Some speculate that it was the same house that Christians gathered in when the Holy Spirit came down at Pentecost. Mark clearly came from a wealthy family. In Colossians 4:10 we are told that Mark was the cousin of Barnabas, the son of encouragement. In Acts 12:25 we are told when Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark. It was AD 44 (the year James was martyred) and Mark would have been in his early thirties. In Acts 13:5 as soon as the church at Antioch were challenged by the Holy Spirit to release Paul and Barnabas to missionary service they took John Mark along with them as their helper. They went to Cyprus which was where Barnabas came from (Acts 4:36). As we read Acts 13 the mission to Cyprus was exciting – a sorcerer, Elymas was beaten in spiritual combat which was used of the Lord to bring the Roman proconsul (Sergius Paulus) to faith in Christ (Acts 13:12). What a triumph of the gospel. Mark must have thought that with such a promising beginning things could only get better. Sadly this was not so!! From the happy isle of Cyprus the team sailed to Perga (13:13). No ministry is recorded in this cosmopolitan city. In 13:14 we simply read that Paul had climbed to Pisidian Antioch. Why did Paul not stay and minister in Perga? A few years later when he wrote his letter to the Galatians he said in Galatians 4:13 as you know, it was because of an illness that I first preached the gospel to you . . . even though my illness was a trial to you, you did not treat me with contempt or scorn . . . if you could have done so you would have torn out your eyes and given them to me. Paul got sick in Perga, a sickness that badly disfigured his face in some way. It also explains the need to climb 3500 feet above sea level to Pisidian Antioch and the cool air of the Taurus Plateau. Scholars suggest that he may well have contracted malaria. It was at this point when Paul needed John Mark the most that the young man chose to abandon the team and sail home (Acts 15:38). Until Perga the missionary party had been riding the crest of a wave. The gospel was conquering all before it. Now in Perga things suddenly got a lot tougher. Perhaps this is why John Mark abandoned the journey.
- Secondly, in Acts 15 we are told that a few years later Paul and Barnabas decided wanted to revisit the churches planted during their first missionary journey. In vrs 37-39 we read Barnabas wanted to take John, also called Mark, with them, but Paul did not think it wise to take him, because he had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in the work. They had such a sharp disagreement that they parted company. Barnabas took Mark and sailed for Cyprus. Clearly, Paul felt John Mark’s desertion very keenly and did not forget but Barnabas the master encourager saw potential in Mark. He felt so strongly about the issue that he was prepared to split up their missionary partnership. Barnabas took John Mark to Cyprus and we don’t hear anything about John Mark until around the year AD 62. Clearly these were important years in Mark’s spiritual maturing and development.
- Thirdly, in Colossians 4:10; Philemon 24; 1 Peter 5:13 and 2 Timothy 4:11 we have the last references to John Mark in the NT and they are all exemplary. Paul wrote Colossians and Philemon around AD 62 and with him in Rome was John Mark. Paul sent Mark’s greetings to Colossae and then says you have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him. I am sure those instructions were as follows; “listen, I know Mark deserted us some years back, but he is a different man now. If he comes, forget his past and welcome him – you will be glad you did.” Then in Colossians 4:11 Paul says that Mark along with a man called Justus have proved a comfort to me. A year or so later when Paul was nearing the end of his life he wrote to Timothy and said in 2 Timothy 4:11 get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry. What a wonderful transformation of a missionary failure to one Paul can describe as a comfort and a helper. The lesson is never to give up on someone who fails. That might not be the last word in their Christian story. Mark did not just have close ties with Paul but he also was a companion of Peter. In 1 Peter 5:13 we see that Mark was with Peter in Rome. Papias, a Christian leader writing in AD 140 said that Mark was the person who wrote down all of Peter’s remembrance of his time with Jesus. The result of this collaboration is of course the Gospel of Mark. We need to be encouraged that the Lord could use Mark, a spiritual failure, and turn him around to become someone who was a blessing to both Peter and Paul. If he could do it for Mark he could do it for anyone.