Acts 12

John Mark

John, whose surname was Mark. Acts 12:25.

At the time of Christ's death, there lived in Jerusalem a young man called John Mark. He lived with his mother, whose name was Mary, and he was known by a nickname which means “stump-fingered,” because he had had one or more of his fingers injured. Mary was a wealthy woman, and lived in a large house in Jerusalem. The house had an upper room which could hold many people. Mary was a Christian, and after the death of Christ, His followers used to meet in this upper room to pray.

John Mark knew very well all the apostles and Christians who lived in Jerusalem. Some of them were very poor, but others were rich. Those who were rich gave their money to the apostles to give to the poor, that all might be alike. John Mark had an uncle (some say a cousin) called Barnabas, who belonged to Cyprus. He was a man both very good and very kind. He had property, but he sold it all and gave the money to the apostles. News came to Jerusalem that there were some believers at Antioch, and Barnabas was sent there to preach to them, and he took Saul (afterwards called Paul) to help him.

Now there was a great famine in Jerusalem, and the Christians in Antioch took up a collection for the poor and sent the money to Jerusalem by Barnabas and Paul. No doubt they both went to Mary's house as usual when they were there; and when the time came for them to return, they decided to take back with them a companion. He was not to preach like the apostles, but to attend to them, to make arrangements for their journeys, to look for lodgings and buy their food.

Here was a chance for John. He wanted to go out into the world, and take part in the great work. His uncle was willing to take him, and no doubt his mother was proud to let him go. So he went with Paul and Barnabas to Antioch, and was what they called their “minister.”

After a time Paul and Barnabas were sent away on a missionary journey, and they took John Mark with them. They sailed first to the island of Cyprus, and preached there. Then they sailed to Asia Minor, and went inland to a place called Perga. From there they meant to go to a great many other places, preaching Christ. But at Perga John Mark left them and went back to Jerusalem. We are not told why he refused to go any farther. It was a long perilous journey that they meant to take, over the Taurus Mountains into a country where the inhabitants worshipped heathen gods. There were Jews in these heathen cities, but the Jews were the apostles' worst enemies, and to go to preach Christ was to risk their lives. Whether it was the dangers that frightened John Mark, or whether he had some other reason, we do not know. At all events he went back to Jerusalem.

That was what John Mark did with his first chance. We do not hear anything more about him for three or four years. Paul and Barnabas decided to go on another missionary journey and revisit those cities where they had been. They needed a “minister” to go with them again, and John Mark was very anxious to go. Perhaps he was sorry he had thrown away the first chance. Perhaps he saw now that the work of spreading the Gospel was worth all the suffering it might bring. Very likely he admired his uncle more than ever for what he had done, and he was eager to take part in the new expedition. He asked Barnabas if he would take him, and Barnabas agreed, but when they spoke to Paul he absolutely refused. He was indignant at the idea of taking a man who had deserted them. Perhaps Barnabas understood his nephew's reasons better, or perhaps he knew he was sorry, so he said to Paul, “Come now, let us give the boy another chance.” But it was no use, and the two friends actually quarreled over it. Barnabas stood by Mark. Paul chose a man called Silas to go with him. They went one way, and Barnabas and Mark another. So Mark got his second chance.

What did he make of his second chance? We do not know anything about that journey with Barnabas.

The New Testament tells us nothing of it. Many years after, however, Paul was at Borne, in prison, waiting to be tried, and expecting to be put to death. He was deserted by most of his friends, but writing to the Colossians he mentions among the few he has left, who are his fellow-workers and a comfort to him, “Marcus, sister's son to Barnabas,” and bids them receive him well if he comes to them. In another letter he speaks of “Marcus, my fellow-laborer.” And in the very last letter he wrote to Timothy, he says, “Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is useful to me for ministering.”

So Barnabas was right after all. There was good stuff in Mark. He was worth another chance. And Paul knew it now, and admitted it. Among his best trusted friends whom he longed to have near him at his death was John Mark, whom he had once refused to have anything more to do with.

Besides comforting Paul and being his fellow- worker, Mark was a great deal with Peter, who loved him so much that he spoke of him as “my son.” He is said to have been Peter's “interpreter,” that is to say, he translated the apostle's words, when he preached, into Greek. After Peter's death he wrote down all he could remember of the apostle's preaching about Christ, and this is our second Gospel, “the Gospel according to St. Mark.”

The New Testament does not tell us the rest of Mark's life; but tradition says that he went on preaching

Christ to the end of his days, that he became Bishop of Alexandria, and that he died a martyr's death. One story tells that when he was returning from a missionary journey to Aquileia his boat was driven by storms to the lagoons where Venice now stands. There it grounded on an island. And there an angel appeared to Mark and told him not to fear, for in that place there would one day arise to his honor a great city in which he would have many converts.

And so it came to pass. Some four hundred years after Mark's death the descendants of the converts whom he had made at Aquileia and other places near were forced by the Huns to flee for dear life. They landed where Mark's boat had stranded, and were among the founders of the city of Venice. Four centuries later still, in 829, the bones of St. Mark, as he was now called, were brought to Venice, and the magnificent Cathedral of St. Mark was built to hold them. There they rest to this day. And that great and glorious cathedral is a memorial to a man who took his second chance and turned a failure into a triumph.