John Mark had a history of trust issues.
By his own admission, he fled the Garden of Gethsemane so
fast that he left his clothes behind. His account of the Crucifixion is sketchy
in details, as if he himself watched from afar (in contrast to John’s account
from the very foot of the cross). The oldest manuscripts of Mark end with a
huge question mark over an empty tomb.
The next we hear of him, it is at his mother’s house where
Peter shows up at a prayer meeting being held on his behalf. Such was the lack
of confidence and trust in that house, that the servant girl does not open the
door for Peter when he arrives, but goes to find others.
John Mark went with Saul and Barnabas on their first
missionary journey, as “a helper” (Acts 13:5). He travels with them, seeing the
Lord work through them and having adventures. But soon he leaves the apostles
to return home to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13); he missed out on the subsequent
spread of the Gospel throughout the region—and also the opposition and abuse
the apostles endured.
In Acts 15 we learn that Barnabas (who was Mark’s cousin, by
the way) wished to give John Mark a second chance, but Saul (now called Paul)
would not agree, and in the end Paul and Barnabas parted company, going to
separate regions for ministry.
Some time later Paul said to
Barnabas, "Let us go back and visit the brothers in all the towns where we
preached the word of the Lord and see how they are doing." 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, but Paul chose Silas and left,
commended by the brothers to the grace of the Lord.
Acts 15:36-40, NIV
Paul did not think it wise to take him. Why not? Based on
his past “desertion” of the apostles. Paul did not trust John Mark. Barnabas
did, to the point where Paul and Barnabas, who had been together from the
beginning, went their separate ways. This was the same Barnabas who had risked
trusting Saul/Paul when no one else wanted to give him a chance:
When [Saul] came to Jerusalem, he
tried to join the disciples, but they were all afraid of him, not believing
that he really was a disciple. But Barnabas took him and brought him to the
apostles. He told them how Saul on his journey had seen the Lord and that the
Lord had spoken to him, and how in Damascus he had preached fearlessly in the
name of Jesus. So Saul stayed with them and moved about freely in Jerusalem,
speaking boldly in the name of the Lord.
Acts 9:26-28
The Bible is always so refreshingly honest about its heroes.
Neither John Mark nor Paul may be faultless in this incident. It is not for us
to judge Paul or John Mark or even Barnabas for his choice in separating from
Paul. The point is that there were trust issues amongst Gospel workers.
The missions and ministry communities can be very
transitory. While I have lived in Nigeria for twelve years, the missions
community has shrunk due to increasing hardships and danger on the field. I
have seen family after family depart the field. Most had completely valid
concerns; others fulfilled a short term commitment and went back to their home
countries; others just seemed to have “drawn back”, although it is not my place
to judge. Whatever the reason, they leave a void on the field as far as the
work is concerned, and they leave behind relationships.
In any transitional community, the tendency amongst those
who are there longest can be to insulate themselves, to withhold from investing
in relationships that may not last. Newbies are looked upon with detachment;
and even those who have been there for a long time, who decide that it is time
for them to retire or change ministries, can be viewed with reserve.
When John Mark left Saul and Barnabas in Pamphylia, they lost
their helper, but they also lost a friend in a context where true friends may
have been hard to find. Christianity was in its infancy. They were its
pioneers, taking the Good News to synagogues in cities that had barely heard of
the Nazarene who was crucified and was rumored to have risen from the dead—if
indeed they had heard that much. Even with the power of God with them to do
wondrous signs, and seeing people come to faith in serendipitous numbers, the
loss of one of their company who had even been an eyewitness with Jesus and the
disciples must have been hard.
Not only that, but he had, after all, run away before. His
account of Good Friday through the Crucifixion seems to hold an emphasis on the
things Jesus had to say about abandonment and betrayal. Read alongside the
other accounts, Mark’s seems to personalize Christ’s predictions more than
John, Matthew, or Luke (who probably relates Peter’s account):
While they were reclining at the
table eating, he said, "I tell you the truth, one of you will betray me--
one who is eating with me."
They
were saddened, and one by one they said to him, "Surely not I?"
Mark 14:18, 19
"You will all fall away,"
Jesus told them, "for it is written: "'I will strike the shepherd,
and the sheep will be scattered.' Mark 14:27
But Peter insisted emphatically,
"Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you." And all the others said the same. Mark
14:31
When he came back, he again found
them sleeping, because their eyes were heavy. They did not know what to say to him. Mark 14:41 (emphases mine)
Finally, the moment arrives. Jesus announces that His
betrayer has arrived, Judas arrives with a kiss, and after a pathetic attempt
at sword fighting which Jesus Himself puts a stop to,
… everyone deserted him and fled. A
young man, wearing nothing but a linen garment, was following Jesus. When they
seized him, he fled naked, leaving his garment behind. Mark 14:50-52
While his name is not given, most scholars agree that the
“young man” was the author of the book—John Mark. It is actually an astonishing
literary device to emphasize in an understated way his shame and grief at his
perceived cowardice. He “was following Jesus” (how heartbreaking that word,
“was”). But so great was his hurry to escape the fate Jesus was facing that he
left his designer (for linen was costly) shorts behind, and ran home in his
birthday suit—a story that was surely hard to live down.
No wonder Paul mistrusted Mark, who wouldn’t?
Barnabas, on the other hand, was family. He had more of an
investment in seeing Mark succeed in discipleship. And it was his nature to
encourage, and to give others the benefit of the doubt.
In the long run, Mark proved himself worthy of that trust.
Years later, when Paul is in prison he writes to the Colossians, giving
greetings and commendations to various people he expects them to meet:
Col 4:10 My fellow prisoner
Aristarchus sends you his greetings, as does Mark, the cousin of Barnabas. (You
have received instructions about him; if he comes to you, welcome him.) …These are the only Jews among my fellow
workers for the kingdom of God, and they have proved a comfort to me.
Mark’s reputation must have been such that Paul feels
compelled to remind the Colossian church that all has been forgiven. Mark has
made it to a short list of friends:
Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in
Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas and Luke,
my fellow workers. Philemon 1:23, 24
Not only that, much later during his final imprisonment,
Mark is one of the most faithful, one whom Paul calls for during a time when
friends are getting scarce:
Do your best to come to me quickly,
for Demas, because he loved this world, has deserted me and has gone to
Thessalonica. Crescens has gone to Galatia, and Titus to Dalmatia. Only Luke is
with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my
ministry. 2 Timothy 4:9-11
Mark also is found working alongside Peter, close enough to
be called “my son” (I Peter 5:13). And finally, it is the Lord Himself who put
the seal of faith in Mark when He called Mark to write what may be the oldest
written account of the life and ministry, death and resurrection of Jesus
Christ from his apparent intimacy with Jesus’ family and/or early followers and
his own eyewitness experiences.
Of course, not everyone will prove trustworthy. Nor will
everyone work through their trust issues (Paul still decries his “abandonment”
in 2 Timothy, even though he has apparently forgiven Mark). But there are some
pearls to be gleaned about trusting others in ministry relationships.
- People make mistakes. Just as David and Moses and Paul had their foibles, so do we, and so do the people we minister with. Yes, we are held to a higher standard if we serve the Lord vocationally. But that does not preclude grace.
- There are trust issues among those who work for the Gospel, and there may not necessarily be someone who is right and someone who is wrong. Was Barnabas right to split up a partnership the Holy Spirit had inaugurated, in order to bring Mark along? Some would say he was wrong, and the fact that the Bible account follows Paul, not Barnabas, seems to bear that out. But if “time will tell”, then Barnabas was right. Paul was the highest-standard guy; Barnabas was the second-chance guy. Each person has to decide for themselves what is right for their ministry. So often, preferences are given the strength of convictions that it is easy to judge others and not take into account that God has called us to different things.
- God is not finished with those we judge to have failed us. Mark had many valuable years of service ahead, in spite of his early failings. Maybe those early failings motivated him to sharpen his focus later in life and overcome his reputation as an unreliable troublemaker. He was valuable to Peter (himself acquainted with failure) and Paul, and he continues to have an awesome ministry to us today as we read the words he was privileged to pen, which became part of the Holy Word of God.
- There is a bigger picture we may not see. Faithfulness is judged over a life span, not by a moment. Samson, with all of his spectacular mistakes, finished his life well and was counted in the Hall of Faith in Hebrews 11. (If we are honest, would we have counted him in? Or Gideon, or Barak, or Jephthah? See Hebrews 11:32.) The smaller story of Mark’s life—his abandonment of Jesus in the garden—could have defined his life, but Mark did not allow it to. Instead we remember him as Saint Mark, the Evangelist. Can we, like Barnabas, “believe all things” about those we work with?
- It would seem that history (as given in the Bible) is on the side of grace where ministry relationships are concerned. Questionable Mark continues to minister up to this day through the Word. God can and does work in surprising ways, through surprising people—like us.
--Meredith DeVoe
Jos,
Nigeria, January 2017
