Friday, October 27, 2017

The Gospel According To Mark. Day 1, The Gift Of A Second Chance

The author of the book of Mark is generally believed to be the John Mark of Acts 12:12, a man whose mother Mary was a prominent and influential woman in the early Christian community at Jerusalem. He was a contemporary of the Apostle Peter and likely a young convert of his, since Peter refers to Mark as "my son". (1 Peter 5:13) Mark was a cousin of Barnabas, a friend of the Apostle Paul. The Apostle Paul took Mark, along with Barnabas, on some of the missionary work, although Paul and Barnabas ended up having a sharp disagreement over Mark in Acts 15:36-41 because Mark abandoned the mission while the men were preaching at Pamphylia. Later on, when Paul and Barnabas decided to revisit all the towns where they had formerly preached, Barnabas wanted to take his cousin Mark with them, but Paul no longer trusted him. The Bible tells us, "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 believers to the grace of the Lord. He went through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches." (Acts 15:39-41)

The Bible never informs us why Mark cut his missionary trip short. The gospel writer Luke simply says, "From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John left them to return to Jerusalem." (Acts 13:13) This "John" is the same one Luke refers to as "John Mark". (He is not to be confused with the Apostle John who was a son of Zebedee and the brother of the martyr James.) Some mainstream Bible scholars think Mark had no problem with performing missionary work in Jewish territories but that he balked at the idea of bringing the gospel to the Gentiles. This might explain why he returned to the church at Jerusalem instead of moving on through the Gentile regions with Paul and Barnabas. Paul tells us in Galatians 2:7-8 that he was chosen by God to be an apostle to the Gentiles in the same way that Peter was chosen by God to be an apostle to the Jews. If Mark considered the Gentiles unclean, as a number of his fellow countrymen did at that time, he may have felt his gifts were put to better use at Jerusalem than in the Gentile regions.

Other scholars speculate that Mark left the mission because he was young, inexperienced, and afraid for his life. The work was fraught with perils. The Apostle Paul provides us with several examples of what he himself endured on his missionary journeys, "Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one. Three times I was beaten with rods, once I was pelted with stones, three times I was shipwrecked, I spent a night and a day in the open sea, I have been constantly on the move. I have been in danger from rivers, in danger from bandits, in danger from my fellow Jews, in danger from Gentiles; in danger in the city, in danger in the country, in danger at sea; and in danger from false believers. I have labored and toiled and have often gone without sleep; I have known hunger and thirst and have often gone without food; I have been cold and naked. Besides everything else, I face daily the pressure of my concern for all the churches." (2 Corinthians 11:24-28) Faced with all these dangers, it's possible that young Mark may have begun to doubt his own calling in the Lord. He might have felt safer at home in Jerusalem with his mother and with the fellow believers who held church at her house.

Whatever Mark's motivations might have been, Paul no longer trusted him. He wasn't sure Mark was made of the right stuff. He was afraid that when the going got tough Mark would take off again. Barnabas naturally wanted to offer his cousin Mark a second chance, so he and Paul argued over the matter and ended up parting company because they could not come to an agreement. The Apostle Paul eventually experienced a change of heart regarding the character of Mark. As Mark grew in age he grew in the faith. He labored tirelessly and fearlessly in the gospel work, so much so that Paul wanted him with him near the end of his life. In his final letter to Timothy, Paul instructed, "Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry." (2 Timothy 4:11b) Because Mark had proven himself faithful, Paul wanted to extend the hand of fellowship to him.

Barnabas offered Mark a second chance and helped him to fulfill his calling in the Lord. In time Paul too offered him a second chance in the ministry. But most of all, the Lord Himself offered Mark a second chance. Mark was helpful not only to Barnabas and Paul, but also to the Lord, for He chose Mark to write one of the four gospels. It is now believed by Bible scholars and historians that Mark's gospel was likely the first gospel written, not Matthew's gospel. This reveals to us just how much our Lord is able to redeem and restore! He is the God of second chances! We don't know what caused Mark to leave the missionary work for a time, but God offered him the gift of a second chance. God chose him to write the first gospel account of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Where would Mark have been if the Lord had not offered him a second chance? We would be missing an entire book of the New Testament. Where would we be if the Lord had never offered us second chances? We wouldn't be sitting here right now studying the Scriptures together if the Lord, in His infinite and indescribable mercy, had not looked on us with love and offered us the gift of a second chance.

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