00:00:01 He is famously the object
00:00:03 and not the subject of a Bible account.
00:00:07 We easily sympathize with him
00:00:12 because we can understand his emotions and feelings at the time.
00:00:17 Yet, his response
00:00:20 is that which provides a powerful life lesson
00:00:24 in our service to God.
00:00:26 We’re introduced to him in the book of Mark chapter 14
00:00:33 —Mark chapter 14, beginning in verse 50.
00:00:39 Verse 50 picks up the account
00:00:41 of Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane.
00:00:44 And we read of the 11 faithful apostles:
00:00:48 “And they all abandoned him and fled.
00:00:53 “However, a certain young man
00:00:55 “wearing only a fine linen garment over his naked body
00:00:58 “began to follow him nearby,
00:01:00 “and they tried to seize him,
00:01:03 but he left his linen garment behind and got away naked.”
00:01:07 The young man in this verse
00:01:10 is understood to be John Mark,
00:01:13 and notice John Mark’s outstanding quality.
00:01:18 When the apostles all fled,
00:01:21 it says John Mark followed “nearby.”
00:01:26 What tremendous courage of this young man!
00:01:29 While the great men, the apostles, fled,
00:01:33 Mark stayed and he followed nearby.
00:01:37 Now, interestingly, we know that Peter eventually also followed.
00:01:41 But notice this about Peter in verse 54:
00:01:45 “But Peter, from a good distance, followed.”
00:01:50 John Mark followed nearby.
00:01:53 In this we see not only the courage of John Mark,
00:01:56 but we also see his devotion to Jesus.
00:02:00 To what extent he knew Jesus
00:02:02 or had interactions with Jesus, we don’t know.
00:02:05 But he did have some.
00:02:07 And his devotion and courage for his Master is unquestionable here.
00:02:13 The Scriptures also describe Mark, John Mark,
00:02:16 as “a strengthening aid” and “a great comfort.”
00:02:18 Those were the observations of him later in his life.
00:02:22 And we do know from the Scriptures that John Mark
00:02:24 worked in the background for some very big personalities
00:02:29 —the apostle Paul, the apostle Peter,
00:02:33 and Barnabas.
00:02:35 John Mark initially caught the attention of the apostles
00:02:38 —of Paul and Barnabas— when he was in Jerusalem.
00:02:42 Paul, or Saul at the time, and Barnabas
00:02:46 came there in 46 C.E.
00:02:49 And they took John Mark with them to the exciting assignment of Antioch,
00:02:54 where Christianity was beginning to flourish,
00:02:57 and John Mark was brought along with them.
00:03:00 Later, in the year 47 C.E.,
00:03:03 John Mark was selected to go with Barnabas and Saul
00:03:06 on the first missionary tour.
00:03:08 It’s described for us in the book of Acts chapter 13.
00:03:14 At Acts 13:4, 5, it says:
00:03:18 “So these men [that is, Barnabas and Saul],
00:03:21 “sent out by the holy spirit, went down to Seleucia,
00:03:25 “and from there they sailed away to Cyprus.
00:03:28 “When they arrived in Salamis, they began proclaiming the word of God
00:03:31 “in the synagogues of the Jews.
00:03:33 They also had John as an attendant.”
00:03:37 John Mark
00:03:39 —he is described here as “an attendant.”
00:03:42 The footnote says “an assistant.”
00:03:45 The writer of Acts used a very interesting word here for “attendant,”
00:03:48 and it’s a Greek word that literally means “an under-rower.”
00:03:53 An under-rower was a man who worked below the decks
00:03:57 on a large Roman naval vessel.
00:04:01 He would be below deck, he would have to row in unison
00:04:05 (in cooperation) with his fellow rowers,
00:04:07 and he would have to follow the pace set by the captain.
00:04:12 Why would this term be used for John Mark in this instance?
00:04:15 Well, a clue comes from verse 4, where it says:
00:04:18 “They sailed away to Cyprus.”
00:04:21 So the metaphor of an under-rower
00:04:24 now takes on greater meaning.
00:04:27 Incidentally, the same term is used by the apostle Paul
00:04:30 when he refers to himself as a servant of God,
00:04:33 or an attendant, in 1 Corinthians chapter 4.
00:04:36 Why would that be significant?
00:04:38 Why use it in 1 Corinthians?
00:04:40 Because in one of the bays next to Corinth,
00:04:43 the large ships of the Roman navy took port there.
00:04:47 And so, again, the metaphor
00:04:49 of the under-rower would take on great meaning.
00:04:54 Well, the infamous event
00:04:56 occurred in Acts chapter 15
00:05:00 —the event John Mark was an object of.
00:05:06 Notice in Acts chapter 15,
00:05:09 beginning in verse 37, it says:
00:05:12 “Barnabas was determined to take along John, who was called Mark.
00:05:16 “Paul, however, was not in favor of taking him along with them,
00:05:20 “seeing that he had departed from them in Pamphylia
00:05:24 “and had not gone with them to the work.
00:05:26 “At this there was a sharp burst of anger,
00:05:29 “so that they separated from each other;
00:05:32 and Barnabas took Mark along and sailed away to Cyprus.”
00:05:37 Denied an opportunity, denied a privilege,
00:05:41 what does Mark do?
00:05:44 It says he “sailed away [with Barnabas] to Cyprus.”
00:05:48 Mark kept active in Jehovah’s service.
00:05:53 How does he do that?
00:05:56 John Mark was not so concerned
00:05:59 about a lost privilege
00:06:01 that he failed to appreciate the opportunities that were in front of him.
00:06:07 Well, while he’s sailing away and working, what’s Paul doing?
00:06:12 Verse 40 says: “Paul selected Silas.”
00:06:16 Verse 41 says: “He went through Syria and Cilicia,
00:06:19 strengthening the congregations.”
00:06:22 Now, as you carry on in chapter 16, we find him arriving
00:06:26 in Derbe and Lystra,
00:06:28 and verse 1 says
00:06:31 he met Timothy, a disciple.
00:06:33 In verse 3, what happens?
00:06:35 Paul expressed a desire for Timothy to join him
00:06:42 —Mark’s replacement.
00:06:46 Interestingly, as Paul now begins to travel with Timothy,
00:06:50 we find that the apostle Paul writes
00:06:52 to the Thessalonians within a year.
00:06:55 And at 1 Thessalonians 1:1,
00:06:58 Paul’s greeting is from Paul, Silas, and Timothy.
00:07:03 Second Thessalonians too is
00:07:05 from Paul, Silas, and Timothy.
00:07:08 I wonder how Mark is feeling at this point.
00:07:13 Five years later, he writes to the Corinthians.
00:07:15 And, again, now it’s from Paul and Timothy.
00:07:20 During all this time, where Timothy is rising, what’s Mark doing?
00:07:25 He’s rowing.
00:07:27 Mark is continually, faithfully serving Jehovah.
00:07:30 Eleven years later, in the years 60 C.E. to 61 C.E.,
00:07:33 when Paul was in Rome, who was with him?
00:07:36 John Mark.
00:07:39 And when Paul wrote letters to various congregations,
00:07:41 he describes John Mark.
00:07:44 In fact, in one of the letters in sending greetings (this is in Colossians),
00:07:48 he makes reference to the fact that he had wanted to send John Mark
00:07:52 as a personal representative to the congregations.
00:07:57 And that indicates to us what kind of man Mark was
00:08:00 and what reputation he had.
00:08:03 A personal representative was someone who was deeply trusted,
00:08:07 and he would have to represent Paul before the congregations that he would visit.
00:08:12 That is the reputation of John Mark.
00:08:15 You know, there’s no record in the Scriptures of the challenges
00:08:19 that John Mark faced in his ministry.
00:08:21 There are no shipwrecks, no beatings, no hunger, no left-for-dead for John Mark.
00:08:26 But there is one challenge that he faced that is shared with us.
00:08:30 And that is his difficulty, or the challenge,
00:08:33 with the apostle Paul—his brother.
00:08:37 And yet, clearly, there were no hard feelings between these two men,
00:08:41 even though there was a difference.
00:08:43 In fact, in Paul’s final words chronologically
00:08:46 in the book of 2 Timothy chapter 4 in reference to John Mark,
00:08:51 he tells Timothy: ‘Bring Mark.
00:08:53 He is helpful’
00:08:56 —the under-rower, John Mark.
00:08:59 Interestingly, for all that we know about Timothy,
00:09:02 there are no words recorded
00:09:05 of Timothy’s in the Scriptures.
00:09:08 And yet, John Mark wrote a Gospel.
00:09:12 And as a typical under-rower,
00:09:14 he never mentioned his name.
00:09:17 So when we put the pieces together
00:09:20 of what is shared of John Mark in the Scriptures,
00:09:22 we get a portrait of a man
00:09:24 who was (1) zealous for promoting the good news in the worldwide field
00:09:29 and (2) happy to serve others.
00:09:33 This alone is worthy of our imitation.
00:09:37 But there is more.
00:09:40 In your future, you may be the object
00:09:43 caught up in a Paul-and-Barnabas moment.
00:09:47 You may face changed circumstances
00:09:50 because of health or family issues.
00:09:54 You may be the one who has to work in the shadow of a Timothy.
00:09:59 A door may close for you
00:10:01 or be closed for you.
00:10:04 But like Mark, do not be so concerned about lost privileges
00:10:09 that you fail to appreciate the opportunities
00:10:12 that are right in front of you.
00:10:15 May you, like Mark, keep your heart
00:10:18 and your hands strong.
00:10:20 Keep them on the oars.
00:10:22 Work in unison.
00:10:24 Cooperate with your brothers and sisters for the Master.
00:10:28 May you, like Mark, be the under-rower.
