Mark #95

Mark, also called John Mark, was an early Christian from Jerusalem who worked with Barnabas, Paul, and Peter. He is the traditional author of the Gospel of Mark, the shortest of the four Gospels and, in the view of most modern scholars, the earliest. The Gospel itself does not name its author, so the identification depends on early tradition and on the New Testament references to Mark.

Biblical Significance

Acts first mentions him as the son of a woman named Mary, in whose Jerusalem home the church was praying when Peter was released from prison (Acts 12:12). Colossians calls him “sister’s son to Barnabas” (Colossians 4:10). Barnabas and Saul brought him back to Antioch from Jerusalem and took him with them on the first missionary journey as their assistant (Acts 12:25; 13:5). At Perga in Pamphylia, however, he left them and returned to Jerusalem (Acts 13:13). The text does not say why. Suggestions include homesickness, fear of the difficult route, or disagreement over the mission’s direction, but these are guesses.

When Paul and Barnabas planned a second journey, Barnabas wanted to take Mark again. Paul thought it unwise because Mark had deserted them, and the disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took Mark to Cyprus (Acts 15:36-40). That is not the end of the story. Years later, Paul lists Mark among his fellow workers who were a comfort to him (Colossians 4:10-11; Philemon 1:24) and, near the end of his life, asks Timothy, “Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry” (2 Timothy 4:11). Peter also calls him “Marcus my son,” writing from “Babylon,” which many understand as a code name for Rome (1 Peter 5:13).

Legacy

Papias, a bishop writing in the early second century and quoted by Eusebius, said that Mark was Peter’s interpreter and wrote down accurately, though not in order, what Peter remembered of Jesus’ words and deeds. Many scholars find this consistent with the vivid, action-filled style of the Gospel, while some doubt how much weight Papias’s report can bear. Some readers have also wondered whether the unnamed young man who fled naked at Jesus’ arrest was Mark himself (Mark 14:51-52), but the text does not say so.

Later tradition says Mark founded the church in Alexandria and was martyred there, and the Coptic Church honors him as its first patriarch. His relics were later taken to Venice, whose symbol is the lion of St. Mark. In the New Testament he is remembered as proof that a person can fail early and still be restored to useful service.