Great ‘Failures’ of the Bible (part 3)

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Title: Great ‘Failures’ of the Bible (part 3) ------------------- Date: 1/3/2003
Keywords: “John Mark”
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Passages: Acts 12:25; 13:5,13; 15:37-39; 2 Timothy 4:11*

12:25. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark.

13:5. And when they reached Salamis, they began to proclaim the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews; and they also had John as their helper.

13:13. Now Paul and his companions put out to sea from Paphos and came to Perga in Pamphylia; and John left them and returned to Jerusalem.

Moving forward to preparations for the second missionary journey...

 15:37. And Barnabas was desirous of taking John, called Mark, along with them also.

15:38. But Paul kept insisting that they should not take him along who had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not gone with them to the work.

15:39. And there arose such a sharp disagreement that they separated from one another, and Barnabas took Mark with him and sailed away to Cyprus.

2 Tim. 4:11. Only Luke is with me. Pick up Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for service.

Questions

1. Why do you think Barnabas and Saul took John Mark on the first-ever missionary journey?

 

2. How did John Mark perform?

 

Practical help

John Mark was a blood relative of Barnabas. While we don’t doubt that he was a good man, he was not fit for the rigors of the persecution and hardship he faced on the first missionary journey.

As Acts 13 tells the story (and as the story is confirmed in Acts 15), John Mark turned tail and deserted Barnabas and Saul just when the going got really tough. He failed. A spectacular failure!

He lost his nerve, abandoned his post, and left two guys to "go it alone" in hostile territory.

What does God do with a guy like John Mark? He rehabilitates him!

2 Timothy, the last book written by the apostle Paul (formerly Saul - the one who refused to take John Mark on the second missionary journey because of his failure on the first one!), contains a plea to bring John Mark to him. Paul is in prison, and he says that John Mark is "useful for service."

God restored John Mark to usefulness after he crashed and burned earlier in life. EXXit reader, there is hope! If you are caught in the web of porn, admit that your lustful visits to those out-of-bounds web sites are a failure — but they are no greater failures than John Mark’s desertion on the first missionary journey!

If God can restore John Mark, He can and WILL restore you to usefulness, too!

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*"Scripture taken from the NEW AMERICAN STANDARD BIBLE®, © Copyright The Lockman Foundation 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995. Used by permission."