Consolation and Comeback

“Barnabas wanted to take along John Mark” (Acts 15:37).

The Bible tells the truth. It doesn’t gloss over inconvenient details, even when it relates to the stories of those we know as the heroes of the Faith.

At the end of Acts 15, we read of two church leaders at odds. Two big guys are having an argument.

Paul and Barnabas had been partners in the missionary ministry for years. They were blessed and sent out from the Antioch assembly, commissioned by that group according to the leading of the Holy Spirit.

A variety of cities and towns heard the Gospel from them. The message of salvation, by grace through faith, had been carried through the region of Asia Minor, territory that is now called Turkey. This duo had been harassed and beaten. Still, they went on as soldiers of the Lord.

After the milestone meeting in Jerusalem at which the Apostles and other leaders confirmed that the only way to salvation is “through the grace of the Lord Jesus” (see Acts 15:11), things were set up for a great furtherance of the Gospel. The believers were renewed in their commission to reach the ends of the earth.

At this time, Paul had a suggestion. “Let’s go back and visit the brothers and sisters in every town where we have preached the Word of the Lord and see how they’re doing” (Acts 15:36).

A Breakup

Barnabas was all for it, and he wanted to bring along his cousin, John Mark. This young man had been a part of the first traveling party that was prayed for and sent out from Antioch.

That voyage began with a trip to Cyprus. It was rugged work that was fraught with opposition. The devil was intensely active, so active that there came a moment when Paul called down a curse of blindness on a sorcerer. The episode astonished many and prompted several to believe in the Lord Jesus.

However, the whole experience seemed to freak out John Mark for he “left them and went back to Jerusalem” (Acts 13:13).

Barnabas thought Mark was worthy of a fresh opportunity. Paul was of another opinion altogether. He viewed Mark as something of a deserter; the previous AWOL incident bothered Paul to such a degree that it prompted such “a sharp disagreement that they parted company. …” (Acts 15:39).

Luke, the writer of Acts, kept this story in his account. His gospel record began with this commitment to his readers: “It seemed good to me … to write to you in an orderly sequence … so that you may have certainty. …” (Luke 1:3-4). This writer was an honest journalist. He would report the facts as he heard them and understood them.

That brings me to the point of this message: Is our God a God of second chances? The story of John Mark reveals that He most certainly is.

“… And Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed off to Cyprus” (Acts 15:39). Paul teamed up with Silas and traveled toward Syria and Cilicia.

This is the last mention of Barnabas in the book of Acts. Let’s avoid the temptation to read too much into that detail. Did this man’s ministry somehow fade into oblivion? Not at all. Remember, Luke continued to follow after Paul. He wrote what he heard and saw. He cataloged things meticulously with historical points and geographic specifics.

Rhetorically, Luke knew how to fine-tune a story. So that’s what he did. His writings are carefully concentrated and they have held up under academic scrutiny over the centuries.

What of Barnabas, whose name means “son of consolation”?  I suggest that he got busy in helping this man, John Mark, become all that he was to become in the purposes of the Lord.

As Paul approached his execution under the order of Roman emperor Nero, Mark was one of the people he most wanted to see. Share on X

Barnabas took Mark back to Cyprus. There, he could see the lingering effects of what God did on that island. Mark had to have remembered the effect of the Gospel on the people during his first trip. Now he could see the eternal and everlasting nature of the movement of God.

John Mark later became a close disciple of Peter who referred to him at the close of 1 Peter – “Your sister church here in Babylon sends you greetings, and so does my son Mark” (1 Peter 5:13). This man wrote what is considered the earliest of the gospels, the one that bears his name. Much of the detail contained in that gospel came to Mark from the Apostle Peter.

Even Paul came to recognize Mark as “useful” as he writes in one of the last sentences of 2 Timothy – “Luke alone is with me. Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry” (2 Timothy 4:11).

As Paul approached his execution under the order of Roman emperor Nero, Mark was one of the people he most wanted to see.

Unsung Heroes

There are people we read about in the Bible that seem to come up short, and we sort of leave them there.

One of these people is Job’s wife. She was a broken-hearted woman who’d lost 10 children and now looked at her husband plagued with boils. She blurted out to Job, “Curse God and die.” Her husband gently chided her for “speaking as a foolish woman.”

What happened to this wife? The Scriptures say Job was blessed with 10 more children. And I believe he had them with this very wife. Abraham has children by women other than Sarah and these women are known – Hagar and Keturah. Nothing is said about Job taking a second wife. So, this wife went through 10 more pregnancies and deliveries and had what Job 42 called the most beautiful daughters in all the land. And their names are recorded for us –“

And then there is Martha. Many only relate to this follower of Jesus as the one who was often too busy, the women who was cumbered about many things while her sister Mary sat at Jesus’ feet (see Luke 10:41-42). In that passage, Jesus told her that Mary had chosen the good thing at that time.

But did Martha have to become a Mary to worship and serve the Lord? John 12 tells us she did not. “Jesus six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; and Martha served …” (John 12:1-2)

I am putting these before us to reveal that failure is never final with the Father. John Mark ran home to his mother Mary. He was young and frightened perhaps, but he was not finished in the ministry of the Lord.

John Mark ran home to his mother Mary. He was young and frightened perhaps, but he was not finished in the ministry of the Lord. Share on X

Yes, the rest of the book of Acts will reveal the successes and triumphs of Paul in his missionary endeavors. Along with him were other young disciples – Silas and Timothy among them.

Thriving churches would sprout as the Lord gave the increase in places such as Philippi, Corinth, and Ephesus. He was a pioneer and a prophet delivering the words that God communicated through him.

And still he remembered Mark. A man like Paul, living and leading in his way, may have left a young man like this defeated and devastated.

Barnabas, however, had different, though equally valuable gifts. He cared. He was generous and gentle enough to lead Mark into greatness. In fact, we must not forget that it was Barnabas who sought out Paul in Tarsus and brought him to Antioch. He was the first to recognize the genuine faith at work in the Apostle to the Gentiles.

Each of us can be like this son of consolation. We can encourage and build up people in the most holy faith.

Jude, another of Jesus’ half-brothers, wrote a short letter that contained this great phrase: “And some have compassion, making a difference” (Jude 22).

Barnabas made a difference, a big difference. And so may each of us as we love and encourage each other with the Spirit of grace and the Finished Work.

Yes, “Finished!” is the Work of God in the area of our salvation and sanctification. One day soon God will announce, “It is done.” Then, all of us will be one in Him, basking in the glow of the New Jerusalem with its throne occupied by the King of kings.

Come quickly, Lord Jesus. Please.