Profitable for the Ministry

The Story

John Mark was a young man from Jerusalem whose mother’s house was a meeting place for the early church. When Paul and Barnabas set out on their first missionary journey, they took Mark along as their helper.

But partway through, when they reached Perga, Mark left them and went home to Jerusalem. The Bible doesn’t tell us why. Maybe he was homesick, afraid, or overwhelmed. Whatever the reason, he quit.

Later, when Paul and Barnabas planned their second journey, Barnabas wanted to give Mark another chance. Paul refused. He didn’t want to take someone who had deserted them. The argument got so sharp that Paul and Barnabas split up. Barnabas took Mark and sailed to Cyprus. Paul chose Silas and went another way.

That could have been the end of Mark’s story: the young man who failed.

But years later, Paul wrote from prison in Rome and mentioned Mark as one of his fellow workers. And near the end of his life, Paul wrote to Timothy, “Take Mark, and bring him with thee: for he is profitable to me for the ministry.”

Many believe this same Mark went on to write the Gospel of Mark.

Reflection