It wasn’t just a disagreement. It was a showdown that ended in both men, once fast friends, turning away from each other for the balance of their lives. They never see each other again because of their bitter feelings over a person Paul considered to be a deserter and virtual traitor while Barnabas not only defended him but fought to give him a second chance.
Who was this young man causing the permanent split between two heroes of the early church? John Mark. He has an interesting story—especially for early failures and late bloomers.
His mother, Mary, was wealthy and influential. Her home was the central meeting place for the early church, so as a young man Mark was surrounded by the apostles and leaders of the movement. Mark had access to relationships and rare advantages. A young man could not have had more exposure to faith, miracles, heroic figures and the first days of the greatest events in the history of the world.
Still, Mark was weak and afraid. He ran naked from Gethsemane. He quit Paul and Barnabas when conditions were difficult. He disappointed and let down the ones who took a risk on him, and he was the cause of a permanent rift between two close friends.
After the friendship split, Paul returned to visit the churches he and Barnabas planted, while Barnabas traveled to Cyprus and was ultimately stoned to death as a martyr. Here we lose track of Mark for almost 10 years, and we know nothing about that period of his life. However, given his pattern of running and quitting—and weakness—we would not expect much of him. Mark was a cushioned and protected species like so many who grow up with advantages and opportunities but are not able to handle adversity. It would be logical to predict that he would likely fade away and self-destruct as a child of privilege with unused potential.
But we would be wrong because after the 10 years had passed, Paul says to Timothy, “Be sure to bring Mark with you because he will be so helpful to my ministry. Everyone else has deserted me.”
What happened? In those silent 10 years, Mark had attached himself to the one person in his
life – Simon Peter – who could relate completely to a young man who had deserted and failed his
friends – and betrayed others. In Peter, he finds a father, a fellow sinner and a friend. But something else happened. Mark began to write down Peter’s recollections of Jesus, and in doing so he was changed.
Malcolm Gladwell writes in “Late Bloomers” that late bloomers appear to be failures when they are young. “Late bloomers bloom late because they simply aren’t much good until late in their careers.”
As well, early failures need a patron – someone with the patience and empathy to stick with them. They need someone to see them through the long and difficult times when no one else believes in them. Early failures can only find their best work after trial and error.
Mark didn’t become good at something until later in life. His life looked more like a failure until he was almost 50. Mark needed a patron – someone who had the patience and empathy to believe in him. He needed someone to help him find his true work and give him a worthy task to accomplish.
What did Mark discover as he wrote the Gospel? He discovered himself and a Jesus that changed his life. Peter’s flaws were the same as his, and Peter’s Christ became his. In “The Jesus I Never Knew,” Philip Yancey writes, “Jesus, I found, bore little resemblance to the Mr.Rogers figure I had met in Sunday School. He was the undomesticated Lion of Judah.”
Sent by Peter to Alexandria, Egypt, to become the first bishop of the Coptic church, Mark – the former coward, deserter and weakling – is horribly martyred by being dragged for two days behind a horse until his skin is torn off his body. Many years later it is said that the founders of the city of Venice in Italy, wanted a saint’s relics, so they steal his head and take it back to Venice. There it becomes the most precious relic of one of the most famous cathedrals in the world – St. Mark’s. Mark becomes the patron saint of Venice.
But here is what I find interesting. Something he would have never believed and we could have not predicted when we first met him. The early church gave him the symbol of the winged lion, and it is the flag of Venice still today. It is a symbol of power, authority and strength. The Lion holds the scroll because he is the author of the earliest gospel and the inscription reads, “Peace to thee, Mark, my evangelist.” Peace and courage – not fear and running away. It is the same boy who ran away and then became a lion – just like Jesus the Lion of Judah in his gospel.
Don’t ever count anyone out. God doesn’t. In Mark we can celebrate the redeeming of early mistakes, the forgiveness of failure and God’s ability to give the young and spoiled the hearts of lions.