John Mark, the traditional author of our gospel, was not an apostle, but he was on the fringes of the group that followed Jesus. He is first mentioned in Acts 12:12—“When this dawned on him [Peter], he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying.” Mark was a nephew of Barnabas (Colossians 4:10) and the spiritual son of Peter (1 Peter 5:13). Mark joined Paul and Barnabas in A.D. 50 for the first missionary journey (Acts 13:5), but he turned back at Perga (Acts 13:13). Paul and Barnabas had a falling out over this (Acts 15:37-39). In Colossians 4:10, though, (a letter written twelve years after the falling out) we hear that Mark is back in Paul’s good graces. In 2 Timothy 4:11 (Paul’s last letter before his death in A.D. 68) he says, “Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry.”...
Please login to read more.
Introduction, Outline, Bibliography