Learning about the disciples of Jesus had been an interesting study for me because I don't recall any teachings on what the bible has to say about them other than the familiar stories we read about them. For example, we all know the one where Peter denied Jesus after Jesus had been arrested by Roman soldiers. So this study has brought me a little closer in knowing what other information about them we could learn from the bible and perhaps reports that written by others during and after their ministries.
It was interesting to me to find that the Apostle Mark, was not one of the ordinal twelve disciples. A fact I had never known until now and that his name was actually named John Mark. He was a Levite, a native from Cyprus and owned land. ( Please note that other sources I found may differ from these facts.)
He was the son of Mary, whose home was used for prayer meetings.
He became known as the Evangelist and of course, wrote the book of Mark for which it is named.
Early on, he went with Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary trip. There was a disagreement and he returned home which caused the two to split up due to what were Paul feelings that Mark had abandoned them. Acts 15:36-41.
However, Mark did eventually become an important part of Paul's life and was mentioned in one of Paul's final letters while Paul was imprisoned and right before his death.
Other interesting facts about Mark's gospel:
He was the son of Mary, whose home was used for prayer meetings.
He became known as the Evangelist and of course, wrote the book of Mark for which it is named.
Early on, he went with Paul and Barnabas on their first missionary trip. There was a disagreement and he returned home which caused the two to split up due to what were Paul feelings that Mark had abandoned them. Acts 15:36-41.
However, Mark did eventually become an important part of Paul's life and was mentioned in one of Paul's final letters while Paul was imprisoned and right before his death.
Other interesting facts about Mark's gospel:
- It is the shortest gospel of the four
- It is the only gospel that tells of the healings of the deaf and dumb of Tyre, 7:31-37 and the blind man at Bethsaida, 8:22-33
- Throughout his gospel, Mark's focus is more on Christ's power over demons, illness, death and so on.
- His gospel is written much in story form and his account of the coming death of Jesus in the garden, where Jesus is alone and on through to where he, suffering on the cross cries out to why his Father has forsaken him, is very passionate.
- His gospel is associated with the lion. He begins it with a reference to Isiah which reminded the early church of a roaring lion, roaring in the desert.
“I will send my messenger ahead of you, who will prepare your way—a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him.”
There is more you can learn about Mark and his gospel at: 2 Timothy 4 NIV - In the presence of God and of Christ - Bible Gateway and The Story Of The Storytellers - The Gospel Of Mark | From Jesus To Christ | FRONTLINE | PBS if you are interested.
As to his death, I was not able to find out much about that without doing a more exhaustive study. However, Wikipedia references it this way:
When Mark returned to Alexandria, the pagans of the city resented his efforts to turn the Alexandrians away from the worship of their traditional gods.[citation needed] In AD 68, they placed a rope around his neck and dragged him through the streets until he was dead.[30]
As with Mathew and others whom we don't know of how they died, that, of course, is not the important factor in their lives. That he became a minister of the gospel and followed Christ was. It resulted in his own eternal home when arriving there, as well as those that he led to Christ under his ministry.
Witnessing to people is not easy to do. Christians can be guilty of not telling others about their hope in God. I have been guilty of that. And yet there are those out there that are starving for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Many do not even know it. It is our duty to tell them of Jesus. Because some will never know if we don't.
I thank you for coming here today and hope you have a blessed weekend. I want to let you know that something has come up that may prevent me from posting for Sunday and Monday. If you get here those days, and I have not posted the next disciple, please be assured that I will be back on Tuesday with some information about our next disciple: Luke. Was he one of the 12? What about Mathew that wrote the book of Mathew? I always thought they were. Do you? I will try to find out that information for Tuesday blog if not before then. Tell then God bless!
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