The writer of the second book of the New Testament was named John Mark; he did not tell anything about himself, the only mention is in the title,
“The Gospel of Jesus Christ according to Mark.” He was not one of the twelve apostles.
In another book, The Acts, his full name is given, and we learn that he lived in Jerusalem, and that many people who loved the Lord met at night in his mother’s house to pray. It was a time of great danger for those who believed in Jesus, because the leaders of the temple had killed some, and Peter had been put in prison.
But while they were praying, Peter came to the house and told how an angel came to the prison and led him out. Mark probably was a young man when he heard the earnest prayers, and the words of Peter telling how he had been freed by the angel.
Mark loved the Lord Jesus, and not long after that night he went with two men to other lands, and was their servant, or helper, while they told people of Jesus as Saviour. After a time Mark went back to Jerusalem, but he again journeyed with one of the men. Later Paul wrote for him to come to Rome, saying,
“He is profitable to me for the ministry.”
The word “ministry,” or “minister,” in the Bile did not mean the same as now used: it meant service, or serving others, and it was not a high place, but a humble one, as Jesus told His disciples,
“If any man desire to be first, the same shall be last, and servant of all.” Mark 9:35.
It is not written what Mark did as a servant to Paul or others, but he someway helped that the gospel, the good tidings of Jesus, was told to many. Perhaps the greatest work which the servant Mark did for others, was writing the gospel of the Lord Jesus, as the Holy Servant for God, which his book tells of especially. It is the shortest one of the gospels.
Read these verses about Mark Acts 12:12-25; Acts 13:5; Acts 15:39.
How many chapters in Book of Mark?
What men wrote of themselves as “servants?” (See Romans 1:1; James 1:1; 2 Peter 1:1; Jude 1,1; Revelation 1:1).
ML 01/02/1944