DAVE Rebbettes - The Life of John Mark - Jesus youngest disciple

well hello everybody i'd like to talk today about another biblical hero and i'd like to start our story in the north african town of cyrene you can see where that is on the map right here now cyrene was an ancient greek and then roman town in what is modern-day libya it was actually the oldest of the five greek cities in the region and these five cities together were called the pentapolis and we know of a few people in the bible from cyrene when jesus stumbled with the cross a man called simon from cyrene was pulled from the crowd to help carry the beam he became a follower of jesus by the way and his son rufus also became a follower of jesus rufus is mentioned in mark and in romans and quite an amazing church sprang up in cyrene after this we know of at least six godly elders that were from that church these are the ruins of cyrene today you can see the amphitheater and the temple to the god zeus it was a very green city it was built on a beautiful spring now in this city there lived a reasonably well-off greek man by the name of aristopulus it's widely believed that he was involved in politics and he dealt with many romans at quite a high level he met and he fell in love with a jewish girl from the priestly tribe of levi her name was miriam or mary which is the same name and they set up house together in the city they soon had a son who was given two names the first name jochenan or john now john was the most popular jewish man's name and his second name was marcus marcus was the most popular greek man's name later on in life he also was given a nickname and that nickname was clobber dactylus what a horrible greek word columbodactylus simply means stubby fingers short fingers and perhaps tells us a little bit about the stature of our man more about that later perhaps now john mark or just mark was the author of the second of the gospels inside our bibles now the indigenous population of north africa at the time were a group of people called the berbers b-e-r-b-e-r sometimes called the numidians and these berbers rebelled continuously against roman rule and one of the cities that found itself regularly under their assault was the city of cyrene and due to these troubles many people left the city and it was precisely at this time that aristobulus and miriam left also they decided to go to her home country which was israel they settled in this place just outside nazareth it's the northern galilean town of cana jesus would have been somewhere around his early twenties at the time and mark would have just been a toddler jesus actually lived three or four miles away southwest in nazareth and cana is the first town where we have a recorded miracle of jesus taking place at a wedding well this family did quite well for themselves they bought a large house in jerusalem and would have divided themselves between living in the north in galilee and living in the south in jerusalem mark's father dies sometime during this period so our bibles refer to the house in jerusalem as john mark's mother's house this is very likely the house of the last supper there is a house in jerusalem today that is celebrated as the house of mark's mother but there really is no evidence that this is the place at all now after jesus death peter was arrested and he was due to be executed by herod agrippa and angels helped him to escape from the prison and he escaped to this house the other disciples were actually meeting in the house at the time praying for peter imagine their surprise when there was a hammering on the door and peter walked in all of that happened at this house this house became the first house church in jerusalem it was a regular place where they gathered for prayer i suspect that mark's family became followers of jesus as they heard him preach around galilee as they lived in that area they certainly became fervent followers this is the house where immediately after jesus death the disciples gathered and jesus appeared to them now at this time john mark was a youngster a young teenager he was at the house in jerusalem on the night of the last supper how do we know this well we know it by carefully reading mark's own account of that night and the arrest of jesus in gethsemane it reads this and immediately while jesus was still speaking judas one of the twelve with a great multitude with swords and clubs came from the chief priests and the scribes and the elders now his betrayer had given them a signal saying whoever i kiss he is the one sees him and lead him away safely and as soon as he had come immediately he went up to jesus and he said to him rabbi rabbi and he kissed him then they laid their hands on him and took him and one of those who stood by drew his sword and struck the servant of the high priest and cut off his ear then jesus answered and said to the crowd have you come out as against a robber with swords and with clubs to take me i was daily with you in the temple teaching and you didn't seize me then but the scriptures must be fulfilled and they all forsook him and his disciples fled he goes on to say now a certain young man had followed them having a linen cloth thrown around his naked body and the soldiers laid hold of the young man and the young man left and fled leaving the linen cloth he fled naked well there really can be no other explanation than this was mark saying i was there this story only appears in the gospel of mark he was saying i witnessed it as a youngster he'd watch the proceedings in the upper room from a distance he'd seen them leave for gethsemane he grabbed a shawl and he'd sneaked out but he'd fled terrified of being caught up in the arrest well what else do we know about mark he was the cousin of barnabas now barnabas was a colleague of paul according to acts 13 the church at antioch was fasting and praying when a prophet speaking by the holy spirit said set apart for me barnabas and saul for the work to which i have called them barnabas then proposed his young cousin john mark come with them as a helper and paul agreed to this and halfway through that first missionary journey they traveled around cyprus and they were now in modern day turkey and as they approached the town of pergamum they started to head up into the mountains and mark or john mark just left them and he returned home we don't know why john mark went home perhaps he grew sick some say he grew fearful it was certainly a dangerous area maybe there had been a personality clash whatever the reason he just up and left now when it came to take a second missionary journey paul said this to barnabas he said come let us return and visit the brothers and sisters in every city where we previously proclaimed the word of the lord and we'll see how they're getting on and barnabas agreed to this but again he wanted to take his cousin mark with them but paul didn't like that idea he said no didn't like the way he'd left the first time and with complete honesty the account in the bible tells us that paul and barnabas had a minor altercation in some translations it says they had a sharp contention in other words they had a bit of a row and as a result barnabas himself refused to travel with paul and he and mark left together and did their own thing in cyprus what we do know is that it all got patched up paul ends up writing some wonderful things about mark he greatly valued mark in the end later in one of paul's letters to timothy he says send mark to me please he is so helpful to me in my ministry so john mark was a great friend of paul in the end cousin of barnabas he was also a great friend to the apostle peter now it is reported outside the bible that mark lost his way in his faith and that peter helped him find it again the apostle peter had a very interesting life he knew jesus very well called out by jesus the future rock of the church on the night of jesus betrayal peter denied jesus three times and he whipped bitterly over that fact the fact that he'd let jesus down and not stood by him they had a very emotional reunion after jesus resurrection peter was arrested by herod agrippa as we said earlier miraculously rescued by angels escaped later on went to antioch travel all the way through modern-day turkey asia minor at the time he made it to rome preaching and teaching and somewhere on these journeys he asked mark to help him as an interpreter mark was quite literate and he wrote down many of peter's sermons and indeed mark's gospel has been called by some the gospel according to peter because so much of it is in peter's own words it was from peter that mark learned his stories and his stuff it was peter that asked mark to go to alexandria and preach the gospel there peter called mark his son which implies that he was the one that had baptized mark possibly we know from the writings of eusebius that mark acted as an interpreter for peter during this period non-biblical accounts tell us that in 1849 he did indeed travel to alexandria and mark founded the church there and he's been honored as the founder of christianity in north africa now let's look at alexandria alexandria was a vital and really important city it was the second greatest city in the roman empire outside of rome it was all of the rome alexandria was founded in bc by alexander the great the king of macedon and the leader of the greek league of corinth an egyptian village named rockettis previously existed at this location and it grew into the egyptian quarter of the city of alexandria alexandria itself grew rapidly to become an important center of greek civilization and it remained the capital of egypt and the capital of the roman empire in north africa for almost a thousand years alexandria was really well known for its lighthouse the lighthouse of alexandria called faros on an island the island was called faros just off the coast it was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world alexandra had a great library it was the largest library in the ancient world the necropolis that's where wealthy people are buried became another ancient wonder quite a bit of the city is now under water as you can see from these photographs alexandria was the intellectual and cultural center of the ancient mediterranean alexander himself wanted to build a large greek city on the north african coast that would bear his name he personally chose the site and he envisioned the building of a causeway to the nearby island of faros that would generate two great natural harbours now this is an overlay of the map of ancient alexandria together with an overlay of the modern coastline and you can see one becoming the other this is how our historian describes the alexandria story now all of this was 15 years or more after the death of jesus and the resurrection of jesus and let me read from his account he says this and in the 15th year after the ascension of christ peter sent mark the father and evangelist to the city of alexandria to announce the good tidings there and to preach the word of god on the gospel of the lord jesus christ to whom is due glory honor and worship with the father and the holy spirit and the one god forever amen the people of alexandria were in great error and had given themselves completely to the service of idols and in the worship of the creature instead of the creator and they had many temples to their gods and mark was the first who preached in the province so when mark left rome and after he'd completed his missionary journey with barnabas he came and preached in the pentapolis that's the five cities roman cities in north africa but at the time did not include alexandria so he preached the word of god in the pentapolis and he showed many miracles for he healed the sick and he cleansed the leper and he cast out devils by the grace of god which descended upon him and many believed in the lord christ through him and broke their idols which they used to worship and he baptized them in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit and the one god and so the holy spirit appeared to him and said to him rise and go to the city of alexandria to sow there the good seed which is the word of god so the disciple of christ arose and set out being strengthened by the holy spirit like a combatant in war and he said goodbye to the brethren and he took leave of them and said to them the lord jesus the messiah will make my road easy that i may preach to alexandria and preach his holy gospel there so mark journeyed to the city of alexandria and when he entered in at the gate the strap of his shoe broke and when he saw this he thought now i know that the lord has made my way easy then he turned and he saw a cobbler there and he went to him and he gave him the shoe that he might mend it and when the cobbler received it and took an awl a sharp metal tool to work upon it they all pierced his hand so he said theos the interpretation of which is god is one and when mark heard him mention the name god he rejoiced greatly and said oh my lord jesus it is you that makes my road easy everywhere i go and then he sput on the ground and he took from it clay and put it in the place where the all had pierced the cobbler's hand saying in the name of the father the son and the holy spirit the one living and eternal god may the hand of this man be healed at this moment that the holy name may be glorified and then this hand at once was healed and mark said to him if you know that god is one then why do you serve these other gods and the cobbler answered him we mentioned god with our mouths but that is all we do not know who he is then mark said to him i will help you to see him now this man's name was ananias and mark made him the first elder of alexandria now those that had believed in the lord were multiplied and the people of the city heard that a man who was a jew and a galilean had entered the city wishing to overthrow the worship of the idols their gods and had persuaded many to abstain from serving them and they sought him everywhere and they appointed men to watch out for him at this mark departed from amongst them and went to the pentapolis and remained there for two years preaching and appointing bishops and priests and deacons in all of their districts then he returned to alexandria and found that the brethren had been strengthened in the faith and had multiplied by the grace of god and had found means to build a church in a place called the cattle pasture which is near the sea mark greatly rejoiced at this and he fell upon his knees and blessed god for confirming the servants of the faith after 20 years mark was martyred in alexandria and it goes on to say that he preached with great freedom but the unbelievers in the city became angry because people were turning away from the pagan gods and they seized him and they bound his feet with cords they dragged him through the streets behind a horse over craggy places and they dragged him to a place called bucheles it was a precipice near the sea and they left him in a lonely prison for the night and he said it says that he said his great and beloved master appeared to him in a vision comforting and encouraging him under the ruins of his shattered body early the next morning the tragedy began afresh and they dragged him about behind the horse in the same cruel and barbarous manner until he died well what can we learn from our young champion just a few short simple things number one mark could have chosen an easy life he was part of a well-off family they had servants they had money he was set up but he and indeed it seems his mother chose to put christ before all of that mark never settled down and enjoyed his earthly inheritance indeed he put it all at risk to set up treasures in heaven he was more interested in pleasing god and serving jesus than protecting his birthright and his wealth and that he knew that would turn only into rust he was not interested in wealth that would last just a fleeting moment number two he was full of action and he portrayed a jesus who was always on the move and full of action as well he was an example of someone who started full of action and ended full of action so here is a lesson for the middle aged amongst us sometimes you have the energy to start active but that doesn't continue into later life for some it doesn't and for others it does i have a good example of this in my own dear dad my dad found jesus in his twenties and he was full of zeal for the lord full of energy for the lord and today in his eighties he's full of zeal and he's full of energy for the lord like mark let's let our lights continue to shine bright let us not wane let's stand firm to the end remain faithful remain fruitful amen and god bless you

Channel: Brian Rebbettes

Views: 10,069

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Length: 21min 44sec (1304 seconds)

Published: Wed Aug 19 2020