At the beginning of his ministry, Paul did not give a second
chance to John Mark who for some reasons appeared to have deserted Paul and
Barnabas in the middle of their challenging journey (Acts 13:13; 15:36-39).
At the end of his ministry, Paul asks Timothy to bring Mark
along with him because by this time Mark was very useful to Paul (2Timothy
4:11). When did this reconciliation take place? We have no information.
In between these two sentiments, many years had passed and
tears of sorrow were shed. Both of these men had gone through the growth
pangs of spiritual maturity. Barnabas
had gone on to heaven and Paul was about to enter the glory. As he looks back, he wants to make sure he
sees John Mark in person before it is too late.
We are not sure whether Timothy and Mark reached Rome before Paul was
executed. According to the early church
historians, they were late to say goodbye to their spiritual father.
Paul leaves behind a legacy and an example of a greatest mentor
one can ever wish to have in life. Goodwill
to everyone and malice to none, Paul raised so many young men and women to take
up the mantle of his ministry. For sure,
many deserted him; many turned against him and did a lot of harm to him. But this was a man who could never forget
what Barnabas did for him.
If not for Barnabas, he would probably be lost in Tarsus or
in fact be discouraged in Jerusalem.
While all the apostles rejected him, Barnabas took chance with him and
compelled Peter and James to accept him in their company. Even after accepting him for a brief period
of time, they wanted to get rid of him and sent him to his hometown. For nearly five long years, no one really
knew what had happened to this young Pharisee in Tarsus. But again, Barnabas took the journey to
Tarsus and sought him out. Brought him
to Antioch, trained him for one year before taking Paul into the ultimate call
Jesus had prepared for him. For the
first time, when God began to use Paul in the Island of Cyprus, Barnabas must
have shed the secret tears of joy to see his junior being mightily used by
God. Realizing the hand of God in Paul’s life,
Barnabas began to take the back seat of leadership. Some believe that John Mark left the company
because he could not accept Paul becoming the de-facto leader instead of his
uncle Barnabas. Henceforth, Luke also
puts Paul as the leader and Barnabas gradually fades into Paul’s shadow.
Sure, Paul was a man of uncompromising principles. But when it comes to building relationships,
we see a master craftsman who left behind so many sons and daughters in the
faith.
How I wish I could become one tenth of what
Paul was in mentoring the younger generation God puts under my influence!
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