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October 6, 2025

From Runaway to Right-Hand Man: Mark and the Challenge of Discipleship

by Jason Neill

Scripture reading: Mark 8 & 10

Mark, the author of the Gospel that bears his name, is an interesting figure. Although he is never explicitly named in the four Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John), he appears eight times elsewhere in the New Testament.

Early Life and Connections

  1. He is mentioned in the book of Acts (see Acts 12:12-17), where his mother hosts the early church in her home. This underscores that church buildings did not exist in the first century; homes were the primary meeting places.
  2. The Apostle Peter refers to Mark as "my son" (see 1 Peter 5:13), possibly indicating that Peter was instrumental in bringing him to faith in Christ.
  3. Perhaps the most intriguing reference is the story of a young man, not one of the twelve disciples, who follows Jesus after the Last Supper. During Jesus' arrest, a Roman soldier grabs him, and the man escapes by slipping out of his linen cloth (a garment worn to bed), running away naked (see Mark 14:51-52). It is widely believed that the Last Supper took place in Mark's home, and that this young man was Mark himself, recording an event he witnessed firsthand.

Missionary Journey and Reconciliation

  1. Mark was Barnabas’ cousin and accompanied him and the Apostle Paul on their first missionary journey (see Acts 12:25).
  2. He later abandoned them, however, returning to Jerusalem before the journey was complete (see Acts 13:13-14).
  3. Prior to their second missionary journey, Barnabas and Paul had a sharp disagreement. Barnabas wanted to take Mark again, but the Apostle Paul, considering Mark unreliable due to his earlier desertion, refused. Unable to agree, they decided to part ways (see Acts 15:36-40). 

Restoration and Ministry

  1. Years later, Mark was with the Apostle Paul when he was imprisoned in Rome around A.D. 60–62 (see Colossians 4:10). This reference suggests a restoration of their relationship.
  2. Lastly, as the Apostle Paul faced martyrdom in Rome around A.D. 67, he wrote his final letter to Timothy. Paul, who was with Doctor Luke (the author of the Gospel of Luke), instructed Timothy, “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is very useful to me for ministry” (2 Timothy 4:11). This final instruction confirms Mark’s complete restoration and importance to Paul’s ministry.

What Can We Learn from Mark’s Life and His Gospel?

The key verse for the Gospel of Mark is found in chapter 10, verse 45. It reads, “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others and to give his life as a ransom for many” (NLT). Mark wanted to portray Jesus as the Divine Servant. He spends his life serving others in numerous ways but ultimately dying as our substitute and rising from the dead. We ought to emulate our master by serving others (see Philippians 2:1-11).

Mark's life stands as a powerful testament to redemption and usefulness. Despite abandoning his ministry co-workers’ mid-trip, Mark made his life count for Christ. After this initial failure, he ministered to Paul while the apostle was under house arrest (see Colossians 4:10). Furthermore, in Paul’s final letter, he invited Mark to join him and Timothy during his last days, noting that Mark was "very useful to me for ministry" (2 Timothy 4:11, ESV). Mark's story is one of complete turnaround and devoted service to Christ.

The Ultimate Call to Investment

While the Gospel of Mark presents Jesus as the Divine Servant, the text also makes a profound demand on his followers, clearly articulating the cost of discipleship:

“And calling the crowd to him with his disciples, he said to them, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul? For what can a man give in return for his soul? For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words in this adulterous and sinful generation, of him will the Son of Man also be ashamed when he comes in the glory of his Father with the holy angels” (Mark 8:34-38, ESV).

The word “soul” in Mark 8:36–37 is the same Greek word (psychē) translated as “life” in verse 35. To maintain this crucial consistency, the verses should be understood as follows:

“If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospel’s will save it. For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? For what can a man give in return for his life?”

The central point Jesus makes here is that after trusting in him alone for eternal life, we must count the cost and commit to following him. By embracing this challenge, we “save” our lives; that is, we invest them in something eternal.

The alternative is to live a life of selfishness—to live for our own purposes. The result of such a life is that the person will have nothing to show for their existence in eternity because they did nothing for Christ after their conversion. In this manner, the person “loses his life.”

Is this possible? Absolutely! A person can genuinely trust in Jesus alone for eternal life and yet live the rest of their days disregarding God, pursuing only their own selfish ends. This person will enter the presence of God after they die, but they will have no eternal rewards because they failed to invest their life in Christ’s agenda.

You are left with a choice: Having received the free gift of eternal life, will you live for Him or for your own purposes? How will you invest your life?