Mending A Mother’s Broken Heart
As you are about to hear in this PODCAST, last week as I was rushing at the end to complete on time our discussion of Peter’s release from prison—an effort at which I failed miserably, BTW—we mentioned-in-passing two noteworthy individuals, each of whom deserve far more than passing-mention.
Mary, a generous homeowner and gracious hostess who opened her home for going on-fourteen years by the time of this story to the earliest, first generation followers of Jesus, our ancestors in the faith.
Mary also happened to be the aunt to our old friend Barnabas, and a very close and personal friend of our even older friend, Peter.
And then there is Mary’s son and Barnabas’ cousin—as well as Peter’s protégé—John Mark.
With glistening credentials such as these, they both do indeed deserve our special attention. Especially given the fact that immediately upon his miraculous release from prison, instinctively Peter made his very first stop to announce his release at Mary’s home.
Even more especially given that this is Mother’s Day weekend.
For this is in every sense of the word this is a Mother’s tale.
Specifically, how God in His matchless, infinite, and eternal grace melted and mended a mother’s broken heart.
9 So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn’t realize it was actually happening. 10 They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him.
11 Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s really true!” he said. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!”
12 When he realized this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer. (Acts 12:9-12)
Now, this Mary (mentioned in verse 12) was John Mark’s mother. John Mark was Peter’s apprentice, of sorts. And it was likely Mary’s house where the Last Supper took place. It was also quite likely the first regular meeting place of the earliest believers after Jesus’ ascension and Pentecost. And, her home was almost certainly the location of the first “house church” in Jerusalem.
And, it was the singular location that Peter instinctively returned to after his miraculous liberation from prison!
So… that’s Mary. But, who was her son, Barnabas’ cousin, John Mark? Peter referred to him as “my son, Mark”. Which meant that they, indeed had a close relationship. And, while he sat under Peter’s tutelage for around 14 years, he was then invited to accompany the Apostle Paul on his first missionary journey.
Talk about a “local boy who made good”.
However, when it came time for Paul and Barnabas to plan their second journey, where Paul wanted to go revisit the churches they had established on their first trip, Barnabas wanted to take his cousin, John Mark, along with them, but Paul didn’t think it was wise because John Mark had “deserted them in Pamphilia and had not continued with them in the work.” (Acts 15)
This seems to be Luke’s generous recording of the fact that in the middle of their missionary travels, at Pamphilia, John Mark quit and went home.
I can only imagine the heartbreak that Mary, John Mark’s mother, must have felt as she transitioned from pride in her missionary son to the anguish of her son quitting on Paul and being at the center of the “great divorce” between Paul and Barnabas.
Now, we don’t know what was going on in John Mark’s life when he decided to return home. But it had to be significant.
Neither do we know all the details of the people around us today. But, for many of them, they are incredibly significant. And, for us to label them as “quitters” and give up on or dismiss them, as was done to John Mark, would be premature and beyond unfortunate.
Yet, as God promises, He used even the discord between Barnabas and Paul regarding Mark to His glory… doubling the amount of missionary journeys from one to a simultaneous two, reaching in opposite directions!
You see, just because John Mark failed on his first missionary journey, he was definitely not a failure. Just because Paul may have been done with him, God wasn’t. So much so, that Peter entrusted his own memoirs to John Mark, who wrote them down with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit into what we refer to today as the Gospel according to Mark!
…Thus mending a mother’s broken heart!