INTRODUCTION
The early church, no less than ours, was a church that was filled with personalities. Sometimes those personalities clashed. Sometimes it was messy. And still the Word of God grew and flourished.
THE TEXT
“And Judas and Silas, being prophets also themselves, exhorted the brethren with many words, and confirmed them. And after they had tarried there a space, they were let go in peace from the brethren unto the apostles. Notwithstanding it pleased Silas to abide there still. Paul also and Barnabas continued in Antioch, teaching and preaching the word of the Lord, with many others also. And some days after Paul said unto Barnabas, Let us go again and visit our brethren in every city where we have preached the word of the Lord, and see how they do . . .” (Acts 15:32–41).
SUMMARY OF THE TEXT
Not only were Judas and Silas well-respected brothers from the Jerusalem church, they were also prophets (v. 32). They did a lot of good with much exhortation (v. 32). After they had been there for a time, they were released in peace to return home to the apostles (v. 33). Nevertheless, Silas decided to remain for a time (v. 34). Paul and Barnabas were also in Antioch, teaching and preaching (v. 35). There were many other teachers there as well (v. 35)—Syrian Antioch had a deep bench. After some time, Paul suggested to Barnabas that they pay a return visit to the churches they had established on the first missionary trip, to see how they were faring (v. 36). Now Barnabas resolved, determined, decided (bouleuo) to take John Mark with them (v. 37). Paul did not think much of this idea because John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia, and had not stayed with the work (v. 38). The two men had a sharp clash (paroxysmos) over it, such that they went their separate ways (v. 39). Barnabas went to Cyprus with Mark (v. 39). Paul selected Silas as a companion, and they were sent out by the church, commended to the grace of God (v. 40). They went the overland route, confirming the churches in Syria and Cilicia (v. 41).
WHO WAS RIGHT?
We are not told definitively, and so the most we can do is pick up on a few hints. I think that Paul was in the right about this trip, and there are a few reasons for that. And I think that Barnabas was in the right about John Mark in the long run.
First, the decision to take John Mark was a unilateral decision by Barnabas (v. 37). Second, Barnabas and Mark left without the blessing of the church (v. 39), while Paul and Silas were commended by the church to the grace of God (v. 40). Third, Barnabas and John Mark were relatives (Col. 4:10) and they went to the home territory (Acts 4:36).
Regardless of who was in the right, do we have evidence of later reconciliation? Yes, we do. This unhappy event happened in the late 40’s or early 50’s. A few years later (55 A.D.), Paul implies that he and Barnabas were working together (1 Cor. 9:6). And around 60-62 A.D., Paul instructs the Colossians to receive John Mark, as he had been a solid comfort to Paul (Col. 4:10-11). And at the end of Paul’s life (64-67 A.D.), he requests the presence of John Mark as someone who is helpful to him in ministry (2 Tim. 4:11).
WHY JOHN MARK LEFT AT PAMPHYLIA
We cannot be dogmatic about John Mark’s sympathies for the Judaizing faction, but I can set out some of the clues that make me want to read the narrative arc of Acts the way I am doing. If Mark was the rich young ruler, whom Jesus loved (Mark 10:17-31), then this would mean he was a devout Jew, zealous in law-keeping from his youth. If he was the young man who fled naked the night of the Lord’s arrest (Mark 14:52), this would mean close association with the disciples from the beginning. When Paul mentions John Mark in Col. 4:10-11, he commends Jesus (called Justus) and John Mark as being the only members “of the circumcision” who were fellow-workers of his, and yet a comfort (Col. 4:10-11). The early church father Papias records that John Mark was Peter’s secretary in writing his gospel, and Peter was apostle to the Jews (Gal. 2:7-8). Barnabas was a Levite (Acts 4:36), and Mark was a close relative of his. And then we have the suspicious departure right after the conversion of Sergius Paulus.
Putting all this together, I believe that John Mark was not among the false brothers (Gal. 2:4), but he was affected by them. What they were opposed to, he was troubled by. He was on the fence. But when the Council decided, John Mark accepted the decision, and submitted to it. I believe that law-keeping Jews who accepted the Council’s decision were not reject as false brothers, but they were still “of the circumcision.” Barnabas, a relative and a natural son of encouragement, accepted Mark’s submission at face value, but Paul had his doubts. They must have been serious doubts because the man he did take with him was Silas, a leading brother in the Jerusalem church.
A CHRISTIAN SANHEDRIN
The decision made by the Council in this chapter was one made by the “apostles, elders, and brothers” (Acts 15:23). The determination they made was addressed the churches in Syria, Antioch, and Cilicia (v. 23). We are really only left with two options when it comes to church polity. Either the Jerusalem church was in charge of the other churches, or a representative council of all the churches was over the individual churches. What we do not have is the option of complete autonomy for local churches.
WHAT WAS AT STAKE?
The issue was the free grace of God in the gospel. Whenever God gives us tangible conduits of His grace, we have a perennial disposition to turn them into static objects of His grace—that is, graven images of His grace. There is but one mediator between God and man, the man Christ Jesus (1 Tim. 2:5). We do this with Bibles, with sacraments, with church music, with liturgy, with circumcision, with Mosaic laws, you name it.
Christ Jesus the Mediator extends His hand to us, His nail-pierced hand. And if we receive these instruments as from His hand, they are indeed conduits of grace. But if these things are in our hands, reaching up to Him, then we are trying to replace Christ with His gifts.
When we reach up to God through Christ, there needs to be only one thing on our hands, and that is the dirt that He promises to wash away.