#60 Don’t Quit! Series

#60 Don’t Quit!

Series: Mark

Chuck Sligh

February 6, 2022

NOTE: A PowerPoint presentation is available for this sermon by request at chucksligh@hotmail.com. Please mention the title of the sermon and the Bible text to help me find the sermon in my archives.

This sermon is adapted from a sermon by Jeff Strite titled Running in the Night.

TEXT: Mark 14:50-52 – “And they all forsook him and fled. 51 And there followed him a certain young man, having a linen cloth cast about his naked body; and the young men laid hold on him: 52 And he left the linen cloth, and fled from them naked.”

INTRODUCTION

Our text takes place when Judas betrayed Jesus and a mob from the Sanhedrin arrested Him. We examined the whole story last week, and only briefly mentioned the odd story of the man in the linen cloth about his body who, when they tried to seize him, ran away naked. But today I want to delve into this Bible character a little more deeply because he teaches us an important truth, namely that just because you fail does not mean you’re a failure. Let’s take a closer look at this interesting Bible character.

I. FIRST, WHO IS THIS YOUNG MAN?

What do we know about him?

• First, we know he was wealthy. – He was wearing a linen garment, and linen garments weren’t cheap back then.

• Second, he’s not one of the 12 disciples, for he’s introduced simply as “a young man.” Mark says that the Twelve had already abandoned Jesus. This young man shows up a little later.

• The third fact we learn is that Mark is the only one of the 4 gospels that mentions this incident.

Those are the generic facts; who specifically might this person be? The consensus among scholars, as I said last week, is that this young man was Mark, the same Mark who wrote the Bible book we’re now studying. And more than likely he used what he wrote to teach us a lesson. Since Mark wrote this book, he knew this part of the story—because he LIVED it—it was part of who he was and what he experienced in following Christ.

Mark is telling us that, just like all the twelve apostles, he also ran away. Mark does not identify himself because that was not the custom when writing a story back then. You didn’t insert yourself into the story, but if you wanted to tell the story, you did so anonymously rather than mentioning your own name.

This kind of thing was not uncommon in the literature of that time. For example, John did the same thing in his gospel. He never uses his own name except when listing the names of the apostles. Rather than using his own name, he always refers to himself as “the man whom Jesus loved.” It’s part of his story and John tells us who he was without trying to draw too much attention to himself.

And here in today’s text, Mark is doing the same thing. He was the young man who ran away naked into the dark on the night of Jesus’ betrayal.

III. WHAT DOES LATER HISTORY TELLS US ABOUT MARK?

Mark doesn’t get a lot of attention from scholars because he seems like a minor player. In fact, the next time we read about him…he ran away AGAIN. In the book of Acts we’re told about a mission trip where Paul and Barnabas were sent out and planted several churches in western Asia (modern-day Turkey).

Acts 12:25 says, “And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem, when they had fulfilled their ministry, and took with them John, also called Mark.”

Now just so you don’t get confused…Mark had 2 names. Mark was his Greek name and John was his Jewish name. In fact, Bible scholars often refer to him as “John Mark” to differentiate him from the other Johns and Marks in the New Testament.

Mark accompanied Paul and Barnabas on their first mission trip, but for some reason he deserted them and went back home. He ran away again.

Why did he run away this time? Scripture doesn’t answer that question, so we can only speculate that maybe he got discouraged, or maybe he got offended, or perhaps he didn’t like the persecution they faced or possibly he thought that some of the menial work Paul assigned him was below his potential. All that’s pure conjecture, for the Bible doesn’t tell us a thing about why he ran away a second time.

However, it must not have been for a very good reason because it really ticked Paul off. The next time Mark wanted to go on a mission trip with Paul and Barnabas, Paul refused to let him come along. Barnabas, who was Mark’s uncle, insisted that they give Mark another chance and let him go with them again.