He said to Thomas, “Reach your finger here, and look at My hands; and reach your hand here, and put it into My side. Do not be unbelieving, but believing.”
Thomas, clearly overcome, fell to his knees and said, “My Lord and my God!”
Jesus said, “Thomas, because you have seen Me, you have believed. Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.”
And again He was gone.
THE DISCIPLES FINALLY packed up and stole away to Galilee in the middle of a balmy night, and Mark felt terribly alone. Many evenings he sat up with his mother, pondering over what had happened during the previous several days. His spirit had been so invigorated that he found it almost impossible to sleep. He had become a believer in Jesus the Christ, and yet he had no idea what that meant for his future.
“This has made everything I do seem wholly insignificant,” Mark said.
“Oh, on the contrary,” his mother said. “I should think it would make you want to study all the more and be prepared to live for God as never before.”
“But reading ancient texts and memorizing seems so mundane and boring. I want to be a disciple. Why don’t they tell the world what they know of Jesus, that they saw Him risen, and that He truly is the Son of God?”
“You would do that?”
“I would love to!”
“But didn’t the Lord Himself tell them to remain in Jerusalem until it was time to return to Galilee and see Him again, where they would be endued with power? Perhaps that is a prerequisite to their telling anyone of Him.”
“I wish I were older, like Joses. Then I would travel with the disciples. Mark’s cousin Joses had moved to Israel when he reached adulthood.
“I am glad you are not. I need you here.”
Mark grew thoughtful. “What of Peter?” he said.
“What do you mean?”
“He denied the Lord, but then saw Him alive. Yet Peter seemed to hide from Him.”
“Wouldn’t you, Mark? When he and John saw the empty tomb, John believed. Peter withheld judgment until he saw the Lord with his own eyes.”
“If I were him, I would want to plead for the Lord’s forgiveness.”
“I’m sure Jesus knows his heart.”
“Mother, you must let me go to Galilee. How can I miss what is to come?”
“I will do nothing of the sort. You have already been exposed to much more than anyone your age should be. It is time for you to continue to study and learn and grow, preparing yourself for whatever God might have in mind for your adulthood.”
Mark could think of little worse. He prayed more than ever, and he did apply himself seriously to his studies—but then he always had. Daily he listened for any news from Galilee about the disciples or about Jesus, but all he heard were the claims of the Roman guards who swore they had fallen asleep and that Jesus’ friends had stolen His body.
FINALLY, forty days after Jesus’ resurrection, the day came when Mark’s mother interrupted his studying to tell him he had a visitor.
“Who?”
“Listen to me, John Mark. It is Peter. Now, don’t look at me that way. His feet are being washed as we speak, and I want you to hear him out. The disciples are back from Jerusalem, but he came here first, expressly to see you and talk to you. Give him the benefit of the doubt, will you?”
Mark wasn’t sure he could, but he promised to try.
Peter greeted him with an embrace that Mark barely returned. The fisherman asked if they could speak privately, then led Mark to the upper room.
“Amazing things were shared here, were they not?” Peter said.
Mark nodded. “I shall never forget.”
“Nor I. Son,” Peter said, pointing to a bench, “please sit and hear me. I am deeply troubled in my spirit about the impression I left on you.”
Mark could only nod.
“I can only imagine what you thought of me after we had become so close. Or had I misunderstood our esteem for each other? I certainly more than held you in high regard, son.”
“I treasured our friendship,” Mark managed, unable to look at the man. “But—”
“However disappointed you were in me, multiply it a hundredfold and imagine what I thought of myself. When the Lord said I would deny Him, I would have bet my life I would not have. I believed in Him and loved Him with my whole heart, and yet I let fear for my own life rule me.”
“Have you been able to apologize to Him?”
“I have. Let me tell you what has happened since last we saw you. As you know, the Lord told us to return to Galilee, but when we arrived, we didn’t know what we were to do. I have never been one for sitting around. So one day when I was with Thomas, Nathanael, the brothers James and John, and a couple of the others, I decided that while we waited, I would go fishing on the Sea of Galilee. The rest seemed to like that idea, so we went out and immediately climbed into a small boat. We fished the rest of the day and all that whole night, but we caught nothing.”
“Nothing?”
“Not one fish, can you imagine? Fishermen we were, but we failed miserably! We even joked about being so out of practice, but soon it became serious. We had not even caught anything to eat. Well, when the first light of the sun appeared on the horizon, I saw a man on the shore. He called out to us the strangest question. He said, ‘Children, have you any food?’ Can you imagine, calling grown men children? We told him we had caught no fish. And he said, ‘Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.’
“Let me tell you the truth, John Mark: I followed his suggestion on a lark. Do you think we veterans of the sea had not cast on both sides of the boat all night? Of course we had. But to humor the stranger, and because certainly nothing else had worked, I supervised the casting of the nets on the right side.
“Oh, son, I wish you had been there with us! The multitude of fish was so great we could not, even all seven of us, draw the nets back in! I tore off my cloak, and we pulled and strained and laughed at our good fortune. Then I noticed John studying the shore. He said, ‘Peter, it is the Lord!’
“Was it possible? I had not recognized Him or His voice, but how I had missed Him and longed to see Him! I threw on my cloak and leapt overboard, splashing and swimming until I could touch bottom, then slogging the rest of the way—about two hundred cubits—to the shore. The others arrived in the boat, dragging the net with all those fish.
“They could see as well as I that Jesus had started a fire of coals with fish and bread already cooking. He said, ‘Bring some of which you have just caught.’ I went and helped drag the net to land, and do you know, Mark, we counted one hundred fifty-three large fish, and yet our net was not broken.
“Jesus said, ‘Come and eat breakfast,’ yet none of us dared ask Him who He was, though we knew it was the Lord. This was the third time Jesus showed Himself to us after He was raised from the dead. He took the bread and gave it to us, and likewise the fish.”
Mark just sat shaking his head.
“Now, son, let me tell you what happened when we had finished eating. I had wanted to embrace Jesus and to fall on my face before Him, pleading His pardon for my egregious sin. But He turned to me and said, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me more than these?’
“Why, I was so overjoyed to be asked that I said, ‘Yes, Lord, You know that I love You.’
“And He said, ‘Feed My lambs.’
“Then, a second time He said to me, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?’
“I said, ‘Yes, Lord. You know that I love You.’
“He said to me, ‘Tend My sheep.’
“And yet a third time, He said, ‘Simon, son of Jonah, do you love Me?’
“Mark, by now I was grieved because He had asked me three times. I cried, ‘Lord, You know all things; You know that I love You.’
“Jesus said to me, ‘Feed My sheep. Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out yo
ur hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish. Follow Me.’
“Mark, I was puzzled. When I was old another would gird me and carry me where I did not wish? That made me wonder about John, and I said, ‘But Lord, what about this man?’
“Jesus made it clear to me that John’s future was none of my business. He said, ‘If I will that he remain till I come, what is that to you? You follow Me.’”
“What do you make of the conversation?” Mark said. “Did you feel He had forgiven you?”
Peter nodded. “All I know is that I denied Him thrice, and thrice He asked me to affirm that I loved Him. And I do.”
“Where is He now, sir?”
“He has returned to the Father. But not before He left us with His power and His charge. A few days later—just yesterday, in fact—Jesus told us to meet Him again on the Mount of Olives. When all eleven of us saw Him, we worshiped Him, but some still seemed to be doubting.”
“After all this?”
“As I have often said, Mark, we are but mere men. But it was there that He commanded us not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, ‘which,’ He said, ‘you have heard from Me; for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.’”
“What does that mean, Peter, baptized with the Holy Spirit?”
“Well, we don’t know yet, do we? Believe me, I will let you know. While we were with Him, we asked if He was about to restore the kingdom to Israel.”
“That’s what everyone who believed Him to be the Promised One has been wondering. What did He say?”
“He told us it was not for us to know times or seasons, which He implied were under the purview of the Father. But He said, ‘You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth. Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you. He who believes and is baptized will be saved; but he who does not believe will be condemned.’
“And it was then that He seemed to open our understanding so that we might be able to comprehend as never before the truth of the Holy Scriptures. Our eyes were opened, and He said, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and to rise from the dead the third day, and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And you are witnesses of these things.’
“He then lifted His hands and blessed us, saying, ‘Lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.’
“While we watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of our sight. And while we were staring toward heaven as He went up, two men appeared in white apparel, saying, ‘Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.’
“We returned straightaway with great joy the half-mile journey to Jerusalem. Your mother has again graciously invited us to lodge in the upper room, but daily we will be continually in the temple, praising and blessing God.”
“And you do not fear the authorities?”
Peter smiled and stood, putting a hand on Mark’s shoulder. “Tell me, young one: had you experienced what we have, would you fear any man?”
EIGHT
As Mark accompanied Peter to the portal of his home to bid him adieu, the lad had to admit to himself that, yes, had he been through what Peter and the others had, he would not likely ever feel fear again. But what intrigued him most about Peter’s account was Jesus’ reference to the remission of sins. If anyone needed that, Mark did. And his daily Scripture readings referred to it constantly.
Peter hesitated, plainly with something on his mind.
“John Mark,” he said, “this evening the other disciples and I will return here for a season with much business to attend to. We greatly anticipate—with some consternation, of course—this spiritual baptism the Lord referenced. But, son, you and I will be seeing much of each other again, and I would that we might repair the friendship we once enjoyed. I know I disappointed you. I failed you and of course the Master, and—”
“You need say no more, sir. I confess I was disillusioned, but I don’t know whence came the foolish idea that I might have acted any differently under the circumstances. That the Lord Himself appears to have forgiven you and assigned you to minister to people in His name, well, that is more than enough for me.”
“I covet the respect I once felt from you, John Mark.”
“That you have, sir.”
And they embraced.
LATER THAT DAY Peter returned to the upper room with James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James. Not long later arrived several of the women from Galilee, plus Mary the mother of Jesus, along with His brothers.
While Mark and his mother and their servants slipped in and out with refreshments, the disciples and their friends continued with one accord in prayer and supplication. Mark was most impressed by the earnestness and devotion of these and continually told his mother how privileged he felt—and believed she should feel—that God had entrusted them with the hospitality of these special people.
That evening John Mark’s own studies took on entirely new meaning for him. “Mother,” he said, “suddenly I am being led to passages and prophecies that all seem to speak of Messiah. And it is clear they all refer to Jesus.”
“You should tell Peter. He once confided to me that he wished you would teach him, as he is uneducated but very curious about the Scriptures.”
For the next few days, whenever Peter had a spare moment, Mark showed him what he was studying and answered many questions. Peter read slower than Mark, so the lad tried to teach him as much as he knew about each passage. Like Mark, Peter was most intrigued by references to the Messiah. But the boy could not bring himself to ask about the remission of sins. He didn’t want Peter to think less of him.
A FEW DAYS LATER Peter informed Mark and his mother that he would like to invite more than a hundred clandestine believers to join those already meeting in the upper room. “Not to lodge here, of course, Mary, but to meet with us on some important matters.”
“Well, certainly,” she said. “Mark and the servants can stock up on supplies, and—”
“We wish not to be a burden, friend. They will not be with us long.”
The next day about a hundred twenty crowded the upper room, and Mark and his mother were welcomed to sit in. Peter, who seemed to have been reinstated by the disciples to his natural place of leadership, stood in the midst of the throng and said, “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry: (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. And the field where Judas killed himself has already become known to all dwelling in Jerusalem as the Field of Blood.) It is written in the book of Psalms: ‘Let his dwelling place be desolate, and let no one live in it’; and, ‘Let another take his office.’”
This last caused much murmuring among the assembled, and Peter continued. “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”
The gathered proposed two names: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. Peter led them in prayer, saying, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You ha
ve chosen to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.”
The disciples cast lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And so he became the twelfth apostle.
TEN DAYS AFTER JESUS had ascended into Heaven and thus fifty days since Passover, the time came for the Jewish celebration of the Feast of Weeks or Harvest, also known as Pentecost. It followed Passover by “seven weeks of weeks,” or forty-nine days. This fiftieth day signified one of three annual feast days, during which the entire nation of Israel was to come to Jerusalem.
Mark loved all the ceremonial feast days, for Jerusalem came alive with pilgrims from all over Asia and Israel—including his cousin Joses, now a grown man with curly hair and a full beard. Most exciting to Mark was that the disciples were again joined by the hundred twenty or so, and Peter announced that they would be meeting the next morning in a building not far from the temple.
Mark pleaded with both his mother and Peter to be allowed to attend, and while his mother left it up to Peter, the latter informed Mark that the meeting involved “private matters.” Mark was disappointed, but through messengers, he and Joses agreed to meet near the temple. At least Mark would be in the city, for he found it impossible to stay far from Peter and John and the rest of the disciples.
While searching for Joses he kept in sight the building where the disciples were meeting. All those who joined them seemed to display the same resolve in their countenances, and Mark was struck that—as Peter often said—they seemed of one accord.
About an hour later the entire assemblage poured out of the meeting room and down the stairs into the crowded city. To a man and woman, they beamed, and they all seemed to be speaking in different languages. What was this?
Mark rushed to Peter. “What is going on?”
The apostle could barely contain himself. “While we were praying and singing, suddenly there came a sound from the sky like a mighty wind, and it filled the entire place! There appeared atop each of our heads divided tongues as of fire. Immediately we all began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave us utterance. John Mark, you know I am not an educated man, and yet I too have been blessed with this ability!”