“And You Are...?”

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Sometimes I get a little lost when reading the Bible, and I come across names of Bible characters that are either the same or have different names for each character.  Obviously Saul, who later was called Paul, in the New Testament is not the same as King Saul in the Old Testament.  And we have Peter who was also called Simon in Mark 14:37.

But what about:
Acts 12:25 "And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had fulfilled their mission, taking along with them John, who was also called Mark.

So, is it this "John" that wrote the book of "Mark"? I am under the impression that Mark was the son of Mary (Acts 12:12) and the cousin of Barnabas (Col 4:10).

Also, the book of Revelation was written by the apostle John.  Is this a different John, or is this Mark?

I really wish they had cameras back then!

Sincerely,
Whatzisname

Dear Whatzisname,

There are several names that are so common in the Bible that it can leave your head spinning as you try to keep them all straight.  The name ‘John’ is especially common.  So is the name ‘James’.  We’ll see if we can break it down for you.

The name John:

• John the Baptist – born six months before Jesus; John the Baptist preached in the wilderness that the Christ was soon to come (Matt 3:1-2).  John the Baptist was killed by Herod (Lk 9:9)
• John the son of Zebedee – this John was a fisherman who became one of Jesus’ apostles (Matt 4:21-22, Matt 10:2).  James the son of Zebedee, his brother, was also an apostle – therefore ‘John son of Zebedee’ is also referred to as ‘John brother of James’ (Mk 5:37).  This is the same apostle John who wrote the gospel according to John, 1^st through 3^rd John, and the book of Revelation.
• John the father of Simon Peter – To further complicate things, the apostle Peter’s father’s name was John (Jhn 1:42).  This John is of no relation to the others.
• John Mark – John Mark was a zealous christian that Paul and Barnabas took with them on their journeys (Acts 12:25, Acts 13:5).  Some people say that John Mark wrote the gospel of Mark, but there is no decisive evidence concerning this.  John Mark was also Barnabas’ cousin (Col 4:10).  His mother, Mary, is mentioned in Acts 12:12.

The name James:

• James the son of Zebedee – one of the apostles and brother to John, son of Zebedee (Matt 10:2).  He was the first apostle to be killed for the Gospel (Acts 12:2).
• James the son of Alphaeus – another one of the apostles that is rarely mentioned.  He is also referred to as ‘James the less’ (Mk 15:40).
• James the brother of Jesus – Matt 13:55 mentions that Jesus had a younger brother named James.  This James is also mentioned as one of the elders of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 21:18).  This James is also attributed with writing the book of James.

Hopefully, that helps with the confusion a little bit.  There is no doubt that studying the Bible takes hard work and attention to detail!

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