Pastor Chris’ Corona Quarantine Epistles to the Flock of AIC Ngong Road, in Dispersion and Isolation. 154th. Edition.
Dear People Belonging to God,
With today’s passage (1 Peter 5:13-14) we conclude our devotions in 1 Peter. The way Peter concludes this letter tells us a lot about the circumstances he and the Christians were in. It also gives us a glimpse of how Christians related to one another.
Solidarity (v. 13a). Peter sends the greetings of “She who is in Babylon.” Some people have taken this phrase to mean that Peter was in Babylon when he wrote this letter. More likely, though, would be that this is coded language. Remember that Christians are under persecution. Often, people had to hide from the authorities. Babylon is the place where the people of Judah were taken captive and were often persecuted for their faith. We read the story of some of the persecution in the book of Daniel. So Babylon is symbolic of the seat of the authority that persecutes God’s people. In the time of Peter, this was Rome.
The feminine reference (she) is often used of the church, the bride of Christ. So Peter is saying to the Christians in Asia, The church in Rome greets you. This would have been easy for Christians to grasp, but should the letter have fallen into the wrong hands, they would have gone on a wild goose chase in Babylon. Peter says that the church in Rome is elect together with the church in Asia. It is important for Christians to see that they are not alone. Right under the nose of the evil emperor in Rome are other Christians, also striving under persecution.
Survival (v. 13b). The mention of Mark here is significant. Mark is probably the best encouragement to cowards (and many of us confess to being cowards). Here, Peter calls Mark “my son”. What we know of Mark is not a lot. Bible scholars have concluded, with good reason, that Mark is the young man who fled naked from Jesus in the garden of Gethsemane, on the night of Jesus’ arrest (Mark 14:51-52).
This same Mark, known also as John, went on the first missionary journey with Paul and Barnabas (Acts 13:5) but he left them after a short time (Acts 13:13), probably have found the going tough. When Barnabas wanted to bring Mark on their second missionary journey, Paul would hear none of it. They could not agree and the team split. Barnabas took Mark and Paul took Silas (Silvanus, how ironic!). But the grace of God is available also to cowards. After years with Barnabas (son of encouragement, see Acts 4:36) as a mentor, here is Mark, so close a companion of Peter (in Rome, the epicenter of persecution!), that the apostle refers to him as “my son.” Probably even more significant are the words of the Apostle Paul to Timothy, barely months before he was martyred, “Get Mark and bring him with you, for he is useful to me for ministry” (2 Timothy 4:11). Two lessons learned in one: Don’t give up, and don’t give up on people.
Salutation (v. 14). Peter instructs the Christians to “greet one another with a kiss of love.” This is not a license to go smooching all over the place. The custom of the people of the Middle East at that time was to kiss loved ones, particularly family, on both cheeks. This was irrespective of gender, so men kissed other men as well as women, and the same with women. Paul calls this greeting a “holy kiss” (2 Corinthians 13:12).
It is still practiced in the Middle East today. The point to note here is that the kiss should be a demonstration of love. The outward should flow from the inside. Love should be sincere so that we do not go kissing people as though we love them when in actual fact we hate them.
Peter ends the letter by wishing all the believers peace, as he did at the beginning (1:2).
Your Loving Pastor Chris.