Read with Me
1 Peter 5:12-14 (HCSB)
I have written you this brief letter through Silvanus (I know him to be a faithful brother) to encourage you and to testify that this is the true grace of God. Take your stand in it! The church in Babylon, also chosen, sends you greetings, as does Mark, my son. Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ.
Listen with Me
Some scholars point to the difference in the quality of the Greek in 1 and 2 Peter to show that Peter couldn’t possibly have written both letters. The Greek of 1 Peter is polished, but the Greek of 2 Peter is somewhat crude. But the explanation is very simple and is contained in verse 12. When Peter wrote this letter, he was a free man and was able to use an amanuensis, a scribe, named Silvanus. Scribes did not merely copy down what was said. They frequently fixed grammatical errors much as an effective stenographer does today. When Peter wrote his second letter, he was imprisoned and on death row, and so he had to write the letter himself without a scribe. So, in his second letter, we see the less-polished second-language Greek of a Galilean fisherman.
Peter’s mention of Babylon in verse 14 has puzzled some. But Peter is using figurative language that those in the early Church would easily have understood. Babylon was the capital of a vast empire, a city that was morally corrupt, steeped in idolatry, and in the habit of persecuting God’s people. The equivalent in Peter’s day was Rome, the same imagery as Jesus used in his vision given to John on Patmos that foretold the catastrophic fall of Rome and its empire (Revelation 18). Thus, Peter was conveying greetings from the Christians in Rome, who often were mistreated for their faith, but who had also learned to stand fast in their faith through each storm and were encouraging those in other parts of the empire to do the same.
The Mark mentioned by Peter and called his “son” is the John Mark who accompanied Paul on his first missionary journey (Acts 13:5, 13). At this time, he had been a close associate of Peter for quite a while and would later write down Peter’s teachings about the life, ministry and teachings of Jesus in a book that today we call the Gospel according to Mark. Not too many years in the future Mark would also end up being a great help to Paul (2 Timothy 2:11)
Pray with Me
Father, it is well understood that Mark’s leaving Paul’s mission after the events on Cypress put a major rift between them, and later even caused a rift between Paul and Barnabas, Mark’s cousin (Acts 15:37-41). But Mark’s weakness in the beginning didn’t mean that he was no longer useful for the kingdom, something that both Peter and Paul later recognized. Thank you, Lord, that you are truly the God of fresh starts and second chances. I have experienced that in my own life, and I am eternally grateful. Amen.