Skip to main content

To Silas, Mark and She Who Is In Babylon


With the help of Silas, whom I regard as a faithful brother, I have written to you briefly, encouraging you and testifying that this is the true grace of God. Stand fast in it. She who is in Babylon, chosen together with you, sends you her greetings, and so does my son Mark. Greet one another with a kiss of love. Peace to all of you who are in Christ. (I Peter 5:12-14)
         I wonder what sort of help Silas gave Peter. Quite probably, he acted as a secretary but I can imagine him interjecting, "Peter, back to the subject." In this passage Peter mentions his son, Mark. Zondervan's study notes say that strong early tradition suggest that this is John Mark, who recorded Peter's experiences with Jesus in what we know as the Gospel of Mark. He also mentions "she who is in Babylon." There are a couple possibilities for this, but generally, this is believed to be a church with which Peter was acquainted. In other words, more people. Of course, since Peter was Peter, and since Peter was an apostle, people either loved him or hated him.
           Today's passage has me thinking about friends and the roles they play in our lives. I have been blessed with good friends, and I have had friends who for one reason or another are not my friends any more. I've tried to be a good friend, but I can't say I've succeeded as often as I should have. For Peter, his friends may well have been providing food and shelter. They may have been participating in his ministry. It's possible that their own social standing might have been damaged by association with Peter. In fact, Peter may have chosen not to name his friends to protect them from the Roman government. If his letter had been seized, it might have been used as evidence against them.
           I don't tend to think that I'm a very good friend. I live too much inside my own head. I'm far too opinionated. In spite of this (and because of it) there are people who have prayed for me, stuck by me, helped me in ways that astound me, tolerated  my obsessions, and so much more. In short, they have been great friends. May God bless you and repay your kindness to me tenfold.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The List

              Therefore, since we have been justified through faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ,   through whom we have gained access by faith into this grace in which we now stand. And we boast in the hope of the glory of God. Not only so, but we also glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance;   perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us to shame, because God’s love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us. (Romans 5:1-5)           Think about it. We have been justified. At least, we could be justified if we stopped insisting that our justification be based on our merits. We have peace with God, or could have peace if we stopped throwing temper tantrums. We have gained access into grace i...
Post a Comment
Read more

Listen!

  While he was still speaking, a bright cloud enveloped them, and a voice from the cloud said, “This is my Son, whom I love; with him I am well pleased. Listen to him!” (Matthew 17:5)            Do you like roller coasters? I don't. You spend forever climbing a hill. You get to the top and have half a second, then you race down to a low point. Sometimes the racing down involves tying your insides into knots. At the bottom, you either have to be dragged up another hill or you get off the ride. Peter's life was a roller coaster from the time he met Jesus. There would be miracles, and then Jesus would teach things that didn't always make sense, and then they'd go out and perform miracles, and return to be taught. Peter was praised for giving the right answer to "Who do you say that I am?" Jesus said that said answer came from God. Peter was at the top of the hill.            ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Prayer Lists

                 Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation, now that you have tasted that the Lord is good. (I Peter 2:2-3)   In connection with what I wrote yesterday about the possibility that I’m wrong, I’m feeling the need to go back to basics - craving spiritual milk because somehow, I missed something. It’s a little embarrassing, craving milk like a newborn, but the truth probably is that we are newborns many times in many ways in our lives. From God’s perspective, we may never be anything more than newborns, forever needing that milk. On the other hand, being a newborn can also be exciting because so much is new. My mind is playing pinball - ricocheting from one idea to the next and through six more before it happens to hit the third again. The main topic is prayer. I have at least seven organizing structures all somewhat influenced by the movie War Room , which I’v...
Post a Comment
Read more