1 Peter 5:12-14 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 (NIV).
We may be at the closing of this sacred epistle, yet it is a rich conclusion! And after studying this intense letter for six and a half months, we finally get to the kissing part!
Regarding “my son Mark” and the “kiss of love,” both are subjects I have studied extensively, and you get the benefit of a concise synopsis.
Regarding “my son Mark,” I once looked at a whole bunch of commentaries on this subject, and they all said Peter is referring to ‘John Mark,’ and that he is calling him a son in a spiritual sense. I disagree. I am convicted Peter had a son named Mark, based on historical evidence. Not only did Clement of Alexandria say Peter had children (1), yet also Origen, as recorded by Eusebius, stated: “The second is according to Mark, who composed it, as Peter explained to him, whom he also acknowledges as his son in his general Epistle, saying, ‘The elect church in Babylon salutes you, as also Mark my son’” (2). There is other evidence from Clement of Alexandria.
Regarding “she who is in Babylon,” some say this is the church, and others say this is Peter’s wife. The above quote of Origen by Eusebius took the translation as church. On the flipside, we know that Peter had a wife (3). Many say Peter is using Babylon as a metaphor for Rome. I think this is likely, though doing so would not have made Romans very happy. However note that though he was martyred in Rome, Peter was in many places in the years before, as we know from a priceless chapter opening of Eusebius: “Peter appears to have preached through Pontus, Galatia, Bithynia, Cappadocia, and Asia to the Jews who were scattered abroad; he finally came to Rome and was crucified with his head downward, having requested of himself to suffer in this way” (4).
The term “holy kiss” used by Paul in some of his letters is the same as what Peter terms the kiss of love. This kissing is quite misunderstood in our Western culture today. At Colorado Christian University, I wrote a fourteen page paper on the “holy kiss.” I came up with the subject as I worked to think of something original. My thesis ended up being that the “holy kiss” is holy because it is rooted in the love of Christ.
This kiss greeting sounds foreign to Western ears, but Jewish people during the time of Jesus did not shake hands, nor did others in the area we now call the Middle East. When men greeted each other, or when woman greeted each other, they would first give a kiss on the right cheek, and then give a kiss on the left cheek. Note that the cheek kissing greeting was not done between genders. However, in the early church, the greeting was done as a part of the worship service, and it was even done between genders. This was the radical part that distinguished the “holy kiss” from a market greeting. The intent was not sexual, rather it was an expression of Christ’s love between brothers and sisters in Christ. This practice phased out as time went on due to some people coming to church who were not sincere Christians, which we know because a few early Christian writers talked about this subject. Yet I argue “the greeting” or “the Peace” that still takes place in some churches today is the stem of the “holy kiss.”
It has been an honor to write this commentary on my blog. I have poured myself into it. I thank you for any reading you have done. I close by saying this Epistle by Peter was written to fellow Christians, and all of us Christians can keep learning from it today. And if you are not a Christian, know what Peter said in I Peter 3:18 – “For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God…” (NIV). May you know that Jesus loves you, and if you believe in Jesus, the One who died being the substitute for the punishment of sins, then you will have eternal life. You can believe in Jesus as your Savior this very hour.
Love, Hunter
(1) Eusebius, Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History; Complete and Unabridged, trans. C.F. Cruse (Peabody, MA.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998), 95.
(2) Eusebius, Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History; Complete and Unabridged, trans. C.F. Cruse (Peabody, MA.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998), 215.
(3) Eusebius, Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History; Complete and Unabridged, trans. C.F. Cruse (Peabody, MA.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998), 95-96.
(4) Eusebius, Eusebius’ Ecclesiastical History; Complete and Unabridged, trans. C.F. Cruse (Peabody, MA.: Hendrickson Publishers, 1998), 67.
