Acts 12:1-19
Peter Escapes from Prison and Goes to John Mark's House
1 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4 After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.
5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.
8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”
12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”
15 “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”
16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.
18 In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed.
There are some who say the John Mark who wrote the Gospel According to Mark knew Simon Peter well and learned much about Jesus from the Original Disciple...
Bishop Papias, an Early Christian who lived c. 60 – c.130 AD, wrote this of St. John Mark and St. Peter's relationship..."And the elder used to say this, Mark became Peter’s interpreter and wrote accurately all that he remembered, not, indeed, in order, of the things said and done by the LORD...For he had not heard the LORD, nor had followed Him, but later on, followed Peter, who used to give teaching as necessity demanded but not making, as it were, an arrangement of the LORD’s oracles, so that Mark did nothing wrong in thus writing down single points as he remembered them...For to one thing he gave attention, to leave out nothing of what he had heard and to make no false statements in them...
Irenaeus, another Early Christian who lived from 130 – c. 202 AD, wrote this about St. John Mark's and St. Peter's relationship..."Matthew composed his gospel among the Hebrews in their own language, while Peter and Paul proclaimed the gospel in Rome and founded the community...After their departure, Mark, the disciple and interpreter of Peter, handed on his preaching to us in written form”...
Luke, author of the Gospel According to Luke, wrote in the Book of Acts about Peter escaping from prison...Luke writes where Peter escapes from prison and goes to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark...After Peter was released from his chains in prison, Peter gathered himself and said, "Now I know without a doubt that the LORD has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen."...When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying...Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door...When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!"..."You’re out of your mind, they told her."...Then she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”...But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished...Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the LORD had brought him out of prison..."Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this," he said, and then he left for another place...
And in Peter's first epistle he writes about John Mark and calls him his son: "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...
Paul who with Barnabas had take John Mark on some missions writes to Timothy and asks for some important things of his...John Mark is on the top of his list of things he needs...Paul writes telling Timothy that only Luke is with me...Get Mark and bring him with you, because he is helpful to me in my ministry...I sent Tychicus to Ephesus...When you come, bring the cloak that I left with Carpus at Troas, and my scrolls, especially the parchments...
So we see that Mark knew Peter and Paul well...They surely influenced his ideas on Jesus and his writing of the Gospel According to Mark...Peter being a Disciple of Jesus and knowing Him for three years knew His Majesty and Teacher, very well...And also knowing Paul, Mark learned about Jesus...Mark surely took much of what he learned from Peter and Paul and some or much of what he learned from them in his Gospel According to Mark...