Mothers to the Faithful

Click here for the audio message of – Acts 12:6-12

Chapter 12 of Acts brings about the death of James and the arrest of Peter. While Peter was in prison the church was praying for his release. Peter was heavily guarded with four squads of soldiers, each with four members.

Two guards were always chained to Peter and two were placed outside the door. Every few hours the squads would swap. Peter was probably heavily guarded because of the embarrassment the Romans suffered by Jesus’ resurrection.

So Peter was under heavy guard. There was no way he was going to escape. There was no way anyone was going to come and take him away. Peter was definitely going to stand before Herod the next day.

So there is Peter, chained to two guards and he is sound asleep. Peter never had trouble sleeping and I think that is because he knew who was in control of his life. He had faith and confidence in his Lord.

An angel appears and wakes Peter up and tells him to get dressed. Peter thought it was a dream so he would have left without his cloths and shoes. You know, that’s usually the way dreams go. The angel leads Peter past the guards and once Peter is a ways from the prison and is safe the angel leaves him.

Peter then realized that this was no dream and that God had delivered him. Peter continues on his way to Mary’s house, the mother of John Mark. It is also interesting to note that when Peter arrived at Mary’s house the people didn’t believe that it was Peter.

I find that interesting because here was the church praying for Peter’s release and then when Peter shows up they don’t believe it. They think the servant girl simply heard his spirit. They didn’t think their prayers would be answered.

We can take comfort in that. The early church with all of its power, and first hand knowledge of the apostles and of Jesus, still had their troubles. Still today, at times, when God answers our prayers we are surprised. What a wonderful and gracious God we have.

Well, by now you are probably starting to wonder what in the world this passage of Scripture has to do with mother’s day. That’s a good question because most people skip over the mother in our Scripture today.

That person is Mary the mother of John Mark. This is the only place in Scripture that we find her mentioned, but when can figure out a lot about her by this passage as well as from the life of her son Mark.

Today, the body of Christ meets in a building like this that we call the church. In the early days, the believers, who are called the church, met in people’s homes. So right away, the first thing we know about this women is the fact that she was a true believer. She had the church meeting at her house. Since it is referred to as her house, she was probably a widow as well.

She must have also been a relatively wealthy women to maintain a house large enough to accommodate a gathering of the church. We know that she had a servant girl at the house who answers the door and hears Peter. She must have also been well known because Peter knows exactly where to go once he left prison.

Mary must have been a very brave women as well. James, the brother of John was just executed as I said and it appeared that Peter was next. The followers of Christ were being persecuted for their beliefs.

But here is this women, opening her home to fellow believers. No doubt at great risk to her life and the lives of her loved ones.

This isn’t all that we know about Mary though. The rest of what we know about her comes from the life of her son John Mark. After Peter leaves the area, Paul and Barnabas visit Jerusalem. No doubt they would have came to Mary’s house because Barnabas was Mary’s nephew.

After a while, Paul and Barnabas leave and take her son Mark with them on their missionary journey. Something happens on the journey and Mark deserts them and heads back home to mom. Paul didn’t accept Mark’s reason for leaving and this later becomes a problem for Barnabas.

Mark’s leaving actually split up Paul and Barnabas for a time as well. But we do know that the relationships were reconciled near the end of Paul’s life. In fact, while Paul was in a Roman prison he actually sent for Mark and said he was useful in ministry.

As we know, John Mark became a devoted fellow worker for Christ and went on to write the inspired Gospel of Mark. Now, getting back to mother’s day. What does all this tell us about Mark’s mother, Mary?

Well for one thing, she raised her son according to the Word of God. She taught him what she knew and no doubt she lived the things she taught. She loved God. She raised a son who loved God too. She let him go out on a dangerous and potentially life threatening mission trip. She willingly raised her son for service to God.

No doubt, she also loving accepted her son back home after he deserted Paul and Barnabas. Mark knew that even if he was considered to be a failure by everyone his mother would still love and accept him. I’m am sure that while Mark was back at home his mother never stopped ministering to him.

In fact, I would bet that Mark’s mother played a big role in his return to the ministry. She no doubt knew that failure is often times a part of growing up and would remind him of those Old Testament saints that would fail God at times, but never gave up on God.

The life of John Mark demonstrates the power of a godly mother in their child’s life. Whether you mother’s out there realize it or not, you too have tremendous power over your children’s lives. And not just your children, but your husbands as well. You can use this power for godly good or worldly evil.

If you look back at the Old Testament Kings you will see many scriptures that read something like this, “In such and such a year, so and so becomes King and reigns for so many years and his mother’s name was so and so.” Most of these Kings were pretty bad, but some were good. Whether good or bad kings, there mother’s name is mentioned and associated with their reign.

Mother’s surely do have a tremendous influence in the lives of their children.

If you are a mother to young children, then raise your children in the ways of God and give them into His service. Live your life as you want your children to live. Set an example for your children to follow.

If you are mother to adult children, remember to always open your door to them. Allow them to come back to you when they fail. Don’t criticize or condemn them, just continue to minister to your children throughout their lives. Encourage them, be there for them, and pray for them.

Mary the mother of John Mark was indeed an extraordinary mother. She gets no applause. She gets no thank yous. Rather she simply gives herself to her loved ones. She gives to God all that she has. That is what makes a mother extraordinary.

Closing Prayer

Lord we thank you for the mother’s that we have. We thank you that you made them to be kind, compassionate, and nurturing to us. We thank you for the many lessons we have learned from them.

We pray for our mother’s here this morning. We pray that they may see their children grow in the faith and raise them for your service, honor and glory. AMEN.