Peter finishes his letter to the Christians all across present-day Turkey with a greeting from “She who is in Babylon…”:
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.
1 Peter 5:13-14
We don’t know precisely what Peter means by this. Was he literally in Babylon, the general area of present-day Baghdad in Iraq? Maybe, but probably not likely.
Was he in Jerusalem? Possibly in Rome? Again, maybe.
Does it precisely matter where he was? No, not necessarily. Peter is giving greetings to the rest of the church, the people of God and believers in Christ who were scattered throughout the various provinces of Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia and Bithynia. And he was greeting them on behalf of “she”.
Who is “she”?
Peter was likely referring to the church where he was located. Yet Peter says that he is in Babylon. What is he talking about?
Babylon was a place that, Biblically, was in opposition to God and his people. Babylon was the kingdom that came, even as part of God’s plan, to destroy Jerusalem and from Jerusalem, the Israelite people were carried off into captivity.
But now, Peter finds himself in a place that stands in opposition to God and his people, and yet the church, God’s people, continue forward.
And so this is a lesson for us. The world is not the church’s friend. The world stands in direct opposition to the people of God. The world, like the kingdom of Babylon, seeks to destroy all that belongs to God. As far as the thinking of the world and its systems go, anyone that is in Christ, anyone that is worshiping him and not the systems of our world should be destroyed. We should not be confused about this. This is the nature of the kingdom of darkness. It wants no part of the kingdom of God and will not willingly for it to continue to move forward.
And yet, the people that find themselves within this kingdom, the kingdom of darkness, within “Babylon” itself, are not our physical enemies. They, along with each of us, are precisely the people for whom Jesus came to give his life. All of those who stand in opposition, who are enemies of God, are the people that Jesus loved and for whom he violently loved and sacrificed himself. Why? So that he could purchase them away from the kingdom of darkness and ransom them into the kingdom of God. For all that would come, their ransom has been paid.
Peter understands this and that is what he is working for. He is working to take that message to Babylon. So whether Peter finds himself in Jerusalem, in Rome, directly in the city of Babylon, or wherever else, the church is there and is seeking to give the message that Jesus gave himself for them. For Babylon. And this is the same message that Jesus is reminding each of the other churches as he finishes his letter.