It did not take long after Jesus’ disciples began to spread the Gospel that they suffered persecution. The Jewish leaders who put Jesus to death wanted to stop Peter and John from spreading what they thought of as a “rebellion”. The leaders could not answer Jesus’ claim to be the Son of God. Jesus backed up His claim with many miracles, including the raising of Lazarus from the dead. They thought the best way to stop Jesus was to put Him to death. After the crucifixion, they thought they had won, but now, here came Jesus’ disciples, Peter and John, doing miracles in His name.

Yes, this is the same Peter and John who were so frightened when Jesus was arrested that they ran away and hid. They feared arrest and death.
After His resurrection, Jesus forgave Peter. At Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came and gave the apostles the courage and power to go out and preach the Gospel in spite of the dangerous opposition that they would face.

Soon in their ministry, Peter and John healed a lame beggar at the temple. They said, “In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene – walk!”  (Acts 3:6) Then Peter explained to the Jewish people who were watching this miracle that the One Whom they had put to death recently was none other than Jesus Christ, “the Prince of life, the One Whom God raised from the dead, a fact to which we are witnesses.” (Acts 3:15).  The bible tells us that thousands believed because of the miraculous healing of the lame man and Peter’s testimony.

Again, the religious leaders had no answer to this miracle. They knew that too many people had witnessed the healing and they began to wonder what to do about it. They warned the apostles to stop, but the disciples continued to heal people and preach the Gospel and many thousands believed in Jesus.

The Jewish leaders became angry and impatient at this and began to persecute Christians with a vengeance. Many were tortured, imprisoned, and put to death.
One day, King Herod decided to please the Jewish leaders by arresting some Christians. He had James, the brother of the apostle John, put to death. The Jews were happy about this, so Herod proceeded to arrest Peter also. Herod put Peter in a prison with four squadrons of soldiers to watch over him, but an angel of the Lord helped Peter escape. (This exciting story is in Acts 12.)

At this point, Peter went to the home of someone whom he thought would shelter and protect him. He went to the home of Mary, the mother of his friend, John Mark.

Mary must have been a very courageous woman. She was aware of the persecution of the Christians, and had no doubt heard about the martyrdomof James. She knew that she risked arrest and imprisonment for helping the followers of Christ. In spite of possible grave danger to herself, she opened her home as a place for believers to meet and encourage one another. The Christians were gathered there praying, when Peter knocked on her door.

Mary is one of those remarkable women in the New Testament who are mentioned only once. But just as in the story of Anna the prophetess, Luke, the author of Acts, gives us enough details in this one verse to know and understand much about this courageous woman.

Since the house is referred to as her house, and not her husband’s, she was probably a widow. She was also wise enough to run her own household.

We know from Colossians 4:10 (where Paul sends greetings from other brethren, including “Barnabas’s cousin Mark”) that Barnabas was John Mark’s cousin. Therefore, Mary was this famous disciple’s aunt.

Her work in the support of the early church must have been well known. Peter knows right where to go after his miraculous escape from prison. Not only was he well guarded, but he gets by two different guard stations and finally outside an iron gate. The angel leads him for a while along a street and then departs from him. Peter is left alone but he knows that he can go to the home of Mary for help and protection.

Mary must have been a truly devoted follower of Jesus to have raised such a faithful son as John Mark. He was a young man at the time of our story, but he continued steadfast in faith and was used as a fellow worker in the Gospel along with his cousin Barnabas, the apostle Paul, and even Peter.  He eventually wrote the Gospel that is called after his name. Much of this can be attributed to the faith-filled influence of his extraordinary mother, Mary.

Mary is a wonderful example of courage for us. She must have known about the defection of all of the disciples when Jesus was arrested. They feared a very real danger. She knew of the persecution going on all around her. But, she trusted God to take care of her as she served Him by aiding the believers in the early church. She knew what was the right thing to do and she bravely faced whatever might come her way to follow the Lord.