By Audrey Bauman

Acts 12    (NLT)

James Is Killed and Peter Is Imprisoned

“About that time King Herod Agrippa began to persecute some believers in the church. ² He had the apostle James (John’s brother) killed with a sword. ³ When Herod saw how much this pleased the Jewish people, he also arrested Peter. (This took place during the Passover celebration.) ⁴ Then he imprisoned him, placing him under the guard of four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring Peter out for public trial after the Passover. ⁵ But while Peter was in prison, the church prayed very earnestly for him.”

Peter’s Miraculous Escape from Prison

⁶ The night before Peter was to be placed on trial, he was asleep, fastened with two chains between two soldiers. Others stood guard at the prison gate. ⁷ Suddenly, there was a bright light in the cell, and an angel of the Lord stood before Peter. The angel struck him on the side to awaken him and said, “Quick! Get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists.⁸ Then the angel told him, “Get dressed and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Now put on your coat and follow me,” the angel ordered.

⁹ So Peter left the cell, following the angel. But all the time he thought it was a vision. He didn’t realize it was actually happening. ¹⁰ They passed the first and second guard posts and came to the iron gate leading to the city, and this opened for them all by itself. So they passed through and started walking down the street, and then the angel suddenly left him.

¹¹ Peter finally came to his senses. “It’s really true!” he said. “The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!”

¹² When he realized this, he went to the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many were gathered for prayer. ¹³ He knocked at the door in the gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to open it.¹⁴ When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the door, she ran back inside and told everyone, “Peter is standing at the door!”

¹⁵ “You’re out of your mind!” they said. When she insisted, they decided, “It must be his angel.”

¹⁶ Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking. When they finally opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. ¹⁷ He motioned for them to quiet down and told them how the Lord had led him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers what happened,” he said. And then he went to another place. (You may wonder who James is since this chapter opens with Herod killing James, the apostle. This James is likely Jesus’ brother, who eventually becomes the head of the church in Jerusalem.)

⁸ At dawn there was a great commotion among the soldiers about what had happened to Peter. ¹⁹ Herod Agrippa ordered a thorough search for him. When he couldn’t be found, Herod interrogated the guards and sentenced them to death. Afterward Herod left Judea to stay in Caesarea for a while.”

Don’t you love the telling of this story?  Peter can’t believe he’s been freed from prison. Rhoda is so stunned she leaves Peter at the door.  The people praying inside for Peter’s safety can’t believe he’s free either. Actually, their reactions calm my soul. So often when I pray for something that I consider to be likely impossible, in the back of my mind, I wonder if God will really step in. Then I wonder if my lack of faith limits what God can do. But here I see people praying though the night who are surprised when their prayers are answered. That didn’t stop God from acting.

They likely were worried because the Apostle James had just been killed by Herod. God hadn’t saved him. We don’t know why God saved one apostle and not the other, but martyrdom can also be a very impressive testimony of who God is. We stop and think when we realize a leader is willing to die for what he/she believes. That has an impact. Still … James died, and Peter is imprisoned by the same king.  It’s not surprising that they doubted that Peter would survive. But he did and I’m sure the impact of that miracle strengthened their faith.

That is often true of us as well.  We all experience the pain of this broken world in some way. We lose a job, a loved ones’ health is in jeopardy, a project we thought was good failed, etc.. We pray about those things, but answers that we want don’t always come.   Yet, now that I’ve been a Christian for many years, I can also say that God answered my prayers – not always in the way I would have chosen. My faith has been strengthened as I’ve seen God at work.

Jesus tells us that we can pray even when we're not totally confident. “Jesus told them. “I tell you the truth, if you had faith even as small as a mustard seed, you could say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it would move. Nothing would be impossible.” (Matthew 17: 20) Our faith may not always be strong, but God still works.

This story of Peter's release from prison ends with a brief historical note. Historians have described this event. Apparently, Herod attended a meeting dressed in a silver outfit. The sun shone brightly on him, and the fabric glowed. As a result, the people thought he looked like a god and worshipped him.

Read the verses and see what God thought about it all:

“The Death of Herod Agrippa

²⁰ Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon. So they sent a delegation to make peace with him because their cities were dependent upon Herod’s country for food. The delegates won the support of Blastus, Herod’s personal assistant, ²¹ and an appointment with Herod was granted. When the day arrived, Herod put on his royal robes, sat on his throne, and made a speech to them. ²² The people gave him a great ovation, shouting, “It’s the voice of a god, not of a man!”

²³ Instantly, an angel of the Lord struck Herod with a sickness, because he accepted the people’s worship instead of giving the glory to God. So he was consumed with worms and died.

²⁴ Meanwhile, the word of God continued to spread, and there were many new believers.

²⁵ When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission to Jerusalem, they returned (to Antioch), taking John Mark with them.”

Our song for today is Our God by Chris Tomlin.