And having become clearly conscious [in himself], he came to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was surnamed Mark, where were many gathered together and praying.
The night Peter walked free from prison, he did not look for a hiding place — he went to a house where people were praying for him. That address shows how the first Christians met, what they did in danger, and who grew up in that home.
Jerusalem already held thousands of believers. Where did they all meet?
There must have been very many groups of Christian Jews in Jerusalem. By now they numbered thousands. Large buildings set apart for the assembly seem to have been unknown at that time.
Mary is remembered for what she did with her house. One writer sets her beside other women whose service Scripture records:
Dorcas did a good work in making clothes for the poor. Mary, the mother of John Mark, opened her house for many to gather together in prayer. Lydia, whose heart the Lord opened, did a good work when she opened her house to the servants of the Lord.
Peter was in prison and beyond human help. What did the believers do?
The refuge of the faithful is in prayer. They had come together to ask God for the preservation of Peter, and God had heard their prayer. They did not know how, but they had put trust in God. It seemed to be the natural resource of the hearts of these believers; and the feeling was a common one.
Peter arrived at an hour when no one would expect a house to be awake.
The deep earnestness of these believers shows in this: they were before God at that unusual hour when Peter appeared on the scene.
The verse turns on one word: Peter realized. Only when he was sure the rescue was real did he move.
Then Peter realised his deliverance. Fully aware of it all, he went to Mary's house. Many had gathered there to pray — we surely cannot doubt it — for the very man who was knocking at the door. All through his account Luke presents the truth vividly, and he in no way hides how small the believers' faith was. They could hardly have forgotten how the Lord's angel had opened the prison doors before this and brought the apostles out, when the jealous high priest and his party had put them in public custody. Faith remembers, but it also takes hold for the need of the moment.
Does God still act like this? One writer draws a careful line:
I do not believe that miracles happen today. Angels no longer appear. It was not a gift that could continue. But I fully believe, according to the Lord's promise, that God hears prayer. The angels work for the children of God as much now as in those early times. There is one condition, however: what we ask must be according to the will of God, and we must pray in faith.
The verse names the son of the house: John Mark. One writer asks what that home did for him.
Could it be significant that Mark grew up in an atmosphere of prayer? … That was clearly not the first prayer meeting held in that house.
The verse gives him two names. His later record was uneven, which makes the ending all the more remarkable:
Mark was a common Roman first name. His Jewish name was John. He was converted through Peter. Right at the start of his Christian life, Barnabas (his relative) and Paul took him with them on their missionary travels. He thought he could take up and put down God's work as he liked. He left the two leaders to carry on by themselves, while he went off home again. … Most of us, perhaps, would have thought it best to leave Mark alone after that. It comes as quite a surprise, then, that in the end he received the high honour of writing one of the four Gospels.
after_note: DELETE
- House. Mary is remembered for one thing: she opened her home. Jerusalem had no church buildings, so houses held the thousands who believed.
- Habit. Prayer was not an emergency measure. It was the natural instinct of these believers, and that house had seen prayer meetings before.
- Earnestness. They were still praying at the odd hour when Peter knocked. The hour itself shows how much they meant it.
- Weakness. Luke does not hide how small their faith was, and God answered them anyway.
- Harvest. A boy raised in that praying house walked out on God's work, and still ended up writing one of the four Gospels.
And when he had knocked at the door of the entry, a maid came to listen, by name Rhoda;
Peter has just walked out of prison. The first door he reaches is his friends' door. Inside, they are still praying for him — and the girl who answers his knock never opens it.
One writer follows what Rhoda did at the gate — and what she failed to do:
Arriving there he knocks, and Rhoda, the doorkeeper, going to ask who was at the "door of the gate" — the small gate into the courtyard — hears his voice. She is so overwhelmed with gladness that she does not let the apostle in at once — as a more sensible girl would have done. Instead she runs back into the house to tell the others that God had answered their prayers, and that Peter was standing before the gate. Sadly, faith and eagerness are not always combined.
Rhoda knew Peter before anyone saw him. The voice at the gate was enough:
Then Peter realised his deliverance. Fully aware of it all, he went to Mary's house. Many had met there for prayer — we can hardly doubt — about the very man who knocked at the door. The maid Rhoda (or as we would say, Rose) recognised the well-known voice. It was not fear but joy that sent her running back to tell the news that Peter was standing outside.
A servant girl is an unlikely person for Scripture to name. One writer suggests why she is named here:
When God had answered their prayers, they were reluctant to believe it. Not one of the company believed that Peter was free. Rhoda was the one who believed that it was Peter. This is undoubtedly why the book records her name. The poor maid, perhaps a slave girl, pleased God because she had faith. There was great earnestness in that prayer meeting, but when the answer came, unbelief showed itself.
Notice the two doors in this scene:
Sometimes we get a swift return to our prayers — "On the day I called, you answered me." The church were at God's door, praying for Peter's deliverance. At the same time Peter is knocking at their door, to tell them their prayer is heard.
The doors that should have held Peter gave way. The door that should have welcomed him did not:
All the prison doors had opened for him. Yet at the house of John Mark's mother, Peter found himself shut out behind closed doors. Inside, poor Rhoda's fellow believers were calling her mad. All this because the power of prayer was such that its results went beyond the boldest expectations even of those who had prayed those very prayers!
The company inside had prayed earnestly. They still could not take the answer when it stood at the gate. The way we talk about our own answered prayers can give us away too:
In Acts 12 we find that when Peter was thrown into prison, "earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church." Then God answered them. Rhoda told the praying company that Peter was at the gate, and they said to her, "You are out of your mind." When she pressed it on them, they allowed that it might be his angel. At last the gate opened and they saw him, and "they were amazed." What a sad tale of unbelief it is when we look so little for an answer to prayer that we are amazed when it comes, and call it "a remarkable answer."
- Knock — Every prison door opened for Peter. The one door that stayed shut was the door of praying friends.
- Voice — Rhoda knew Peter by his voice, before anyone saw him. Joy, not fear, sent her running back inside.
- Faith — Scripture names her because she alone in that house believed the answer had come. A servant girl's faith pleased God.
- Gap — They prayed with real earnestness, yet they expected far less than God gave.
- Test — Calling an answered prayer "remarkable" measures our faith, not God's kindness.
and having recognised the voice of Peter, through joy did not open the entry, but running in, reported that Peter was standing before the entry.
Peter has walked out of a guarded prison, and now he stands knocking at an ordinary front gate in Jerusalem. The servant girl who answers knows his voice at once, and in her joy she runs to tell the praying household — leaving Peter outside.
Rhoda's job was to answer the door. Her reaction to the voice she heard was the opposite of what her job required.
When Peter arrives he knocks. Rhoda, the doorkeeper, goes to ask who is at the door of the gate — the small gate into the courtyard — and hears his voice. She was so overwhelmed with gladness that she did not let the apostle in at once, as a more sensible girl would have done. Instead she ran back into the house to tell the others about the answer to their prayers, and that Peter "was standing at the gate." Sadly, faith and eagerness are not always found together.
Fear would have been a natural reaction to a knock at that hour. One writer names what moved her instead.
Then Peter realized his deliverance. Fully aware of everything, he went to Mary's house, where many were praying — surely we cannot doubt — about the very man who knocked at the door. It was not fear but joy that moved the servant girl Rhoda (or as we would say, Rose). She recognised the well-known voice and ran back with the news that Peter was standing outside. Luke, who all through presents the truth vividly, in no way hides the small faith of the believers. They could hardly have forgotten how the Lord's angel had once before opened the prison doors and brought out the apostles, when the jealous high priest and his party had put them in public custody. Faith takes hold for present need as well as remembers.
God opened every barrier Herod had built. Then Peter met a shut door at the house of his own friends.
Neither guards nor iron gates do their work, and Peter, only half awake, finds himself free. All the prison doors had opened for him. But at the house of John Mark's mother, Peter finds himself behind closed doors, while her fellow believers inside accuse poor Rhoda of being mad. And all because the power of prayer was such that its results went beyond the boldest expectations even of those who prayed!
Scripture records this servant's name. One writer finds the reason in what she alone was willing to believe.
When God had answered their prayers they were reluctant to believe it. Not one of the company believed that Peter had been released. Rhoda was the one who believed that it was Peter. And this is undoubtedly the reason why her name is mentioned in this book. The poor servant girl, perhaps a slave, pleased God because she had faith. While there was great earnestness in that prayer meeting, when the prayer was answered, unbelief showed itself.
The very people who had prayed for Peter refused her report. She did not take it back.
Rhoda in Acts 12 recognised the apostle's voice. She could not be moved from her firm statement, even in the face of unbelief among her fellow believers. Remember again the moral tone of Luke's writings. Do we not see (without straining Scripture) how necessary it is to listen to what the apostles say in their writings? We need this if we are to stand firm in testimony to the truth in these days of error and turning away from the truth.
One writer reads their astonishment as a mirror, and he does not leave himself out of it.
Here were many of God's people crying to Him for one particular thing. When it was granted, they were astonished. Sadly, our faith is often so weak that God's answer to our prayer surprises us. If we were only truly simple and right before Him, the surprise would be if the answer were not quick in coming.
- Voice. She recognised Peter before she ever saw him. The familiar sound told her God had answered the prayer.
- Joy. Gladness, not fear, took over. It was so complete that she forgot her one job at the gate.
- Gate. Prison chains and iron gates gave way for Peter; the door of the praying house was the last one to open.
- Witness. She alone believed. The room called her mad, and still she held to what she heard. That is likely why Scripture keeps her name.
- Answer. God did not give too little. He gave more than the people praying were ready to believe.
And they said to her, Thou art mad. But she maintained that it was so. And they said, It is his angel.
Believers are praying for Peter's release, and Peter himself is knocking at the door. Two questions follow: why did they refuse to believe their own answer, and what did they mean by "his angel"?
They had asked God for this very thing. When He did it, the news struck them as impossible.
Herod had his prisoner in the hands of sixteen soldiers, in chains and behind bars and bolts... All these things were as nothing before the angel, and Peter was conducted out to freedom. Many were still praying in the house of Mary, mother of Mark and sister of Barnabas. Peter took himself there. They were still begging God to free Peter when the freed man knocked at the door. Look! The answer to their prayer was there. They could hardly believe it, and in this they were very like ourselves. God's answer went beyond their faith.
The gap was not in God's power but in what the prayers themselves expected.
All the prison doors had opened for him. But when he reached the house of John Mark's mother, Peter found himself behind closed doors. Inside, her fellow believers were accusing poor Rhoda of being mad. All this because the power of prayer was such that its results went beyond the boldest expectations even of those praying!
Rhoda brought a true report, and they insulted her for it. Notice what they did not do next.
"You are out of your mind" was the first answer that those praying at the throne of grace gave the messenger. She had only told them that God had heard their prayers and answered them. She "kept insisting that it was so." The others did not go out to the gate to see whether the report was true. Instead they argued, "It is his angel." They evidently thought Rhoda had seen some ghostly figure that looked like Peter, or that his representative angel (see Matt. 18:10) had visited her.
Scripture keeps her name, and one writer sees a reason for that.
Not one of the company believed that Peter had been released. Rhoda was the one who believed that it was Peter. And this is undoubtedly the reason why her name is mentioned in this book. The poor maid, perhaps a slave girl, pleased God because she had faith. There was great earnestness in that prayer meeting. But when God answered the prayer, unbelief showed itself.
Commentators differ here. One reading takes it as Peter's spirit — which means the group had already written him off as dead.
They would not believe her, though they had been praying constantly for him. When she insisted, they thought it must have been his "angel," that is, his spirit. They did not expect that he could be delivered, so they concluded that he had been killed!
"Angel" was used of a human representative. For instance, John the Baptist once sent two of his disciples. These men represented his mind when they gave the message of the one who sent them (Luke 7:24). The same representative sense appears in Acts 12:15, only here it was of a spiritual character. It appears in Matthew 18:10 too.
A third view reads the angel as Peter's guardian. One writer finds a problem with it.
People commonly take this passage in Acts to imply the Jewish idea of guardian angels as well. But the two hardly seem able to fit together. Why should a guardian angel take on Peter's voice, so as to be mistaken for him?
Whatever they meant, one writer warns against building a doctrine of personal guardian angels on this verse.
Scripture does not support the thought of special guardian angels. They are all ministering spirits.
Luke could have left this detail out. He did not.
Luke presents the truth vividly all through, and he in no way hides the weak faith of the believers. They could hardly have forgotten how God's angel had opened prison doors before.
- Pray. The believers prayed with great earnestness, and God answered — Peter walked out past sixteen soldiers, chains, bars and bolts.
- Expect. Their fault was not in praying but in not looking for the answer; God's answer went beyond their faith.
- Listen. A servant girl brought the true report. The people whose prayer she reported called her mad.
- Weigh. "It is his angel" may mean Peter's spirit, so they assumed he was dead. Or it may mean his representative, the sense also found in Matthew 18:10.
- Learn. Scripture records their weak faith instead of hiding it. We see ourselves in them, and we stop being surprised when God answers.