And lo, an angel of [the] Lord came there, and a light shone in the prison and having smitten the side of Peter, he roused him up, saying, Rise up quickly. And his chains fell off his hands.
Herod had soldiers, two chains and a locked prison between Peter and freedom. Only hours were left before he meant to kill his prisoner. Then a light fills the cell. One touch and one command undo everything Herod built, and no guard hears a sound.
The king had arranged everything he could. It counted for nothing.
Peter was indeed to have the honour of a martyr's death — his Lord told him so in John 21:18, but not yet. Our times are in His hand — what comfort! Trusting the Lord, Peter could sleep in peace in prison, even though he was chained to two soldiers. Herod posted more soldiers at the door of his cell. He was determined not to lose his prey. But all men's precautions are useless when God asserts Himself. He who disposed of Pilate's stone and seal made short work of Herod's doors and guards.
Notice when the rescue came — not early, and not too late.
Deliverance was at hand, which the church scarcely expected any more than the king feared it. As usual, it was just before the critical moment. "At evening time there shall be light."
The angel had to strike Peter's side because he slept so deeply. Faith, not indifference, is what put him to sleep.
Unbelief is what stirs up all this restlessness, when there should be stillness instead. Take Jacob: he was praying when he should have been sleeping in the promise. It was not so with Peter. He is in the prison itself, between two soldiers, bound with two chains — and he sleeps. He sleeps so soundly in the promise and sufficiency of God that his rescuer has to strike him on the side to raise him up.
Peter had a reason to rest, and it came from an earlier arrest.
Peter had escaped from prison once before, and no one knew how he got out (Acts 5). But Peter knew, and that is why here he went to sleep so quietly, for he knew the Lord could take him out again, if He so willed. It is a grand thing to know God, and an awful thing not to know Him. Peter knew God, and slept peacefully.
The light, the waking and the falling chains make up one silent work. No guard noticed any of it.
No sentry said, "Who goes there?" as the angel of the Lord entered the cell of the soundly sleeping Peter and a light shone in the prison. God always brings in light. "In him is no darkness at all," is the character of His nature. Simon's two keepers must have slept too. They neither saw the light nor heard the voice, "Get up quickly." The now awakened Peter obeys it, for the angel's touch had roused him before he "raised him up." It seems that as Peter obeys the call to rise, "the chains fell off his hands." No jailer or blacksmith's tool does this. When God sets Himself to unlock a man's chains, how silent, fast and effective the work is! Even the clanking irons, as they fall on the floor, do not wake the keepers.
Peter's rescue began outside the prison walls.
The combined prayers of the saints work for good to the godly… The angel brought Peter out of prison, but it was prayer that brought the angel.
The chapter uses angelic power twice, and in opposite directions.
Next we have Peter's deliverance from prison by angelic agency in answer to the earnest prayer of his brothers. Peter was an eminent apostle, his work was not yet done, and deliverance by supernatural power was God's means of saving him from death. But God did not only deliver His servant; the angel of the Lord also struck down his wicked and blasphemous persecutor, Herod.
The angel does not stay a moment longer than the need lasts.
They reached the street of the city, which Peter knew so well. From there he needed no more angelic or miraculous guidance. So the angel of the Lord leaves our twice-freed apostle to his own thoughts and ways.
Such help stays out of sight for a reason.
No doubt we owe far more to angelic ministry than we notice, in matters of physical strength and wellbeing. Yet as spirit beings their ministry is completely hidden. They are content to remain unknown to us, so that God alone receives the glory for it.
- Prayer — the church prayed; the angel came. Prayer brought the angel, and the angel brought Peter out of prison.
- Peace — Peter slept so deeply on his last night that the angel had to strike him awake. The Lord had freed him from prison once before, and he knew who could do it again.
- Power — no tool touched the chains. The light, the waking and the falling irons happened without rousing a single guard.
- Precision — the rescue came on the last night, not weeks earlier. God's hour is just before the critical moment.
- Proportion — the angel walked Peter one street and left. Where ordinary means are enough, the miracle stops. The same power that freed Peter later struck down Herod.
And the angel said to him, Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals. And he did so. And he says to him, Cast thine upper garment about thee and follow me.
On the night before his execution, Peter lay chained in a cell, and an angel woke him. What strikes the commentators is not the miracle but its manner: the angel gives ordinary dressing orders — belt, sandals, cloak — in a death cell.
Peter had gone to bed like any man ready to sleep, though he expected to die in the morning. That is why the angel had to tell him to dress.
We are not told what he went through inwardly, but this we read. On the night before he was to be led out to execution, he had unbound his sandals, loosened his belt, thrown off his outer garment, and lain down to sleep. All this showed sweet confidence in the Lord, an easy conscience, and a restful heart. I believe the sleep of the chained man of God in that dreary cell was far sweeter than Herod's. Herod was Satan's servant, and he might lie on a splendid couch, surrounded by the luxury of a palace. Far better to be God's man in a prison than Satan's man in a palace!
What Peter tied on was simple:
Soles worn under the feet, tied by strings or thongs to keep them in place. Mark 6:9; Acts 12:8. See SHOES.
The chains had already dropped off, yet the angel does not rush Peter out barefoot.
"Dress yourself and put on your sandals" is the next command. There is no undue hurry; everything is orderly. Peter obeys, and then hears, "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me."
The angel does not simply open the way and leave Peter to work out the rest. He directs each step, and the record keeps every one.
Every detail is recorded, down to the smallest thing. At the angel's word Peter binds on his sandals and puts on his belt. The angel's care is most thorough. And when they had passed the two guards and reached the outer gate, it opens to them by itself.
Peter did what he was told before he believed it was real.
Told to put on his belt and dress himself, he did so, and followed the angel. The experience was so amazing that he thought it was only a vivid dream.
The empty cell said something in itself. A man running for his life leaves his clothes behind.
Day dawned, and light streamed into the prison. But where was the prisoner? The guards woke up to find that Peter was not there. Only one explanation of his escape could be seriously considered. Supernatural power must have been at work, for there was no sign of haste in his departure. His sandals, his belt, his outer garment — all had gone with him.
Those sandals raise a wider question: how small a thing does God bother to look after?
Christ is the believer's security. The Nail fastened in a secure place cannot be broken. Nor can the smallest vessel fail to find sweet security in depending on Him. For all the weight of heaven and earth rests on His shoulder — the weight of redeemed saints and of confirmed angels. I am foolish and senseless to imagine that I can add anything to Christ's special care and tenderness towards His people. He keeps the basins and knives of His house, and He brings the vessels back to the second temple. So He must have a more tender care for His redeemed ones than for a spoon, or for Peter's old shoes, which must not be lost even in his captivity.
This deliverance began before the angel ever reached the cell.
The combined prayers of the saints work for good to the godly. The church prayed to God for Peter without ceasing, and the angel of the Lord came to him, raised him up, and his chains fell off (Acts 12:5-7). The angel fetched Peter out of prison, but it was prayer that fetched the angel.
- Prayer first. The angel brought Peter out of prison, but prayer brought the angel.
- Peace before rescue. Peter took off his sandals and belt and slept on the eve of execution. That is the rest of a man who had left his case with God.
- Order, not panic. Belt, sandals, cloak: no undue hurry. The angel directs every detail, and the record keeps it.
- Obedience before understanding. Peter dressed and followed while he still thought he was dreaming. Obedience, not understanding, took him out.
- Small things kept. The God who fastens sandals in a death cell loses nothing belonging to His people — not even Peter's old shoes.
And going forth he followed [him] and did not know that what was happening by means of the angel was real, but supposed he saw a vision.
Peter walks out of his cell behind the angel and does everything he is told — yet the whole time he does not believe it is happening. He takes his own escape for a vision, which raises a question: how can a man obey God's rescue while still doubting it is real?
One writer traces Peter's dreamlike state up to the moment it lifted:
Peter had followed his guide almost in a dreamy state, for he "did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision" (Acts 12:9). But once he was clear of the prison and had walked down one street, the angel left him. His mission was ended. The apostle then came to himself. Aware that he was free, he could say, "Now I am sure that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting."
Peter does not stop to work out whether this is real. He follows each instruction as it comes.
"Dress yourself and put on your sandals," is the next command. There is no rush; everything is done in order. Peter obeys, and then hears, "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me." Thinking he was "seeing a vision," and not knowing "that what was being done by the angel was real," he still goes with him.
The rescue did not wait for Peter to understand it. Every obstacle gave way while he was still dazed:
His angel stood by and woke him. He freed Peter from his chains and told him in detail what to do, and Peter, as if in a vision, obeyed each word as he was told. He did not come to himself until they had passed both guards, and the iron gate had opened by itself — not to let the angel in, but to let Peter out. They had gone one street away when the angel left him.
Herod had already had James put to death. The difference was not in the strength of the guard but in God's timing for each servant:
Peter was indeed to have the honour of a martyr's death — his Lord told him so in John 21:18, but not yet. Our times are in His hand — what comfort! Trusting in the Lord, Peter could sleep in peace in prison, though he was chained to two soldiers. Herod posted more soldiers at the door of his cell, so determined was he not to lose his prey. But all men's precautions are useless when God asserts Himself.
Another writer draws out the practical lesson:
If God does not deliver us from hard circumstances, it is because He has a wise reason for it. His greater power and grace can enable us to endure what we must face. God could have as easily delivered James, but allowed him to be martyred instead.
Peter was not the only one who could not believe it. The people praying for his rescue could not take it in when it came:
While they were still begging God for Peter's deliverance, the delivered 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.
One writer reads that night's dazed joy as a picture of what God will yet do for Israel:
At first he was like one who dreamt, thinking that he saw a vision; and so were his companions, saying, "It is his angel!" But so will Israel be hereafter. They will sing, "When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream." In their sudden joy they will have to add, "Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy."
- Asleep — Peter slept the night before his execution, chained between two soldiers. His times were in God's hand, and that hand had not yet set the day of his death.
- Obedient — He dressed, put on his sandals and followed, one command at a time. He did not wait to understand.
- Dreaming — He took the whole rescue for a vision. He came to himself only once the guards, the iron gate and the street were behind him.
- Real — The falling chains, the sleeping guards and the gate that opened by itself were no dream. The rescue was true before Peter believed it.
- Beyond asking — The praying church could not believe its own answered prayer. That is the measure of God: His answer goes beyond our faith.
And having passed through a first and second guard, they came to the iron gate which leads into the city, which opened to them of itself; and going forth they went down one street, and immediately the angel left him.
An angel led Peter past two sets of guards and out of Herod's prison, and the iron gate opened by itself. So why did Peter need a gate opened when his guide did not, and why did the angel leave him alone in the street?
The verse begins with two guard posts. One writer explains why no one raised the alarm.
Peter and the angel passed both the first and second guard without a challenge. All was quiet within the prison, still as death. A sleep — very likely a supernatural sleep, of a kind Scripture mentions elsewhere — had fallen on the guards. Neither their prisoner's movements nor the light that had shone around them woke them.
The verse stops to say what the gate was made of. Gate material was a matter of defence.
City gates were made of wood covered with iron, to make them strong and to keep fire from burning them. The prison at Jerusalem had an outer gate of iron, the only iron one we read of.
The gate did not open because someone outside needed to get in. One writer notes which way the miracle worked, and how late the rescue came.
Deliverance was near. The church hardly expected it any more than the king feared it. As usual, it was just before the critical moment. "At evening time there shall be light." Everything looked certain on the world's side. On the other side, Peter rested in peace through the grace of the Lord who neither slumbers nor sleeps... He did not come to himself until they had passed both guards and the iron gate opened by itself — not to let the angel in, but to let Peter out.
Herod had counted soldiers, chains and guard posts. Two things never entered his arithmetic.
The king could go to bed without a thought about his prisoner, except that he held him fast, so that escape was impossible. But he had left two vital things out of his calculations. The one was the power of God, the other the power of prayer... The king might be sleeping. The Christians were praying. Which would prevail — the power of man, or the prayer of faith?
The church prayed for Peter — and then left him standing outside their own door. One writer follows that irony to the end.
The chains fall to the ground, surely with a lot of noise, yet the soldiers never notice! Neither the guards nor the iron gates do their job. Peter, only half awake, finds himself free. All the prison doors had opened for him. Yet at the house of John Mark's mother, Peter finds himself shut outside a closed door, while inside her fellow believers tell poor Rhoda she is mad. All this because the power of prayer brought results beyond the boldest expectations even of the people praying!
Peter tied on his sandals and followed, and still did not believe any of it was real.
Every small detail is on record. At the angel's word Peter puts on his sandals and fastens his belt. The angel's care reaches to the smallest thing. And when they had passed the two guards and reached the outer gate, it opens to them by itself... Until this moment Peter thought he was seeing a vision. Now he realises that God has delivered him from Herod's hands and from what the Jewish people were expecting. Notice how closely visions matched reality, since Peter took the reality for a vision.
The escort ends after one street, on ground Peter knew.
There is no needless hurry; everything is done in order... Once they reach the city street, which Peter knew so well, there is no further need for angelic or miraculous guidance. So the angel of the Lord leaves the twice-freed apostle to his own thoughts and his own way.
- Gate. The prison's outer gate was the only iron gate the Bible mentions. Iron kept a gate strong and kept fire from burning it down.
- God. It opened by itself, and the point of direction matters: not to let the angel in, but to let Peter out.
- Guards. Herod counted chains, soldiers and guard posts. He left out the two things that decided the night: the power of God and the power of prayer.
- Guidance. Peter obeyed each small instruction while still thinking he was dreaming. The rescue was so far beyond normal life that he took it for a vision.
- Going on. One street from the prison the angel left. Where Peter knew the way, he needed no miraculous help.
And Peter, being come to himself, said, Now I know certainly that [the] Lord has sent forth his angel and has taken me out of the hand of Herod and all the expectation of the people of the Jews.
Peter stands alone on a Jerusalem street. The angel has gone, and only now does his mind catch up with his feet. These are his first clear words as a free man, and they name the two powers God rescued him from: a king and a crowd.
Peter's words come after confusion, not before it. To come to himself is to have his mind clear at last, so he can read what has just happened to him.
One can easily imagine how bewildered Peter was at that moment. We all know how hard it is to take in the situation when we wake out of deep sleep. Peter was in that condition. He had lain down expecting only to wake and go out to die. Then he saw and heard an angel telling him — a man in chains — to get up, dress, and walk out of prison. A moment later he stood on the pavement of a well-known street, a free man. No wonder he was bewildered. But it soon passed... So he acknowledges the Lord's gracious intervention on his behalf.
Peter credits nothing to luck or to his own nerve. Herod had stacked every human safeguard he could think of, and each one failed at the same moment.
Herod was determined not to lose his prey. But all men's precautions are useless when God asserts Himself. He who dealt with Pilate's stone and seal made short work of Herod's doors and guards. So on that memorable night an angel woke Peter and told him to get up, dress, and follow. The chains fell off. Door after door opened before them, and the soldiers slept on. Soon Peter stood in the street, and the angel said goodbye.
Such care did not end with Peter, though it no longer takes so visible a form.
Angelic care has in no way disappeared for His servants, though there is no such display of power as of old... If the Lord opened our eyes more fully, we would see this. Our enemies may look countless and overwhelming. Yet if we are truly with Christ and for Christ, those who are with us are more than those who are with them. Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?
Peter names two enemies: Herod, and the people whose favour Herod wanted. James had already died. So why did God keep one apostle and let the other go?
Now it was neither the priest nor the people, but the king, wanting to please the Jews; but what of God? If He was magnified in the death of James, He would be magnified more by keeping Peter alive. The wishes of the people and their rulers made no difference. The testimony had already been fully given, even in the temple... They had heard the gospel of the risen and glorified One, and they despised it. They had rejected and crucified Him. So Peter was not to make a similar stand now, though the miracle was just as great. He followed the Lord's usual rule instead: when persecuted in one city, flee to another.
The rescue could have come at once. It did not, and the delay had a purpose.
On the previous occasion Peter was released from prison by angelic hands on the very night of his arrest (Acts 5:19). This time the Lord allowed the enemy to detain him until a few hours before his intended execution. This was doubtless to exercise faith, both in the apostle himself and in his friends who prayed for him. For the assembly in Jerusalem made ceaseless prayer for the prisoner.
Some commentators see in that night a picture of Israel's rescue still to come.
Peter is shown to be the Lord's prisoner, rather than Herod's. He sleeps between his keepers. He lies there "a prisoner of hope." The enemy is strong and mighty, and the remnant have no relief but in God. But that is enough. They pray without ceasing for him. At last this prisoner of the Lord is sent out of the pit, as Israel will be in the latter day... At first he was like a man dreaming. He thought he saw a vision, and his friends were the same, saying, "It is his angel." Israel will be like that later. They will sing, "When the LORD restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream."
- Chains. Guards, chains, and locked doors were all in place. Every one of them proved useless once God acted.
- Delay. The rescue came hours before the execution, not on the first night. The waiting exercised the faith of Peter and of his praying friends.
- Angel. The Lord did the rescuing, and an angel carried it out. Such care for His servants continues today, without the visible display.
- Certainty. Peter understood it only after the angel left. His first clear thought gave God the credit for the whole night.
- Pledge. A prisoner came out of the pit while his friends could hardly believe it. That night pictures Israel's future rescue — like those who dream.
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.
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- 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.
But Peter continued knocking and having opened, they saw him and were astonished.
A group of believers had been praying for Peter, and now the answer stood outside the gate, knocking. The verse turns on a strange gap. The man they had asked God for was already free, yet the house stayed shut. When the door opened, they were amazed instead of expectant.
Peter walked out of prison without trouble. The one place he could not get into was the home of the people praying for him.
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, poor Rhoda's fellow believers were accusing her of being mad. All this happened because the power of prayer was such that its results went beyond the boldest expectations even of the people who were praying.
Rhoda had said Peter was at the gate, and no one believed her. The sound that kept coming from outside settled the argument for her.
"But Peter continued knocking" — a clear proof that what Rhoda said was true. So at last they either calmed down or got past their disbelief. They went to the gate, and "when they opened, they saw him and were amazed."
The word for their reaction is the heart of the verse. They had prayed for exactly this, and still it stunned them.
While they were still begging God for Peter's release, the released man knocked at the door. Look — the answer to their prayer was there. They could hardly believe it, and in this they were very much like ourselves. God's answer went beyond their faith.
Wolston turns this on our own praying. Surprise, he argues, is the wrong way round:
If we did not know our own hearts, we would be inclined to wonder at all this. Here were many of God's people crying to Him for one thing in particular. When He granted it, they were "amazed." 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.
Luke could have left the embarrassing detail out. He did not, and the timing of the rescue is set against the small faith of those who asked for it.
Meanwhile the assembly made earnest prayer... Deliverance was at hand, which the church scarcely expected any more than the king feared it. As usual, it came just before the critical moment... Luke, who all the way through tells the truth vividly, in no way hides the small faith of the saints. They could hardly have forgotten how the Lord's angel had once before opened the prison doors and brought out the apostles, when the envious high priest and his party had put them in public custody. Faith takes hold of God for the present need; it does not only remember.
The picture the verse leaves is of a company still at prayer while the thing prayed for waits on the step.
Sometimes we get a quick return on our prayers — "In the day that I cried, You answered me." While the church were at God's door praying for Peter's release, Peter is knocking at theirs, to tell them their prayer is heard.
The praying group got a "yes" and did not recognise it. That leaves a direct question for anyone who prays.
When God answered the determined prayers of the saints, they did not believe He had said "yes." Are we ready for when the answer comes? Is it in line with what we have requested?
- Prayer. The church prayed earnestly, late at night. Rescue came so near the last moment that they hardly expected it — no more than the king feared it.
- Answer. God's answer went beyond their faith. The man they asked for was already knocking while they were still asking.
- Door. Every prison door had opened. The one door still shut was the door of the praying house, closed by their own disbelief.
- Knocking. Peter's continued knocking was the proof that Rhoda's report was true, and it forced them at last to open and look.
- Amazed. Their amazement is the warning in the verse. If we were simple and right before God, the surprise would be an answer that did not come quickly. The real question is whether we are ready when the "yes" arrives.
And having made a sign to them with his hand to be silent, he related [to them] how the Lord had brought him out of prison; and he said, Report these things to James and to the brethren. And he went out and went to another place.
Peter walks free from Herod's prison, knocks at the door of a house full of praying friends, and stays only long enough to speak. He sends a report to James, and then the record loses sight of him. Who was this James? Where did Peter go, and why did he leave so fast?
The room was loud. Peter had to raise his hand for quiet before anyone could hear him.
Peter's entrance among the gathered believers clearly had a great effect, and many voices spoke at once. No doubt the top question in every mind, and maybe on every lip, was — "How did you ever get out, Peter?"
He told them what the Lord had done. It was the very thing they had been praying for, yet they could not believe it when it came.
Here it is worth noting a few points. The refuge of believers 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 their trust in God... Peter is set free, just as they wanted. But look how little the heart believes that its requests will be granted. By grace it may have confidence in God and turn to Him in its need — and still it does not believe.
Earlier in Acts, Peter had stood in the temple and preached openly after a miracle. This time he slips away instead — and the difference is deliberate.
The testimony had already been given in full, even in the temple. There was no command now to stand and speak there "all the words of this life." They had heard the gospel of Him risen and glorified, and had despised it. He was the One they had rejected and crucified. So Peter was not to make a similar stand now, though the miracle was just as great. Instead he kept the Lord's ordinary rule: when persecuted in one city, flee to the next. That is what he does here, after explaining everything to the astonished company.
Freedom did not mean safety.
Though Peter was free, the danger of his position was much clearer to him than to his friends. So he wisely withdrew to a more secret and safer place.
The James of this verse cannot be the James of verse 2 — Herod had already had him killed.
Herod had killed the James who was John's brother and the son of Zebedee, early on (Acts 12:2). So it is probably right to assume that this is the James who took a leading place among the Jewish believers at Jerusalem (Acts 12:17; Acts 15:13; Acts 21:18; Galatians 2:12).
That place at Jerusalem was real. But it looked nothing like the office of a bishop.
Scripture could not give stronger evidence against one man holding superior authority in the churches. The nearest thing to anything of that kind is James at Jerusalem... So we clearly have a man with great influence among the Jewish Christians, and it was not always a good influence... But in his history there is no trace of a bishop's oversight.
Scripture never names the place he went. One famous claim about it does not hold up.
That he went to Rome then, and began the first year of a twenty-five-year reign there as Pope, is the wildest of dreams. It has not a shred of Scripture proof, and everything Scripture does tell us sets it aside in the strongest way.
After this verse, Acts almost stops following Peter.
We read of Peter's deliverance from prison. Then he vanishes from sight, and Acts shows him no more, except at the memorable meeting in chapter 15... But where did he go after he left Jerusalem (Acts 12:17)? Where did he take himself after that exchange between Paul and him at Antioch (Gal. 2:11-21)? What did he do at Babylon, whatever place we understand by that name? All this is left a story untold.
- Prayer — The believers asked God to preserve Peter, God heard, and the answer arrived before their faith caught up with it.
- Praise — Peter quiets the room not to tell his own story but to describe how the Lord brought him out.
- Prudence — Jerusalem had already heard the testimony and refused it. So Peter keeps the Lord's ordinary rule and flees instead of making a public stand.
- Passing on — He sends word to James, who held a leading place among the believers at Jerusalem — real influence, but not a bishop's office.
- Passing off — Scripture never names the other place. Peter fades from the record, and the claim that he went to Rome to reign as Pope has no Scripture behind it.