Acts 12:1-19

                                                             Acts 12:1-19

About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. ² He killed James the brother of John with the sword, ³ and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. ⁴ And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. ⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

⁶ Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. ⁷ And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands.⁸ And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” ⁹ And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰ When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. ¹¹ When Peter came to himself, he said, “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.”

¹² When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. ¹³ And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ Recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. ¹⁵ They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” ¹⁶ But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed. ¹⁷ But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Tell these things to James and to the brothers.”^[a] Then he departed and went to another place.

¹⁸ Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. ¹⁹ And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.

It is hard for us to know why God chooses to save some of His servants from death and allows others to die.  It is not our place to question God on these issues.  We must trust in His sovereign will and His infinite wisdom.  Persecution continues to escalate in the city of Jerusalem, but God is continuing to work His plan in the lives of these believers.  His supernatural power assures us that whatever circumstance we face and whatever persecution we endure is a part of what God is doing in the world even when we cannot understand it.

 

HEROD PERSECUTES TO PLEASE THE PEOPLE: The church in Jerusalem has been growing since the day of Pentecost at an amazing pace.  Despite the persecution under the leadership of Saul, the church began to grow and even spread to places outside of Jerusalem.  James, the leader of the church in Jerusalem, was the logical target to try to stop the growth and spread of the church.  Herod killed James and this pleased the Jews greatly.  The Jews were losing members in droves to the church.  Herod, always anxious to grow his own popularity, decides to imprison Peter.  Since Peter was the main spokesmen of the disciples and was the one who gave the sermon on the day of Pentecost, he was a natural target.  Satan and evil men will do all they can to stop the advance of the Gospel.  However, God is always in perfect control and is able to use the most difficult circumstances to advance His mission.

 

GOD FREES PETER TO FURTHER HIS PLAN: The martyrdom of men like Stephen and now James was tragic, but permitted by God.  However, God has a plan for Peter and would not allow him to be killed at this time.  As Peter sleeps chained between two guards in a room that is heavily guarded, an angel comes down and sets him free.  At the angels touch the chains fall off, the prison doors open, and the guards remain sleeping.  There is no circumstance too difficult for God to overcome.  There is no army big enough to prevent God’s deliverance.  We are not able to see why God would allow James to be killed but we must trust in His sovereign plan.  No matter how hard our situation may seem, God is able to set us free if He so chooses.  No matter what God chooses, we are called to rejoice in His working in and through us for His glory.

 

DISCIPLES ARE AMAZED BY GOD’S ANSWER TO PRAYER: The church in Jerusalem gathered to pray for Peter to be released.  It seems that they are gathered in the same location as where they had the last supper with Jesus and where they had been gathered when the Holy Spirit was sent on Pentecost.  Peter arrives at the gate and must be let in as the doors were locked for their protection.  When Peter gets the attention of Rhoda and she recognizes it is Peter, she is overjoyed and forgets to let Peter in but goes and tells everyone that their prayers have been answered.  Even though they are praying for Peter’s release, they do not believe it is possible.  God does not depend on our faith to be able to act.  There are many times that we will pray for things that we don’t know how God will answer.  This should encourage us to pray at all times, but especially during times when our faith is weak.

 

HEROD BLAMES HIS BATALION FOR PETER’S ESCAPE: Imagine the surprise of the soldiers when they awoke and found that Peter was gone.  When a search for him turned up empty, there seems to be only one explanation; that some of the soldiers had orchestrated Peter’s escape.  They ended up paying with their life.  This is what happens when you deny the super-natural.  The denial of God requires that everything has a natural cause.  Had Herod or even his soldiers understood that God had released Peter just like God had raised Jesus from the dead; they would have been easily led to repentance and salvation.  Instead, they are left with lies, doubt and death.  The same thing happens every time someone marvels at the beauty of creation and then attributes it to a cosmic accident.  When we fail to recognize the hand of God at work in our lives, we rob Him of glory and deprive ourselves of the joy of worshiping Him.  Stand in awe of God and be on the lookout for His work in our lives.

 

APPLICATION: We can trust God’s perfect control of the circumstances of His followers even when that includes death or imprisonment.  He moves in our lives and in history even when we have weak faith.  His power is not limited to our faith.  Don’t discount the power of God’s working in our lives.  Don’t fall into the temptation of discounting the super-natural.