ETB Acts 12:6-18
Understand the Context
Explore the Text
The “iron gate” opens the same way the stone was rolled away: by God’s mighty power. It opened “by itself” (automate¯ in Greek).
This reflected the common Jewish belief in guardian angels. It also shows how serious the persecutions had become, for it was believed that your guardian angel would sometimes appear shortly after your death. Thus it seems the crowd of believers was better prepared to believe Peter had been executed than that he had been released.
Except for a brief appearance in chapter 15, Peter fades from the scene as the rest of Acts revolves around Paul and his ministry.
According to the Roman code of Justinian, soldiers who allowed a captive to escape would suffer the same penalty their charge was to suffer. Thus we see Peter was to be executed.
This story encourages me a whole bunch because it shows that the Lord responds to prayer even when it’s not accompanied by a great deal of faith. These believers were praying fervently and intensely, but you cannot say they were praying the prayer of faith, since they didn’t even have enough faith to believe Peter was free when he was knocking at their gate! I like this story because I find myself praying a whole lot like them. I pray fervently, even intensely—but a lot of times I’m not sure anything’s going to happen. This story tells me that’s okay. God can still work through a tiny smattering of faith. Jesus said faith the size of a mustard seed—just a tiny bit of faith—can move mountains (Matthew 17:20). If you have faith enough just to pray, things can happen. Doors can open. Ask Peter!
You who feel imprisoned, boxed in, and as though nothing’s happening, in your job, in your family, in your ministry—take heart and take hope and pray anyway. Sometimes it takes only enough faith to pray for a miracle to happen.
Peter would later write these words:
For the eyes of the Lord are over the righteous, and his ears are open unto their prayers: but the face of the Lord is against them that do evil. 1 Peter 3:12
The eyes of the Lord are over the righteous—that’s why Peter had peace. The ears of the Lord are open to prayer—that’s why the church could pray. But the face of the Lord is against evil—that’s why Herod was about to perish