Peter's Deliverance from Prison - Acts 12:1-19

Narrative shift from Antioch to Jerusalem - vs. 1-3

The focus of the Holy Spirit as He directs the historian, Luke, turns back to the saints in Jerusalem who are facing persecution once again. If you remember, they experienced a period of peace after Saul had been converted (Acts 9:31 “So the church throughout all Judea and Galilee and Samaria had peace ...”). However, Herod the King was newly throned and eager to make an impression among the ruling elite of the Jewish society, and to keep the peace with Rome. This was Herod Agrippa I, the nephew of Herod Antipas, who beheaded John the Baptist and questioned Jesus during His trial, and he was the grandson of Herod the Great, who tried to kill the baby Jesus. He captured and executed the Apostle James, who was the brother of John. Thus we have 3 generations of Herods who have opposed and persecuted the church.

Herod the Great - tried to kill the Head of the church

died after an unidentified but excruciatingly painful, putrefying illness (according to Josephus)

Herod Antipas - removed the head of the forerunner of the Messiah

exiled and likely executed by Emperor Caligula

Herod Agrippa - beheaded one of the Messiah’s inner circle

eaten by worms from the inside out (Acts 12:23)

Peter is arrested - v. 4

So James, one of the Lord’s most trusted and beloved disciples, is the first to join Him in Glory, executed in the same manner as the Lord’s cousin, and it is carried out by the same household (Herod, king of Judea). And Herod, always seeking to be popular, saw that it made the Jewish leaders happy, so he promptly seized Peter. There is little doubt he would have also been looking for John, so that he might cut the head off of the church completely, both literally and figuratively.

However, the Jews, ever so dedicated to their religion, would not permit executions to take place during the Passover. So Herod has Peter put into prison under heavy guard. The number of guards was “four quaternions,” which is four squads, and each squad was made up of four soldiers: two would be watching the gates, and two would be chained on either side of Peter, one to his left arm and the other to his right arm. Thus Peter is doubly-guarded and doubly-chained, deep within the prison.

The Scripture here notates that Herod intended to bring Peter forth to the people “after Easter.” There are two things about this I wish to show you.

This is the only place in the Bible where the word “Easter” is found, and even then, is only found in the King James Version as far as I can tell

this is an anachronism inserted by the English translators, because the very word “Easter” has roots in Germanic language and is the word associated with springtime. It is only found in German and English, languages that are quite unique and much more recent than the Greek that the New Testament was written in

the Greek word that is found here is Pascha, which means Passover

in most non-Germanic languages, the word for the Christian festival that celebrates the resurrection of Jesus is a derivative of pascha

the reason for this is, of course, because Jesus was executed just hours before Passover, and resurrected during the Passover festival

So Easter, Pacha, Passover, while not having the same meaning, all refer to the same event and festival: for the Jews, it is celebrating the Pascal lamb being sacrificed, but for the Christians, it is the death, burial, and resurrection of the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world!

Herod was going to “bring him forth to the people”

not only was this the anniversary of Jesus’ execution (1 year or more later, nobody knows), but the “trial” was going to be much the same

he was going to trot Peter out in front of everyone and ask them what he should do

they would demand that he be executed

Herod would give them what they wanted

Peter would be decapitated by the sword, in the same matter James and John the Baptist had been

The church prayed - v. 5

The church went right to the only thing they could do: prayer. And they prayed earnestly for Peter

they still gathered together to pray for a brother in need

despite the very serious danger it was

they were not taking unnecessary risks, but rather, they were praying for a brother in need

also encouraging and lifting up each other

it is impossible to be in earnest prayer and also be cowering in fear

they were afraid

but they were bold and had courage

and they put aside their fear in preference for their friend and for the Lord

they prayed without ceasing. This indicates

earnest prayer

urgent prayer

unending prayer

it is no coincidence that Paul makes mention of this act of “prayer without ceasing” multiple times in his letters

the earnest prayers of the church are powerful

in James 5, the apostle writes about prayer and how powerful and necessary it is, and in verse 16 he says, “The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much.” In other words, it has great power.

how much more powerful are the prayers of many righteous people, gathered together in unity to pray for one (or many) things?

Peter is delivered - vs. 6-11

When faced with certain death that is only hours away, how would you respond? Would you lie awake all night? If so, would you be in prayer, or would you worry, or be afraid? Would you be contemplating escape, or how to plead your cause one last time? Would you nervously chatter with guards to whom you were chained, or perhaps you would make one last attempt to give them the gospel?

In Peter’s case, he slept. He did not believe deliverance was coming. After all, deliverance did not come for James, nor did it come for Stephen before him, or for Jesus before them. Jesus had promised Peter that he would endure hardships and suffering, and in John 21, He even prophesied that Peter would become a martyr. Although Peter had perhaps hoped it would not have happened so soon, he knew it was inevitable and had accepted the Lord’s will for him.

In Mark 4:39, the Lord Jesus stood up in the bottom of a boat in the midst of a great tempest on the sea and commanded the winds and waves, “Peace, be still.” And they immediately calmed down. Later, in John 16:33, Jesus tells His disciples, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” The same Jesus who commanded peace to a violent storm has commanded peace in your heart! Despite how violent and troublesome the storm you are going through is, even though unto death, Jesus Christ gives peace to all those who call upon His name!

The angel...or vision?

Suddenly an angel appeared with a bright light! Is it not interesting that angels always appear in such a manner? It is not unlike how the angel appeared to Mary (Luke 2:9), or to Zechariah, or at the tomb in Gethsemane.

The angel does not waste time or mince words:

smacks Peter on the side

says, “get up quickly”

commands him to get dressed and put on his shoes

then says “follow me”

All of this happened so quickly, and Peter had been sleeping so well, that he thought it was a dream. Acts 12:9 says “And he went out, and followed him; and wist not that it was true which was done by the angel; but thought he saw a vision.” Think back to Chapter 10, when Peter was on the rooftop in Joppa and he saw a vision that he thought was real. Now he is living in a real scenario and he thought it was a vision. But in both cases, he listens to the word of the Lord and obeys.

This angel guides him through several levels of the king’s compound (Antonia Fortress) and into the edge of the city before disappearing. Only then, after the angel vanishes and Peter is left standing alone in the darkness does he realize this was real, and he was free. He acknowledges the Lord has delivered him and immediately he knows where to go.

Peter went to church - v. 12-17

This is perhaps one of the greatest proof texts that an established church is not only prescribed in scripture, but described and encouraged. When Peter is delivered from prison, no one expected it to happen: not him, not the church, and certainly not the guards or Herod. Yet, the church was gathered in prayer, even in the middle of the night. And furthermore, Peter knew where to go to find them.

Mary’s House Church

Now, they may have been meeting in secret. In fact, it’s probable that they were. But they were accustomed to meeting in the house of Mary, and they were faithful to do so.

It wasn’t by chance that Peter found his way there, and he wasn’t led there by the angel. He went to her house because that’s where the disciples were gathered to pray, and it was not even where the other apostles were at the time.

This Mary is identified as being different from all the other Marys we find in the Gospels; she is the mother of John Mark, and likely the sister of Barnabus (Colossians 4:10 tells us that Barnabus was the uncle of John Mark), who was a wealthy and generous disciple. She was a faithful Christian, perhaps one of status and means in order to host an assembly of believers in her home.

As they prayed earnestly for Peter’s deliverance, he approached the gate and knocked. Ben-Hur illustration of the courtyard

so Rhoda answers…