God saved Peter from execution; Peter would continue to serve God.
Bible Study Ideas and Commentary for Acts 12:6-18
In this passage in which Luke hands leadership in Jerusalem from Peter to James and prepares to focus on the mission work of Paul and Barnabas, we learn that God still has a mission for Peter -- one that's out of the limelight. We also remember the importance of persistent, bold prayer, and not being surprised when God answers with a miracle.
“Tell these things to James and the brothers,” he said, and he left and went to another place. (12:17)
When We Studied This in 2016
There are some fun topics in that post:
The End of Peter's Story in Acts -- a Miraculous Escape from Herod (a study of Acts 12) (fbcthomson.org)
Think a dream was real
People who declare themselves God
A summary of the first part of Acts*
The Tower of Antonia
John Mark
King Herod
Praying about persecution
That summary of the first part of Acts is a pretty helpful description of the kind of church God wants us to be.
Getting Started: Things to Think About
Escape Magic
I've told you before that I love magic tricks. My daughter and I still watch clips from "Penn and Teller Fool Us" (which is a fun show, even though Penn is a famous atheist). One genre of magic you don't see much of on the show is escape magic. Why? Because it's hard to do something new and innovative that Penn and Teller haven't already seen (or done themselves). The greatest escape magician of all time was Harry Houdini, and he's been dead for 100 years!
Sure, much of Houdini's escapes were based on trick locks and trick cuffs, but let's give the man some credit! He invented the technology -- he didn't buy it from eBay! 😊
This Houdini fan site mentioned a publicity stunt he would do the day of a new show -- he would have the local police put him in jail, and then he would escape.
And of course, he would then have full house for his show. What a great stunt!
All of that to suggest this: if you ever got one of those magic kits to impress your friends, bring it! Impress your Bible study group! 😎
Or you can just show a video of somebody else doing a trick.
Beware -- any Vegas act you find online will inevitably have a gratuitous flair.
What's my point?
Try escaping from this setup:
Kinda like that lady's escape, except no curtain, and the people watching you don't want to be fooled. This is not an escape that can be performed through human means. And that, of course, is Luke's point. In this week's passage, Peter makes an escape that can only be explained by divine intervention, not cheap parlor tricks.
What's the Loudest Thing You've Slept Through?
I'm a heavy sleeper. I sleep through thunderstorms. I sleep through alarms. I sleep through hairdryers. I sleep through dogs barking. It's a gift my wife is envious of.
But I have nothing on a baby. Babies are amazing. Babies can sleep through a concert. Babies can sleep through a grocery store. Babies can sleep through traffic. (Of course, they also have the uncanny ability to wake up the moment you're ready to go to sleep.)
So what about you? What's the biggest ruckus you have slept through?
Now, can you imagine professional soldiers sleeping through chains dropping to the ground, a heavy door opening, and a prisoner walking by you? I didn't think so.
Once again, Peter's escape can only be explained as a miracle.
Where We Are in Acts
Last week, we read about the spread of the gospel into the Gentile world for the first time. We focused on Peter and Cornelius in chapter 10, but I also noted that chapter 11 tells us that Christians had started sharing the gospel with their Gentile neighbors in Antioch and elsewhere (without asking for the apostles' approval).
But then chapter 12 starts with this strange note:
1 About that time King Herod violently attacked some who belonged to the church, 2 and he executed James, John’s brother, with the sword. 3 When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too, during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4 After the arrest, he put him in prison and assigned four squads of four soldiers each to guard him, intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was praying fervently to God for him.
Where did this come from? I thought the church was in a season of calm.
Well, they were. But remember that this season actually lasted a number of years. Luke is just giving us highlights, not an exhaustive history. After a number of years, plenty of changes have happened in the government, and the stage is set for a round of persecution.
Let's talk about King Herod Agrippa.
"Herod the Great" (from the Nativity narrative -- see our study of Matthew) was Herod Agrippa's grandfather. Because Herod the Great was a paranoid megalomaniac, he had several of his sons killed, and the emperor "took" Herod Agrippa back to Rome basically as a hostage. Here's where things get interesting. Two (!!) of the boys he went to school with went on to become emperor: Caligula (emperor 37-41) and Claudius (41-54).
I bring that up because Luke has just mentioned Claudius by name (11:28). According to records, Caligula had started giving Agrippa territory that Herod the Great had given to Philip and Antipas. And when Claudius became emperor, he straight up appointed Agrippa as ruler of all of Judea and Samaria. That gave Agrippa a territory almost as large as Herod the Great's.
We also know from records that Agrippa died in 44, which means that this week's events happen early on in his reign (in 2016, I suggested 43 as the year). But let's add a complicating factor: there's an empire-wide famine happening (see 11:28).
So, Herod Agrippa has just obtained a massive territory. He's a schemer and a megalomaniac by nature (see 12:22). And he's got a bunch of angry, hungry people. What's he going to do? Distract the people from the problem by appeasing them with simple political gestures.
Herod is going to be working with the social elites in Jerusalem, not the common people in Judea and Samaria. And the social elites (in particular the Sadducees) hate Christians. It would be a pretty easy thing for Agrippa to arrest some Christian leaders, and that's exactly what he does -- he arrests James and Peter.
Aside on "James". There are four James in Acts:
James the father of Judas -- his son was one of the Twelve (Luke 6:16, Acts 1:13)
James the son of Alphaeus -- one of the Twelve (Luke 6:15, Acts 1:13)
James the brother of John -- James and John were in Jesus' inner circle (Luke 5:10, Acts 1:13)
James the half-brother of Jesus -- became leader of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 15)
The James that Herod Agrippa killed was the James of Jesus' inner circle.
This is a pathetic, cowardly killing. James essentially died on a whim. As deflating as that is, James was in good company:
John the Baptist was beheaded so Herod Antipas could save face (Mark 6:14-29)
Jesus was executed so Pilate could appease the crowd (Luke mentions that Herod Antipas got tangentially involved -- Luke 23:6-12).
James the apostle was executed so Herod Agrippa could appease the Jewish leaders (Acts 12:2-3).
Anyway, our passage picks up with Peter having just been put in prison. Peter and all of the other Christians assume that Agrippa will execute Peter just like James.
There's a big transition in Acts from chapter 12 to 13, but that deserves its own section.
This Week's Big Idea: Peter Exits Stage Left
Here's a rough outline of Acts:
The church is born at Pentecost (Acts 1-2)
The apostles minister in Jerusalem (Acts 3-5)
Peter and deacons minister to Samaritans and Gentiles (Acts 6-12)
Paul and Barnabas are commissioned on their first missionary journey (Acts 13:1-3)
We'll be covering Acts 13-28 in the next quarter. I'm just pointing out that there's a big shift in Acts from chapter 12 to 13.
Peter is the central Christian figure in Acts 1-12. You might be surprised to know that he is only mentioned once in the entire rest of the book --
After there had been much debate, Peter stood up and said to them, “Brothers, you are aware that in the early days God made a choice among you, that by my mouth the Gentiles would hear the gospel message and believe. (15:7)
That's the famous "Jerusalem Council" in which the leaders of the church in Jerusalem send word back with Paul and Barnabas that Gentiles do not have to be circumcised when they become Christians, nor do they have to live by the law of Moses. A big deal! And you might think that Peter is still the big man on campus. But actually, James the half-brother of Jesus was in charge of that meeting. Indeed, James was the leader of the church in Jerusalem.
So, what happened to Peter?
The Bible doesn't tell us. Peter's story in the New Testament essentially ends with this week's passage:
Motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Tell these things to James and the brothers,” he said, and he left and went to another place. (12:17)
We have snippets. I mentioned that Peter showed up at the Jerusalem Council in Acts 15. He also wrote two letters to churches in Asia Minor (1/2 Peter). Many scholars believe that Mark's Gospel was based on the teachings of Peter. and oral tradition famously says that Peter was executed in Rome by Nero (crucified upside-down because he did not think himself worthy of the same execution as Jesus).
Clearly Peter continued to be a faithful follower of Jesus and an important figure in the early church, but he did so out of the limelight. Based on the little bits of data we have, I would think that Peter traveled to a lot of churches to encourage them and instruct them. Perhaps he focused on churches that had a lot of Jewish converts. He was still a big enough deal 20 years later that Nero had him executed.
In other words, after this week's passage, Peter became "just another faithful servant of Jesus". I wonder if that's what we should all aspire to ...
Part 1: A Miraculous Escape (Acts 12:6-10)
6 When Herod was about to bring him out for trial, that very night Peter, bound with two chains, was sleeping between two soldiers, while the sentries in front of the door guarded the prison. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the cell. Striking Peter on the side, he woke him up and said, “Quick, get up!” And the chains fell off his wrists. 8 “Get dressed,” the angel told him, “and put on your sandals.” And he did. “Wrap your cloak around you,” he told him, “and follow me.” 9 So he went out and followed, and he did not know that what the angel did was really happening, but he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 After they passed the first and second guards, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to them by itself. They went outside and passed one street, and suddenly the angel left him.
You have the setting. James has already been executed. Herod has Peter in prison, and he's not taking any chances -- no shenanigans like the last time Peter was in prison! Peter is bound in chains, and there are guards in the cell and outside the door. Acts 12:4 tells us that Agrippa had 16 soldiers dedicated to watching Peter 24/7.
But come on. Is that an obstacle for God? Jesus was guarded by a contingent of soldiers. (And He was also dead.) Right?
A starting question is this: the church members prayed for Peter's safety as well as for James's safety, but only Peter was rescued by God. Did God love Peter more than James? Did the people "pray better" for Peter than James?
God's ways are above our ways, so we will not understand. But it is a good reminder to us that God does not promise to rescue us from every trial. Yes, God rescued Peter, but James was still dead. We will all suffer losses -- because we live in a fallen world. James entered into glory where he stood in the presence of Jesus; let's not call that a loss for James.
Anyway, an angel rescued Peter from prison. We are not told the specifics. Perhaps the soldiers were put into a deep sleep. Whatever happened seemed like a dream to Peter (probably because it was so surreal). If Peter was held in the Fortress of Antonia (as some scholars believe), then he was surrounded by Roman soldiers, had multiple doors to pass through, and still emptied out into the never-quiet streets of Jerusalem.
We don't know where Mary's house was that Peter went to (some think it was the house with the "upper room"), but Peter probably had to walk through Jerusalem to get to it.
What's the most surreal experience you've ever had?
Part 2: Nobody Believes It (Acts 12:11-15)
11 When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from all that the Jewish people expected.” 12 As soon as he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was called Mark, where many had assembled and were praying. 13 He knocked at the door of the outer gate, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer. 14 She recognized Peter’s voice, and because of her joy, she did not open the gate but ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the outer gate. 15 “You’re out of your mind!” they told her. But she kept insisting that it was true, and they said, “It’s his angel.”
I'm changing the verse groupings from the official lesson guide to bring out Luke's wonderful storytelling.
But first, who is Mary? She was probably a widow (no husband mentioned), and she was wealthy -- she owned a house large enough for a large prayer meeting, and she had a servant. More to the point, she was Mark's mother. This would be Mark the author of Mark's Gospel, Mark the cousin of Barnabas, Mark who went on the first missionary with Barnabas and Paul. That Mark.
Now, to Luke's storytelling.
My favorite is Peter's internal dialog in verse 11. When he's standing by himself in the streets of Jerusalem, he says to himself, "Aha! I am sure that God has rescued me!" Nice sleuthing, Sherlock. This takes me back to the Transfiguration in Luke 9:
32 Peter and those with him were in a deep sleep, and when they became fully awake, they saw his glory and the two men who were standing with him. 33 As the two men were departing from him, Peter said to Jesus, “Master, it’s good for us to be here. Let’s set up three shelters: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah”—not knowing what he was saying.
Peter has a few "did you just say that?" moments in life. Follow me on some blind conjecture -- Luke researched his Gospel thoroughly, which would have led him to Mark, who was Peter's companion. Did Mark share these tidbits with Luke? (Note that Luke specifically called attention to Mark's connection with these events.)
(To be fair, Peter's statement turns into something profound. He realized that God was subverting the expectations of the Jewish people by releasing him. That's a tremendous condemnation of those Jews, and it might also be a hint at the narrative transition to come -- the Jewish people "expected" God to deliver them from Rome, but in actuality, God is about to send His people as missionaries into Rome. Those Jews have been wrong about God's plan in every way they could be wrong.)
But it's not just Peter in Luke's crosshairs.
Rhoda, in her excitement, forgot to open the door.
The disciples, while praying for Peter's release, didn't believe that Peter had been released.
(Note that Luke wants us to reflect the joy, not the skepticism.)
There are several ways you can develop this. I think the simplest is to ask something like, "When was a time that God answered your prayer, and you were surprised or skeptical?" I hate to admit that to be true of me. I have prayed that God will bring a medical procedure to its best-possible outcome. And then I hear that the procedure went more smoothly than the doctors could have hoped. And my response is then something like, "Huh, that was easy." As if I'm surprised that God did that wonderful thing!
But a deeper thing is to focus on what the Christians were doing -- Peter was in prison, soon to be executed, and the church members were faithfully gathering together to pray for his miraculous release. Do you limit your prayers based on how likely you think God will answer them affirmatively? Or do you give up on your prayers after a few times? We don't know how long Peter was in prison, but it was at least a few days. Luke has told us again and again to pray bold things to God and believe that God can work miracles for His church.
What's a bold prayer that your Bible study group needs to take up together?
Aside: "It's his angel!"
This little verse has led to two very strange conclusions that a lot of people believe:
People have a personal guardian angel.
People turn into angels when they die.
Wouldn't you be concerned to base a belief on a passage that demonstrably doesn't prove that belief? Luke's whole point is that it's not Peter's angel, nor is Peter dead!
The first conclusion doesn't bother me too much, except to wonder why you think you need (or deserve) a personal guardian angel. Angels are God's messengers and servants. If God wants to send an angel your way, He can. But the angels' focus is on God, not you. And the logistics are weird. Are there angels just sitting around waiting for someone to be born? What happens as the human population grows (or shrinks)? Long story short: the Bible doesn't say anything about people having personal guardian angels; God is sovereign over the earth, and the angels do His bidding. Sometimes that involves releasing someone from prison (also consider Heb 1:14). But often that involves being in God's presence (Matt 18:10), and angels cannot be in two places at once.
The second one is actually a big theological problem on two levels. First, and most importantly, angels and humans are totally different classes of creation. God created angels way back, but He created humans uniquely and specially to be the pinnacle of creation. Angels were not saved by Jesus. Some angels rebelled, and thus they are condemned, but angels do not "believe in Jesus for salvation". They are already part of the heavenly court. Jesus came to earth as a human to save humans. Angels and humans are different.
But bigger is the implication people give to this idea: "now Grandma is an angel watching down on me from heaven". First, and related to the "guardian angel" claim, why does Grandma need to be watching down on you? Is God unable to properly care for the direction of history? When Agrippa executed James, did James's grandma have an argument with God? But more importantly, what is Grandma going to see you doing? Isn't the Bible very clear about there being no sin or tears in heaven? Would that not suggest that the people in heaven have their attention solely on God and Jesus -- not the sin-sick world where people do terrible things to their loved ones? No, when we die (as Christians) we go into the presence of God, and we worship Him with our whole being for all eternity.
Tread carefully on this topic. Some people are extremely attached to those ideas. Rather than get too sidetracked, if somebody brings up one of those ideas, I would simply ask what this passage teaches about them. And the truth is that it says absolutely nothing about either idea.
Par 3: Even Peter Is Surprised (Acts 12:16-18)
16 Peter, however, kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were amazed. 17 Motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Tell these things to James and the brothers,” he said, and he left and went to another place. 18 At daylight, there was a great commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter.
I do wonder if Peter is becoming panicked while he keeps knocking. The knocking certainly draws attention to him, and he's still on the street! Eventually, they let him in, and Peter tells his story. Note that in other parts of Acts, Luke reports the words used in the retelling, but not here. He simply says that Peter told them the story and then left. That has to mean something. I wonder if this is Luke's way of letting Peter "ride off into the sunset". No belaboring a last meeting -- Peter says "tell James" and leaves.
Narratively, Luke uses this to hand off leadership in Jerusalem from Peter to James (the half-brother of Jesus).
But this "ending" also gives Peter a lot of freedom to show up in church history wherever he wants. He's no longer tied to Jerusalem. He also leaves on a high note, so to speak, being dramatically rescued from a death sentence directly by God. No one will question Peter's place in the hierarchy of the early church.
But now it's time to turn the story over to someone new. More on that next week.
There are a few ways to wrap up this lesson. One is to talk about "leadership legacy". Peter has served as the leader of the church throughout its most explosive and dramatic years. He was a part of miracles, salvations, and persecutions. There will never be another Peter. But when the time came, Peter handed things over to others, and he continued to serve in (apparently) humbler and quieter ways. Peter lived for another 20 years; he wasn't done yet.
You know that you won't be able to continue your current ministry forever. What are you doing to help prepare your ministry for a future transition to new leadership? And what are you planning to do when that happens. (Note: there is no retiring from serving Jesus.)
Another way is to talk about the joy of sharing answered prayers. Luke is obviously taken with Rhoda -- he makes sure to give her name. Luke is happy to see someone so overjoyed at an answer to prayer. And Peter wants to make sure the message gets to James and the others -- not because it's about Peter but because he knows they have been praying. When God has affirmatively answered your prayers, how do you share that? (Remember not to brag!! Peter is very somber about this, knowing the people had also been praying for James's release, and James was instead executed.)
Finally, you can talk about retaining hope and joy in persecution. Things were bleak in this moment for the Jerusalem church. We could say that they had three pillars -- Peter, James, and John. James was dead, and Peter was on his way to being dead. But they continued to pray, and they celebrated the victories God gave them. But if you think about, they still "lost" Peter anyway, didn't they? Peter left town. He was a danger to anyone who would be seen with him. But the church kept on. No amount of persecution could beat them down. When your church faces setbacks, how do you respond?
Closing Thoughts: What Happened Next
First, realize that Herod Agrippa wants to execute all of the soldiers assigned to Peter. That's a reminder of the seriousness of what's going on.
"What happened next" to Agrippa is actually reported by Luke, probably because the story was gruesome and famous.
Luke makes it clear that Herod Agrippa didn't just do a stupid thing in executing James; he was actually a bad and corrupt person. When some people from Tyre and Sidon tried to flatter Agrippa into giving them food, he welcomed it. And when they started saying, "He's a god!", he didn't say they were wrong. And so God struck him down. The Greek wording is a bit ambiguous, but it could mean that he had been infested with intestinal worms that soon after killed him painfully.
Luke's narrative structure makes clear his point:
23 he was eaten by worms and died.
24 But the word of God spread and multiplied.
This puts the opposition of the world to God in proper perspective. It also serves as a literary transition into a new section of Acts. "Where is the Word of God spreading and multiplying next?"