Alan Lewis
Elon, North Carolina
October 2025
It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.
4 After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists.
8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision.
10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”
12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”
15 “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” 16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.
18 In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. (Acts 12:1-19 NIV)
Today, we come to a famous passage of Scripture. Everyone knows it. It is an exciting passage. It deals with angels and miracles and prayer and deliverance. It is full of the supernatural. It is full of miracles.
Angels appear suddenly. A supernatural being appears in the room. Bright lights shine in the room. Chains fall off people. Iron gates open by themselves. Evil tyrants suddenly drop dead. Herod who killed others is himself killed by God.
Peter is in a maximum-security prison and he just walks out of the place. No one stops him. An angel breaks Peter out of prison.
This is a funny passage. Peter is in prison. An angel shows up and lets him out and he heads to a prayer meeting, but he can’t get in. He can get out of a maximum-security prison, but he can’t get himself into a prayer meeting.
Peter knocked on the door, and no one would let him into his own prayer meeting. They were praying for Peter. Peter showed up and they wouldn’t let him in. They didn’t think it was Peter.
This chapter begins dark and depressing. It ends on a high note. It begins with an apostle being killed. It begins with persecution, martyrdom, and bondage. It ends with deliverance. It ends with freedom. It ends with the wicked being judged by God. It ends with the Word of God spreading.
Persecution did not stop the church. Herod did not stop it. He couldn’t stop it. The Gates of Hell couldn’t stop it. Jesus said, “I will build My church and the gates of Hell will not prevail against it.” (Matthew 16:18)
The events of this chapter take place in Jerusalem. In the last chapter, we were in Antioch. In Acts 13, we will go to Antioch again but in Acts 12 we go to Jerusalem. Why does Luke take us back to Jerusalem?
The last two chapters of Acts were all about Peter. Luke is telling us stories about Peter. God used Peter to lead the first Gentile to faith in Christ.
He led a Roman soldier and his family to faith in Acts 10 & 11. That changed the whole nature of the church. It was no longer just a Jewish institution. Now, we have another story about Peter.
The chapter takes place in Jerusalem, and we know exactly when it takes place as well. Most of the chapters of the Bible were not written with a time stamp on them.
Genesis 1:1 says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.” But it doesn’t tell us when the beginning was. It doesn’t say, “In 4000 BC, God created the heavens and the earth.”
We do know exactly when the events of Acts 12 took place. They took place in 44 AD. How do we know? Herod dies in this chapter. We know from secular history when Herod Agrippa died. He died in 44 AD. That is a fact of history.
Four Events
1) Believers are persecuted
The king goes after the church and hunts down believers. He goes after the leaders and not low-level leaders, like deacons and Sunday School teachers. He goes after apostles and executes them.
In Acts 12, we have the first apostle martyred. This is the first time in history that an apostle was martyred. It was James, the Son of Zebedee. This was James, the brother of John. He was one of Jesus’ first disciples.
He became not just an apostle but one of the inner circle. Peter, James and John were the inner circle. Jesus let them see the Transfiguration. He let them pray with him at Gethsemane.
James was not just one of the Twelve. He was one of three and he was martyred. Peter was imprisoned and Herod planned to kill him as well.
2) The church prays
After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. 5 SO PETER WAS KEPT IN PRISON, BUT THE CHURCH WAS EARNESTLY PRAYING TO GOD FOR HIM. (Acts 12:4-5 NIV)
The church did not get together to complain about how bad things were in the world. They did not stage a protest or a revolt against the Roman government. They did not try to break Peter out of prison. They prayed. They prayed publicly.
They prayed corporately. Their problems only led them to prayer. It led them to constant prayer. While Peter was being kept in jail, the church never stopped praying to God for him. (Acts 12:5 CEV)
3) Deliverance takes place
God sent an angel to get Peter out of prison. One of the jobs of angels is to help believers. They protect and deliver believers. Hebrews 1:14 calls them “ministering spirits sent to serve those who will inherit salvation?”
They do some amazing things in the Bible. One angel put to death 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. Sometimes, God sends angels to do smaller jobs.
At the resurrection, God sent an angel down to move a big stone and deliver a message to some grieving women. In Acts 12, an angel was sent on a special mission and the first thing the angel did was wake up a sleeping apostle. He had to hit him to wake him up.
An angel showed up in Peter’s cell. A bright light started to shine, and Peter kept sleeping. He was a heavy sleeper. Most of us would wake up if someone turned a bright light on in the room but not Peter. The angel had to smack him.
The angel appeared, woke Peter up and told him to get up and his chains instantly fell off him. God broke the chains.
Have you ever had chains that fell off instantly. Someone said, when God moves, “chains fall, doors open, and freedom comes.”[1]
Then the angel told him to get dressed. “Put your clothes on. Put your shoes on.” That must have been embarrassing to have an angel tell you to get dressed. Peter got dressed and they headed out. They got past two guards, but they came to the gate that leads to the city.
The gate was big. It was made of iron. It was locked. It was a barrier. Sometimes we face iron gates in our own life. Peter was wondering how they were going to get past it. He did not have the key and then it miraculously opened by itself.
They walked down the street. Peter was the only one to walk down a street with an angel. He had an angelic bodyguard, an angelic escort. After going down one street, the angel vanished. He disappeared. His job was done.
4) Peter goes to church
Right after getting out of prison, he went to a church service in the middle of the night. He headed to Mary’s house.
Mary was an important person. She was John Mark’s mamma, who later wrote the Gospel of Mark. She was also Barnabas’ sister.[2]
A church met in her house. In that day, churches met in houses. They didn’t have church buildings. They had house churches.
She was probably wealthy. She was rich enough to have servants and a house big enough for a church to meet in it.
A prayer meeting is going on in her house. People were on their knees praying. They were crying out to God and then someone knocked on the door.
A girl named Rhoda went to open it. Rhoda was young. She might have been only twelve. She is only mentioned one time in the Bible.
She was a servant. She was good at serving people. Someone knocked on the door, and she went to answer it and immediately recognized Peter’s voice. She said, “who is it?” He said, “It’s The Rock. It’s Peter. Let me in.”[3]
Then, she made a mistake. She was stunned to hear Peter’s voice on the other side of the door. She couldn’t believe it. She was so excited that she ran back into the house to tell everyone but she left poor Peter outside shivering in the cold at night.
She should have opened the door and brought him right into the prayer meeting to see their reaction. Peter would have liked to see the church in fervent prayer for his release.
We are told that “she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it.” She ran back inside and interrupted the prayer meeting with this incredible news.
Then, the church made a mistake. They didn’t believed her. Rhoda was just a young servant girl. She had no rank. She had no clout. She had no prestige. She wasn’t a church leader. She was a nobody. Her words meant nothing.
She couldn’t convince anyone. “It can’t be Peter. We are praying for him. Stop bothering us. We have important work to do.”
They mocked her and thought she was crazy. It is pretty bad when you tell someone the truth, and they think you are crazy. What does this remind us of? The resurrection. The first people the resurrected Jesus appeared to were women.
They ran to tell the male disciples, but they didn’t believe them. They were unbelieving believers.
The apostles mocked these women and thought they were crazy. Some of these women used to be demon possessed. They thought they were not emotionally stable.
When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” They thought Peter might have died and his spirit was at the door but then he kept knocking and they finally let him in.
The irony is that this servant girl understood a miracle took place before the leaders of the church did. This young servant girl in Jerusalem had more insight than the great prayer warriors of the church.
When Peter finally came inside the house, he shared his testimony about the miracle God just did. They had not read Acts 12. Peter told them in his own words.
5) Peter leaves town
Luke tells us that “he left for another place.” (Acts 12:17 NIV). Peter left town because his life is in jeopardy, and the Romans would be looking for him.
Life Lessons
What does this story say to us today? It is fascinating. It is funny but what is the application?
1) Don’t be surprised when you encounter persecution
The early church was persecuted. In the Book of Acts, some believers were beaten for their faith. Some were arrested. Some were imprisoned. Some were killed. James got his head cut off. So did John the Baptist. So did Paul.
Christians today will be and are being persecuted. We will face persecution from religious leaders. We will face persecution from political leaders. We will face persecution from family members. Believers are not spared hardship, persecution and even martyrdom in this world.
Indeed, all who desire to live a godly life in Jesus Christ will be persecuted (II Timothy 3:12 NIV)
Behold, I am sending you out as sheep in the midst of wolves, so be wise as serpents and innocent as doves. 17 Beware of men, for they will deliver you over to courts and flog you in their synagogues, 18 and you will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them and the Gentiles. (Matt 10:16-18 ESV)
Brother will deliver brother over to death, and the father his child, and children will rise against parents and have them put to death, 22 and you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But the one who endures to the end will be saved. (Matthew 10: 21-22 ESV)
Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Matthew 5:11-12 NKJV)
2) Trust in God’s sovereign plan for your life
When events happen in your life that are difficult to understand or accept, remember that God is sovereign.[4] He is in control, even when we do not understand it. He is even sovereign when people do bad things.
God has a different plan for each one of us and we see it very clearly in this chapter.
Why did one apostle die and another live? Why was one killed, and another one delivered? Why was one visited by a guardian angel and one visited by an executioner?
That doesn’t seem fair. Why does God deliver some people but not others? Why did God let James die and Peter live? Why were prayers for James to be delivered not answered, while prayers for Peter to get delivered were answered?
Why did James die and his brother John live to become an old man? God has a different plan for different people. God’s plan for James involved death. God’s plan for Peter involved deliverance.
Does that mean Peter had it easier? No. Peter died a martyr as well He died a worse death. He was crucified. That is much more painful, and it takes much longer to die. James got his head cut off. That is a much quicker death.
Peter trusted in the sovereign plan of God for his life. He was dead asleep when the angel showed up. He is locked up. He knew he was going to die the next day.
He has all of these soldiers guarding him, even when he is sleeping. How do you sleep when you know your head is going to be chopped off the next day.
He did not have a whole lot of privacy. He could not be too comfortable and yet, the night before his execution, he is not filled with depression, worry, anxiety or fear. He is sleeping. In fact, he is in a deep sleep.
He didn’t know that an angel was going to deliver him. He had never read Acts 12 and yet, he was at perfect peace. He is not afraid to die. He is sleeping like a baby and did not even need any sleeping pills.
You can have peace in the worst of circumstances. You can be unemployed and have peace. You can be locked up and have peace. You can lose a loved one and have peace.
You can have cancer and have peace. You can be divorced and have peace. One of the members of my class said that sometimes that is the only way to get peace. The truth is that the world around you can fall apart, and you can have peace.
Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you… Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid. (John 14:27 NIV)
You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you. (Isaiah 26:3 ESV)
3) Believe that God can do the impossible
Many of us have serious problems. Some of us are in hopeless situations. Some are in impossible situations. Jesus said, “All things are possible with God” (Mark 10:27). Not some things or most tings but ALL THINGS.
There are things in our life that seem impossible to us but are not impossible to God. Nothing is impossible with God (Luke 1:37). That doesn’t mean that God will do anything we tell Him to do. It doesn’t mean that everything is God’s will. It means that nothing is too hard for the Lord (Jeremiah 32:27)
Peter was in an impossible situation. He was in prison. He was in chains. He is handcuffed and he was guarded, not by one but by sixteen soldiers. He had sixteen soldiers guarding one man, not all at the same time.
The worst soldiers would be guarded by two soldiers. This unarmed defenseless man was guarded by four soldiers at all times. He was in a maximum-security prison. He was on death row.
He was scheduled for execution in twenty-four hours. He had no hope for the next day. He was in a hopeless situation and yet his situation was not too hard for God.
He experienced the impossible. He experienced a miracle. Have you ever been in an impossible situation in which there was no way out unless God made a way? That is what happened to Peter.
4) Believe in the power of prayer
Do you believe in the power of prayer? Most of us do not. Otherwise, we would pray more than we do.
Prayer is powerful. Peter was delivered from prison because the church prayed. Prayer opened prison doors and set people free.
An angel let Peter out of prison, but prayer brought the angel into the prison. God sent an angel to answer their prayers. Sometimes He send an angel to answer our prayers.
They prayed fervently. It was the middle of the night, and they were still praying.
God not only answers prayers but He is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think. Have you ever had an answer to prayer that surprised even you?
The church in Acts 12 was surprised. They believed that God was able to deliver Peter from prison but none of them believed He would do it that night before the prayer meeting had ended.
[1] https://divinesermons.com/acts-12-sermon-outline/
[2]Colossians 4:10 calls Mark “Barnabas’ nephew.”
[3] https://www.dwellcc.org/teaching/4831/bible/acts/12/scott-risley/2017/an-unforgettable-prayer-meeting
[4] https://ssl.bhpublishinggroup.com/QR/GetzBible/1167/
