12:9 So he
went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the
angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. 10 When they were
past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate
that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they
went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed
from him.
11 And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I
know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me
from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish
people.”
12 So, when he had considered this, he came to the house
of Mary, the mother of John whose surname was Mark, where many were
gathered together praying. 13 And as Peter knocked at the door of the
gate, a girl named Rhoda came to answer. 14 When she recognized Peter’s
voice, because of her gladness she did not open the gate, but ran in and
announced that Peter stood before the gate. 15 But they said to her,
“You are beside yourself!” Yet she kept insisting that it was so. So
they said, “It is his angel.”
16 Now Peter continued knocking;
and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 But
motioning to them with his hand to keep silent, he declared to them how
the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Go, tell these
things to James and to the brethren.” And he departed and went to
another place.
Picture the scene. A group of believers who know
Peter well are gathered at the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark,
praying for Peter. (John Mark is the author of the gospel of Mark and
not to be confused with John the disciple who wrote the gospel of John.)

It's late at night or early in the morning. Perhaps they have been
praying together since the day before or perhaps they have gathered
under the cover of darkness out of fear of the authorities. Their time
together is interrupted by knocking at the gate. Rhoda goes out to see
who is there. This is curious to me. Should she be alone considering the
time of night? At any rate she recognizes Peter and in her excitement
goes back to tell the others leaving him outside the gate still. It
reminds me of the woman at the well who when she realized who Jesus was
ran back to the village leaving her water and forgetting the very reason
she came to the well in the first place. It shows how excited Rhoda
was. Her excitement is soon challenged. No one in the house believes
her. Even after she insists they say it can't be. It must be his angel.
Strange thing to say but history tells us that the Jews believed every
person has a guardian angel, a truth Jesus affirmed. They also believed
that when one of these angels took on human form it was the likeness of
the person they guarded. The Bible does not affirm this belief.
However the strange part in all this is not their beliefs about angels.
The strange part is that they have been praying constantly for Peter yet
when their prayers are answered they don't believe it.
Have you
ever prayed like that? Have you ever prayed expecting no answer? Have
you ever prayed believing the answer was impossible?
I don't like
Acts 12. For me it is a sad chapter. It is a turning point. It seems to
be the beginning of the end. James is murdered by Herod and it seems to
have altered the early believers in a way that they never recovered
from. When they finally go outside to see what Rhoda is talking about
they find Peter. He comes in and hurriedly shares with them what
happened and then he goes into hiding.
This is Peter. The same
Peter who would preach in the temple, get arrested, be told never to
speak of Jesus again, get released and then go directly back to the
temple until he was arrested again. This is the same Peter who lead the
church in praying for boldness. The same Peter who wanted to walk on
water and drew a sword in the garden of Gethsemane. Fearless Peter has
become fearful. Bold Peter has become cautious. In your face Peter has
gone into hiding.
It seems the death of James has changed the
church. The still pray but their expectations of an answer are lower.
They still preach but not in the face of death.
Acts is a
humbling read. It illustrates how far from the bold, relentless, gates
of hell destroying faith the Christian church has drifted. It shows what
could be happening in the world if we were Spirit filled and faith
filled. Yet even then the church was not perfect. Revelation describes
the first era of Christianity as doing great things but losing her first
love, that primal passion that throws caution to the wind.
Peter
for the first time since the cross takes the path of self-preservation.
Many today applaud what he did as wise. We say he was street smart. We
comfort ourselves that we need to choose our moments and battles wisely.
What usually ends up happening is that we don't battle at all,
especially when it matters most. We spend our passion preaching to the
converted and say nothing to the world.
It seems when James died
the Church began to die also. Tragedy has a way of taking the good out
of us but I have to wonder if it needs to. If God could unchain Peter
from between two guards and walk him past two more sets of guards and
out through the prison gates could He not continue to protect him from
Herod without Peter having to hide?
When I pray do I believe He
can actually answer? Am I hiding for the sake of self-preservation? What
Church do I belong to: the church of boldness or the church of fear?
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