The Death of James, Peter’s Deliverance From Prison (Acts 12:6–19)

Prepared and preached by Pastor Steve Rhodes for and at Bethel Friends Church in Poland, OH on Sunday, February 9, 2025

Maybe you have seen the 1960’s television show Hogan’s Heroes? Colonel Hogan was the leader of a group of POWs in a German prison of war camp during World War II. The show is comic and reveals how many times the POWs can spy on the Germans to get information to the American and Allied forces. As all of you know, being a prisoner is never that comic.

In my research, I read of a US Army Air Core pilot flying back to England and hitting some flack. He crashed in Germany and was placed in a Stalag. He was eventually released (probably after the war); however, he could never see the men he was on the bomber with again.

In the Bible, there is one comic story about Peter, the Apostle, being miraculously released from prison. Let’s read Acts 12:5-19, and then I will show you that God answers prayer and we serve an amazing God who is not limited.

Acts 12:5–19 (ESV)

⁵ So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

⁶ Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. ⁷ And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his hands. ⁸ And the angel said to him, “Dress yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.” ⁹ And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. ¹⁰ When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. ¹¹ When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.”

¹² When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. ¹³ And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. ¹⁴ Recognizing Peter’s voice, in her joy she did not open the gate but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. ¹⁵ They said to her, “You are out of your mind.” But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” ¹⁶ But Peter continued knocking, and when they opened, they saw him and were amazed. ¹⁷ But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, “Tell these things to James and to the brothers.” Then he departed and went to another place.

¹⁸ Now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. ¹⁹ And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there.

Let’s talk about this passage:

1. God hears our prayers (verses 6-10):
   1. In verse 5, we heard the people were praying.
   2. In verse 6, we see that Peter was asleep.
   3. Would you be asleep in a prison?
   4. He is asleep between two soldiers. More soldiers were guarding the doors, and he was sleeping. The prisons were probably not that comfortable.
   5. It was customary back then to have your right hand chained to a soldier’s left hand; however, it appears Peter was chained on both sides to a soldier.
   6. Peter could be content because he knew and followed the Scriptures: Peter was content with the situation. He had faith and knew everything was going to be okay. This could be because he knew he would die an old man (John 21:18-19), or he was just not anxious (Phil. 4:11).
   7. Peter knew other principles: “I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep; for Thou, Lord, only makest me to dwell in safety” (Ps. 4:8). Or, “Fear thou not, for I am with thee. Be not dismayed, for I am thy God. I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of My righteousness” (Isa. 41:10).
   8. Peter wouldn’t be asleep for long.
   9. In verse 7, a light shines in; Peter is still asleep; however, now the guards are asleep too. Note, these are Roman guards. These are the best of the best, and they are sleeping!
   10. An Angel comes in and knocks him to wake him.
   11. The chains just fell off. Imagine that. How neat is that? Imagine being in a dark, dirty prison, and now it is all lit up by an angel, and your chains fall off.
   12. The angel tells him to put on his sandals and cloak.
   13. One of my sources suggested that Peter may have thought of this every time he laced his sandals and put on his cloak.
   14. Wow! What a thought, but think about this: this is a life-altering, life-changing experience. Would you forget it? An angel wakes him up.
   15. In the following few verses, Peter thinks this is a dream. He didn’t think it was real. They got up and went through some gates, including the one in the city. The gate opened by itself, and then the angel departed. The gate opened by itself. Realize that garage door and gate openers were not sold at Lowe’s in their day. This was God’s doing, and this is amazing. The angel just disappeared. Puff, gone.
   16. In verse 11, Peter realizes this is real. Peter had been thinking this was a dream the whole time. Peter did not think that this was real.
   17. I find that somewhat interesting. Peter witnessed the resurrection. He witnessed all the miracles of the resurrection. Remember Acts chapter 10, he witnessed that vision, but he did not think this was real. He could have thought this was simply another vision of what God wanted him to do. But he did not think it was real.
2. Peter at the house (Acts 12:11-17).
   1. Peter knocks on the door.
   2. A servant girl named Rhoda comes to answer; she hears Peter’s voice, and before she lets him in, she goes and tells the people he is there. They don’t believe her. However, she insists. They then say it is his angel. Peter keeps knocking, and eventually, they let him in.
   3. Peter tells them what happened and to tell James and the rest.
   4. They were praying for his release, and when he showed up, they did not believe it was him.
   5. Do we ever pray for something and not believe God will follow through?
   6. The story ends with Peter going to another place and Herod killing the guards.

Close:

Unfortunately, all prisoners of war do not get an escape like that. But wait, was Peter a prisoner of war? Yes! He was. We are all in a spiritual battle with the devil. They prayed, and God answered that prayer. We need to always pray about all things. We need not be surprised when God answers. Pray for God’s will and expect God’s will to come through. Also, remember there are many Christians right now being martyred for their faith. Pray for them.

Remember who you are in Christ.

Swindoll shares

Reading, in a little book called Jesus Makes Me Laugh, clever work, good humor, but underneath it is a real message, writes toward the end of the book, I remember going home from the Navy during World War II.

Because he is faithful.[1]

[1] From Insight for Living Daily Broadcast: God’s Mysterious Immutability, Part 2, Feb 5, 2025
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/insight-for-living-daily-broadcast/id89603501?i=1000688999795&r=1216
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