Peter's Miraculous Escape From Prison — Acts 12:1-12 Daily Word

Peter’s Miraculous Escape From Prison

Discover how God answered the church’s prayers and miraculously freed Peter from King Herod’s prison through divine intervention and angelic rescue in Acts 12.

[Scripture]

[1] About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. [2] He killed James the brother of John with the sword, [3] and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. [4] And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. [5] So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. (Acts 12:1-5, ESV)

[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. (Acts 12:6-9, ESV)

[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. (Acts 12:10-12, ESV)

[Daily Word]

This is an exposition of Acts 12:1-12, which recounts how James was martyred and Peter was arrested under the persecution of King Herod, and how Peter was miraculously rescued through the prayers of the church and the intervention of God’s angel.

Amid Jewish persecution and oppression, King Herod moved against some members of the church, and verse 2 records that ‘James the brother of John, one of them, was killed with the sword.’ Immediately following this, we are shown that Peter’s situation was just as life-threatening as James’s had been. In particular, the phrase “about that time” in verse 1 points us back to the period when the church in Antioch had sent relief to the church in Jerusalem.

It was not the Jewish people, however, but King Herod himself who put James the brother of John to death.

The Herod mentioned here is the grandson of Herod the Great, who was king at the time of Jesus’ birth, as distinct from the tetrarch Herod who was present during Jesus’ ministry and death (Luke 1:5). Furthermore, the James who was killed here is not James the brother of Jesus, but rather James the son of Zebedee — the James who is paired with his brother John (Luke 5:10).

This James was “killed with the sword” (v. 2), which means he was beheaded and died as a martyr. In that era, beheading was the punishment reserved for murderers and idolaters. This, therefore, serves as evidence that the Jewish authorities regarded those who believed in Jesus Christ as the Messiah to be idolaters. Just as Jesus himself was brought to the most shameful death a human being could endure, so too his disciples were made to suffer the same kind of death.

Seeing that the Jewish people were pleased by the death of James, King Herod proceeded to arrest Peter — another leading figure in Jerusalem — with the intention of killing him as well. However, unlike James, Peter was not executed immediately, because he had been arrested during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. Herod did not want to stir up a disturbance during this festival, when great crowds had gathered. Moreover, Herod was especially cautious because he sought to gain religious approval from the Jewish people.

# Peter’s arrest bears a striking resemblance to the sufferings of Jesus.

Just as Jesus suffered during the Feast of Unleavened Bread, Peter was also arrested around that same time. And just as Pilate gathered the people and presented Jesus before them, Herod intended to bring Peter out before the people after the Passover.(4) Just as Jesus was handed over to sinners and put to death, Peter too was handed over to soldiers.(4) He was thrown into prison and placed under the watch of sixteen soldiers, divided into groups of four. In the midst of all this, the church was earnestly praying to God on his behalf.(5)

Then, on the very night before Herod was about to bring him out, God moved. While Peter was sleeping in prison, bound with two chains, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared. The angel struck Peter on the side and woke him up. The word “strike” (patassō) was used in the Old Testament to describe God striking down His enemies (Exod 2:12; Judg 1:5, etc.). In that sense, it is a powerful expression conveying that Peter was jolted wide awake.

Peter’s deliverance is especially reminiscent of Israel’s Exodus. The angel commanded him to “get up quickly”(7) and to “put on your sandals,” expressions that call to mind the Passover night on the eve of the Exodus.

As Peter followed the angel’s instructions, he could not tell whether what was happening was real or a vision.(9) He was completely caught up in God’s sovereign leading.(8) In fact, Peter was experiencing one miracle after another: the chains fell off his hands(7), and as he followed the angel out, the iron gate leading into the city opened of its own accord. Only after the angel had left did he come to himself.(10)

# Peter came to understand that all of this was according to God’s will.

Though the Jewish people had hoped Peter would die, just like James, God brought him out beyond all their expectations. Peter then made his way to the house of Mary, the mother of John whose other name was Mark. When he arrived, he found the believers gathered together, praying fervently to God. Through this, Peter was convinced that the reason for his deliverance was the intercessory prayer of the church and God’s answer to it. In other words, Luke continues to emphasize that the church is a community of prayer.

Jesus also said, (Mark 9:29) “This kind cannot be driven out by anything but prayer.”

We stand before the world carrying the same weapons as they do

Acts, Herod, Peter, angel, prayer

God’s answer to prayer, miraculous deliverance, the ministry of angels, persecution of faith, the church’s intercessory prayer

Originally published in Korean at bible2u.com