A DIVINE ESCAPE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 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. 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.

So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.

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. 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.

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.

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. 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.

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.”

Acts 12:1-11

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

It was a time when a lot was happening simultaneously.

The Christian church was breaking out well beyond the boundaries of Israel, Judea, and Samaria, just as Jesus had predicted. In particular, a group of Jesus believers in Antioch were given a name, Christian, that has sustained ever since to identify people placing their faith in Christ as Savior.

And as we read at the end of Acts 11, a famine was soon to break out across the Roman empire, a prophecy that prompted Christians in Antioch to give as they could to meet the needs of others impacted by the drought.

As chapter 12 opens, we see other events to add to this list.

For one, persecution begins to rear its ugly head again after Christians had enjoyed a time of peace. Instead of the Jewish religious leaders, the discrimination and harassment is carried out by Herod Agrippa who is no less ruthless that the members of the Sanhedrin were.

The scriptures tell us that King Herod “arrested some who belonged to the church” but took the persecution to the next level when he took one of Jesus’ first disciples, James, and put him to death by the sword which is code for being beheaded. Like John before him, James became martyred for the cause of the Gospel. Of note, you only see the Romans killing by way of beheading as it was a forbidden means of execution for the Jews.

Well, Herod could have probably stopped there and he would have been seen as a success as he found favor with the Jews for what he had done, having eliminated a chief member of Jesus’ inner circle. But as we read on, we see where he had much more in store. For during the Festival of Unleavened Bread, the Roman king had Peter arrested and put in prison, “guarded by four squads of four soldiers each”. After the Passover observance, the scriptures tell us that Herod intended to bring Peter out for public trial. In other words, he wanted to make an example of Peter, seeking to scare any Christians from abandoning their faith in Jesus.

And so Peter was incarcerated and remained that way as he awaited trial. We read where “the church was earnestly praying to God for him and hoping he would gain the Lord’s favor and protection. Little did they know that God was going to answer their prayers in a big way as He facilitated a divine escape for His faithful apostle.

For the scriptures tell us that on “the night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains” with sentries standing guard at the entrance. All seemed normal until “an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell”. Peter was fast asleep, unaware that he was in the presence of a divine being and so the angel “struck Peter on the side and woke him up” saying, “Quick, get up!” As he said this, the scriptures tell us that “the chains fell off Peter’s wrists”.

No longer bound, the angel commanded Peter, “Put on your clothes and sandals” before adding, wrap your cloak around you and follow me. And Peter did just that. He followed the angel “out of the prison” but didn’t know it was happening for real until he was actually out and the angel departed. Perhaps Peter was harkening back to Simon’s rooftop when he had the trance before heading to Caesarea and his encounter with Cornelius.

We read where Peter “passed the first and second guards” before coming to “the iron gate leading to the city”. When he and the angel arrived there, amazingly the gate “opened for them by itself” before they passed through it and they only walked the length of a street when the angel disappeared.

Miraculously, Peter was once again a free man and as he realized what had happened, he 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.”

The Lord had blessed His faithful servant Peter with a divine escape. Tomorrow, we’ll see how Peter turns it into a divine reunion with those who had prayed over him but I want us to see the deeper meaning behind this incredible rescue of Peter from the clutches of Herod.

For we all can find ourselves captive to matter of life, often shackled to different hardships and difficulties. Like Peter, we need released and liberated from our tough circumstances and we find the Lord bringing us deliverance in His perfect time and in His perfect way, often in astonishing fashion. Indeed, our Lord makes the impossible possible and the improbable probable. All we need to do is keep our faith and trust in Him, no matter how hard life might be. He has promised to work all things for the good of those who love Him according to His purposes (Romans 8:28). We just need to remember and believe it.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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