A DIVINE REUNION

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In Christ, Mark

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

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. Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

“You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”

But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 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.

In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 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 12:12-19a

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

As Herod Agrippa reinstituted persecution of Christians in Jerusalem, much to the delight of the Jewish religious authorities, he made it a point to go after two apostles who had been with Jesus from the very start: James and Peter.

We read in the opening verses of Acts 12 where Herod first had James beheaded before arresting and incarcerating Peter during the Feast of Unleavened Bread with the intent of placing him on public trial after the Passover ended. Through these actions, Herod hoped to intimidate and frighten people from turning to Jesus themselves and to discourage other Christ followers from engaging in any evangelical efforts.

In yesterday’s message, we saw where Herod failed to factor in something very important as he put his plan into motion. He didn’t consider a possible intervention by the Lord, an intervention that came when an angel of the Lord appeared to Peter in his jail cell. We read where the angel woke up Peter, caused the chains to fall from his wrist, and then led him out of the prison and through the iron gate leading to the city, a gate that opened on its own. Peter became a free man by way of a totally divine escape but what did he do next?

In today’s devotion, we see that he initiates a divine reunion as we continue to look at Acts 12.

Peter’s decision to go to the house of Mary, mother of John, came as he realized and acknowledged that it was the Lord’s hand that made his escape possible, having dispatched the angel to help free him from the clutches of Herod Agrippa.

As Peter arrived at Mary’s house and knocked on the outer entrance, the scriptures tell us that “many people had gathered and were praying” for him. We’re told that a “servant named Rhoda came to answer the door” and “recognized Peter’s voice” which left her very overjoyed, so much so that she “ran back” where she had come and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!”

Her words weren’t met with a lot of trust and I was reminded of how the testimony of women was often discounted or completely rejected by men in New Testament times. The Eleven refused to believe the women who had come to report they had seen Jesus alive after His crucifixion and here we find Rhoda being rebuffed as she was told:

“You’re out of your mind.”

Despite this accusation, Rhoda showed she would not be deterred and insisted she had witnessed what she said she did and so rather than reject her altogether, we read where those gathered predicted:

“It must be his angel.”

While all this was transpiring, Peter was still at the door knocking with the hope that someone would open the door and let him enter. We read where this finally happened and when those were inside saw him, they were astonished but before they could get a question out, Peter silenced them and then testified as to what had taken place, about how the Lord had facilitated his divine escape through one of His angels.

Of interest, Peter had no intention of remaining at Mary’s home. It’s believed he didn’t want to endanger everyone for surely Herod Agrippa would send his guards to find Peter once he realized he had escaped. And so we find the apostle telling Rhoda and the others, “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this”, before leaving for another place. Of interest, we don’t know where Peter goes exactly but what we do know is that this allows for the introduction of new key players as we continue our study of Acts 12.

Peter’s divine escape resulted in a divine reunion as his fellow believers who had prayed for him saw their prayers answered. Tomorrow, we’ll see what happened to Herod, the king who executed James and incarcerated Peter.

Amen.

In Christ,

Mark

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