By Kenneth O. Gangel
The Reaction from the Church (vv. 12-17)
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 girl 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 for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the brothers about this,” and he said, and then he left for another place (Acts12:12-17).
Supernatural deliverance does not preclude common sense so the text tells us that the event finally “dawned on him” and he went to the place he knew the church met, the home of Mary the mother of John Mark, who, in the next chapter, will make a premature entry into Christian service in the form of the first missionary journey.
Here also we have one of most humorous passages of the Bible. Get the picture clearly: the church has been desperately praying for the deliverance of Peter, knowing already that James is dead. So Peter knocks at the door of the prayer meeting, speaks to a servant girl who recognizes his voice and goes back to announce, “Peter is at the door!” What is the response of this faithful praying church? “You are out of your mind.” The word is mainē meaning “You are a maniac.” I smile every time I think of the early Christians telling this story over and over again for the next 50 years, reminding themselves how naïve they were to forget that God is always in control.
But Peter has instructions: “Tell James and the brothers about this.” This is a new wrinkle. This is not only the first appearance of James the Lord’s brother in the New Testament, but it also establishes him as the leader of the New Testament church in Jerusalem. Later we see in him the first demonstration of the gift of administration in the church in Acts 15. He was recognized by Paul in Galatians 2:9 as one of the three pillars of the church — Peter, James and John.
Revenge from Herod (vv. 18-19a)
In the morning, there was a great commotion among the soldiers. “What could have happened to Peter?” they asked. 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. 12:18-19a).