12:12-25
“Knocking on heavens door”
I.) Intro.
II.) Vs. 12-19a The answer is at the door
III.) Vs. 20-25 What’s eating him?
Intro.
To get the full grasp of this story we need only go back to the fifth verse where we read, “but constant prayer was offered to God for him by the church.” These words form the context for the events of verses 12-19 & more then that they help create the contrast with the end of Herod’s life, verses 20-25. Folks the events of this week have brought into clear focus this passage.
On the one hand you have the Church dedicate to the cause of Christ facing adversity & out of the motive of dependence are forced to pray God. You will recall that the word “constant” is an athletic term that describes stretching a muscle to its limits. Yet in so praying for the deliverance of Peter when their prayer is miraculously answered they show that all along they did not believe it could happen.
Then you have a powerfully wicked man named Herod whose sole aim is to capture & kill Peter. He has all the world’s resources at his disposal & there is no one & no way to stop him from his goal. Yet instead of ending Peter’s life it is his life that ends unexpectedly!
So what’s my point? Simple,
- First, from the Christians perspective there is no magical or mystical approach to prayer. Prayer is plain communication & at its root it is dependence motivated. And here is what we see in this section. As you & I are crying out to God about a situation; (something or someone that looks to alter the program of God in our lives), God hears not only what we believe should happen, He hears & answers the cry of our heart in dependence upon Him. When your child cried out for help & you could hear the hopelessness & helplessness in their voice you came to them not with the question, “Do you really believe I can do what you ask?” No you responded in love to the cry of the heart. Am I saying don’t ask for specific things? No, ask all you want but realize that the answer lies not so much in that you asked & believed but rather that you asked the right Person, your Father in heaven! Yes, there is a trust element in prayer but clearly we learn that “faith as small as a mustard seed” can move mountains, or as in this case open prison doors! So much for the often-used phrase, “I don’t have enough faith!” You don’t have to all you have to have is a heart that is dependent upon God.
- Second, from a worldly perspective no matter how hard you try, how much power & influence you may have you can not thwart the will of God. So it’s best just to get out the white flag now & come on over to trusting in God. Herod believed in his ability, ingenuity & power to get the upper hand on a rag-tag group Christians, who prayed earnestly but quite obviously not really believing God would work & still Herod was defeated!
Vs. 12-19a The answer is at the door
Vs. 12 We last left Peter coming to himself somewhere just out side the gates of Jerusalem realizing that “the Lord had brought him out of the prison.” (verse17). Now Peter is going to be on Herod’s most wanted list so he has to get out of the street right away. So He decides to go to John Mark’s house. Now many folks believe that this is the same house where Jesus celebrated Passover the night He was arrested & also the house where Pentecost happened.
Now look at the second part of this verse, “where many were gathered together praying.” Do you see that? Peter had been seized some time during the feast of unleavened bread & Herod had decided to hold him in prison until after Passover & then kill him so as not to offend the Jews. So Peter had been in prison for up to a week & during that time we are told that the Church had been exercising it’s self in prayer for his deliverance. In fact when Peter had come to John Mark’s house they were in a prayer meeting for his deliverance. Do you see the scene now? So what had this week long prayer meeting accomplished so far on Peter’s behalf? Well I’d like to suggest three things that prayer accomplishes based upon what has happened so far in the story.
- It delayed the crisis: Peter was put in prison to be put to death. The Church prayed & instead of him being put to death the next day many days pass. Prayer has the ability to postpone that which we fear. So much of our lives are lived on the tyranny of the urgent & we knee-jerk react to things. Folks if you don’t know this you will soon, “LIFE IS A CRISIS”!!!! Prayer has built into it a time element that causes things not to be as urgent or desperate as we may have thought they were at first. It’s kind of like going swimming in cold water, your body reacts to the sudden change of temperature but then you adjust & it’s not as quite as cold as you thought at first. Maybe they started out praying, “Oh God they are going to kill Peter now just like they did James, help.” But as the days passed they prayed, “God deliver Peter some way!” I don’t know about you all but some times all I need is a few days to get a better perspective on the crisis on hand?
- It brought about a peaceful heart: They were no doubt praying for Peters safety & rescue but God had given Peter a super-natural peace right in the midst of the situation. And how at peace was Peter you ask? Well he was so at peace that when it came time for the Lord to deliver him by way of an angel it took three attempts, (light, poking & voice) to get him up & still the angel had to help get dressed! Folks, God does not first deliver us OUT OF the situation He delivers us THROUGH the situation. I have this little saying on the wall in my office that I should read & take to heart more often; “God does not create joy by new surroundings; He creates new surroundings by joy!” Prayer calms the anxious heart!
- It changed the situation & circumstance: Now as yet un know to those that were praying, God suddenly changed the circumstances to which Peter found himself in. Not only was Peter delivered from prison but also in a short while the one who threatened the life of Peter would himself be dead. Truly God is able to do “exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think.” (Eph 3:20) Folks we have a tendency to think & even pray within the box but we pray to a God who created the box & knew of it’s existence forever!
Vs. 13-16 Now right away I can tell you that this is one of my favorite passages. There are two reasons for this:
- I love the humor of it all.
- I can relate to these great prayer warriors.
Rhoda, whose name means rose, is the only one in the story who responded correctly. It is my opinion that she was most likely the youngest believer at the house. The reason I say this is that she apparently does not look at the situation to determine who God is but rather uses who God is to determine the situation. When we are young Christians we just simply believe. It was customary in those days to knock on a door & announce you name. So when Peter did this Rhoda recognized Peter’s voice, but instead of opening the door to let him in she runs off to tell the others that their prayers have been answered.
I can just picture this young servant girl bouncing all over the place with excitement as a room full of somber mature Christians are praying. “Lord God, we beseech You now on our fourth day of praying on behalf of Peter. Please Oh God of all mercy, deliver him from the bars of oppression & bring him back to us!” Then you hear, Rhoda blurt out, “Peter, Peter he’s….” “Quite Rhoda can’t you see we are praying for Peter’s freedom what’s gotten into you?” “Yeh, I know but he is right out side.” “That’s not funny, are you out of your head? He has been sentenced to death & tomorrow he is going to lose his head & your making jokes!” She kept on insisting that Peter was really out side so they could see she was serious & thought well, “Maybe it’s his guarding angel.” Now think about it Christians, if it was Peter’s guardian angel why did he need to stand at the door & knock?
Vs. 16 Now switch back over to Peter still outside knocking on the door & whispering for fear of drawing attention to himself, “Hey guy’s it’s me come on let me in!” So they all come together to answer the door. It’s been suggested that they all came together thinking it may have been Herod’s police to arrest them. And when they see, him they all were saying, “I knew this was going to happen as we have been praying for days for your release.” No, they are blown away & are so loud that Peter who is still outside in the courtyard has to motion with his hand for them to be quite.
Again look at these Christians folks:
- Many were praying
- They praying in earnest
- They prayed day & night
- They prayed for days
- Their prayers were centered around the deliverance of Peter
And when Peter shows up in answer to their prayers they would not open the door to let him in. Peter had an easier time getting out of a well guarded prison chained between to Roman guards then he did getting into a prayer meeting on his behalf! How many times has the answer to our prayer came right up to our door & we refused to believe it? This week as I faced the building crisis & called C.C.M.B. I was told, “God has a door open, find the door!” In the case of these guys they needed to go to the door.
Now Rhoda gave thanks at the answer of prayer when she heard the voice of Peter. The rest of the house gave thanks as they saw the answer of prayer in the face of Peter. But how much better would it have been if they began to rejoice & give thanks the moment they began to pray because they knew that God heard their voice & saw the situation? You see what I’m saying? Prayer first & foremost changes the one who prays! Had they gave thanks to the Lord in prayer they would not have doubted the Lords ability to answer prayer.
Vs. 17 After Peter quiets the prayer meeting he tells them how the Lord brought out of prison & instructs them to tell James. Now this is not James the brother of John as he has already been put to death. No, this is James the ½ brother of Jesus, who at this time was the acting head of the Church at Jerusalem, Acts 15. Now Peter quickly leaves the area but we are not told where. There are some that claim that Peter went to Rome & was their 25 years as Pope & was killed there. But the truth is that does not seem to be the case, if it were so then why doesn’t Paul mention him in his letter to the Romans? Peter does fade from view in the book of Acts as the focus of Luke’s writings becomes more of the gentile Church. Accept where he appears some time latter at the council gathered to debate whether or not the gentiles need to be circumcised to be Christians in chapter 15. Then in Gal. 1:19 we are told that he had an extend stay in the Church at Antioch but that Paul had to confront him to his face, as he was eating only with the Jewish believers who had come up from Jerusalem. Lastly we are told that, according to 1 Cor. 9:5, 1 Cor 1:12 he traveled with his wife & apparently visited Corinth.
Vs. 18-19 As soon as day broke there was a great turmoil about what had become of Peter. So Herod was searching for him examined the 16 guards & put them to death instead of Peter. The Roman law was that of a guard allowed a prisoner to escape then whatever sentence was upon the prisoner was now upon the guards. So clearly Herod’s intention was to kill Peter. And now doubt bummed at the escape of Peter Herod heads on down to Caesarea which is right on the Mediterranean Sea, as it was his capital.
Vs. 20-25 What’s eating him?
Vs. 20 –23 As a postscript Luke tells of what happened to Herod. We are not told of what got him angry at the two seaports on the Phoenician cost of modern day Lebanon but he was furious with them. Now they lay outside his jurisdiction but he did supply them with grain mainly from the Galilee region. So it appears that he just stopped trading with them a kind of embargo. Well that got the leaders that be to come up to Caesarea & bribe his chief of staff for an audience. Now the Jewish historian Josephus writes of this very event saying that the day all this took place was on a day when there was a celebration for Caesar who was a personal close friend. On the second day of the celebration Herod came out looking like Elton John or in a robe made of silver that shown in the early morning sun light. Evidently he had set up his throne at the huge out door amphitheater. As he arose to give a speech the people wanting to placate him started shouting, “The voice of a god & not of a man.” Herod did not rebuke them nor reject their flattery instead felt a sharp & intensifying pain in his side & said, “I, a god in your eyes …. I who am called immortal by you, am now under the sentence of death.” Five days later he died.
Luke says here that worms ate him & as a doctor uses a word for worm that describes a specific head structure of a tapeworm. This particular tape worm grows to around 16 inches & attaches it’s over a million eggs on the right lobe of the liver forming a cyst as the worms develop inside the cysts & rupture it which causes a painful death. This by the way is the same word Jesus uses in Mark 9:44 where He describes hell as a place where the “worm” does not die. This type of tapeworm keeps propagating itself as each part of the worm is a complete unit made up of both male & female parts.
Hey folks, this whole thing makes me realize that apart from prayer a lot of things can eat at us. We can be ridden with the worm of anxiety & worry. Or the worm of bitterness & anger. Now there is a treatment it’s give it to Jesus! If we don’t we are going to drop dead one day & not enjoy the life God has given us.
Vs. 24 – 25 Luke closes the chapter with a contrast between the way of the world & the way of God. “he did not give glory to God. And he was eaten by worms and died. But the word of God grew and multiplied.” Notice what grew & multiplied, “the word of the Lord.” Nothing can stop the word of the Lord. It doesn’t matter how powerful a person is, or how rich & famous they are it’s foolish to think that you can live apart from total dependence upon God. Why not trust Him today & start by coming to Him in prayer with thanksgiving?
Lastly we are told that Barnabas & Paul come back to Antioch & they bring back with them John Mark his cousin. Now next week we will launch into the first full missionary journey.