Acts 12:11 - Printer Friendly

ESV: 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."

NIV: 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."

NASB: When Peter came to himself, he said, 'Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.'

CSB: When Peter came to himself, he said, "Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from all that the Jewish people expected."

NLT: Peter finally came to his senses. 'It’s really true!' he said. 'The Lord has sent his angel and saved me from Herod and from what the Jewish leaders had planned to do to me!'

KJV: And when Peter was come to himself, he said, Now I know of a surety, that the Lord hath sent his angel, and hath delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews.

NKJV: And when Peter had come to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent His angel, and has delivered me from the hand of Herod and from all the expectation of the Jewish people.”

Peter was moments away from marching beside Roman soldiers out of prison to his execution. Herod Agrippa I had already beheaded James, John's brother, to the delight of the Sanhedrin (Acts 12:1–2). Agrippa realized that if he killed Peter the "Jewish people," including the Sanhedrin and the populace, would approve of him even more. So, he arrested Peter but held off the execution until after the Feast of Unleavened Bread.

Before the guards could escort Peter to his beheading, an angel appeared and rescued him from his cell. Peter was not sure if this rescue was real or a vision. He has already been arrested twice and beaten once by the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:1–22; 5:17–40), but he also knows that he will be killed eventually. Jesus told him he would die with his hands stretched out, meaning crucifixion, but Jesus also said this would happen when Peter was old (John 21:18–19). Considering the calculated possible years of Jesus' ascension and the recorded timeframe of Agrippa I's reign over Judea, this is between eight and fourteen years after the crucifixion. Is Peter "old" yet? He doesn't seem sure.

What he is sure of is that God has a plan that Agrippa's "hand," or power and authority, cannot defy. Peter will stay and witness about Jesus as Jesus' instructed: "in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth" (Acts 1:8), until his last breath, reportedly encouraging his own wife as they hang from crosses. But not yet. He has more work to do.

Acts 12:6–11 describes Peter's angelic rescue from a Roman prison. Herod Agrippa I arrested and killed the apostle James, brother of John. When he realized how much local religious leaders approved, he arrested Peter with plans to kill him after the Feast of Unleavened Bread. The church has been praying, however, and Peter's ministry is not over. God answers their prayer by sending an angel to rescue him from prison. Peter will stop by and update members of the church and then go into hiding. We won't see him again until the meeting of church leaders in Acts 15.

Acts 12 starts with the first death of an apostle and ends with the death of a king. Herod Agrippa I beheads James and imprisons Peter. An angel rescues Peter and he quickly lets the church in Jerusalem know before he goes into hiding. Agrippa, grandson of Herod the Great and friend to the Pharisees, accepts glory due only to God and dies, likely a few days later, of internal worms. Meanwhile, the church continues to grow, and Barnabas and Saul return to Syrian Antioch. The scene is set for Paul's extensive ministry to the Gentiles.

When Acts 12 opens, at least some of the apostles are in Jerusalem, and Barnabas and Saul are in Syrian Antioch, collecting support so the church in Jerusalem can survive the coming famine (Acts 11:27–30). The church is established in Jerusalem and growing in the regions on the east coast of the Mediterranean Sea. When the chapter closes, Barnabas and Saul are poised for their missionary trip in modern-day Asia Minor. Saul will take on the Greek version of his name, Paul, and the story of Jesus will spread to Rome and beyond.

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.