The Deliverance of Peter
Beginning in Chapter 12 of the Acts of the Apostles, the story begins to darken for Peter and the Christians in Jerusalem. “About that time Herod the king laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the Church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword; and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also” (Acts 12:1–3). This probably occurred around AD 41–42 when Herod Agrippa took power and was appointed by Rome as the successor of Herod Antipater, thus becoming the leader of the Herodian dynasty. “This was during the days of Unleavened Bread” (Acts 12:3). Luke mentions the “days of Unleavened Bread” to show us how the life of Peter paralleled the life of Christ. For example, Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, and then Peter raised Tabitha from the death. Jesus had been arrested and crucified during the previous Passover. Here, during the next Passover, we see the arrest of Peter.
“And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people” (Acts 12:4). In the case of Jesus, the Pharisees, scribes, and chief priest conspired to have him killed, but not during the Passover “lest there be a tumult among the people” (Mt 26:5). Likewise, Herod didn’t want to kill Peter during the Passover as that would be politically dangerous. So Peter was kept in prison. The Christian community prayed earnestly for him and for his release—a prayer that would be answered by God in dramatic fashion.
As the leader of this new Christian movement, Peter was considered dangerous, and he had already escaped from the Sanhedrin once before, so Herod wasn’t taking any chances. He assigned four squads of soldiers to watch him. That night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers. He was bound in chains and two sentries were guarding the door. Under Roman law, if a prisoner escaped during a soldier’s watch, then the soldier would be executed. This is important as no one would ever claim that four squads of Roman soldiers had been bribed to release Peter. What soldier—much less four squads—would ever take money knowing that he surely would be executed?
When I consider this story, I am reminded of Raphael’s painting The Deliverance of St. Peter, which hangs in the Vatican Museum. The painting’s lighting is particularly interesting. Outside the prison you see a moonlit sky with dawn breaking just over the horizon. Near the cell of Peter a guard’s torch throws up some light as well. But the main source of illumination is the brilliant light radiating from the liberating angel. So you have several plays on light—the light of the torch, the light of the moon, and the light of the early dawn—but the light of God makes the others pale in comparison. This makes me think of 1 Peter 2:9, when Peter says, “[God] called you out of darkness into his marvelous light.”
The angel appeared in the cell, woke Peter, told him to get up quickly, and the chains miraculously fell off Peter’s hands. Then the angel told Peter to dress, put on his sandals, wrap himself in his cloak, and to follow him. Although Peter thought the angel was a vision, he obeyed. It was only after he was led out of the prison and the angel disappeared that he realized that the angel was real.
Interestingly, Raphael paints the features of Peter according to the traditional depiction but with a twist. He includes some features of Pope Julius II, then the reigning pontiff. Raphael places these features on Peter to show that the papacy may be enclosed in darkness and persecution but God’s light will always lead the successors of St. Peter.
