In Acts 12, Peter is chained between two soldiers, guarded by sixteen men, locked behind an iron gate, and scheduled for execution by Herod. James has already been killed. The church is grieving, praying, and bracing for another funeral.

Then heaven interrupts.

An angel wakes Peter up, his chains fall off, the prison gates open by themselves, and Peter walks free into the Jerusalem night. But when he reaches the house where the church is praying for him, he keeps knocking outside while the believers inside refuse to believe Rhoda, the servant girl who recognizes his voice.

The empire could not keep Peter in.

The prayer meeting almost kept him out.

This Wednesday night Bible study walks through Acts 12:1–17 with close attention to Luke’s brilliant storytelling, the genuine comedy of the scene, the grief behind the chu ...