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December 2009

The Empty Cell

Acts 12:1-17
About that time King Herod laid hands on some from the church to harm them. He had James, the brother of John, executed with a sword. When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter too. (This took place during the feast of Unleavened Bread.) When he had seized him, he put him in prison, handing him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him. Herod planned to bring him out for public trial after the Passover. So Peter was kept in prison, but those in the church were earnestly praying to God for him. On that very night before Herod was going to bring him out for trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, while guards in front of the door were keeping watch over the prison. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared, and a light shone in the prison cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly!” And the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. The angel said to him, “Fasten your belt and put on your sandals.” Peter did so. Then the angel said to him, “Put on your cloak and follow me.” Peter went out and followed him; he did not realize that what was happening through the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. After they had passed the first and second guards, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went outside and walked down one narrow street, when at once the angel left him. When Peter came to himself, he said, “Now I know for certain that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from everything the Jewish people were expecting to happen.” When Peter realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where many people had gathered together and were praying. When he knocked at the door of the outer gate, a slave girl named Rhoda answered. When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she did not open the gate, but ran back in and told them that Peter was standing at the gate. But they said to her, “You’ve lost your mind!” But she kept insisting that it was Peter, and they kept saying, “It is his angel!” Now Peter continued knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were greatly astonished. He motioned to them with his hand to be quiet and then related how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. He said, “Tell James and the brothers these things,” and then he left and went to another place. (Acts 12:1-17)

The King Herod mentioned here is Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great. He grew up in Rome with the future emperor Claudius. In 41, when Claudius became emperor, Agrippa was in Rome. The situation in Jerusalem was very tense. The emperor Caligula, poisoned to death in January 41, had wanted to put his own statue in the temple of Jerusalem. This project nearly led to a major uprising. So Herod Agrippa went immediately to Jerusalem in order to deal with the situation.

He looked for support to groups faithful to the traditions of Israel, the Torah. For this reason he opposed the Christians. Perhaps in part for personal reasons: were the Christians not waiting for the coming of their Christ, also known as "King of the Jews" and therefore a potential rival? The Acts of the Apostles say that he turned against the Christians to enlist the support of influential circles in Jerusalem, hostile to the Christian movement. That was because, on account of their faith in Jesus, some Jews went to the point of minimizing what differentiated Jews from Gentiles. They went so far as to assert that Jews and Gentiles now formed all together one people of God.

That was the historical context within which Herod had James killed and arrested Peter. One or two sentences would have been enough for Luke, the author of the Acts of the Apostles, to say that Peter found freedom in unclear circumstances. But he wished to describe Peter’s night in prison in order to describe it as an Easter night. While the Church in prayer was celebrating the days of Passover, Peter had, in his own body, the experience of the paschal mystery. Awaiting execution in the cell, he was already a dead man. And then, in the middle of the night, the chains fell from his hands and feet. He was free. His guards were stunned and Peter left his cell just like Jesus coming out of the tomb. He thought he was dreaming. Then he came to himself and confessed his faith in words that echo the liberation of Israel at the first Passover (Exodus 18:4,9): "The Lord has rescued me from the hands of Herod."

It was a woman who first learned the good news of Peter’s release. Rhoda recognized his voice at the door of the house where the Christians were meeting. But out of joy she forgot to open the door! Luke had a sense of humor: while people were discussing within, denying the possibility that Peter was free, Peter had to wait outside the door and knock harder! At last he was let in. He explained what had happened to him. And once again, Luke gave a wink to his readers so that they would recall the resurrection of Jesus. Just as Jesus sent off the women who came to the tomb to announce his resurrection to the disciples and to Peter, Peter ordered them to go announce his release "to James and to the brothers." This refers to James, the brother of the Lord, who appears to have been, at least from that time on, the head of the Church of Jerusalem. Peter then left the Holy City and went "to another place." The expression is used in Ezekiel 12:3 for the departure for Babylon. Here, it could be a coded indication of a departure of Peter for Rome.

01
What are the dungeons and chains in my life? When in my life have I experienced the power of the resurrection?
02
When are we like the Christians in Jerusalem who were discussing what is or what is not possible, when all they had to do was open the door to see?
03
Out of the dungeon, Peter is ready for a new stage in his life. What I am willing to leave behind for me to set out again with new freedom?

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1 Samuel 3:1-10

Now, the boy Samuel was serving the Lord in the presence of Eli; in those days it was rare for The Lord to speak; visions were uncommon. One day, it happened that Eli was lying down in his room. His eyes were beginning to grow dim; he could no longer see. The lamp of God had not yet gone out, and Samuel was lying in the Lord’s sanctuary, where the ark of God was, when the Lord called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ He answered, ‘Here I am,’ and, running to Eli, he said, ‘Here I am, as you called me.’ Eli said, ‘I did not call. Go back and lie down.’ So he went and lay down. And again the Lord called, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ He got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, as you called me.’ He replied, ‘I did not call, my son; go back and lie down.’ As yet, Samuel had no knowledge of the Lord and the word of the Lord had not yet been revealed to him. Again the Lord called, the third time. He got up and went to Eli and said, ‘Here I am, as you called me.’ Eli then understood that the Lord was calling the child, and he said to Samuel, ‘Go and lie down, and if someone calls say, “Speak, Lord; for your servant is listening.”’ So Samuel went and lay down in his place. The Lord then came and stood by, calling as he had done before, ‘Samuel! Samuel!’ Samuel answered, ‘Speak, Lord; for your servant is listening.’

October 2025

Giving, praying, fasting

Matthew 6:1-6,16-18

Jesus said, “When you give to the needy, do not announce it with trumpets, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and on the streets, to be honoured by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you give to the needy, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your giving may be in secret. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you. And when you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by others. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.” (…) “When you fast, do not look sombre as the hypocrites do, for they disfigure their faces to show others they are fasting. Truly I tell you, they have received their reward in full. But when you fast, put oil on your head and wash your face, so that it will not be obvious to others that you are fasting, but only to your Father, who is unseen; and your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you.”

September 2025

Leaving, following and receiving

Mark 10:28-31

Then Peter spoke up, “We have left everything to follow you!” “Truly I tell you,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age: homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields —along with persecutions— and in the age to come eternal life. But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Peter’s words are both the spoken realization that he and the others have let go of every security that they had, and an implicit question about what they will have for their future. As we search to understand our vocation, God often leads us along a kind of negative path – where we discover more and more what is not important to us. God works in us to detach our hearts from things in order for them to be ready to be attached to him.