⁶On the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. ⁷And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter’s side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And his chains fell off his hands. ⁸And the angel said to him, “Gird yourself and put on your sandals.” And he did so. And he said to him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”

Peter had been here before, even being flogged (Acts 5:40). Flogging was an extremely painful form of whipping. Typically the victim was either fastened to a post or tied down on the ground. The whip was made of leather strips with shards fastened to the ends, designed to tear into the flesh. According to some sources, the victim would be whipped thirty-nine times—twenty-six on the back and thirteen on the front of the body. One does not forget such an experience! Yet we find Peter sleeping in jail with two Roman guards chained to him. The flogging of Acts 5 did not deter him, nor hinder his confidence in the Lord. He was driven by the thought that God considered him “worthy to suffer for His name” (Acts 5:41).

Peter would probably have heard about James’ death, but it did not dissuade him. Perhaps he saw his suffering and possible death as an opportunity to fulfill the assertion he had made to Jesus the night before the crucifixion, “I will lay down my life for You.” After three failures to do that, he would never shrink back from the threat of death again, for the sake of Jesus Christ, his Lord! Peter was of one mind with what the apostle Paul later wrote,

… according to my earnest expectation and hope . . . I will not be put to shame in anything, but that with all boldness, Christ will even now, as always, be exalted in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. (Phil. 1:20–21)

But now was not the time for Peter to die. Why then did God not rescue James also? We will never know, as no explanation is given. Some have suggested that the church didn’t pray for James, but that when he died they were stirred to pray for Peter. One might imagine a parallel with Israel going into the Promised Land: after conquering Jericho, they dropped their spiritual guard and failed to pray before attacking Ai—and thus they were defeated (Joshua 6–7). Such speculation may be interesting to ponder, but Luke does not make that connection, so we do better to focus on what God has clearly written.

Lord, give me the courage to have the same attitude as Peter and Paul: “For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.”