Introduction: She’s only mentioned in one passage, and often for what she didn’t do. But this unsung heroine knew what she had seen, and nothing was going to change her mind!
Text: Acts 12:11-17, KJV: 11 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.12 And when he had considered the thing, he came to the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark; where many were gathered together praying. 13 And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. 14 And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness, but ran in, and told how Peter stood before the gate. 15 And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel. 16 But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished. 17 But he, beckoning unto them with the hand to hold their peace, declared unto them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, Go shew these things unto James, and to the brethren. And he departed, and went into another place.
Thoughts: Rhoda is only mentioned in this passage. She was a young woman, some think a servant girl, but best of all, she was most likely a believer in Jesus.
Now think back to the days when this event took place. Peter had once again been arrested, and he’s under a death sentence. Believers were praying for Peter’s release. Even though there didn’t seem to be much hope, they didn’t give up in their prayers.
Luke tells us in the text of chapter 12 how an angel helped Peter get out of the prison. By now, the angel has departed and Peter’s looking for a place to go. And he remembered Mary’s house. Peter probably weighed all the options and decided to go there. Once he got there, he began to knock on the “door of the gate”. Some houses, at least, had gates near the street which were at least some distance from the actual door of the house. Peter stayed by the gate and kept knocking. I wonder if Peter remembered the Parable of the Three Friends (Luke 11:5-13) and the Lord’s exhortation to ask, seek, and KNOCK!
Someone heard the knocking and Rhoda went out to the gate to see who it might be. This is understandable: after all, she was a “damsel” who was there in Mary’s house. Some think she was a servant-girl but we don’t know for sure. We do know she went to answer the door of the gate (did nobody else want to do this?) and saw Peter, in the flesh, standing right there in front of her! Let’s suppose Rhoda was among those who were praying for Peter’s release, and now she has proof those prayers were answered!
But Rhoda made one small, but serious, mistake. She left Peter outside! As I understand it, the gate itself was near the street and the door to the house was at least some distance away. How Peter could make this knocking heard without waking the rest of the neighbors is a tribute to God’s protection of His servant, Peter.
Now to return to Rhoda (a lovely name, meaning Rose). She had left Peter, standing outside, because she may have wanted some of the other disciples to witness this. This way, there could be the testimony of two or three witnesses to prove Peter was alive. Another idea is that some of the disciples could form a shield and hide Peter until he was safely in the house. Rhoda, to repeat, was so happy at seeing Peter that she ran to tell the others, but she left him outside!
The other disciples didn’t believe it, and some thought she was mad (insane or “nuts” as some might say). Rhoda, to her credit, didn’t back down at all—she “constantly affirmed” that “it was so”, and that it was really Peter himself, not an angel or anything else standing at the gate.
Eventually, the others heard knocking (had they been praying aloud?) and now “they”—Rhoda is not mentioned here—opened the door, to see Peter! They were astonished! I find it interesting that there were times when Peter and the other disciples were “astonished” at some of the things Jesus had said; now, he’s seeing maybe the same kind of astonishment on other believers.
And Peter wasn’t through just yet. He first made a motion to “hold their peace (hush, please, and be silent)” and then explained what had happened. Then he told them to tell James and the (other) brethren. Certainly this James was not the brother of John who had been recently executed; this James was most likely the Lord’s half-brother (Mark 6:3) and the chairman of the Jerusalem council in Acts 15.
Once Peter had finished giving his report, he left, and nobody could blame him for that. Nobody knows for sure where he went or how long he was gone, but eventually he found his way back to Jerusalem. Peter is mentioned several times in Acts after this.
But Rhoda is only mentioned here and only as part of a group of praying believers. Rhoda, though, was truly an unsung heroine in that she did as instructed and went to the gate to see who was there. Then she returned and reported to the others that Peter was alive only to be told, “You’re crazy” or something like that (does one note the parallel here between Rhoda and the women of Luke 24?). That didn’t stop Rhoda, as she kept on insisting Peter was there, and imagine the shock of their lives when this group actually did see Peter!
She went to the gate, brought back some good news, and refused to back down. When the Lord gives you a chance to do something like this, I hope you’ll be every bit as faithful as Rhoda was.
Scripture quotations taken from the King James Version of the Bible (KJV).