Acts 19 tells the wonderful story of Peter, imprisoned by King Herod and facing death, being miraculously rescued by an angel. Peter followed the angel out of the prison, but “he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision” (Acts 19:9). He was a block away from the prison before he was finally convinced that that he was free. He then went to the house of John’s mother, where “many people” had gathered to pray for his release. But when a servant girl told those praying that Peter was at the door, they told her she was crazy.

We might wonder at Peter’s slowness to believe that God was rescuing him from Herod’s prison. We might also be critical of the believers who had gathered to pray for Peter’s release but who didn’t believe it when it happened.

But we have the benefit of hindsight. Peter was not short on faith. In fact, he was being very faithful to Jesus, continuing to preach the Good News even at the risk of his life. Faith is not the hope or expectation that nothing bad will happen to us. It is following Jesus no matter what happens to us.

Peter had good reason to think that God would not rescue him. He had seen Jesus willingly accept death on the cross. He had seen his good friend James killed by Herod. Furthermore, after His resurrection, Jesus had told Peter, “Very truly I tell you, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go” (John 21:18). The Gospel writer explained, “Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.” In other words, Peter would be crucified just as Jesus was. Then Jesus said pointedly to Peter: “Follow me!” (John 21:19) So, Peter in prison was expecting to be crucified, and he can be excused for thinking that time had come. Jesus had said this would happen when Peter was “old,” but humans are not very good at interpreting prophecy.