Prayer
God of unexpected joy, we give you thanks for the delightful faithfulness of your daughter Rhoda. Inspire our reading through your Holy Spirit that we might learn from her witness and be challenged by the resistance she faced. Open our hearts to what you will have us learn as we study. We pray this in the name of Jesus. Amen.
Key Scripture
Acts 12:6-19
“On recognizing Peter’s voice, [Rhoda] was so overjoyed that, instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate.” (Acts 12:14)
Main Point
When Peter showed up at the home of Mary (John Mark’s mother), Rhoda immediately recognized his voice and was so excited he was alive that she forgot to let him into the house. Rhoda’s joyful reaction to Peter’s arrival bears witness to the importance of cultivating joy in our lives. The reaction of those in the house to Rhoda’s testimony serves as a caution against passing judgment on the testimony of others.
Introduction to Rhoda
Who is Rhoda, and why do churches seldom tell her story? Rhoda’s story might be overlooked because we tend to focus on Peter’s miraculous release from prison instead. After all, Peter is a main character in the story of the gospel message spreading throughout the ancient world. Rhoda was merely a maid in the home of Mary, a young girl whose words were not taken seriously. She is, by all appearances, a background character at best.
However, as we take a closer look at Rhoda’s story, we will see that her experience with Peter was one of faith, joy, and authenticity. How many of us have ever been so excited that we forgot to do the urgent and important thing? In the person of Rhoda, Luke also redeems the story of servant girls everywhere. When we dig deeper into Rhoda’s story, we will see parallels between the story of Rhoda and the story of Peter’s encounter with a servant girl at the beginning of his three denials of Jesus.
Rhoda may not be a main character in Acts, but her story remains an important one. In the humorous joy of Rhoda we are encouraged to take delight in unexpected blessings. In the skeptical reaction of others in response to Rhoda’s joy, we are reminded not to dismiss the joy of others so easily.
Digging Deeper
In Acts 11-12, the early church was experiencing such profound persecution that the believers scattered to various regions and cities. Herod Agrippa I “laid violent hands” (Acts 12:2) on some people in the church, and he had James (the brother of John) killed. When Herod saw that the death of James was met with approval, he continued his mission against the church and had Peter arrested. When the early church learned of Peter’s arrest, they thought Peter was as good as dead. The believers were shaken, and they “prayed fervently” for Peter’s protection.
Through divine intervention, Peter escaped from prison. When he showed up at Mary’s house, he knocked on the door to be let in. Rhoda immediately recognized Peter’s voice and ran to tell the others without first letting Peter into the house. Rhoda’s story is one of excitement, humor, and joyful delight, a stark contrast to the pain and persecution Christians were experiencing at the hands of the empire.
Rhoda is mentioned only here in Scripture, but we are able to learn some important things about her. First, Luke (the author of both Luke and Acts) calls Rhoda a paidiské (pahee-DEE-skay), a servant girl or maid. Paidiskés were viewed as subservient and lesser members of society, but in the New Testament we find a few stories of these servant girls showing up in important situations. One such story occurs in the Gospel of Luke when Jesus has been arrested and Peter is trying to hide (Luke 22:54-62). Peter is sitting by a fire trying to blend in when a servant girl sees him and says, “This man also was with him.” Peter strongly denies her claim—the first of his three denials. In Luke, Peter finds himself identified by a servant girl, and he denies her claim to save himself. In Acts, Peter is identified by Rhoda, a servant girl, and though she first fails to let him into the home, she is the only one who believes it possible that he escaped prison alive.
Second, Luke describes Rhoda as having such joy about Peter being alive that “instead of opening the gate, she ran in and announced that Peter was standing at the gate.” Rhoda might have been a servant girl, but she believed it was possible God had saved Peter. She heard his voice, believed, and ran to tell the others with joy.
Finally, Rhoda’s testimony received the same response met by the women who first proclaimed Jesus’s resurrection. Overwhelmed with the good news that God had delivered Peter, she told everyone in the house. And they responded, “You are out of your mind!” Some thought maybe Rhoda had seen Peter’s angel. They found it easier to believe Peter was dead than to believe the joyful testimony of Rhoda, the servant girl.
#SheIsCalled and We Are Called
Rhoda’s response to the rescue of Peter was one of unrestrained joy. As we think about this story, we can’t help but laugh about the young girl who was so excited she forgot to do the most important thing: let Peter into the house. In the midst of a difficult and scary time, as the church was suffering at the hands of the empire, a moment of joy slipped in through the cracks. Rhoda’s joy over Peter’s safety reminds us of the importance of searching for joy and cultivating it in our lives.
We can plant seeds in our lives that will yield a harvest of joy in many different ways. For our purposes, let’s consider three. First, we can create a habit of gratitude. By pausing at the end of a day to consider what we are grateful for, we train our eyes, ears, and heart to pay attention to the good around us (and within us). Gratitude brings us closer to joy. Second, notice the joy of others. What are the people around you celebrating? When did someone handle a setback with grace, kindness, or lightheartedness? Noticing the joy in the lives of others can inspire us to become joyful people. And finally, make space for fun. I don’t know about you, but I have a tendency to take myself too seriously sometimes. Allowing ourselves to do something childlike (like mimicking a bird call you hear outside), or savoring something as though you were trying it for the first time, can bring an infusion of joy into our lives.
Rhoda’s proclamation—that Peter was safe and free—was so hard for people to accept that they refused to believe her. The reaction of the other people in the house to Rhoda’s joyful words reminds us to be careful about judging the testimonies of others too quickly. Rhoda was young, female, and part of the servant class. These were three strikes against her, as far as societal expectations for reliability were concerned. And yet, Rhoda spoke the undeniable truth. Who in our churches or communities might we be quickest to dismiss? Rhoda’s story reminds us not to judge others so quickly.
Conclusion
Rhoda may have been a young girl others found easy to ignore, but she was the first one to recognize Peter’s voice and believe he had been rescued. In Rhoda’s humorous story, Luke emphasizes the faith and joy of this young girl. In stark contrast to the story of the girl who recognized Peter when he tried to hide after Jesus’s arrest, Rhoda identifies Peter, not to expose him but to embrace him.
Too often, we are quick to dismiss the joyful words of others because their words seem too good to be true. We might make light of the Rhodas in our lives because it is easier than allowing ourselves to be caught up in the new thing God is doing in the world. Rhoda’s story encourages us to be people of joy and to be people who are willing to listen to those who might have an unexpected word from the Lord.
