The girl who did not open the door

"And as Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a damsel came to hearken, named Rhoda. 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. And they said unto her, Thou art mad. But she constantly affirmed that it was even so. Then said they, It is his angel. But Peter continued knocking: and when they had opened the door, and saw him, they were astonished." Acts 12:13-16

It is the funniest scene in the New Testament, and it is built on an embarrassment.

The church has gathered to pray. For what? Verse 5 says: Peter is in prison, and the church prays without ceasing for him. It is the night before his execution. So they are praying for his release.

An angel brings him out. He crosses the city, reaches the house, knocks. And the praying assembly refuses to believe that the thing they asked for has happened.

They do not doubt God in theory. They are praying at that very moment. But when the answer knocks at the door, they call the messenger mad, and prefer a more comfortable supernatural explanation — "it is his angel" — to the simpler one: Peter is outside.

Consider what the text is doing. Luke could have written an edifying account: the church prayed, Peter was freed, all rejoiced. He chooses to record that the ones praying did not recognise the answer, and that Peter had to keep knocking while they argued.

And note who is right in the story: a servant girl. The youngest, the least regarded, the one nobody asks. She recognised the voice. She got one thing wrong — in her joy, she forgot to open.

Nobody is punished in this account. Nobody is rebuked. The door is opened in the end, and they are "astonished".

Today. Ask yourself whether an answer is knocking at your door while you are still praying to get it. It may not look like what you expected. Go and open before you argue.