Acts 12:5

Peter, therefore, was kept in prison; but prayer was made without ceasing of the Church unto God for him.

At that time, at the time when Barnabas and Saul were sent on their embassy of charity, very probably in the year 45 or early in 46 A. D. Since the year 41 Herod Agrippa I, a grandson of Herod the Great, occupied the entire country which had formerly been governed by his grandfather, with the title of king, under Roman supremacy. His power exceeded that of an ordinary governor, and he took good care to maintain his standing by a proper attitude of flattering deference to the emperor. He had risen to his present station by a gradual promotion, having been given first the tetrarchy of Philip (Batanea, Trachonitis, and Auranitis), a little later the tetrarchy of Lysanias, with the title of king, soon afterward the tetrarchy of Herod Antipas (Galilee and Perea), and finally Samaria and Judea. Without any special occasion, apparently merely for the sake of showing his tyrant's power, this Herod let his heavy hand strike certain members of the church at Jerusalem, to treat them badly, to torture and vex them. First of all he killed, deliberately murdered, James, the brother of John, with the sword. Luke purposely does not use a word to designate an execution, even with some show of right, but he applies the proper, fitting word: murder. This James the Greater, the son of Zebedee, must be distinguished from James the Less, the son of Alphaeus. The prediction of the Lord, Matthew 20:23, was here fulfilled: James, the first martyr from the ranks of the apostles, drank of the Lord's cup, and was baptized with His baptism. This cruel and absolutely unjustified act of the king must have been the cause of great grief to the congregation at Jerusalem, removing, as it did, one of the foremost teachers of the young Church. The fires of persecution had died down to a few smoldering embers, but the action of Herod fanned them into new flame; the Jews, inveterate enemies of the Cross, were pleased with the removal of a leader of the hated sect; they found the action in total accord with their wishes. Herod, therefore, who prided himself upon his Pharisaic piety, added a second unjustified act, that of taking Peter captive, of arresting him without reason or charge, simply because it suited his fancy. Since just at that time, however, the Festival of Unleavened Bread was being celebrated, Herod, eager to show his zeal for Jewish religious customs by all means, had Peter arrested and placed into prison, his intention being to arraign him in the presence of the people after the days of the Passover Festival. The names of the feast are here interchanged, since they were applied indiscriminately. To be sure that his victim would not escape, Herod took unusual precautions, delivering him to four quaternions of soldiers, four soldiers for each of the four watches of the night, for safe-keeping. The Roman custom was probably followed, according to which the prisoner was chained to two guards in the cell, while two watched outside. With great numbers of people in Jerusalem for the festival, Herod hoped to gain further popularity by these measures: but especially by the final condemnation of the apostle in the presence of the people. He did not realize that by his action he was pitting his puny strength against the power of Almighty God and of the exalted Christ, a fact which Luke brings out by the contrast: Now Peter indeed was guarded in the prison, but prayer was made without ceasing by the congregation to God on his account. It is a sad fact that the might of prayer is not realized sufficiently in our days. If the congregations individually and collectively would but make use of prayer, unceasing, importunate prayer, the success of a great many enterprises would be a foregone conclusion. Note that the prayer of the Christians was made in behalf of Peter, very likely not exclusively for his release, though they knew that this was an easy matter for the Lord, but for strength and fortitude to bear persecution and martyrdom, if need be, for the sake of his Lord.