Acts 12:14. And when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness. So eager was Rhoda, the servant, perhaps the slave, of Mary, to make the others assembled there that night partakers of the great joy she felt in beholding Peter again alive and free, that she ran back and forgot to open the door when she heard his well-known, loved voice.

This is a striking incident, and shows how the apostle was loved by all orders and ranks. Chrysostom draws attention here to the fact that slaves and servants in the early Church shared in the hopes and fears of those socially above them.

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Old Testament