She is only mentioned in three verses of Scripture. She is surely important to the story, otherwise Luke would not have recorded the event. We know so little about her, but her message carries hope for us today.
The church was young, but it was growing by the thousands. The Jews that would not accept the resurrection of Jesus or any of the apostle’s teachings were adamantly opposed to the church, the dissolution of the Jewish nation as they once knew it, and the baptism for remission of sins.
King Herod decided he wanted to send a message to these believers, these members of “the way.” Why he picked James, the brother of John, we can only guess. James probably was outspoken and was preaching openly against the continued adherence to the Old Law. For whatever reason, Herod had him killed with the sword, probably by beheading.
The Jews were very happy about this, and Herod also decided to arrest Peter. It is interesting that Herod didn’t take more of the apostles, but Peter was also a prominent figure in spreading of the gospel. So, Herod had him arrested and set four groups of four soldiers to guard him. He was taking no chance that Peter would somehow escape. That would, of course, make Herod look bad.
The church met together in the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark. There they prayed constantly for Peter. What do you suppose they prayed for? Perhaps his release, or that he wouldn’t be killed? They would have been frightened for Peter and for their own lives. They were probably very cautious as they admitted various members of the local church into the house. If anyone found out a group of believers was meeting there, they could be arrested as well.
Their prayers were heard, because God sent his angel into the prison cell, released Peter from his bonds, and led him out into the street. The angel disappeared, and Peter made his way to the house of Mary.
When Peter arrived, he knocked on the outside gate to the house; a young girl named Rhoda came to answer the door. As was the custom, it would have been her job to find out who was there, if they were a friend or an enemy, and what they wanted. When she inquired who was there, she recognized the voice as that of Peter. She became so excited that she left poor Peter standing at the door while she went to tell the other Christians. Their response was that this girl was crazy. When she insisted that it was Peter, they opened the door for him.
There are lessons we can learn from this story. One lesson is that though Rhoda doesn’t play a significant role in the full story of Peter’s arrest and escape, Luke gives her a name but her role in all of this is not about her. We know she was a young girl, but we do not know if she was a slave girl or one of the Christians. We know that she recognized Peter’s voice, so she must have been very familiar with hearing him speak. The point is that the messenger isn’t where the value is.
Second, the faith of these Christians was imperfect. Though God granted their request, they were surprised that He did. They weren’t expecting Peter to somehow appear at the house where prayers were going up for him. Though we may be diligent in praying for something, we need to believe that prayers can be answered.
Third, age and status are not important in delivering the good news of the gospel. The message can come from anyone who knows what God wants us to do. I think about the servant girl who told Naaman about the ability of a prophet of God to heal him. She was unimportant in the eyes of the Syrians and maybe even the Jews, but she was able to save Naaman from horrible death. Rhoda was unimportant in her role as doorkeeper, but her message was one of deliverance for the people of God.
The important thing in all of this is the message Rhoda had to deliver. Her announcement that Peter was at the door affirmed their faith in God, though it may have been weak. It acknowledged that God was listening to a group of Christians hidden away in a house in prayer for the life of their friend. It revealed that God was actively continuing to perform miracles to help them confirm their faith in Him.
The messenger is of no value to us today in comparison to the message. We are imperfect and sometimes weak in our faith, but God continues to answer our prayers, though not always the way we want. Who we are, where we live, how much money we have, man or woman, prominent or ordinary; we all belong to an almighty God who loves us and will always do what is best for us. That is the message.
Sandra Oliver