Peter, who was in a seemingly impossible situation, was rescued in the simplest way--he walked right out the front door of the prison. Most of us will never find ourselves on the inside of prison walls, but there are many metaphorical prisons that may take us captive each and every day. What does your prison look like? I think that it's easy as humans to focus on the prison, instead of on the Lord. Instead of believing the promises of the Gospel ("For nothing is impossible with God" Luke 1:37), we tend to focus on the chains, the prison guards, and the iron gates that surround us.
After Peter realized what had happened, he quickly went to tell others about this amazing miracle that the Lord had just performed. But, it was not as easy as you might think. Peter had to be persistent in knocking on doors. No one believed that Peter was not in prison anymore--it was too impossible. But what did Peter do? "But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished" (v.16). Peter never gave up trying to tell people about the God that saved him from one of the most impossible situations imaginable. In the same way, we need to be persistent in telling others about the prisons from which God has rescued us! As much as our selfish hearts would like to believe otherwise, God doesn't just rescue us for our benefit--He does it for His glory.
But we haven't even gotten to the end of the story yet (which is the best part, in my opinion!). King Herod, the same man that was persecuting Christians, is dealt with by God in a way that is nothing less than poetic justice. One day, Herod, wearing his royal robes and sitting upon his royal throne, is met by people exclaiming that he is a god, not a man. Herod, instead of correcting them, goes along with what they are saying. In that instance, verse 23 tells us that Herod is struck down by an angel of the Lord because he did not "give praise to God." What happened to his body? Oh, you know, it was eaten by worms until he died. 'nough said! God 1 Herod 0.
Exodus 14:14, one of my favorites in the whole Bible, says, "The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still." This story is clearly one of a mighty God fighting for His child.
The epilogue of the story? "But the word of God continued to spread and flourish" (v. 24). Hmm, so Herod, the "almighty" king, got death-by-worms, and Peter, the lowly prisoner, was set free to spread the Gospel another day! Moral of the story: don't mess with my God!
