The year is 44 a.d.. Soldiers pace the stone floor of the Antonia Fortress in Jerusalem. The air remains thick with the heat of the feast. A prisoner sits chained between two guards. The prisoner gasps in the dark while metal rings bite into wrists.
Herod Agrippa holds the city under a tight grip to please the populace. The king kills James the brother of John with a sword. The king locks Peter behind bars to wait for trial. The followers of the Way meet in a house to pray for release. A flash of light fills the cell. Chains fall to the floor. The iron gate swings open.
Roman protocol dictated a harsh penalty for negligence. Guards who lost a prisoner faced execution under military law. Peter walked out past the iron gate. The guards faced death at dawn. This event shows how absolute authority crumbles when it clashes with the purpose of the God of All Comfort.
A man in chains is only as secure as the lock. Authority is a brittle tool against a force that does not obey the law of gravity.
The sudden death of Herod left a power vacuum in the province. The growth of the movement continued as the story of the prison break spread through the city.