Character Studies - ElectronicGospel

Character Study of Rhodaa character study by Jeff S. SmithIntroductionRhoda is an obscure New Testament character who leaves a lasting impression nonetheless. Her time onthe Bible stage is very brief, but her joy and innocence befit her name.DiscussionI. Rhoda’s CharacterA. Her Appearance (Acts 12:1-19)1. it is difficult for us to imagine the depths of this period of persecution in which Christians–especially the prominent or outspoken–were under intense scrutiny and subject to the violent whims ofboth the Romans and Jewsa. imagine if both City Hall and the Fort Worth Diocese were so powerful and opposed to thischurch that our elders, deacons and preacher were living in fear of arrest, imprisonment and even deathb. the temptation to go invisible and silent would be immense2. the church in Jerusalem did not ponder persecution as an unpleasant, but unlikely potential; itwas very real and human; the apostle James is dead and now Peter is behind bars awaiting the same fate3. rather than slip into cowardice and apostasy, the church keeps up a vigil of prayer on hisbehalf, which is answered by God who miraculously loosens Peter’s chains and guided him out of theprison and past the guards4. Peter then made his way through the city to what was probably the considerable estate of Mary,the mother of John Mark where many Christians were still praying for what had already occurreda. every indication is that Mary was a woman of means and that Rhoda was her maidservantwho went to the gate when Peter knocked upon itb. yet when she recognized Peter’s voice, rather than open the gate and let him in, she ran intothe company and told them their prayers had been answered–but they did not believe it was possible!c. either she was crazy or imagining things; the Jews believed in guardian angels andsuspected that at most, Rhoda had seen Peter’s representative, but not Peter himself5. poor Peter, probably still a little shaken by his nocturnal excursion and a little concerned thatthe authorities would soon be on his tail, was still out there knocking on the gate, wondering whathappened to Rhoda; finally, they opened the door and found Peter standing there in the fleshB. Rhoda’s Background1. we know nothing more about Rhoda, save that her name comes from the Greek word, Rhode(Rovdh, pr. hrod'-ay), which means a rose 332. her appearance at the gate that night probably attests to her position as a maidservant in thehouse of Mary, John Mark’s mother and possibly Barnabas’s aunt, who appears to have been a wealthywoman3. what stands out about Rhoda is her instant gladness at the sight of Peter, her innocent happinessin leaving him at the gate and her insistence that she had seen him and no one elseII. Some ApplicationsA. Rose of Sharon1. as the name Rhoda denotes a rose, we might think of Rhoda in terms of that fragile, beautifulflower2. one of the most enduring hymns known to the church praises Jesus as the Rose of Sharon, areference to Song of Solomon 2:1, in which the Shulamite woman makes reference to herselfa. Sharon is “the strip of fairly level land which runs between the mountains and the shore ofthe Mediterranean, stretching from Nahr Ruben in the South to Mt. Carmel in the North. There areconsiderable rolling hills; but, compared with the mountains to the East, it is quite properly described as aplain.” 34b. by all accounts, “the Sharon valley was a wild, fertile plain that was the home to a host ofbeautiful flowers.” 35c. the rose in this case is actually a mistranslation; “chabhatstseleth is not a "rose," but thewhite narcissus, which in season abounds in the plain” 36 or possibly the cistus which “is well known forCharacter Studies! 167