This is one of the funniest chapters in all of the Bible, and you cannot help laugh at the way Dr. Luke tells us about this dangerous and delightfully happy situation.

1. HUMOR IN ACTS CHAPTER 12
By Glenn Pease
Preface
There is much more in this chapter than humor, but I have written this to point out
that Dr. Luke had a sense of humor, and he exhibited it in his writing of the history
of the early church. We often study the Bible with such a serious mind that we miss
the humor that God intended for us to see and enjoy. Life is serious business, and
there are many problems to cope with. God knows we need humor to balance out
the stresses of life, so read and enjoy the lighter side of the Christian life in the midst
of persecution. An Apostle has been killed, and it is a time of grief, but it is also a
time of rejoicing, for we are to rejoice in the Lord always, and not just when all is
going well.
Peter's Miraculous Escape From Prison
1 It was about this time that King Herod arrested
some who belonged to the church, intending to
persecute them.
One of the paradoxes of history is that some of the most humorous things happen in
what are the worst of times. Crisis and tragedy and bad news do not eliminate the
presence of humor. The book of Esther is one of the best examples of this reality, but
here is one of the best examples in the New Testament. Herod is determined to make
it hell on earth for those who claim to be the children of heaven. He began to arrest
Christians, and even went so far as to have James put to death with the sword. The
tragedy has begun in full force, and yet the comedy is not far behind. Soon Peter is
brought into the tragedy also, but then God demonstrates his sense of humor and we
see comedy take over in the midst of the tragic.
Even before we get to Peter and the comedy of his prison escape, we have the brief
note in verse 2 about James being killed with the sword. This means that he was
beheaded. There is nothing funny about that, and yet it is funny that this would be
the full record of the death of one of the key characters in the life of Christ. James,
John his brother and Peter play major roles in the Gospels. They were the 3 who
had the most intimate relationship with Jesus. They were the inner circle. Now
James becomes the first Apostle to be martyred, and it is all summed up in 6 words-
“put to death with the sword.” That is the smallest obituary in the Bible for one of
the most important persons in the Bible. What makes this brevity so laughable is
that one of the longest chapters in the Bible, chapter 7 of Acts, is devoted to the

2. speech and martyrdom of Stephen who was a layman. This radical contrast in the
space devoted to the death of these two men of God has provoked some amazement
in the minds of commentators. It is like having a full page obituary for a deacon in
the church, and a one liner for the pastor of 30 years who built the church up from
60 members to 6000 members. People in the church would think that very odd,
strange, and unfair. They would think it was some kind of a joke-the kind that is not
funny. The fact is, life is not fair for believers any more than it is for unbelievers.
Another paradox of history is that those who are given great tasks to accomplish are
often taken out of the picture before it is half painted. James along with the rest of
the Apostles was given the challenge to go into all the world and preach the Gospel.
Some of them made it a long way toward fulfilling this command of Jesus, but
James never made it out of town. He is killed in Jerusalem before he ever had a
chance to travel anywhere with the good news. Unless you have the perspective of a
sense of humor about God’s plan in history and beyond you will be depressed about
what seems such a waste. Many a man and woman has spent years in training to be
pastor’s and missionaries, or some other worker in the kingdom of God, and then
before they enter active service they are killed in an accident or die of some disease.
It is pure tragedy from an earthly point of view. It is all wasted effort and we want
to join the pessimist in Ecclesiastes and moan, “vanity of vanities, all is vanity.”
This is the time to have the perspective of Jesus. He said we are not to fear those
who can kill the body and that is all they can do. That sounds like a lot, but the loss
of the body does not end the life of a believer. Nothing they have learned is wasted,
for God has work for us to do in the heavenly realm, and all we have learned in this
life will be useful in that life. James was robbed of the chance to go into all the
world, but nothing could rob him of the tasks Jesus will have for him to do in
heaven. We need to see tragic history with a sense of humor so that the terrible
deeds of tyrants like Herod do not turn us into pessimists. With a God-like sense of
humor we can laugh at their puny power to take away our body, but have no ability
at all to take away our eternity of service to our Lord.
When Jesus rose and then ascended to heaven he continued to labor as our
intercessor, and he has a job for all who enter his heavenly presence. (See my study
on jobs in heaven in my book Windows Into Heaven.) Commentators point out that
there was no attempt to replace James with another Apostle, as they did with Judas.
That is because the 12 will always be the 12 for all eternity and the promise to them
will be fulfilled. We read in Matthew 19:28 “And Jesus said unto them, Verily I say
unto you, That ye which have followed me, in the regeneration when the Son of man
shall sit in the throne of his glory, ye also shall sit upon twelve thrones, judging the
twelve tribes of Israel.” James will be there, and so we can look at horrible Herod
and laugh at his futile efforts to put an end to the plan of God. If you can find a
reason to laugh in every tragic situation, your sense of humor will give you hope and
prevent depression. That reason is always the sovereignty of God who will never let
evil succeed, but will always bring good out of evil. Many times we can see the good
in time, but when we do not, we need to trust that God always laughs at the powers
that defy him, because he has a plan that makes their plan backfire and eventually

3. serve his purpose. Laugh at the things God laughs at and you will find comedy even
in the midst of the tragic.
The comedy in this chapter becomes full blown and obvious when we come to the
account of how Herod deals with the second Apostle of the inner three. Herod saw
that the killing of James brought pleasure to the Jews. Here we have a sick sense of
humor illustrated. An innocent man who has done nothing wrong has his head cut
off and they laugh and get enjoyment out of this cruel murder. This sadistic
response motivates Herod to go on with more injustice, and so he arrests Peter. No
doubt the goal was to add another scalp to his belt and take Peter’s head off as well.
It was a little too early in the game for God to allow two heads to fall from the
chosen 12 and so he intervenes in history and sends an angel of the Lord to rescue
Peter. After all, he was to be the head of the 12, and so losing his head did not fit the
plan at all. The result is that comedy takes over and pushes the tragedy off the stage.
2He had James, the brother of John, put to death
with the sword.
3When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he
proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened
during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.
4After arresting him, he put him in prison,
handing him over to be guarded by four squads of
four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him
out for public trial after the Passover.
This seems like excessive security on the part of Herod. One could call it overkill to
have four squads of four soldiers to guard one man. It would make sense if all of the
rest of the 11 Apostles were arrested to have such a force, but to assign 16 soldiers to
guard one man is beyond reason. But we need to remember that back in chapter 5

4. all of the Apostles were in prison cells and they walked out free without ever leaving
a door unlocked. This made a lasting impression on the authorities and they were
not going to take any chances of a repeat performance. They may have a Houdini on
their hands, and so they need to take special precautions to make sure this can never
happen. This excessive security makes the escape all the more humorous, because it
sets up the stage for the man versus God engagement. It is man using the best of his
resources against God who should have no reason to be involved in a prison escape,
that is, according to their view of what ought to be.
The dramedy opens in verse 6 with Peter sound asleep. A dramedy is a combination
of drama and comedy. Wait a minute! This is not right. Peter has just seen one of his
closest friends and fellow Apostles have his head removed by wicked Herod, and he
is next, and you expect us to believe he is lying in prison getting a good nights sleep?
On top of the abysmal accommodations he was chained to two soldiers. I have never
slept with two total strangers with chains tying me to them, but I have a sneaking
suspicion that it would lack the comfort that I usually demand for a good nights
sleep. This is ridiculous. He should be pictured walking back and forth in nervous
fear, and having one of the most sleepless nights of his life. His head is almost on the
chopping block, and you expect us to believer he has his head on a pillow sleeping
like a baby just hours before his trial is to begin? Dr. Luke, you must be kidding!
This is not normal behavior. But the record stands, and Peter is getting a good
nights rest before he goes to his, so called, final rest. Some people just have the
ability to sleep anywhere and under any circumstances, and Peter is among them.
He along with James and John even went to sleep when they were to be watching
with Jesus as he prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane.
To add to the humor of the situation, the angel who came to deliver him had to poke
him in the side to get him to wake up. You would think that just the light that shown
in the cell would have wakened him, but not so. He goes on sleeping with a bright
light in his face. The angel strikes him and tells him to get up. There is no need to
whisper for there has to be racket galore as the chains fall off Peter and crash on the
floor. Obviously part of the miracle here is keeping the guards in a deep sleep so
that they hear nothing. So we see it took a light, a poke, and a shout to get through
to Peter’s sleepy brain. He was not just lightly sleeping but into deep sleep. He had
not a care in the world as he faced what was certain death. The first part of the
miracle was just getting Peter to wake up. Maybe you know someone like Peter. I
have a son who could sleep through a bomb attack like Rip Van Winkle. I tried to
wake him one time and did all but push him out of the bed and onto the floor, but he
went on in blissful oblivion that there was any danger for which he should be
awake. Peter may be the only man in history who needed an angel’s poke in the side
to get him to wake up. Most people are not such sound sleepers that they need
angelic aid to wake up when they are so near to dying. Jesus called Peter the rock,
so it could be he knew Peter slept like a rock. We know he saw Peter sink like a rock
when he stepped out of the boat to walk on water. He definitely had some rock like
qualities
I did read of a college student coming back to the dorm and finding his classmate

5. still asleep. He poked him and said, “Hey, Alex, you have missed your morning
classes. Do you have any others?” Alex opened one eye and yawned as he rolled over
to go back to sleep. He said, “No, I’m done for the day.” This is the kind of carefree
attitude we see in Peter as he sleeps so soundly with a violent death just hours away.
The student may have been lazy, but Peter could have this attitude because he knew
the Jesus who had conquered death, and he was assured that if he died it was going
to be a happy reunion with his Lord. But apart from his faith, he was just one of
those who was really good at sleeping. Had there been a sleeping contest he would
have been in the finals for sure.
With a little imagination you can just see Peter in a daze as he tries to hurry and get
dressed. He may have put his sandals on the wrong feet and gotten his clothes on
backwards as he stumbled out of the cell to follow this glorious stranger who woke
him in the night. It was no doubt comedic if we could have watched it all on a video,
for Peter was in shock and still not fully awake as he sought to follow the orders of
this strange visitor. I am sure visiting hours were over, and this whole scene was not
following the rules set down by the prison authorities. Leaving the prison in the
middle of the night was frowned on, I am sure. Peter knew he was breaking the
rules, but when God is obviously staging a prison break, you don't ask questions,
but just follow orders no matter how sleepy you are.
It is a good thing Peter became an Apostle and not a criminal. With his tendency to
go to sleep he could have ended up as one of the dumbest criminals. It was reported
as a true story that a burglar in Nashville got into a home and began to collect
things to steal. He found some chicken in the refrigerator along with some
cranberry juice and decided to consume them. He tried out the big king size bed to
see how it felt and before he realized it he fell asleep. He was there when the women
of the house came home and she called the police. They had to waken him at
gunpoint and take him to jail. The arresting officer remarked that he must have had
a rough day. Such is the danger of being a sound sleeper who can fall asleep
anytime. At least Peter is going the right direction, for he is being wakened to leave
jail and not being wakened to be taken to jail.
In verse 8 the angel begins to give instructions to sleepy head, who would soon be no
head if he does not listen and obey. He tells him to put on his clothes and sandals. It
is funny to see how miracles work. The angel could make the chains fall off his
wrists with no problem, but he has to ask for Peter to cooperate and put on his
clothes. Miracles are different than magic. With magic you just point your finger or
wiggle your nose and the clothes are automatically on him. This type of thing is not
the way God works. God does not do magic. His miracles do not eliminate the
cooperation needed by man. A miracle is God doing what man cannot do, but God
will not do by miracle what man can do by his own power. You can set on your bed
and pray all day long for God to put your shoes on, but at the end of the day you
will still be barefoot. God does not do for you what you are capable of doing for
yourself. Peter could not get the chains off, and he could not get the cell open, but he
could put on his clothes, and so the angel cannot move on to the next step until Peter
does his part. God expects us all to do our part before any miracle can become real

6. and complete.
Verse 9 shows Peter cooperating completely and following the angel out of the
prison. He was awake, but still thought he was sleeping and just seeing a vision. It
was all so strange and unreal to him. He never dreamed that this was not a dream,
and that it was really happening. We cannot imagine how strange Peter felt as this
miracle scene progressed. He just walked past the guards and the iron gate opened
for them and he was soon out on the street a free man. Then the angel suddenly left
him just as suddenly as he came. Again, we see the angel doing only what
supernatural power can do. Once that was achieved he was gone and Peter was on
his own to do what a man can do, which I would assume was that he took off
running. Verse 11 says he came to himself and woke up completely. It was all like a
dream as he followed the angel, but now he is in touch with the natural reality of
where he was and he realizes God has set him free from the clutches of Herod. He
reflects on the situation and knows that great crowds are soon waking up
anticipating the thrill of seeing another head roll, but God has changed their plans.
He does not feel bad for spoiling the fun of so many people, but rejoices that God
has chosen to keep his head in service He has been the object of God’s special
providence, and this means God wants him alive and well to achieve His purpose in
time.
The Apostle slept, a light shone in the prison,
An angel touched his side/
Arise, he said; and quickly he hath risen
His fettered arms untied.
The watchers saw no light at midnight gleaming,
They heard no sound of feet;
The gates fly open, and the saint, still dreaming,
Stands free upon the street. J. D. Burnes
5So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was
earnestly praying to God for him.
6The night before Herod was to bring him to
trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers,

7. bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard
at the entrance.
7Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a
light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side
and woke him up. "Quick, get up!" he said, and
the chains fell off Peter's wrists.
8Then the angel said to him, "Put on your clothes
and sandals." And Peter did so. "Wrap your
cloak around you and follow me," the angel told
him.
9Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had
no idea that what the angel was doing was really
happening; he thought he was seeing a vision.
10They passed the first and second guards and
came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened
for them by itself, and they went through it. When
they had walked the length of one street, suddenly
the angel left him.

8. 11Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I
know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel
and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from
everything the Jewish people were anticipating."
12When this had dawned on him, he went to the
house of Mary the mother of John, also called
Mark, where many people had gathered and were
praying.
Another light came on for Peter and he realized that he had to share the good news
of his escape, plus make sure he was not captured again. He knew that his friends at
the home of Mary, the mother of John, were having an all night prayer meeting on
his behalf. What a thrill to be able to show up and show them that their prayers
have been answered in such a miraculous way. Peter was anticipating a welcome
like none he ever had before. But unfortunately the angel had left him and he had to
get through doors on his own now. The miracle time was over and now all had to be
done by natural means.
So Peter comes to the outer door and begins to knock. Nobody heard it but the
servant girl Rhoda. They were all praying and Peter may have knocked quite softly
not wanting to arouse any neighbors. Whatever reason only Rhoda heard the knock.
Had they all heard it they would be flying to the door as a group anticipating some
news about Peter. But only Rhoda came and she gives us act 2 of this comedy. Being
somewhat more emotional than your average flake, she was so happy to hear that it
was Peter at the door that she forgot to let him in. All she could think of was how
happy everyone will be to hear that Peter is back and no longer in prison. Such good
news she wanted to share immediately, and so she took off like a shot to let the
others know that it was Peter at the door. Someone suggested that if a movie had
been made of this chapter, Rhoda would be played by the late Lucille Ball, who like
Rhoda was over excitable. Here we see the humor of emotion taking over and
leaving common sense behind.
It would seem that Rhoda has something of a reputation for youthful silliness, for

9. the response she got was, “You must be out of your mind.” Now the whole body of
believes are in comedy mode. The debate begins with Rhoda. They assure her that
she is hallucinating and she argues that she knows what she heard and it was really
Peter. They cannot swallow that, but come up with a theory that it could be Peter’s
angel. Meanwhile, Peter is banging on the door trying to get in. He just escaped
from prison bars and an iron gate, but he cannot get through this silly door. His
prison escape was the easy part of the night. His hardest battle was getting into the
Christian prayer meeting. For all he knows the soldiers are on his trail and will soon
have him back in their grips, but he cannot get out of sight because of the debate
going on in the house. Is it really Peter out there or is there some other answer to
this mystery of a voice that sounds just like Peter? There is a lot of humor in the
things that Christian debate while they ignore practical issues that demand action
right now.
Finally some genius in their midst said lets go see for ourselves. When they opened
the door they were amazed that it really was Peter. Rhoda could finally say, “I told
you I was right!” Peter urged them to be quiet. He had made enough noise in his
banging on the door, and he did not want any more attention drawn to him by their
loud rejoicing. As he rubbed his bruised knucles from banging on the door, he told
them the awesome story of his deliverance and urged them to spread the word to the
other Apostles and leaders. He then took off to another place, hoping that he could
get in with more speed, and with a door keeper with less emotion and more common
sense. You can just imagine, however, that after he left, the group of Christians
would have a great laugh at his miraculous escape. They would be chuckling for
days as they talked about how God outwitted Herod. Gail Sanders wrote, "The fact
that Luke gives her name here tells me this story of her running off so excited
without actually opening the door was probably told over and over, perhaps as a
humorous anecdote in the church." There is no doubt that Dr. Luke had a sense of
humor, for he gives us so much to laugh about in Acts.
Peter did not express any criticism of Rhoda's behavior because he was a man of
emotional impulses just like her. He was the one who whipped out his sword and cut
off the ear of Malcus. It was an emotional impulse that was crazy and out of line
with the will of Christ. He could have gotten them all killed on the spot. He was the
one who leaped out of the boat when Jesus came walking on the water, and would
have drowned had Jesus not rescued him. He was the one who on impulse denied
that he even knew Jesus. He was the one who left all of the others to haul a heavy
load of fish to shore while he leaped into the water and swam to shore to see Jesus.
Josh Tinley considers this one of the most humorous texts in the Bible. He writes,
"When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on some clothes, because he
was naked, and jumped into the sea." (John 21:7) Peter may not have been literally
naked; he may have been wearing a loincloth or a “loose-fitting work smock.”2 “Put
on some clothes” might be translated “belted his outer garment.” So it’s possible
that Peter was just wearing an open robe and that he simply tied the belt on his robe
before jumping into the Sea of Tiberius. Still, the most common English translations
suggest that Peter was fishing in the nude (funny) and got dressed to swim to the

10. shore (also funny). Hollywood has earned millions of laughs from people jumping
into water fully clothed. Nudity is always funny, even if it involves the “rock” upon
whom Jesus built his church. Regardless of whether Peter was tightening his belt or
haphazardly covering his birthday suit, he jumped overboard and swam to the
shore because he was giddy. He was giddy because the risen Christ was standing on
the beach cooking breakfast. We should all be giddy about Peter’s giddy-ness." The
point is, Rhoda was giddy at hearing Peter's voice, and her reaction was a lot like
that of Peter when he was excited about hearing the voice of the Lord on shore.
Then in verses 18 and 19 the comedy continues but with tragedy taking front stage
again, as we see the folly and cruelty of Herod. It is funny to imagine how Herod
and his soldiers were going crazy trying to find Peter. They were totally mystified
and they searched every corner of the prison. There was no storage area or closet or
cell that was not gone over with a fine tooth comb. All was checked and double
checked, and we can just picture the frustration of Herod. It was like the old story
of trying to find a black cat in a dark room, which is not there. Peter is long gone,
and we see them frantically searching for him. We know it is folly and that their
efforts are vain, but they do not know, and so we laugh at their futility. But then
Herod’s anger took over and when the guards could not come up with a reasonable
explanation he had them executed. Leave it to Herod to throw a wet blanket on the
fire of humor and turn it into a cold and heartless tragedy. That is what happens all
the time with people who have no sense of humor.
13Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a
servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the
door.
14When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so
overjoyed she ran back without opening it and
exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!"
15"You're out of your mind," they told her.
When she kept insisting that it was so, they said,
"It must be his angel."

11. 16But Peter kept on knocking, and when they
opened the door and saw him, they were
astonished.
17Peter motioned with his hand for them to be
quiet and described how the Lord had brought
him out of prison. "Tell James and the brothers
about this," he said, and then he left for another
place.
18In the morning, there was no small commotion
among the soldiers as to what had become of
Peter.
19After Herod had a thorough search made for
him and did not find him, he cross-examined the
guards and ordered that they be executed.
Herod's Death
Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and
stayed there a while.

12. 20He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre
and Sidon; they now joined together and sought
an audience with him. Having secured the support
of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king,
they asked for peace, because they depended on
the king's country for their food supply.
21On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal
robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public
address to the people.
22They shouted, "This is the voice of a god, not of
a man."
23Immediately, because Herod did not give
praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him
down, and he was eaten by worms and died.
Herod was feeling like a god as he sat high and mighty on his throne robed in royal
garments. The people cheered him as a god and in pride he welcomes the idolatry of
his being. It was the final straw that tested the patience of God, and the angel of the
Lord struck him down, and he died a horrible death. He was acting like a complete
fool by letting it go to his head that he was so powerful. Men had exalted him to the

13. heights, and so it was time for God to lower him to the depths. Pride goes before a
fall, and nowhere is this seen more clearly than in the death of Herod. This roller
coaster chapter of alternating tragedy and comedy comes to a conclusion with a
mixture of both. It is comedic that any man could seriously entertain the notion that
he is a god, but Herod is lapping up the praise like a hog at feeding time. He is so
enamored with himself in all his beauty. It is the comedy of the clown pretending to
be sophisticated. Such comedy is not funny to God, and so he makes the death of
Herod a picture of horror and ugliness with his worm eaten body exposed to those
who praised him as a god. Worm eaten gods have a very short shelf life, and this so
called god of Herod was crossed out of the script of time, experiencing a level of
cruelty he so often imposed on others. A fitting end to one so unfit to be a ruler of
men. Because God has a sense of humor we see a man who treated others like worms
going out of this life as a worm infested corpse.
It is hard not to be happy that Herod is gone. He would likely have gone on
persecuting the Christians, and especially the Apostles, and so the rest of them
escaped from his cruelty by the judgment of God upon him. His death relieved them
of a lot of anxiety. The paradox is that bad things are also good things. It was bad
for Herod to die with such a disgusting malady, but what a blessing to those who
would soon come under his wrath. Their were people in grief for they lost their
positions of power by relating to Herod. On the other hand were people in
celebration for they were relieved of the pressure of dealing with his tyranny. Good
and bad are often in the same setting, and the same thing can mean opposite things
to different people. It is the paradox of life, and it is a funny thing because it is true
that people can be crying or laughing at the same event. What everything means
depends on your perspective. Good and evil are relative to your perspective. Was
Herod’s death a tragedy or a blessing? You cannot escape the fact that it was both,
because it is seen from two different perspectives. It is just like any sporting event.
There are two sides, and so every win is both a cause for grief and a cause for
celebration, for one wins and the other loses. If your team wins you say it was a good
game, but the opponent says it was a rotten game. You don’t have to decide which it
was, for it was both. Almost every event in life can be seen from more than one
perspective, and that is why comedy and tragedy are so closely linked, for often they
are the very same event or series of events. For the Christians this was good news,
for without Herod blocking the way the word of God continued to increase and
spread. Comedy won out over tragedy
Again, God has the last laugh, and his people no doubt had great pleasure in
reading the obituaries in the Jerusalem Gazett telling of Herod's death. Have you
ever gotten a thrill of joy when you see a cruel wicked person shot by the good guy
in a movie. He has gotten by with so much evil, but justice wins in the end as he is
brought down by a righteous fighter for justice. There is humor in negative settings
when the negative is the judgment of God on evil personalities like Herod. The
humor of God is seen in history all the time when proud men reap the reward of
their abuse of power by being rendered powerless. Herod got his kicks out of killing
James, and was planning to add to his joy by killing Peter. Instead, God had a
funeral planned, and he did not want Herod to miss it since he was the guest of

14. honor. He died in humiliation just when people were proclaiming him to be a god.
He had just reached the pinnacle of his career at age 54, and was considered
godlike, and then those lousy worms brought him to the grave. When your god can
be defeated by worms, it is time to reevaluate your theology, but all people ever
learn from history is that people never learn from history, and so they go on
idolizing people in power who lack the ability to defeat the power of worms. This is
a laughable characteristic of human nature, and it is funny to read about all the
people and things that are worshiped as gods by people who refuse to acknowledge
the reality of the God of Scripture.
24But the word of God continued to increase and
spread.
25When Barnabas and Saul had finished their
mission, they returned from[a] Jerusalem, taking
with them John, also called Mark.