<p>12:17 <i>But he, motioning with the hand to hold their peace, declared to them how</i> <em>- </em>Paul is twice recorded as doing the same (Acts 13:16; 21:40). Was this a reflection of how he had unconsciously absorbed the example of fisherman Peter and so sought to emulate it? Or was he consciously pretending to Peter's ministry to the Jews- rather than focusing upon being himself and focusing on the very different ministry the Lord had given him?</p><p><em>The Lord </em><i>had brought him out of the prison<em>- </em></i>When the Angel &lsquo;brought Peter forth out of the prison&rsquo;, this is recorded as &ldquo;the Lord&rdquo; (Jesus) doing so. He worked through one specific? Angel.</p><p><em>And he said: Tell these things</em>- The women were told by the risen Lord to &ldquo;tell My brothers&hellip;&rdquo;. Here in Acts 12:17 the same Greek words are used by Peter: &ldquo;Tell these things&hellip; to the brothers&rdquo;. Peter felt that his deliverance from prison was like the Lord&rsquo;s resurrection, and perhaps consciously he used the Lord&rsquo;s words to Mary Magdalene. Peter then went &ldquo;to another place&rdquo; just as the Lord did on saying those words. He saw that his life was a living out of fellowship with the Lord&rsquo;s mortal experiences, every bit as much as our lives are too.&nbsp;Peter specifically said: &quot;Tell these things to James and to the brothers&quot;- just as the Lord had told the women to go and tell <em>Peter</em>, and the brothers. Peter perhaps saw James in the same position as he had been in. From our own experience of faithlessness and weakness, we are able to appear to others.</p><p><em>To James and to the brothers</em>- There seem to be a number of unconscious allusions by Peter back to his own failures- and this is an example. It was an allusion to the women being told to go and shew the news of the resurrection to the brethren <em>and Peter</em>, who was then in spiritual crisis. Those words, that fact, was ingrained upon Peter to the point that he unconsciously builds it in to his own words. Here the same Greek words are used by Peter as by the Lord: &ldquo;Go shew these things&hellip; to the brothers&rdquo;. Peter felt that his deliverance from prison was like the Lord&rsquo;s resurrection.</p><p><em>And he departed and went to another place</em>- The way Peter beckons to the disciples to hold their peace, declares how the Lord had brought him out of the prison and death, tells them to go and shew these things to the brethren and then goes &ldquo;unto another place&rdquo; is a reflection of the Lord&rsquo;s behaviour after His resurrection (cp. Mt. 28:19). Consciously and unconsciously, confirmed by providence, Peter was living out the fact he was in Christ; he was showing the risen Lord to men and women by his words and actions.</p>