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1 During that same time King Herod began to mistreat some who belonged to the church. 2 He ordered James, the brother of John, to be killed by the sword. 3 Herod saw that some of the people liked this, so he decided to arrest Peter, too. (This happened during the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.) 4 After Herod arrested Peter, he put him in jail and handed him over to be guarded by sixteen soldiers. Herod planned to bring Peter before the people for trial after the Passover Feast. 5 So Peter was kept in jail, but the church prayed earnestly to God for him. ~ Acts 12:1-5
Today, we transition into Acts 12. In today's chapter three events are listed. The first was the murder of the Apostle James. The second was the deliverance of the Apostle Peter from prison. The third was the death of Herod the king. I love it when God's will includes pleasantries. But, I have the hardest time with His will when it includes pain and suffering. We all struggle at learning to trust God. No one is immune to fear, worry and anxiety. In some cases, our fears come at us with crippling effects. We often forget the worthiness of the Lord when we are faced with our mountain sized fear. But, how do we learn of the Lord's faithfulness unless we go through the trials of life?
In v.1-2 of today's passage we read, "1 During that same time King Herod began to mistreat some who belonged to the church. 2 He ordered James, the brother of John, to be killed by the sword."
It was the year A.D. 44, and Herod the king ordered that the Apostle James, the brother of John, be beheaded. This was not the Herod who ruled when the Lord Jesus was born. This was his brother, known as Herod Agrippa, the father of the Herod before whom Paul will later appear. The events of this chapter obviously indicate James was an important leader in the church, although his name has not been mentioned previously in the book of Acts. We know James and his brother John as the "sons of thunder."
James was the first of the apostles to die and his brother John was the last. James' head was chopped off with the sword. We are not told how John died. The tradition is that he was put into a cauldron of boiling oil. But whatever, it was doubtless a violent death he endured because that is what the Lord Jesus had predicted. Now, the church was evidently not too disturbed when James was taken captive. There was no mention of their holding a prayer meeting. Undoubtedly they think that God would release him from prison, as he had on a previous occasion. In Acts 5 we are told that all the apostles were imprisoned, but an angel came at night to open the doors and let them out. Understandably then, the church was not very perturbed. But imagine the stunning, shattering effect upon them when James was beheaded, and the sad news came to the waiting church that the first of the apostles had laid down his life as a martyr.
In v.3 of today's passage we read, "Herod saw that some of the people liked this, so he decided to arrest Peter, too. (This happened during the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread.)"
Since killing one had worked before, Herod was sure that it would work better a second time. So, up the ladder just one more step to the leader of the Way, namely Peter. Herod banked on the notion that if he gained the political advantage by killing one of them, he was sure that the advantage would be much greater if he could kill their leader. Herod had no love for justice or law, all he cared about was himself. This is how the enemy of our soul works. He doesn't try to get us to follow him directly. No, he gets us to follow him indirectly by getting us to follow ourselves.
Ironically, Herod's scheme was cooked up in his mind during the Feast of Unleavened Bread which was also known as the Passover. At that time, Jerusalem was full of pilgrims who had made their pilgrimage to the Holy City to worship God. Herod paused his plan because it was the Passover and it could have backfired on him with the people. Plus, he was fearful that his sadistic plan which he hoped would render him favor with the people might get lost in the business of the holiday. So, Herod decided to wait for the Passover to pass. This is why Herod arrested Peter.
Out of uncertainty and the help of the Holy Spirit's work in our lives comes the assurance that no matter what happens in our lives, it will work together for our good and God's glory. And, the more we experience this with God, the more we will be adjusted to any scenario that He sends or allows to come our way. Not everything that happens to us will be good, but God promises that it will work together for our good as we learn to give our hearts to Him. As a result, our calling will become increasingly evident to us. This will result in a more growing and intimate relationship with Him.
God sometimes causes or allows the most tragic moments to come about in our lives in order to grant us a deeper walk with Him. This deeper walk is not only a gift to us, it is a gift to others because God has been known to use such to bring about His perfect plan for and through our lives. He does this not only for us but also others. He rarely blesses us with only us in mind. God has to sometimes allow what He hates in our lives in order that He might accomplish what He loves in our lives. And those who have trusted in Him, not only experience His blessings in the end, we also experience the blessing of helping others as they struggle with life's unwanted trials and frustrations.
In v.4-5 of today's passage we read, "4 After Herod arrested Peter, he put him in jail and handed him over to be guarded by sixteen soldiers. Herod planned to bring Peter before the people for trial after the Passover Feast. 5 So Peter was kept in jail, but the church prayed earnestly to God for him."
It was the religious leaders of Israel who personally asked Herod to seize Peter and do away with him as he had done with James. Sixteen soldiers were called to watch Peter while in jail but not all at the same time. If the shifts were divided into four, there would always be four soldiers monitoring Peter. It is readily apparent that Peter was considered a particularly important prisoner to be watched because he was known to escape from incarceration in the past.
Peter's incarceration prompted the believers to pray on his behalf. Prayer is the most important thing we do in a given day because it is a tangible reminder of our total dependence upon God. And, this is true not just in the crisis moments of life but in every aspect of our lives. Our refusal to pray is rooted in our pride. Our pride expresses itself in our belief that we can manage life on our own. The primary purpose of prayer is not to inform God of our needs for He already knows our needs. The primary purpose of prayer is that we pursue a personal and an intimate relationship with the Lord.
Through our prayers we underscore the fact that we need God. We pray because we need God’s grace, strength, wisdom, sustenance, peace, joy, and provision among others. Prayer is an expression of humility. If we do not pray, we are not convinced that we need God. Our prayer life is like a conversation that we have on a daily basis with our earthly friends. Getting into the habit of talking with the Lord Jesus as we do our friends here on earth is an art. I close with the wonderful words of Mike Yaconelli who once said, "I want a lifetime of holy moments. Every day I want to be in dangerous proximity to Jesus. I long for a life that explodes with meaning and is filled with adventure, wonder, risk, and danger. I long for a faith that is gloriously treacherous. I want to be with Jesus, not knowing whether to cry or laugh."
