Death and Freedom in the Ministry
James Martyred, Peter Freed by Prayer
12:1 Now about that time, Herod the king stretched out his hands to oppress
some of the assembly.
12:2 He killed James, the brother of John, with the sword.
12:3 When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter
also.
This was during the days of unleavened bread.
12:4 When he had arrested him, he put him in prison,
and delivered him to four squads of four soldiers each to guard him,
intending to bring him out to the people after the Passover.
12:5 Peter therefore was kept in the prison,
but constant prayer was made by the assembly to God for him.
12:6 The same night when Herod was about to bring him out,
Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains.
Guards in front of the door kept the prison.
12:7 And behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone
in the cell.
He struck Peter on the side, and woke him up, saying, "Stand up quickly!"
His chains fell off from his hands.
12:8 The angel said to him, "Get dressed and put on your sandals."
He did so.
He said to him, "Put on your cloak, and follow me."
12:9 And he went out and followed him.
He didn't know that what was being done by the angel was real, but
thought he saw a vision.
12:10 When they were past the first and the second guard,
they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened to
them by itself.
They went out, and went down one street, and immediately the angel
departed from him.
12:11 When Peter had come to himself, he said,
"Now I truly know that the Lord has sent out his angel and delivered
me out of the hand of Herod,
and from everything the Jewish people were expecting."
12:12 Thinking about that, he came to the house of Mary,
the mother of John whose surname was Mark,
where many were gathered together and were praying.
12:13 When Peter knocked at the door of the gate, a maid named Rhoda
came to answer.
12:14 When she recognized Peter's voice,
she didn't open the gate for joy, but ran in, and reported that Peter
was standing in front of the gate.
12:15 They said to her, "You are crazy!" But she insisted that it was
so.
They said, "It is his angel."
12:16 But Peter continued knocking.
When they had opened, they saw him, and were amazed.
12:17 But he, beckoning to them with his hand to be silent,
declared to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison.
He said, "Tell these things to James, and to the brothers."
Then he departed, and went to another place.
12:18 Now as soon as it was day,
there was no small stir among the soldiers about what had become of
Peter.
12:19 When Herod had sought for him, and didn't find him, he examined
the guards,
and commanded that they should be put to death.
He went down from Judea to Caesarea, and stayed there.
12:20 Now Herod was very angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon.
They came with one accord to him, and, having made Blastus,
the king's chamberlain, their friend, they asked for peace,
because their country depended on the king's country for food.
12:21 On an appointed day, Herod dressed himself in royal clothing,
sat on the throne,b nand gave a speech to them.
12:22 The people shouted, "The voice of a god, and not of a man!"
12:23 Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him, because he didn't
give God the glory,
and he was eaten by worms and died.
12:24 But the word of God grew and multiplied.
12:25 Barnabas and Saul returned to{TR reads "from" instead of "to"}
Jerusalem,
when they had fulfilled their service, also taking with them John whose
surname was Mark.
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Comments
It is apparent from the deaths of Stephen and James that the political
situation had changed since Jesus was put to death. For previously the
Jews were not allowed to kill anyone, but rather they had to go through
the Romans in such cases. But now the Jewish leadership was given more
autonomy in these matters.
Herod
Don't confuse the Herods. There are alot of them. The Herod here is Herod
Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod the Great who was king when Jesus was
born. Herod Antipas was the Herod we find in the gospel, being the son
of Herod the Great. But this Herod Agrippa I was his nephew. He had been
given rule over much of the provinces which previously were ruled separately.
And to further confuse matters, his son is Herod Agrippa II, we find later
in Acts in chapter 25.
James
Don't confuse the James' either. This is the apostle James, brother of
John. Together Jesus called them the sons of thunder probably because they
wanted to call down fire from heaven to destroy unbelieving towns. (Luke
9:54) But there is another James. The Jerusalem church was headed by
Peter, James and John. That James is the Lord's brother who wrote the book
of James in the New Testament. We don't hear much about the brief ministry
of the Apostle James who was put to death. But he must have been quite
active to be consider such a threat, even being imprisoned before Peter.
Peter
I can imagine Peter identifying with Christ in his crucifixion here. For
it was during the festival of unleavened bread that Jesus was take captive
also. The KJV inappropriately speaks of "Easter", but the word is "Passover",
which occurs on the last day of the festival. From a political perspective
this was perhaps the best time to capture him as the Jews were most religiously
zealous around their religious celebrations. Perhaps also Herod had planned
to reinact what Pilate had done with Jesus in letting the crowd decide
his fate and thus washing his political hands of the matter.
Two Fates
God took James home, but Peter he left to continue his ministry. No one
can say why. We don't know when God will take us and how long we have to
complete our ministry. Let's make sure we get our work done before we're
called home.
Prayer
However, we cannot discount the effect of prayer on the outcome. Supplication
is in vain if there is no expectation of an effect on the outcome. On the
other hand it is somewhat amusing to consider the unbelief of those praying
when the answer comes knocking at the door. This is somewhat encouraging
though, showing that God may answer prayer even when our prayers are offered
with a degree of doubt. Though such an outcome is not guaranteed, as James
later writes concerning supplication, "when he asks, he must believe
and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and
tossed by the wind. That man should not think he will receive anything
from the Lord" James 1:6,7 (niv)
vs 15 "it is his angel" There were some at the time who
believed the each had a guardian angel, although the scripture doesn't
support the idea. But it is interesting that some considered it more likely
that Peter's angel show up rather than Peter himself! (What! Did they think
the angel needed directions to the prison or something?)
vs 17 Indicates that James, the brother of the Lord, and a number
of the brethren were not at the prayer meeting. This was probably due either
due to space constraints, organizational matters, or perhaps it was safer
not to have everyone in the same place in case of arrest. Extra-Biblical
sources indicate that James was in fact a great man of prayer whose knees
were as tough as that of camels because of his constant kneeling.
vs 18,19 Although acting under a higher authority, Peter's escaped
may be viewed to a degree as an act of civil disobedience. David's fleeing
from King Saul can also be viewed in a similar light. As even Jesus also
at times eluded his captors. It is unfortunate that later in post-Biblical
times when some Christians fled the persecution by the Romans they were
later reprimanded by institutional church authorities who held unBiblical
views on such matters. But following Jesus means that there is a time to
elude persecution, as Paul in his escape from Damascus, but also there
is a time to face it.
Peter's escape led to the death of his jailors. Unfortunately
the church probably had neglected to pray for them. It was common for jailors
to be put to death if their prisoners escaped. In Acts 16:26,27,
upon just assuming that Paul and Silas escaped under his watch, their jailor
was even going to commit suicide with a sword. But Paul quickly stopped
him, being perhaps more concerned for his jailor than Peter had been. But
the suicide attempt indicates that the death he would have faced otherwise
must have been torturous. It is said that if a Roman guard falls asleep
on watch, they are burned in their own clothes. (That'll keep them awake!)
Herod Eaten by Worms
vs 20-23 Here's a story for everyone who replaces the Bible with
their own words, and for everyone who accepts praise while not deferring
to God. As we saw in verse 3 this Herod was motivated by popularity,
pleasing the crowds. He loved the praise of men. Jesus said, "How can
you believe if you accept praise from one another, yet make no effort to
obtain the praise that comes from the only God?" John 5:44
(niv) It is best if Christians not care what others think of them. Don't
seek for popularity. For such concerns hinder saving faith from developing
and end up creating snares which can lead to death. Herod being a Jew and
holding a position of authority also contributed to a greater judgement
against him. For the more we have, the more we will be held responsible
for.
The problem ministries can face is that a sincere and healthy desire
to influence and edify can become a corrupt desire for popularity, which
is the downfall of many institutions of Christianity, replacing the Bible
with institutional dogma.
vs 24 In contrast to Herod's words leading to his death, the
Word of God increased and prospered. It's always proven best to invest
in the Word of God. For the outcome in inevitably good.
vs 25 Colossians 4:10 indicates that Mark was the
cousin of Barnabas. This was the Mark who wrote the gospel of Mark. He
had close ties to the Apostle Peter. He would be involved with the ministry
of Paul and Barnabas to the end - as in his last letter in 2Timothy
Paul calls for Mark to help him out once again. Thus two gospel writers
- Luke and Mark - both were closely involved with Paul's ministry and affirmed
his work. This would dissuade liberal theologians and dispensationalists
who attempt to introduce the idea of their being contradiction between
the gospels and Paul's letters.
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