April 10, 2023 | Be On Mission
Herod Kills James & Arrests Peter
Scripture: Acts 12:1-17(NIV)
1 It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4 After 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.
5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.
6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly 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.
8 Then 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. 9 Peter 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. 10 They 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.
11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.”
12 When 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. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When 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.”
16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.
Devotional
A little context here. This Herod was the grandson of Herod the Great, who was ruling Israel under Roman authority when Jesus was born. He’s the person who ordered the death of all the baby boys in Bethlehem.
Herod the Great was a powerful, paranoid man. He executed his three oldest sons (including one named Aristobulus…remember that). Three other sons, along with his sister, were given the divided up territory upon his sudden death.
In time, the son of Aristobulus came to power. His name was Herod Agrippa I. This event recorded in Acts 12 is about that King Herod, the son of a man murdered by his grandfather. What a legacy. It was in his blood to spill blood to remain in power. Murdering James and planning to do the same to Peter were child’s play for Herod Agrippa I.
By this time, it had been fourteen years since Jesus had been crucified amid the approval of shouting mobs at the time of Passover. That took place under the nose of Herod Antipas, the uncle of Herod Agrippa I. Strategically, Agrippa decided to carry on the family tradition of Passover persecution to the delight of the crowds, who would have swelled the city of Jerusalem enormously for this religious pilgrimage and celebration.
What do you think was going through Peter’s mind when he was arrested? What about when he was chained between two soldiers? How about when an angel struck him on the side? When the chains fell off his wrists? When the prison doors and city gates opened by themselves? When none of the professional prison guards woke up or paid attention?
Which would have been more intimidating: The power of Herod Agrippa I or the power of God Almighty?
Now a little clarity. In verse 2, James was put to death by the sword, which led to Peter’s arrest. That James was the brother of John, one of the twelve disciples of Jesus. In verse 17, after being freed from prison, Peter told his friends to tell James about this. That James was the brother of Jesus (Mary and Joseph went on to have children of their own after Jesus was born). That James became one of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem and wrote the book of James.
Poem
During The Days Of Passover
Acts 12:3b
James:
Here I am, LORD
“Blessed are you, O LORD,
King of the Universe
Who gives us
BREAD
From the grain of the earth”
My leaven bread
I lift before you
Broken
“Take and eat”
My body
LORD
Now broken for you
Receive me into your
Promised land
Where I will ascend
To your Holy Mountain
To worship You
For all eternity
Peter:
Here I am, LORD
“Blessed are you, O LORD,
King of the Universe
Who gives us
WINE
From the fruit of the vine”
My crushed flesh
I lift before you
Spilled
“Take and drink”
My blood
LORD
Now poured out for you
Hear the blood of your martyrs
Under your throne
Where we cry out
For Your Glory
To avenge the Faithful
For all eternity
