Acts 12: James Killed, Peter Imprisoned
1 About that time, King Herod reached out to harm some who belonged to the church. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.
When the news came, at first, nobody could believe it. James, son of Zebedee and brother of John, steadfast James, who accompanied Jesus at the Garden of Gethsemane, stalwart, courageous James was dead. In an effort to curry favor with Jewish religious leaders, King Herod Agrippa had James seized and stabbed while his friends looked on in horror. That night, believers gathered, praying and begging God for answers. And as if that weren’t enough, Herod proceeded to arrest Peter during Passover, throwing him in prison. Herod was so worried that he had four squads of soldiers, four men to a squad, guarding Peter.
3 And seeing that this pleased the Jews, Herod proceeded to seize Peter during the Feast of Unleavened Bread. 4 He arrested him and put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out to the people after the Passover.
“Well,” thought Peter as he sat in prison that night, “I wonder what’s going to happen next. Is Herod planning to keep me in jail until Passover is through, only to slaughter me as he has James?” Time passed, and Peter became increasingly worried. Now it was the night before he was to face trial, and he knew what kind of trial that would be.
“Jesus,” Peter prayed, “ I might be with you very soon.” In the meantime, Peter remained in prison, bound with two chains between two soldiers with two other sentries guarding the prison entrance. Things appeared hopeless.
The Rescue of Peter
5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was fervently praying to God for him.
6 On the night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, with sentries standing guard at the entrance to the prison. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He tapped Peter on the side and woke him up, saying, “Get up quickly.” And the chains fell off his wrists. 8 “Get dressed and put on your sandals,” said the angel. Peter did so, and the angel told him, “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me.”
9 So Peter followed him out, but he was unaware that what the angel was doing was real. He thought he was only seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city, which opened for them by itself. When they had gone outside and walked the length of one block, the angel suddenly left him.
11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from Herod’s grasp and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.”
Peter really thought it was a vision. Surely, he was still in that prison chained to those two soldiers. But an angel appeared, ordering him to get dressed and follow him. Not until the iron gate to the city swung open by itself did Peter realize that he was out of prison. The angel led Peter for a short distance and then left him.
12 And when he had realized this, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered together and were praying. 13 He knocked at the outer gate, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer it. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed that she forgot to open the gate, but ran inside and announced, “Peter is standing at the gate!”
15 “You are out of your mind,” they told her. But when she kept insisting 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 astounded. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for silence, and he described how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. “Send word to James and to the brothers,” he said, and he left for another place.
18 At daybreak there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had searched for him unsuccessfully, he examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent some time there.
Although the church had been praying, they really didn’t expect very much. Morning would soon come, the night breeze was freshening, birds were beginning to sing, and hope had gone. Would Herod have soldiers cut Peter down as he had James, or would he crucify Peter? Then Peter knocked at the gate of Mary’s house, where those praying had gathered. When the servant girl tried to report that Peter was free and at the gate, nobody believed her. When Rhoda insisted, finally someone trudged reluctantly to the gate, only to be astounded when Peter greeted them. But Peter was no fool. After greeting the believers and charging them to send messages, he left for an undisclosed location.
Sadly, the sentries who had been guarding Peter paid with their lives for his escape. And Herod, incensed at being thwarted, left for Caesarea on the coast where he could enjoy the sea air.
Two different disciples, each equally faithful. But James paid with his life as the first recorded martyr while Peter was miraculously delivered. Was God fair? Is He fair? Why did the two men suffer such different fates?
A late pastor friend was fond of saying that we are only in advertising while God is in management. Isaiah 55:8-9 tells us, “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” says the Lord. And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts.” As I am writing these words, I am thinking about all the Christians in northern Nigeria who have been slaughtered in their churches, all the school children kidnapped by Islamic militants. There is a great deal of evil in the world.
I have no ready answers for any of these questions. I only know that God loved James right through the gates of heaven, just as He has every martyr in the history of the world. Eventually, Peter would also be martyred, enduring crucifixion in a head-down position because he felt unworthy to suffer in the same fashion as Jesus.
Years ago, Edith Schaeffer wrote a book entitled Affliction in which she contended that the grace of God was sufficient for all circumstances. So there are those who are healed or delivered from prison as Peter was, demonstrating that the power of God can easily accomplish that. On the other hand, there are those who are not healed or who are martyred, demonstrating that the grace of God is sufficient for those circumstances as well. Edith’s own husband, Francis Schaeffer, a famous theologian and Christian apologist, was dying with cancer at the time she wrote the book. The testimony of the Schaeffer family serves as a timeless witness that yes, the grace of God is sufficient for those suffering with cancer.
God is not fair as we count fairness, for we feel everyone should be treated exactly the same way. But God is merciful and just, knowing us better than we know ourselves. May we always trust in God, secure in the knowledge that He will never leave us or forsake us and that He will gladly bring believers to His heavenly home.
PRAYER: Father God, thank You for loving us and caring for us. Lord, help us to trust Your goodness and mercy, even when things are difficult. In the mighty and precious Name of King Jesus. Amen.
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