WWUTT 1076 James Killed, Peter Imprisoned?

Jesus was arrested and crucified when? Do you remember? It was at Passover. Peter was also arrested and thrown in prison at Passover, that he may share in Christ's sufferings when we understand the text.

This is when we understand the text, studying God's word to reach all the riches of full assurance in Christ. Thank you for subscribing, and if this has ministered to you, please let others know about our program.

Here once again is Pastor Gabe Hughes.

Acts 12:1-3 and Herod’s Persecution of the Church

Thank you, Becky. My voice is a little bit weak today. I'm not so sure that I'll be able to hold on for the full 20-minute devotional lesson, but we'll see how far we get. This week, we're gonna be in Acts 12, and I'm gonna start in verse one and read all the way through to the end of the chapter.

About that time, Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.

This was during the days of unleavened bread, and when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people.

So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church. Now, when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and centuries before the door were guarding the prison.

And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying, get up quickly. And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, dress yourself and put on your sandals.

And he did so. And he said to him, wrap your cloak around you and follow me. And he went out and followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision.

When they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord. And they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him.

When Peter came to himself, he said, now I am sure that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting. When he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.

And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. Recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate.

They said to her, you are out of your mind, but she kept insisting that it was so. And they kept saying, it is his angel. But Peter continued knocking. And when they opened, they saw him and were amazed.

But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, tell these things to James and to the brothers. Then he departed and went to another place.

Now, when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death.

Then he went down from Judea to Caesarea and spent time there. Now, Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord. And having persuaded Blastus, the King's Chamberlain, they asked for peace because their country depended on the King's country for food.

On an appointed day, Herod put on his royal robes, took his seat upon the throne, and delivered an oration to the people. And the people were shouting, the voice of a God and not of a man. Immediately an angel of the Lord struck him down because he did not give God the glory.

And he was eaten by worms and breathed his last. But the word of God increased and multiplied. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark.

The Meaning of “Christian” and Peter’s Suffering in 1 Peter 4

Now, if you'll remember in chapter 11, this was the first time that we saw the word Christian appear. And it was used by the Gentiles at Antioch to describe these Christ followers. And that word Christian literally was translated little Christs.

They're following this Jewish carpenter from Nazareth who was crucified on the cross, and they say he came back from the dead and they worship him as a God. So these Gentiles began referring to these disciples as Christians.

That's the first time the word is used, and it's used in a derogatory manner. It's only twice in the book of Acts that we see the word. There in Acts 11, 26, and then again in Acts 26, 28, when Agrippa says to Paul, would you persuade me to be a Christian?

So again, it comes from the mouth of a Gentile. The only time we see it come from the mouth of a Christian is from Peter, who we're reading about today in Acts chapter 12. This is what Peter says in 1 Peter 4, 12.

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you as though something strange were happening to you. Keep that in mind because that is, of course, what we're reading about here, this trial that comes upon Peter, but he shows himself to be sure in his faith, even being thrown in prison for it.

So Peter goes on, verse 13, but rejoice in so far as you share Christ's sufferings that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler, right? Because the person who believes that they can do these things in liberty, like God is gonna forgive me for it anyway, no, you are suffering for doing wrong.

You're not suffering because you were being a Christian. Peter goes on in verse 16 to say, yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name. Peter here in Acts chapter 12 is suffering for being a Christian.

And there he has used that word in 1 Peter 4, 16. It's only the third time that we see that word come up in the New Testament and Peter uses it as though to say when people are gonna revile you for being a follower of Christ, don't be ashamed of that.

If you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler, you should be ashamed of that. You've done wrong. And you are subject to the governing authorities and then you are also subject to God's authority.

But if anyone suffers as a Christian, there may be people on earth who will hate you for that, but you are blessed by your father in heaven. Do not be ashamed. Let him glorify God in that name. For it is time for judgment to begin at the household of God.

And if it begins with us, what will be the outcome for those who do not obey the gospel of God? And if the righteous is scarcely saved, what will become of the ungodly and the sinner? Therefore, let those who suffer according to God's will entrust their souls to a faithful creator while doing good.

And that's what we see Peter doing here in this story in Acts 12. We also have a contrast between Peter and Herod who does evil and suffers judgment at the hand of God because he exalted himself as a God, Herod did.

We'll get to that portion of the story later in the week. But meanwhile, let's come back to the start here of Acts 12, verse one. "'About that time, Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church.'".

Where have we seen this previously? Who was previously laying violent hands on people in the church? Well, Saul of Tarsus who since become a convert and he is a Christian himself. And we see him come up at the end of the chapter, do we not?

So we start with Herod who laid hands on Christians to persecute them and Herod was judged because of the evil he did. But at the end of Acts 12, we read, "'Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service.'".

So we see one who persecuted the church and was judged for persecuting the church. And that's the very first verse in Acts 12. And the last verse in Acts 12 is one who was persecuting the church, but God showed mercy and grace to him.

Consider what Paul wrote in Galatians 1, 15 and 16. "'He who had set me apart before I was born called me by his grace and was pleased to reveal his son to me in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles.'".

This was to the praise of his glorious grace, to the praise of God, not to the praise of any man that he saves whom he means to save and puts judgment upon those whom he means to judge. As the Lord said to Moses and we see it also in Romans 9, "'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy and compassion on whom I have compassion.'".

James the Brother of John and the Two Jameses in Acts 12

So the Lord judged Herod, but had compassion on Saul. We see the contrast, not just between Herod and Peter in this particular chapter, but even between Herod and the man Saul of Tarsus. "'About that time, Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church.

He killed James, the brother of John with the sword. And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.'". So here is our second martyr. The first martyr was Stephen. We read about in Acts 6, 7, and 8.

Here, the second martyr is James, the brother of John. This would have been the James that was with Peter and John up on the Mount of Transfiguration when the veil of Christ was lifted back and they saw his glory and standing with Elijah and Moses on that mountain.

And John writes about that at the start of his first epistle in 1 John. This is not James, the half-brother of Jesus. That name James comes up again in chapter 12. And it's when Peter says, "'Tell these things to James and to the brothers.'".

And that was back in verse 17. Well, how can he tell these things to James when James is dead? Different James. The first James that was put to death by the sword, that was the brother of John. These are the sons of thunder, James and John, the sons of thunder, sons of Zebedee.

And then the other James that gets mentioned is the half-brother of Jesus, who's the leader of the church in Jerusalem. That's the difference between these two Jameses in this chapter. So James, the brother of John, is put to death with the sword.

And when Herod saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now, up to this point, Peter and James and John had so much notoriety among the Jews, that there were those who feared to touch them because they thought the Jews would revolt.

So you remember back to Jerusalem, some of the chief priests and the scribes, they didn't wanna do anything with these disciples because they thought it meant that the people would rise up against them.

These people were healing their sick and raising the dead. Why are we gonna put them to death, throw them in prison or persecute them or flog them or anything like that? So the people loved what the disciples were doing.

And many were turning to Christianity. There were many converts. But since then, since Stephen was put to death, there's been a dispersion. So the number of Christians in Jerusalem is not as high as it was.

They've all spread out to various places. Some of them even going back to Rome and planting a church there in the capital city, yet no apostle has come to them yet. Paul is gonna end up being that first apostle that ministers to that church there in Rome.

So because of the dispersion, there's not quite the number of supporters of the apostles in Jerusalem that there was before. So there's now less fear among those in authority. There's less fear of the people.

Most of the people now are actually people who hate the Christians. They wanna preserve that Jewish way of life. They think that obeying laws and commandments will make them right before God. But we know that a person is saved only by grace through faith in our Lord Jesus Christ.

So here they are trying to preserve their way of works to gain favor before the Almighty. And therefore they wanna do away with these Christians who saying, no, you cannot be good enough. You cannot keep your law and be saved.

You've broken that law. You've even put the son of God to death and God will judge you for it. So you must turn, repent from your sins and turn to Jesus Christ. And by following him, be baptized and you will live.

So this is the message of the apostles that those who are trying to work their way to salvation, they hate this message. So when Herod kills James, the people show their approval of this. Good, thanks for taking care of this problem for us.

So now Herod feels all the more empowered by it. And so now he thinks he can afflict Peter as well. See, Stephen was stoned to death, but Stephen did not have the notoriety among the people that the apostles did.

So there wasn't quite the outcry as there would have been if this had happened to one of the apostles. But now since those Christians have been dispersed out from Jerusalem and even Judea, there's less fear among the chief priests and scribes in the temple and even Herod himself that the people are gonna retaliate somehow.

Now Herod sees the people are approving of this. I can gain favor from them by putting these Christians to death. So now I'm gonna go after the chief among them. That's Peter, the one who's on top, the one that was actually palling around with this Jesus whom he preaches about.

And so he arrests Peter and puts him in prison. It says, this was during the days of unleavened bread. So this was going on at Passover. Remember that Peter just said, or we just read from Peter in 1 Peter chapter four, that when you face trials, verse 13, rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings.

Peter is sharing in Christ's sufferings. He's being imprisoned at Passover just as Jesus was. So Peter knows this. He knows that he is sharing in Christ's sufferings. Maybe that's not so illuminated to him at the present time.

Maybe it is, maybe it's not. We don't really know what's going through his mind here, but we know that certainly the case later on as he speaks about these things later. So he's arrested, he's thrown in prison.

This is showing as Jesus had said to Peter that Peter would indeed share in the sufferings of his Lord. So when Herod had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people.

Where did we see that? Well, that was also during the crucifixion of Jesus. See, Herod is doing this, and he's doing this very deliberately. I don't think this was all coincidence. We know, of course, it was by the providence of God, but Herod is doing this very deliberately because this was everything that happened to Jesus.

This may have happened to Jesus just the year before. It's possible that what we're reading about here in Acts chapter 12 is happening a year after Jesus was arrested and crucified. Now, I'm not saying that it is.

I'm not falling on my sword over this, but these events that we have going on here in these first 12 or so chapters in Acts are not necessarily happening in a chronological order. There are some events that are happening, and then we go forward, and then we go back.

Like a lot of Paul was talked about in chapter nine, but then when you go to chapter 10, you're reading about events that had happened before the end of chapter nine. So there's certain things that aren't necessarily laid out in a chronological order here.

It's possible that Peter is being persecuted like this by Herod just a year after Jesus was, the very next Passover, but it's also possible this was more like three or four years later. I don't think it could have been too much more than that, though.

Just after Jesus was crucified, and of course resurrected from the grave, all of that happening at Passover. Passover has not been mentioned in the book of Acts until here. It's actually the only time Passover is mentioned, so it's possible that this was just a year later, and Herod's still remembering all the things that had happened to Jesus the year before is now bringing these things about on Peter, Jesus' chiefest disciple, the one that all the people are looking to, the one that people are even bowing down to, but Peter tells them not to.

Remember when Peter showed up at the house of Cornelius, Cornelius fell at his feet. Peter says, don't do that. I'm just a man. Stand up, stand up. The one you are to worship is Christ. That's who Peter was pointing to, not himself.

Herod, by contrast, was pointing to himself, and that's what we have toward the end of the chapter with the people praising Herod as a God, and then the Lord came down in judgment upon Herod and struck him dead there on the spot.

Peter, Herod, and the Contrast Between Humility and Pride

Now, I'm gonna have to stop here because I don't know if you can tell my voice is cracking. I just know it's not gonna hold on for another couple of minutes, so we'll come back to our study here in Acts chapter 12.

Let's say a quick prayer. Heavenly Father, we thank you for calling us by your grace, and I pray that we would see as Peter had seen that when we go through fiery trials, this is not something strange that is happening to us, but it's that we may share in Christ's sufferings so we may rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

Help us to see in the midst of our situation and our circumstance that you are here and you are being glorified so that we may praise your great and holy name. It's in Jesus' name we pray, amen.

Pastor Gabe keeps a regular blog sharing personal thoughts, alerting readers to false teachers, and offering commentary on the church and social issues. You can find a link to the blog through our website, wwutt .com.

Thank you for listening, and join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's word when we understand the text.