A Study of Acts: Herod Enters the Scene
Acts 12:1-5 - Suffering may happen to believers in this life, but we should prepare for the next life! Also, pray earnestly and constantly and pray for the freedom to pray!
“Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church in order to mistreat them. And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword. When he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread. When he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people. So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God.”
Acts 12:1-5 NASB1995
In Acts 11, we saw how the early church grew rapidly as it began preaching to Gentiles and they repented and converted in great numbers. Of course this cannot be tolerated by the enemy, so Acts 12 describes increasing persecution at the hands of Herod the king. So who is this Herod? There are several Herods who were part of this era during the life of Jesus and the early church in Judea. Fortunately for us, dear readers, I found a great family tree in Precept Austin that shows the various Herods and their wives and relations:
Herod the Great was in power until about 1 BC. He was the king who ordered the slaughter of the newborn boys as documented in Matthew 2; he was also married 10 times! Herod Antipas was in power and died in AD 39; he ordered the execution of John the Baptist and sent Jesus to Pilate for trial. The Herod of this timeframe in Acts (around AD 44) is Herod Agrippa I.
This Herod hated the new Christians so he decided to take action. He laid hands on some who were in the church to mistreat them. He then decided to kill James, the brother of John (the sons of Zebedee) by having him beheaded, which is the most likely way to “die by the sword”. This commentary from Enduring Word is quite good about James and the way he died:
Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword: This was a new development in the history of the church. Of the twelve who followed Jesus, James was the first to be martyred.
Up to Acts 12, the church had been on a streak of success, experiencing one exciting conversion after another. First there was Saul of Tarsus, then the Gentile centurion Cornelius, then the highly successful work among Gentiles (and Jews) in Antioch. But in Acts 12, the ugly opposition inspired by Satan again raised its head.
James was certainly not the first Christian to die in faithfulness to Jesus. Stephen (Acts 7:58-60) was martyred before this, and certainly others were also. But the death of James shattered the illusion that somehow, the twelve enjoyed a unique Divine protection.
James the brother of John: James, in particular, might have thought to have been protected. He was one of the special intimates of Jesus, often mentioned with his brother John and with Peter (Matthew 17:1, 26:37, Mark 5:37, 9:2, 14:33; Luke 5:37, 9:2, and 14:33).
But Jesus promised no special protection for even His closest followers; He warned them to be ready for persecution (Matthew 10:16-26).
In Mark 10:35-40, John and his brother James came to Jesus and asked to be considered His two chief lieutenants. Jesus replied to them, You do not know what you ask. Can you drink the cup that I drink, and be baptized with the baptism I am baptized with? James and John, not really knowing what they were saying, replied by saying they could. Jesus promised them, You will indeed drink the cup that I drink, and with the baptism I am baptized with you will be baptized. This martyrdom was the fulfillment of that promise for James. John fulfilled it by a lifetime of devoted service to God despite repeated attempts to martyr him.
With the sword: Normally, this means that James was beheaded. Eusebius relates a story from Clement of Alexandria, who said the soldier guarding James before the judge was so affected by his witness that he declared himself a Christian also and was also willingly executed for Jesus alongside of James (Eusebius, Church History 2.9.2-3).
Significantly, there was no attempt to replace James, as there was to replace Judas (Acts 1). This was because James died as a faithful martyr, but Judas revealed his apostasy in betraying Jesus. There was no need for another man to take the office of James.
So this was probably quite shocking to the early believers! One of the twelve (and not the one who betrayed Jesus) was now a martyr to the faith. There was no special protection for the followers of Jesus and He made that quite clear to John and James when they asked for elite positions in His kingdom (see the passage in the commentary above). The inner circle of Jesus (Peter, John, James) was now reduced by one. I love the story from Clement of Alexandria (through Eusebius) that the soldier guarding James was so moved by his witness that the soldier converted to Christianity and was willingly executed alongside James.
James has had a huge impact on believers, particularly those in the Catholic faith. The photo below is one that we took in September 2012 (Copyright © 2012 Steven and Barbara Sande) of the famed Cathedral of Santiago de Compostela in northwest Spain. James became the patron saint of Spain and this church is renowned as being the location of some of his remains and also the terminus of the famous Camino de Santiago, or Way of James, with thousands of pilgrims (and also many “look at me” types who are not doing it for God) who make the walking trek to the church from all over Europe. These true pilgrimages have been going on for centuries, but it has become very popular in recent times with travel groups and hiking overachievers who want to claim the 100 kilometers as a “compostela”.
Interestingly, the purported physical site of James’ martyrdom is supposed to be within the walls of the Cathedral of Saint James, located in the Armenian section of Jerusalem. His head apparently resides there as a relic under the altar. Personally, I find the veneration of relics to be completely misguided (not to mention strange). People cling to some fragment of an apostle or Jesus (or Mary) in this life instead of properly preparing for the next life, when those physical bits and pieces will be forgotten.
What we perceive as the untimely death of James and the fact that his brother John died of old age is best viewed by thinking about the bigger picture. God had a purpose for both brothers. I like this commentary from Steven Cole from Precept Austin:
As difficult as it is, we need to view death from God’s eternal perspective, not from our temporal perspective. It seems remarkable that the death of this great man, James, is passed over in a brief sentence. Stephen, the first martyr, got a long chapter on his death, and he wasn’t even one of the apostles! James, one of the inner circle and the first apostle to die, doesn’t even get a decent obituary! It doesn’t seem right! But the seeming wrongfulness of it stems from our temporal perspective. James was welcomed into heaven by Jesus with the victor’s crown and the words, “Well done, good and faithful servant! Enter into the eternal joy of your Master!” He went instantly from this life of pain, sorrow, and trials into the place of eternal joy. John, of course, had to remain for another 50 years on earth, and I’m sure that he missed his brother often. But as soon as John passed over into glory, he realized how short even his relatively long life was in light of eternity. He knew that all of his suffering and grief was worth the eternal joy of being with Christ. So the death of James at the hand of Herod teaches us that although God is almighty, He does not prevent the untimely deaths of some of His choicest servants.
Herod saw that his execution of James pleased the Jews, so he ordered the arrest of Peter. This occurred during the Feast of Unleavened Bread (near Passover). Herod places four squads of soldiers to guard Peter - there are four soldiers in a squad, so this would be sixteen total - and he plans to bring Peter before the people after Passover. But the early church does one of the things that good churches do and that is to pray fervently for Peter, while they are probably also in mourning for James. Some translations note that this prayer was constant. Here is more great commentary from Enduring Word:
Prayer was offered to God for him by the church: In this contest, Herod had his soldiers and his prisons; but the church had the power of prayer. The outcome would soon be seen, and easily decided.
Peter was therefore kept in prison, but the church was free to pray. When every other gate is shut and locked, the gate to heaven is wide open. We take advantage of that open gate through prayer.
Constant prayer was offered to God for him: The word constant also has the idea of earnest; literally, the word pictures someone stretching out all they can for something. “The verb ektenos is related to ektenes, a medical term describing the stretching of a muscle to its limits.” (John MacArthur)
Luke uses this same word ektenos for the agonizing prayer of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane (Luke 22:44).
Much of our prayer is powerless because it lacks earnestness. Too often we almost pray with the attitude of wanting God to care about things we really don’t care too much about.
Earnest prayer has power not because it in itself persuades a reluctant God. Instead, it demonstrates that our heart cares passionately about the things God cares about, fulfilling Jesus’ promise If you abide in Me and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire and it shall be done for you (John 15:7).
Constant prayer was offered to God: It is also important to see that the church prayed to God. It may seem obvious, but often our prayers are weak because we are not consciously coming into the presence of our great and holy God, offering our requests to Him.
There are some great guidelines in this commentary about effective prayer. When every other gate is closed, we are usually free to pray. You may think that your thoughts are your own and that silent prayer is protected. However, there have been disturbing developments recently in the UK (see this article from Alliance Defending Freedom). A pro-life woman in the UK was arrested twice for silently praying across the street from an abortion clinic; her case was challenged successfully but there are more pro-life advocates who have been arrested for “thought crimes” by bowing their heads to pray (in silence) or by silently holding signs outside of clinics asking if someone wants to talk. The evil act of abortion is one of the great sins and travesties of our age and I’m sure it grieves God that the life He created is treated so cavalierly and selfishly. But to arrest people for silently praying also invokes the worst of “Big Brother” tactics from the Orwell novel 1984.
Be on guard, believers, and cherish your earnest and fervent prayer times with God.
My next devotional examines Acts 12: 6-19 - Peter is delivered from his prison cell by an angel.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Today I pray this great poem, found in Precept Austin and by an unknown poet:
A call to prayer! I cannot sleep!
A midnight vigil I must keep!
For God doth call; I hear Him speak:
“To prayer! To prayer! (I but repeat)
To prayer! To prayer! Prevailing prayer!”
The need of such is everywhere;
It covers earth—it fills the air—
This urgent need of urgent prayer!
To bended knee! To bended knee!
God’s call to you—God’s call to me;
Because what is, and what’s to be
Shall reach throughout eternity.
Like Christ our Lord—like unto Him
In whom was found no guile—no sin,
Who “prayed all night.” And we His kin
Should pray—yes pray, like unto Him.
O friends, I say—again I say,
This truth has gripped my heart this day:
The Need of Prayer! Let come what may,
We will prevail! Oh, “Watch and pray”!
Awake! Awake! Ye saints awake!
Stand in the breach for Jesus’ sake—
Our God the powers of hell shall break!
—Author Unknown
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.
Precept Austin was accessed on 10/20/2024 to review commentary for Acts 12:1-5.