Acts 12 commentary

ACTS 12 COMME TARY
EDITED BY GLE PEASE
Peter’s Miraculous Escape From Prison
1 It was about this time that King Herod arrested
some who belonged to the church, intending to
persecute them.
OTE, "Here is the first serious persecution of the infant church. The innocent had
to suffer severely for the first time. The Jews were worried about the growth of the
church and felt threatened. They welcomed any government help to suppress this
radical group. When Herod went for the leaders they were delighted. Just because
a ruler is doing what is popular and pleases the people is no proof that he is good
ruler. The question should be, is what he does pleasing to God and of real benefit to
the people? Murder made him popular with those who hated the church. Do evil
once and be violent and the next time it is easier, and soon you can do it with
pleasure.
BAR ES, "Now about that time - That is, during the time that the famine existed,
or the time when Barnabas and Saul went up to Jerusalem. This was probably about the
fifth or sixth year of the reign of Claudius, not far from 47 ad.
Herod the king - This was Herod Agrippa. The Syriac so renders it expressly, and
the chronology requires us so to understand it. He was a grandson of Herod the Great,
and one of the sons of Aristobulus, whom Herod put to death (Josephus, Antiq., 18, 5).
Herod the Great left three sons, between whom his kingdom was divided - Archelaus,
Philip, and Antipas. See the notes on Mat_2:19. To Philip was left Iturea and
Trachonitis. See Luk_3:1. To Antipas, Galilee and Perea; and to Archclaus, Judea,
Idumea, and Samaria. Archclaus, being accused of cruelty, was banished by Augustus to
Vienna in Gaul, and Judea was reduced to a province, and united with Syria. When
Philip died, this region was granted by the Emperor Caligula to Herod Agrippa. Herod
Antipas was driven as an exile also into Gaul, and then into Spain, and Herod Agrippa
received also his tetrarchy. In the reign of Claudius also, the dominions of Herod
Agrippa were still further enlarged. When Caligula was slain, he was at Rome, and
having ingratiated himself into the favor of Claudius, he conferred on him also Judea
and Samaria, so that his dominions were equal in extent to those of his grandfather,
Herod the Great. See Josephus, Antiq., book 19, chapter 5, section 1.
Stretched forth his hands - A figurative expression, denoting that “he laid his
hands on them, or that he endeavored violently to oppress the church.”
To vex - To injure, to do evil to - κακራσαί kakōsai.

Certain - Some of the church. Who they were the writer immediately specifies.
CLARKE, "Herod the king - This was Herod Agrippa, the son of Aristobulus, and
grandson of Herod the Great; he was nephew to Herod Antipas, who beheaded John
they Baptist, and brother to Herodias. He was made king by the Emperor Caligula, and
was put in possession of all the territories formerly held by his uncle Philip and by
Lysanias; viz. Iturea, Trachonitis, Abilene, with Gaulonitis, Batanaea, and Penias. To
these the Emperor Claudius afterwards added Judea and Samaria; which were nearly all
the dominions possessed by his grandfather, Herod the Great. See Luk_3:1; see also an
account of the Herod family, in the note on Mat_2:1 (note).
To vex certain of the Church - That is, to destroy its chief ornaments and
supports.
GILL, "Now about that time,.... That the famine was in Judea, and Saul and
Barnabas were sent thither with what the church at Antioch had collected.
Herod the king; not Herod the great that slew the infants at Bethlehem, nor Herod
Antipas that beheaded John, but Herod Agrippa; and so the Syriac version adds here,
"who is surnamed Agrippa"; he was a grandson of Herod the great, and the son of
Aristobulus: this prince
stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church; Beza's ancient copy adds,
"in Judea": it seems to be the church at Jerusalem; perhaps some of the principal
members of them; and so the Ethiopic version renders it, the rulers of the house of God.
It is scarcely credible that he should lay hands on any of them himself in person; but it is
very likely he encouraged his soldiers, or his servants, to abuse them, reproach them,
strike and buffet them, as they met with them in the streets; or when at worship, might
disturb them, and break them up.
HE RY, "Ever since the conversion of Paul, we have heard no more of the agency of
the priests in persecuting the saints at Jerusalem; perhaps that wonderful change
wrought upon him, and the disappointment it gave to their design upon the Christians at
Damascus, had somewhat mollified them, and brought them under the check of
Gamaliel's advice - to let those men alone, and see what would be the issue; but here the
storm arises from another point. The civil power, not now, as usual (for aught that
appears) stirred up by the ecclesiastics, acts by itself in the persecution. But Herod,
though originally of an Edomite family, yet seems to have been a proselyte to the Jewish
religion; for Josephus says he was zealous for the Mosaic rites, a bigot for the
ceremonies. He was not only (as Herod Antipas was) tetrarch of Galilee, but had also the
government of Judea committed to him by Claudius the emperor, and resided most at
Jerusalem, where he was at this time. Three things we are here told he did -
I. He stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church, Act_12:1. His stretching
forth his hands to it intimates that his hands had been tied up by the restraints which
perhaps his own conscience held him under in this matter; but now he broke through
them, and stretched forth his hands deliberately, and of malice prepense. Herod laid
hands upon some of the church to afflict them, so some read it; he employed his officers
to seize them, and take them into custody, in order to their being prosecuted. See how he

advances gradually. 1. He began with some of the members of the church, certain of
them that were of less note and figure; played first at small game, but afterwards flew at
the apostles themselves. His spite was at the church, and, with regard to those he gave
trouble to, it was not upon any other account, but because they belonged to the church,
and so belonged to Christ. 2. He began with vexing them only, or afflicting them,
imprisoning them, fining them, spoiling their houses and goods, and other ways
molesting them; but afterwards he proceeded to greater instances of cruelty. Christ's
suffering servants are thus trained up by less troubles for greater, that tribulation may
work patience, and patience experience.
JAMISO , "Act_12:1-19. Persecution of the church by Herod Agrippa I -
Martyrdom of James and miraculous deliverance of Peter.
Herod the king — grandson of Herod the Great, and son of Aristobulus. He at this
time ruled over all his father’s dominions. Paley has remarked the accuracy of the
historian here. For thirty years before this there was no king at Jerusalem exercising
supreme authority over Judea, nor was there ever afterwards, save during the three last
years of Herod’s life, within which the transactions occurred.
HAWKER, "Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex
certain of the church. (2) And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. (3)
And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then
were the days of unleavened bread.)
If the Reader at the opening of this Chapter, will consult the Poor Man’s Commentary on
Mat_2:19; he will there observe, that this Herod was the fourth of that name, whose
awful histories are shortly mentioned in the word of God. Not with a view to record their
names, but their infamy. And, but for the carrying on the history of the Church, would
not have been known even by name, in the present hour, but to a very few, if any. Their
memorial is perished with them, Psa_9:6. He was deputy king, under Claudius Caesar,
Emperor of Rome. This James, whom Herod killed, was one of the sons of Zebedee,
concerning whom the Lord Jesus foretold, of his being baptized with his baptism, Mat_
20:22. The Lord hath given in a single line the infamy of Herod’s character. He had
killed James; and because he saw it pleased the Jews, he would have killed Peter also. So
that this thirsting for blood, was not even pretended to be on the least ground of justice,
but to please blood-thirsty men, like himself. How very pointed are the words of the
Holy Ghost, concerning the sure destruction of such characters. Whose judgment now of
a long time lingereth not, and their damnation slumbereth not! 2Pe_2:3.
CALVI , "1.Here followeth new persecution raised by Herod. We see that the
Church had some short truce, that it might, as it were, by a short breathing, recover
some courage against the time to come, and that it might then fight afresh. So at this
day there is no cause why the faithful, having borne the brunts of one or two
conflicts, should promise themselves rest, (748) or should desire such a calling (749)
as old overworn soldiers use to have. Let this suffice them if the Lord grant them
some time wherein they may recover their strength. This Herod was Agrippa the
greater, [elder,] the son of Aristobulus, whom his father slew. Josephus doth no
where call him Herod, it may be, because he had a brother who was king of Chalcis,
whose name was Herod. This man was incensed to afflict the Church not so much
for any love he had to religion, as that by this means he might flatter the common

people which did otherwise not greatly favor him; or rather, he was moved hereunto
with tyrannical cruelty, because he was afraid of innovation, which tyrants do
always fear, lest it trouble the quiet estate of their dominion. Yet it is likely that he
did shed innocent blood, that, according to the common craft of kings, he might
gratify a furious people; because St. Luke will shortly after declare that Peter the
apostle was put into prison that he might be a pleasant spectacle.
He killed James. Undoubtedly the cruelty of this mad man was restrained and
bridled by the secret power of God. For assuredly he would never have been content
with one or two murders, and so have abstained from persecuting the rest, but he
would rather have piled up martyrs upon heaps, unless God had set his hand
against him, and defended his flock. So when we see that the enemies of godliness,
being full of fury, do not commit horrible slaughters, that they may mix and imbrue
all things with blood, let us know that we need not thank their moderation and
clemency for this; but because, when the Lord doth spare his sheep, he doth not
suffer them to do so much hurt as they would. This Herod was not so courteous, that
he would stick to win peace or the people’s favor with the punishment of an
hundred men or more.
Wherefore, we must think with ourselves that he was tied by one that had the rule
over him, that he might not more vehemently oppress the Church. He slew James,
as, when any sedition is raised, the heads and captains go first to the pot, (750) that
the common riff-raft may by their punishment be terrified. evertheless, the Lord
suffered him whom he had furnished with constancy to be put to death, that by
death he might get the victory as a strong and invincible champion. So that the
attempts of tyrants notwithstanding, God maketh choice of sweet-smelling sacrifices
to establish the faith of his gospel. Luke calleth this games which was slain the
brother of John, that he may distinguish him from the son of Alpheus. For whereas
some make him a third cousin of Christ’s, who was only some one of the disciples, I
do not like of that, because I am by strong reasons persuaded to think that there
were no more. Let him that will, repair to the second to the Galatians. Therefore, I
think that the apostle and the son of Alpheus were all one, whom the Jews threw
down headlong from the top of the temple, whose death was so highly Commended
for his singular praise of holiness.
ROBERTSO , "Herod Agrippa I was an Idumean through his grandfather Herod
the Great and a grandson of Mariamne the Maccabean princess. He was a favourite
of Caligula the Roman Emperor and was anxious to placate his Jewish subjects
while retaining the favour of the Romans. So he built theatres and held games for
the Romans and Greeks and slew the Christians to please the Jews. Josephus (Ant.
XIX. 7, 3) calls him a pleasant vain man scrupulously observing Jewish rites. Here
we have for the first time political power (after Pilate) used against the disciples.
COFFMA , "A comparison of the last verses of Acts 11 and this chapter (Acts 12)
suggests that Barnabas and Paul made that trip to Jerusalem with relief for the
victims of the famine at about the time of the events given in Acts 12, this being in 44
A.D., a date determined by the death of Herod Agrippa I. That monarch had

succeeded in putting together the whole domain of his grandfather Herod the Great,
and had also been given the title of king by Claudius. He was a staunch friend of the
Jews and was no doubt influenced by them to make the move to destroy
Christianity.
He martyred James, seized and imprisoned Peter, planning to execute him publicly
after the Passover festivities. owhere in the ew Testament does the intervention
of Almighty God on behalf of his church appear any more timely and dramatic than
in this chapter. With their friend on the throne, the Jewish hierarchy decided to
exterminate Christianity; and there was no reason why they could not have
succeeded, except for the intervention of the Father in heaven.
When the earthly fortunes of the Christians seemed the most precarious, however,
providential events took place with sudden finality, lifting the threat completely. At
the precise instant when one apostle was already dead, another imprisoned and
condemned, and the entire Twelve proscribed by an all-powerful ruler acting as a
Jewish deputy in the whole procedure, out of a desire to please his subjects, at that
very moment God sent an angel to release Peter and shortly thereafter struck
Agrippa dead. The same event doomed secular Israel.
The Encyclopedia Britannica has this regarding Herod's death:
His sudden death in 44 A.D. ... at Caesarea during games in honor of Claudius was a
disaster for Jewry, because with all his faults of sycophancy and ostentation he had
successfully kept the balance between Rome and the Jews and shown that the two
could co-exist to the advantage of both.[1]
It is ironic that the Jews who had, in the elevation of Herod Agrippa I, achieved for
themselves tolerance and accommodation, should at the same time have refused so
adamantly to extend the same to Christians; and that God's thwarting of their
campaign against the body of Christ, by the summary execution of Herod, also by
that same event removed the one man who could have preserved their own
toleration by Rome. The final result of what took place when God sent an angel to
destroy Herod Agrippa was realized some 20 years later when Titus and Vespasian
destroyed Jerusalem. The finger of God is clearly seen in this chapter.
E D OTE:
[1] Encyclopedia Britannica, Vol. 11, p. 512.
ow about that time Herod the king put forth his hands to afflict certain of the
church. (Acts 12:1)
About that time ... means about the time of Saul and Barnabas' journey to
Jerusalem with relief for the victims of the famine.
Stretched forth his hands to afflict ... This vigorous and fatal movement of the
supreme authority in the land against the young church was exceedingly serious.

The motivation was clearly that of pleasing the Jews (Acts 12:3); and, if Herod
Agrippa had proceeded indefinitely with that policy, there could never have been
any end of it except the total destruction of Christianity.
For a discussion of the ten Herod's mentioned in the ew Testament, see my
Commentary on Mark, under Mark 6:17
COKE, "Acts 12:1. Herod the King— The Syriac version reads, Herod the king,
surnamed Agrippa: Josephus styles him Agrippa; which probably was his Roman,
as Herod was his Syrian name. He was the grandson of Herod the Great, by his son
Aristobulus; nephew to Herod Antipas, who beheaded John the Baptist; brother to
Herodias, whom that incestuous tetrarch married; and father to that Agrippa,
before whom St. Paul made his defence, ch. Acts 25:13. Caius Caligula, with whom
he had an early friendship, when he became emperor, released this Agrippa from
the confinement under which Tiberius had on that very account kept him, and
crowned him king of the tetrarchy of his uncle Philip; to which he afterwards added
the territories of Antipas, whom he banished to Lyons in Gaul: in this authority
Claudius confirmed him, and made him king of Judea, adding to his former
dominions those of Lysanias. This person desired to ingratiate himself with the Jews
by every method; and finding that the Christians were under the popular odium, he
stretched forth his hands to harass and molest them; he did not reflect upon the
injustice of persecuting the Christians, though he and his countrymen had taken it
so ill that the heathens, and particularly Caligula, had persecuted the Jews; as if it
had been persecution only to molest the Jews for their religion, but had lost its
nature, and ceased to be persecution, when practised by the Jews upon the
Christians. See on ch. Acts 9:31
BE SO , "Acts 12:1-2. ow about that time — When Saul and Barnabas were
preparing to set out to Jerusalem, to carry thither what had been collected by the
Christians at Antioch; Herod stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church
— So wisely did God mix rest and persecution, in due time and measure succeeding
each other. This was Herod Agrippa, as the Syriac version expressly names him, the
former being his Syrian, and the latter his Roman name. He was the grandson of
Herod the Great, nephew to Herod Antipas, who beheaded John the Baptist,
brother to Herodias, and father to that Agrippa before whom St. Paul afterward
made his defence. Caligula made him king of the tetrarchy of his uncle Philip, to
which he afterward added the territories of Antipas. Claudius made him also king
of Judea, and added thereto the dominions of Lysanias. And he killed James the
brother of John — Thus was the prediction of our Lord fulfilled, that James should
drink of his cup, (Matthew 20:23,) and thus one of the brothers went to God the
first, the other the last of the apostles. It is a just observation of a judicious writer,
that “this early execution of one of the apostles, after our Lord’s death, would
illustrate the courage of the rest in still going on with their ministry, as it would
evidently show, that even all their miraculous powers did not secure them from
dying by the sword of their enemies.”
CO STABLE, ""About that time" probably harks back to the famine visit of

Barnabas and Saul mentioned in Acts 11:30. If this took place in A.D. 46, and Herod
died in A.D. 44, then the event Luke related in chapter 12 antedated the famine visit,
and probably all of Acts 11:27-30, by about two years.
". . . Luke seems to have wanted to close his portrayals of the Christian mission
within the Jewish world (Acts 2:42 to Acts 12:24) with two vignettes having to do
with God's continued activity on behalf of the Jerusalem church." [ ote:
Longenecker, p. 407.]
"Herod the king" was Herod Agrippa I whom the Roman emperor Gaius appointed
king over Palestine in A.D. 37. He ruled Judea for three years, A.D. 41-44 [ ote:
Josephus, Antiquities of . . ., 19:8:2; idem, The Wars . . ., 2:11:6; Bruce,
"Chronological Questions ...," pp. 276-78.] (cf. Acts 12:23), and moved his
headquarters to Jerusalem. Herod Agrippa I had Jewish blood in his veins and
consistently sought to maintain favor with and the support of the Jews over whom
he ruled, which he did effectively. [ ote: See Longenecker, pp. 407-8, for a brief
biography of Herod Agrippa I.] As the Christian Jews became increasingly offensive
to their racial brethren (cf. Acts 11:18), Herod took advantage of an opportunity to
please his subjects by mistreating some believers and by executing the Apostle
James, the brother of John (cf. Matthew 20:23). This is the only apostle's death that
the ew Testament recorded. James was the second Christian martyr whom Luke
identified (cf. Acts 7:54-60). Persecution of the Christians now swung from religious
to include political motivation.
It is noteworthy that the Christians evidently did not seek to perpetuate the
apostalate by selecting a replacement for James as they had for Judas (ch. 1). They
probably believed that God would reestablish The Twelve in the resurrestion. [ ote:
Bock, Acts, p. 422.]
The supernatural deliverance of Peter 12:1-19
"Peter's rescue from prison is an unusually vivid episode in Acts even when simply
taken as a story about Peter. Because it is not connected with events in the chapters
immediately before and after it, however, it may seem rather isolated and
unimportant for Acts as a whole. Yet it becomes more than a vivid account of an
isolated miracle when we probe below the surface, for this story is an echo of other
stories in Luke-Acts and in Jewish Scripture. An event that is unique, and vividly
presented as such, takes on the importance of the typical when it reminds us of other
similar events. It recalls the power of God to rescue those chosen for God's mission,
a power repeatedly demonstrated in the past." [ ote: Ibid., 2:151.]
Verses 1-24
4. The persecution of the Jerusalem church 12:1-24
The saints in Jerusalem not only suffered as a result of the famine, they also
suffered because Jewish and Roman governmental opposition against them
intensified as time passed. Luke recorded the events in this section to illustrate
God's supernatural protection and blessing of the church, even though the
Christians suffered increased persecution, and Israel's continued rejection of her
Messiah. Looked at another way, this section confirms Israel's rejection of her

Messiah. This is why the church advanced more dramatically in Gentile territory, as
the rest of Acts shows. Contrasts mark Acts 12:1-23 : James dies, God delivers
Peter, and Herod dies.
ELLICOTT, "(1) Herod the king.—The previous life of this prince had been full of
strange vicissitudes. The son of Aristobulus and Bernice, grandson of Herod the
Great, brother of the Herodias who appears in the Gospel history, named after the
statesman who was the chief minister of Augustus, he had been sent, after his father
had fallen a victim (B.C. 6) to his grandfather’s suspicions, to Rome, partly,
perhaps, as a hostage, partly to be out of the way of Palestine intrigues. There he
had grown up on terms of intimacy with the prince afterwards known as Caligula.
On the marriage of Herod Antipas with his sister, he was made the ruler of Tiberias,
but soon quarrelled with the Tetrarch and went to Rome, and falling under the
displeasure of Tiberius, as having rashly given utterance to a wish for the succession
of Caligula, was imprisoned by him and remained in confinement till the death of
that emperor. When Caligula came to the throne, he loaded his friend with honours,
gave him the tetrarchies first of Philip, and then that of Lysanias (Luke 3:1), and
conferred on him the title of King. Antipas, prompted by Herodias, came to Rome to
claim a like honour for himself, but fell under the emperor’s displeasure, and was
banished to Lugdunum in Gaul, whither his wife accompanied him. His tetrarchy
also was conferred on Agrippa. Coins are extant, minted at Cæsarea, and bearing
inscriptions in which he is styled the Great King, with the epithets sometimes of
Philo-Cæsar, sometimes of Philo-Claudios. At the time when Caligula’s insanity
took the form of a resolve to place his statue in the Temple at Jerusalem, Agrippa
rendered an essential service to his people, by using all his influence to deter the
emperor from carrying his purpose into execution, and, backed as he was by
Petronius, the Governor of Syria, was at last successful. On the death of Caligula,
Claudius, whose claims to the empire he had supported, confirmed him in his
kingdom. When he came to Judæa, he presented himself to the people in the
character of a devout worshipper, and gained their favour by attaching himself to
the companies of azarites (as we find St. Paul doing in Acts 21:26) when they came
to the Temple to offer sacrifices on the completion of their vows (Jos. Ant. xix. 7, §
3). It would seem that he found a strong popular excitement against the believers in
Christ, caused probably by the new step which had recently been taken in the
admission of the Gentiles, and fomented by the Sadducean priesthood, and it seemed
to him politic to gain the favour of both priests and people, by making himself the
instrument of their jealousy.
EBC 1-25, "THE DEFEAT OF PRIDE.
THE chapter at which we have now arrived is very important from a chronological point
of view, as it brings the sacred narrative into contact with the affairs of the external
world concerning which we have independent knowledge. The history of the Christian
Church and of the outside world for the first time clearly intersect, and we thus gain a
fixed point of time to which we can refer. This chronological character of the twelfth
chapter of the Acts arises from its introduction of Herod and the narrative of the second
notable persecution which the Church at Jerusalem had to endure. The appearance of a
Herod on the scene and the tragedy in which he was the actor demand a certain amount

of historical explanation, for, as we have already noted in the case of St. Stephen five or
six years previously, Roman procurators and Jewish priests and the Sanhedrin then
possessed or at least used the power of the sword in Jerusalem, while a word had not
been heard of a Herod exercising capital jurisdiction in Judaea for more than forty years.
Who was this Herod? Whence came he? How does he emerge so suddenly upon the
stage? As great confusion exists in the minds of many Bible students about the
ramifications of the Herodian family and the various offices and governments they held,
we must make a brief digression in order to show who and whence this Herod was
concerning whom we are told, -"Now about that time Herod the king put forth his hands
to afflict certain of the Church."
This Herod Agrippa was a grandson of Herod the Great, and displayed in the solitary
notice of him which Holy Scripture has handed down many of the characteristics, cruel,
bloodthirsty, and yet magnificent, which that celebrated sovereign manifested
throughout his life. The story of Herod Agrippa his grandson was a real romance. He
made trial of every station in life. He had been at times a captive, at times a conqueror.
He had at various periods experience, of a prison house and of a throne. He had felt the
depths of poverty, and had not known where to borrow money sufficient to pay his way
to Rome. He had tasted of the sweetness of affluence, and had enjoyed the pleasures of
magnificent living. He had been a subject and a ruler, a dependent on a tyrant, and the
trusted friend and councillor of emperors. His story is worth telling. He was born about
ten years before the Christian era, and was the son of Aristobulus, one of the sons of
Herod the Great. After the death of Herod, his grandfather, the Herodian family were
scattered all over the world. Some obtained official positions; others were obliged to
shift for themselves, depending on the fragments of the fortune which the great king had
left them. Agrippa lived at Rome till about the year 30 A.D., associating with Drusus, the
son of the Emperor Tiberius, by whom he was led into the wildest extravagance. He was
banished from Rome about that year, and was obliged to retire to Palestine, contenting
himself with the small official post of Ædile of Tiberias in Galilee, given him by his uncle
Herod Antipas, which he held about the time when our Lord was teaching in that
neighbourhood. During the next six years the fortunes of Agrippa were of the most
chequered kind. He soon quarrelled with Antipas, and is next found a fugitive at the
court of Antioch with the Prefect of the East. He there borrowed from a moneylender the
sum of £800 at 12.5 per cent. interest, to enable him to go to Rome and push his
interests at the imperial court. He was arrested, however, for a large debt due to the
Treasury just when he was embarking, and consigned to prison, whence the very next
day he managed to escape, and fled to Alexandria. There he again raised another timely
loan, and thus at last succeeded in getting to Rome. Agrippa attached himself to
Caligula, the heir of the empire, and after various chances was appointed by him King of
Trachonitis, a dominion which Caligula and subsequently Claudius enlarged by degrees,
till in the year 41 he was invested with the kingdom of the whole of Palestine, including
Galilee, Samaria, and Judaea, of which Agrippa proceeded to take formal possession
about twelve months before the events recorded in the twelfth chapter of Acts.
Herod’s career had been marked by various changes, but in one respect he had been
consistent. He was ever a thorough Jew, and a vigorous and useful friend to his fellow-
countrymen. We have already noticed that his influence had been used with Caligula to
induce the Emperor to forego his mad project of erecting his statue in the Holy of Holies
at Jerusalem. Herod had, however, one great drawback in the eyes of the priestly faction
at Jerusalem. All the descendants of Herod the Great were tainted by their Edomite
blood, which they inherited through him. Their kind offices and support were accepted
indeed, but only grudgingly. Herod felt this, and it was quite natural therefore for the

newly appointed king to strive to gain all the popularity he could with the dominant
party at Jerusalem by persecuting the new sect which was giving them so much trouble.
No incident could possibly have been more natural, more consistent with the facts of
history, as well as with the known dispositions and tendencies of human nature than
that recorded in these words-"Now about that time Herod the king put forth his hands
to afflict certain of the Church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword."
Herod’s act was a very politic one from a worldly point of view. It was a hard dose
enough for the Jewish people to swallow, to find a king imposed upon them by an
idolatrous Gentile power; but it was some alleviation of their lot that the king was a Jew,
and a Jew so devoted to the service of the ruling hierarchy that he was willing to use his
secular power to crush the troublesome Nazarene sect whose doctrine threatened for
ever to destroy all hopes of a temporal restoration for Israel. Such being the historical
setting of the picture presented to us, let us apply ourselves to the spiritual application
and lessons of this incident in apostolic history. We have here a martyrdom, a
deliverance, and a Divine judgment, which will all repay careful study.
I. A martyrdom is here brought under our notice, and that the first martyrdom among
the apostles. Stephen’s was the first Christian martyrdom, but that of James was the first
apostolic martyrdom. When Herod, following his grandfather’s footsteps, would afflict
the Church, "he killed James the brother of John with the sword." We must carefully
distinguish between two martyrs of the same name who have both found a place in the
commemorations of Christian hope and love. May-day is the feast devoted to the
memory of St. Philip and St. James, July 25th is the anniversary consecrated to the
memorial of St. James the Apostle, whose death is recorded in the passage now under
consideration. The latter was the brother of John and son of Zebedee; the former was the
brother or cousin, according to the flesh, of our Lord. St. James the Apostle perished
early in the Church’s history. St. James the Just flourished for more than thirty years
after the Resurrection. He lived indeed to a comparatively advanced period of the
Church’s history, as is manifest from a study of the Epistle which he wrote to the Jewish
Christians of the Dispersion. He there rebukes shortcomings and faults, respect for the
rich and contempt of the poor, oppression and outrage and irreverence, which could
never have found place in that first burst of love and devotion to God which the age of
our Herodian martyr witnessed, but must have been the outcome of long years of
worldly prosperity and ease. James the Just, the stern censor of Christian morals and
customs, whose language indeed in its severity has at times caused one-sided and
narrow Christians much trouble, must often have looked back with regret and longing to
the purer days of charity and devotion when James the brother of John perished by the
sword of Herod.
Again, we notice about this martyred apostle that, though there is very little told us
concerning his life and actions, he must have been a very remarkable man. He was
clearly remarkable for his Christian privileges. He was one of the apostles specially
favoured by our Lord. He was admitted by Him into the closest spiritual converse. Thus
we find that, with Peter and John, James the Apostle was one of the three selected by
our Lord to behold the first manifestation of His power over the realms of the dead when
He restored the daughter of Jairus to life; with the same two, Peter and John, he was
privileged to behold our Saviour receive the first foretaste of His heavenly glory upon the
Mount of Transfiguration; and with them too he was permitted to behold his great
Master drink the first draught of the cup of agony in the Garden of Gethsemane. James
the Apostle had thus the first necessary qualification for an eminent worker in the Lord’s
vineyard. He had been admitted into Christ’s most intimate friendship, he knew much of
his Lord’s will and mind. And the privileges thus conferred upon St. James had not been

misused or neglected. He did not hide his talent in the dust of idleness, nor wrap it
round with the mantle of sloth. He utilised his advantages. He became a foremost, if not
indeed the foremost worker for his loved Lord in the Church of Jerusalem, as is
intimated by the opening words of this passage, which tells us that when Herod wished
to harass and vex the Church he selected James the brother of John as his victim; and
we may be sure that with the keen instinct of a persecutor, Herod selected not the least
prominent and useful, but the most devoted and energetic champion of Christ to satisfy
his cruel purpose. And yet, though James was thus privileged and thus faithful and thus
honoured by God, his active career is shrouded thick round with clouds and darkness.
We know nothing of the good works and brave deeds and powerful sermons he devoted
to his Master’s cause. We are told simply of the death by which he glorified God. All else
is hidden with God till that day when the secret thoughts and deeds of every man shall
be revealed. This incident in early apostolic Church history is a very typical one, and
teaches many a lesson very necessary for these times and for all times. If an apostle so
privileged and so faithful was content to do work, and then to pass away without a single
line of memorial, a single word to keep his name or his labours fresh among men, how
much more may we, petty, faithless, trifling as we are, be contented to do our duty, and
to pass away without any public recognition! And yet how we all do crave after such
recognition! How intensely we long for human praise and approval! How useless we
esteem our labours unless they are followed by it! How inclined we are to make the
fallible judgment of man the standard by which we measure our actions, instead of
having the mind’s eye ever steadily fixed, as James the brother of John had, on His
approval alone who now seeing our secret trials, struggles, efforts, will one day reward
His faithful followers openly!
This is one great lesson which this typical passage by its silence as well as by its speech
clearly teaches the Church of every age.
Again, this martyrdom of St. James proclaims yet another lesson. God hereby warns the
Church against the idolatry of human agents, against vain trust in human support. Let
us consider the circumstances of the Church at that time. The Church had just passed
through a season of violent persecution, and had lost one of its bravest and foremost
soldiers in the person of Stephen, the martyred deacon. And now there was impending
over the Church what is often more trying far than a time, short, and sharp, of violence
and blood, -a period of temporal distress and suffering, trying the principles and testing
the endurance of the weaker brethren in a thousand petty trifles. It was a time when the
courage, the wisdom, the experience of the tried and trusted leaders would be specially
required, to guide the Church amid the many new problems which day by day were
cropping up. And yet it was just then, at such a crisis, that the Lord permits the bloody
sword of Herod to be stretched forth and removes one of the very chiefest champions of
the Christian host just when his presence seemed most necessary. It must have appeared
a dark and trying dispensation to the Church of that day; but though attended doubtless
with some present drawbacks and apparent disadvantages, it was well and wisely done
to warn the Church of every age against mere human dependence, mere temporal
refuges; teaching by a typical example that it is not by human might or earthly wisdom,
not by the eloquence of man or the devices of earth that Christ’s Church and the people
must be saved; that it is by His own right hand, and by His own holy arm alone our God
will get Himself the victory.
Yet again we may learn from this incident another lesson rich-laden with comfort and
instruction. This martyrdom of St. James throws us back upon a circumstance which
occurred during our Lord’s last journey to Jerusalem before His crucifixion, and
interprets it for us. Let us recall it. Our Lord was going up to Jerusalem, and His

disciples were following Him with wondering awe. The shadow of the Cross, projecting
itself forward, made itself unconsciously felt throughout the little company, and men
were astonished, though they knew not why. They simply felt as men do on a close sultry
summer’s day when a thunderstorm is overhead, that something awful was impending.
They had, however, a vague feeling that the kingdom of God would shortly appear, and
so the mother of Zebedee’s children, with all that boldness which affection lends to
feminine minds, drew near and strove to secure a boon before all others for her own
children. She prayed that to her two sons might be granted the posts of honour in the
temporal kingdom she thought of as now drawing so very near. The Lord replied to her
request in very deep and far-reaching language, the meaning of which she then
understood not, but learned afterwards through the discipline of pain and sorrow and
death: "Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink the cup that I am about to drink?"
And then, when James and John had professed their ability, he predicts their future fate:
"My cup indeed ye shall drink." The mother and the sons alike spoke bold words, and
offered a sincere but an ignorant prayer. Little indeed did the mother dream as she
presented her petition-"Command that these my two sons may sit, one on Thy right
hand, and one on Thy left hand in Thy kingdom"-how that prayer would be answered,
and yet answered it was. To the one son, James, was granted the one post of honour. He
was made to sit on the Master’s right hand, for he was the first of the apostles called to
enter into Paradise through a baptism of blood. While to the other son, St. John, was
granted the other post of honour, for he was left the longest upon earth to guide, direct,
and sustain the Church by his inspired wisdom, large experience, and apostolic
authority. The contrast between the prayer offered up to Christ in ignorance and
shortsightedness, and the manner in which the same prayer was answered in richest
abundance, suggests to us the comforting reflection that no prayer offered up in sincerity
and truth is ever really left unanswered. We may indeed never see how the prayer is
answered. The mother of St. James may little have dreamt, as she beheld her son’s
lifeless body brought home to her, that this trying dispensation was a real answer to her
ambitious petition. But we can now see that it was so, and can thus learn a lesson of
genuine confidence, of holy boldness, of strong faith in the power of sincere and loving
communion with God. Let us only take care to cultivate the same spirit of genuine
humility and profound submission which possessed the soul of those primitive
Christians, enabling them to say, no matter how their petitions were answered, whether
in joy or sorrow, in smiles or tears, in riches or poverty, "Not my will, but Thine, O Lord,
be done."
II. We have again in this twelfth chapter the record of a Divine deliverance. Herod,
seeing that the Jewish authorities were pleased because they had now a sympathetic
ruler who understood their religious troubles and was resolved to help in quelling them,
determined to proceed farther in the work of repression. He arrested another prominent
leader, St. Peter, and cast him into prison. The details are given to us of Herod’s action
and Peter’s arrest. Peter was now making his first acquaintance with Roman methods of
punishment. He had been indeed previously arrested and imprisoned, but his arrest had
been carried out by the Jewish authorities, and he had been consigned to the care of the
Temple police, and had occupied the Temple prison. But Herod, though a strict Jew in
religion, had been thoroughly Romanised in matters of rule and government, and
therefore he treated St. Peter after the Roman fashion: "When he had taken him, he put
him in prison, and delivered him to four quarternions of soldiers to guard him;
intending after the Passover to bring him forth to the people." He was delivered to
sixteen men, who divided the night into four watches, four men watching at a time, after
the Roman method of discipline. And then, in contrast to all this preparation, we are

told how the Church betook herself to her sure refuge and strong tower of defence:
"Peter therefore was kept in prison; but prayer was made earnestly of the Church unto
God for him." These early Christians had not had their faith limited or weakened by
discussions whether petitions for temporal blessings were a proper subject of prayer, or
whether spiritual blessings did not alone supply true matter for supplication before the
Divine throne. They were in the first fervour of Christian love, and they did not theorise,
define, or debate about prayer and its efficacy. They only knew that their Master had told
them to pray, and had promised to answer sincere prayer, as He alone knew how; and so
they gathered themselves in instant, ceaseless prayer at the foot of the throne of grace. I
say "ceaseless" prayer because it seems that the Jerusalem Church, feeling its danger,
organised a continuous service of prayer. "Prayer was made earnestly of the Church unto
God for him" is the statement of the fifth verse, and then when St. Peter was released "he
came to the house of Mary, where many were gathered together and were praying,"
though the night must have been far advanced. The crisis was a terrible one; the
foremost champion, St. James, had been taken, and now another great leader was
threatened, and therefore the Church flung herself at the feet of the Master seeking
deliverance, and was not disappointed, as the Church has never since been disappointed
when she has cast herself in lowliness and profound submission before the same holy
sanctuary. The narrative then proceeds to give us the particulars of St. Peter’s
deliverance, as St. Peter himself seems to have told it to St. Luke, for we have details
given us which could only have come either directly or indirectly from the person most
immediately concerned. But of these we shall treat in a little. The story now introduces
the supernatural, and for the believer this is quite in keeping with the facts of the case. A
great crisis in the history of the Jerusalem Church has arrived. The mother Church of all
Christendom, the fountain and source of original Christianity, is threatened with
extinction. The life of the greatest existing leader of that Church is at stake, and that
before his work is done. The very existence of the Christian revelation seems imperilled,
and God sends forth an angel, a heavenly messenger, to rescue His endangered servant,
and to prove to unbelieving Jew, to the haughty Herod, and to the frightened but praying
disciples alike the care which He ever exercises over His Church and people. Here,
however, a question may be raised. How was it that an angel, a supernatural messenger,
was despatched to the special rescue of St. Peter? Why was not the same assistance
vouchsafed to St. James, who had just been put to death? Why was not the same
assistance vouchsafed to St. Peter himself when he was martyred at Rome, or to St. Paul
when he lay in the dungeon in the same city of Rome or at Caesarea? Simply, we reply,
because God’s hour was not yet come and the Apostle’s work was not yet done. St.
James’s work was done, and therefore the Lord did not immediately interfere, or rather
He summoned His servant to His assigned post of honour by the ministry of Herod. The
wrath of man became the instrument whereby the praises of God were chanted and the
soul of the righteous conveyed to its appointed place. The Lord did not interfere when
St. Paul was cast into the prison house at Caesarea, or St. Peter incarcerated in the
Roman dungeon, because they had then a great work to do in showing how His servants
can suffer as well as work. But now St. Peter had many a long year of active labour before
him and much work to do as the Apostle of the Circumcision in preventing that schism
with which the diverse parties and opposing ideas of Jew and Gentile threatened the
infant Church, in smoothing over and reconciling the manifold oppositions, jealousies,
difficulties, misunderstandings, which ever attend such a season of transition and
transformation as now was fast dawning upon the Divine society. The arrest of St. Peter
and his threatened death was a great crisis in the history of the primitive Church. St.
Peter’s life was very precious to the existence of that Church, it was very precious for the
welfare of mankind at large, and so it was a fitting time for God to raise up a banner

against triumphant pride and worldly force by the hand of a supernatural messenger.
The steps by which St. Peter was delivered are all of them full of edification and comfort.
Let us mark them. "When Herod was about to bring him forth, the same night Peter was
sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains: and guards before the door kept
the prison." It was on that fateful night the same as when the angels descended on the
Resurrection morning; the guards were in their rightful place and discharging their
accustomed duties, but when God intervenes then human precautions are all useless.
The words of the narrative are striking in their quiet dignity. There is no working up of
details. There is no pandering to mere human curiosity. Everything is in keeping with
the sustained force, sublimity, elevation which we ever behold in the Divine action. Peter
was. sleeping between two soldiers; one chained to each arm, so that he could not move
without awaking them. He was sleeping profoundly and calmly, because he felt himself
in the hands of an Almighty Father who will order everything for the best. The interior
rest amid the greatest trials which an assured confidence like that enjoyed by St. Peter
can confer is something marvellous, and has not been confined to apostolic times. Our
Lord’s servants have in every age proved the same wondrous power. I know of course
that criminals are often said to enjoy a. profound sleep the night before their execution.
But then habitual criminals and hardened murderers have their spiritual natures so
completely overmastered and dominated by their lower material powers that they realise
nothing beyond. the present. They are little better than the beasts which perish, and
think as little of the future as they do. But persons with highly strung nervous powers,
who realise the awful change impending over them, cannot be as they, specially if they
have no such sure hope as that which sustained St. Peter. He slept calmly here as Paul
and Silas rejoiced in the Philippian prison house, as the Master Himself slept calmly in
the stern of the wave-rocked boat on the Galilean lake, because he knew himself to be
reposing in the arms of Everlasting Love, and this knowledge bestowed upon him a
sweet and calm repose at the moment of supreme danger of which the fevered children
of time know nothing.
And now all the circumstances of the celestial visit are found to be most suitable and
becoming. The angel stood by Peter. A light shined in the cell, because light is the very
element in which these heavenly beings spend their existence. The chains which bind St.
Peter fell off without any effort human or angelic, just as in a few moments the great gate
of the prison opened of its own accord, because all these things, bonds and bolts and
bars, derive all their coercive power from the will of God, and when that will changes or
is withdrawn they cease to be operative, or become the instruments of the very opposite
purpose, assisting and not hindering His servants. Then the angel’s actions and
directions are characteristic in their dignified vigour. He told the awakened sleeper to act
promptly: "He smote him on the side, and awoke him, saying, Rise up quickly." But
there is no undue haste. As on the Resurrection morning the napkin that was upon
Christ’s head was found not lying with the rest of the grave-cloths, but rolled up in a
place by itself, so too on this occasion the angel shows minute care for Peter’s personal
appearance. There must be nothing undignified, careless, untidy even, about the dress of
the rescued apostle: "Gird thyself, and bind on thy sandals." St. Peter had naturally laid
aside his external garments, had unloosed his inner robes, and taken off his sandals
when preparing for sleep. Nothing, however, escapes the heavenly messenger, and so he
says, "Cast thy garment about thee, and follow Me," referring to the loose upper robe or
overcoat which the Jews wore over their underclothes; and then the angel led him forth,
teaching the Church the perpetual lesson that external dignity of appearance is evermore
becoming to God’s people, when not even an angel considered these things beneath his
notice amid all the excitement of a midnight rescue, nor did the inspired writer omit to

record such apparently petty details. Nothing about St. Peter was too trivial for the
angel’s notice and direction, as again nothing in life is too trivial for the sanctifying and
elevating care of our holy religion. Dress, food, education, marriage, amusements, all of
life’s work and of life’s interests, are the subject matter whereon the principles
inculcated by Jesus Christ and taught by the ministry of His Church are to find their due
scope and exercise.
Peter’s deliverance was now complete. The angel conducted him through one street to
assure him that he was really free and secure him from bewilderment, and then
departed. The Apostle thereupon sought out the well-known centre of Christian worship,
"the house of Mary the mother of John, whose surname was Mark," where stood the
upper chamber, honoured as no other chamber had ever been. There he made known his
escape, and then retired to some secret place where Herod could not find him, remaining
there concealed till Herod was dead and direct Roman law and authority were once more
in operation at Jerusalem. There are two or three details in this narrative that are
deserving of special notice, as showing that St. Luke received the story most probably
from St. Peter himself. These touches are expressions of St. Peter’s inner thoughts,
which could have been known only to St. Peter, and must have been derived from him.
Thus we are told about his state of mind when the angel appeared: "He wist not that it
was true which was done by the angel, but thought he saw a vision." Again, after his
deliverance, we are told of the thoughts which passed through his mind, the words
which rose to his lips when he found himself once again a free man: "When Peter was
come to himself he said, Now I know of a truth that the Lord hath sent forth His angel,
and delivered me out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of
the Jews." While, again, how true to life and to the female nature is the incident of the
damsel Rhoda! She came across the courtyard to hearken and see who was knocking at
the outer gate at that late hour: "When. she knew Peter’s voice, she opened not the gate
for joy, but ran in and told that Peter stood before the gate." We behold the
impulsiveness of the maid. She quite forgot the Apostle’s knocking at the gate in her
eager desire to convey the news to his friends. And, again, how true to nature their
scepticism! They were gathered praying for Peter’s release, but so little did they expect
an answer to their prayers that, when the answer does come, and in the precise way that
they were asking for it, and longing for it, they are astonished, and tell the maid-servant
who bore the tidings, "Thou art mad." We pray as the primitive Church did, and that
constantly; but is it not with us as with them? We pray indeed, but we do not expect our
prayers to be answered, and therefore we do not profit by them as we might.
Such were the circumstances of St. Peter’s deliverance, which was a critical one for the
Church. It struck a blow at Herod’s new policy of persecution unto death; it may have
induced him to depart from Jerusalem and descend to Caesarea, where he met his end,
leaving the Church at Jerusalem in peace; and the deliverance must have thrown a
certain marvellous halo round St. Peter when he appeared again at Jerusalem, enabling
him to occupy a more prominent position without any fear for his life.
III. We have also recorded in this chapter a notable defeat of pride, ostentation, and
earthly power. The circumstances are well known. Herod, vexed perhaps by his
disappointment in the matter of Peter, went down to Caesarea, which his grandfather
had magnificently adorned. But he had other reasons too. He had a quarrel with the men
of Tyre and Sidon, and he would take effective measures against them. Tyre and Sidon
were great seaports and commercial towns, but their country did not produce food
sufficient for the maintenance of its inhabitants, just as England, the emporium of the
world’s commerce, is obliged to depend for its food supplies upon other and distant
lands. The men of Tyre and Sidon were not, however, unacquainted with the ways of

Eastern courts. They bribed the king’s chamberlain, and Herod was appeased. There was
another motive which led Herod to Caesarea. It was connected with his Roman
experience and with his courtier-life. The Emperor Claudius Caesar was his friend and
patron. To him Herod owed his restoration to the rich dominions of his grandfather.
That emperor had gone in the previous year, A.D. 43, to conquer Britain. He spent six
months in our northern regions in Gaul and Britain, and. then, when smitten by the cold
blasts of midwinter, he fled to the south again, as so many of our own people do now. He
arrived in Rome in the January of the year 44, and immediately ordered public games to
be celebrated in honour of his safe return, assuming as a special name the title
Britannicus. These public shows were imitated everywhere throughout the empire as
soon as the news of the Roman celebrations arrived. The tidings would take two or three
months to arrive at Palestine, and the Passover may have passed before Herod heard of
his patron’s doings. Jewish scruples would not allow him to celebrate games after the
Roman fashion at Jerusalem, and for this purpose therefore he descended to the
Romanised city of Caesarea, where all the appliances necessary for that purpose were
kept in readiness. There is thus a link which binds together the history of our own nation
and this interesting incident in early Christian history. The games were duly celebrated,
but they were destined to be Herod’s last act. On an appointed day he sat in the theatre
of Caesarea to receive the ambassadors from Tyre and Sidon. He presented himself early
in the morning to the sight of the multitude, clad in a robe of silver which flashed in the
light, reflecting back the rays of the early sun and dazzling the mixed multitude-supple,
crafty Syrians, paganised Samaritans, self-seeking and worldly-wise Phoenicians. He
made a speech in response to the address of the envoys, and then the flattering shout
arose, "The voice of a god, and not of a man." Whereupon the messenger of God smote
Herod with that terrible form of disease which accompanies unbounded self-indulgence
and luxury, and the proud tyrant learned what a plaything of time, what a mere creature
of a day is a king as much as a beggar, as shown by the narrative preserved by Josephus
of this event. He tells us that, when seized by the mortal disease, Herod looked upon his
friends, and said, "I, whom you call a god, am commanded presently to depart this life;
while Providence thus reproves the lying words you just now said to me; and I, who was
by you called immortal, am immediately to be hurried away by death." What a striking
picture of life’s changes and chances, and of the poetic retributions we at times behold in
the course of God’s Providence! One short chapter of the Acts shows us Herod
triumphant side by side with Herod laid low, Herod smiting apostles with the sword side
by side with Herod himself smitten to death by the Divine sword. A month’s time may
have covered all the incidents narrated in this chapter. But short as the period was, it
must have been rich in support and consolation to the apostles Saul and Barnabas, who
were doubtless deeply interested spectators of the rapidly shifting scene, telling them
clearly of the heavenly watch exercised over the Church. They had come up from
Antioch, bringing alms to render aid to their afflicted brethren in Christ. The famine, as
we have just now seen from the anxiety of the men of Tyre and Sidon to be on friendly
terms with Herod, was rapidly making itself felt throughout Palestine and the adjacent
lands, and So the deputies of the Antiochene Church hurried up to Jerusalem with the
much-needed gifts. It may indeed be said, how could St. Paul hope to escape at such a
time? Would it not have been madness for him to risk his safety in a city where he had
once been so well known? But, then, we must remember that it was at the Passover
season Saul and Barnabas went from Antioch to Jerusalem. Vast crowds then entered
the Holy City, and a solitary Jew or two from Antioch might easily escape notice among
the myriads which then assembled from all quarters. St. Paul enjoyed too a wonderful
measure of the Spirit’s guidance, and that Spirit told him that he had yet much work to
do for God. The Apostle had wondrous prudence joined with wondrous courage, and we

may be sure that he took wisest precautions to escape the sword of Herod which would
have so eagerly drunk his blood. He remained in Jerusalem all the time of the Passover.
His clear vision of the spiritual world must then have been most precious and most
sustaining. All the apostles were doubtless scattered; James was dead, and Peter doomed
to death. The temporal troubles, famine and poverty, which called Saul and Barnabas to
Jerusalem, brought with them corresponding spiritual blessings, as we still so often find,
and the brave words of the chosen vessel, the Vas Electionis, aided by the sweet gifts of
the Son of Consolation, may have been very precious and very helpful to those devout
souls in the Jerusalem Church who gathered themselves for continuous prayer in the
house of Mary the mother of John, teaching them the true character, the profound
views, the genuine religion of one whose earlier life had been so very different and whose
later views may have been somewhat suspected. Saul and Barnabas arrived in Jerusalem
at a terrible crisis, they saw the crisis safely passed, and then they returned to an
atmosphere freer and broader than that of Jerusalem, and there in the exercise of a
devoted ministry awaited the further manifestation of the Divine purposes.
BIBLICAL ILLUSTRATOR, "Now about that time Herod the king stretched forth his
hands to vex certain of the Church.
Herod the king
The previous life of this prince had been full of strange vicissitudes. The son of
Aristobulus and Bernice, grandson of Herod the Great, brother of the Herodias who
appears in the gospel history, named after the statesman who was the chief minister of
Augustus, he had been sent, after his father had fallen a victim (B.C. 6) to his
grandfather’s suspicions, to Rome, partly perhaps as a hostage, partly to be out of the
way of Palestine intrigues. There he had grown up on terms of intimacy with the prince
afterwards known as Caligula. On the marriage of Herod Antipas with his sister, he was
made the ruler of Tiberias, but soon quarrelled with the tetrarch, and went to Rome,
and, falling under the displeasure of Tiberius, as having rashly given utterance to a wish
for the succession of Caligula, was imprisoned by him, and remained in confinement till
the death of that emperor. When Caligula came to the throne he loaded his friend with
honours, gave him the tetrarchies first of Philip, and then that of Lysanias (Luk_3:1),
and conferred on him the title of king. Antipas, prompted by Herodias, came to Rome to
claim a like honour for himself, but fell under the emperor’s displeasure, and was
banished to Lugdunum in Gaul, whither his wife accompanied him. His tetrarchy also
was conferred on Agrippa. Coins are extant, minted at Caesarea, and bearing
inscriptions in which he is styled the Great King, with the epithets sometimes of Philo-
Caesar, sometimes of Philo-Claudios. At the time when Caligula’s insanity took the form
of a resolve to place his statue in the temple at Jerusalem, Agrippa rendered an essential
service to his people, by using all his influence to deter the emperor from carrying his
purpose into execution, and, backed as he was by Petronius, the Governor of Syria, was
at last successful. On the death of Caligula, Claudius, whose claims to the empire he had
supported, confirmed him in his kingdom. When he came to Judaea, he presented
himself to the people in the character of a devout worshipper, and gained their favour by
attaching himself to the companies of Nazarites (as we find St. Paul doing in Act_21:26)
when they came to the temple to offer sacrifices on the completion of their vows. It
would seem that he found a strong popular excitement against the believers in Christ,
caused probably by the new step which had recently been taken in the admission of the
Gentiles, and fomented by the Sadducean priesthood, and it seemed to him politic to
gain the favour of both priests and people, by making himself the instrument of their

jealousy. (Dean Plumptre.)
James, Herod, and Peter
How strangely our prayers are sometimes answered! James and John had prayed that
they might sit, the one on the right and the other on the left of the Lord when He came to
His kingdom. And now the cup and the baptism came to James in the form of a terrible
and disgraceful martyrdom. May I covet the best gift, not the most conspicuous position.
May I keep in remembrance that they at the front fall first. But may I not shrink from the
front if it be the will of the Lord to assign me that position. “Peter was kept in prison.”
Kept in prison! All work suspended, and apparently all usefulness at an end. Peter, the
most active of them. What does the Lord mean? This question comes up so often in
Christian experience. To suffer James to be killed and Peter to be imprisoned would not
be our way of propagating the Church. Now, I pray that I may never be scared for the
cause of Christ. For my personal comfort let me learn from Peter’s case that the Lord
may not always keep me out of the hands of the enemy, but He will keep those hands
from destroying me. I may see the two soldiers to whom I am chained, blot not the ones
that in secret are pouring out prayers for me. Oh, the unknown helpers! The unseen
forces of the universe are stronger than the visible agencies. (C. F. Deems, LL. D.)
The martyrdom of James
One might have expected more than a clause to be spared to tell the death of a chief man,
and the first martyr amongst the apostles. I think the lessons of the fact, and of the slight
way in which the writer of this book refers to it, may perhaps be most pointedly brought
out if we take four contrasts—James and Stephen, James and Peter, James and John,
James and James. Now, if we take these four I think we shall learn something.
I. First, then, James and Stephen. Look at the different scale on which the incidents of
the deaths of these two are told; the martyrdom of the one is beaten out over chapters,
the martyrdom of the other is crammed into a corner of a sentence. And yet, of the two
men, the one who is the less noticed filled the larger place officially, and the other was
only a simple deacon and preacher of the Word. The fact that Stephen was the first
Christian to follow his Lord in martyrdom is not sufficient to account for the
extraordinary difference. The Bible cares so little about the people whom it names
because its true theme is the works of God, and not of man; and the reason why the “Acts
of the Apostles” kills off one of the first three apostles in this fashion is simply that, as
the writer tells us, his theme is “all that Jesus” continued “to do and to teach” after He
was taken up. Since it is Christ who is the true actor, it matters uncommonly little what
becomes of James or of the other ten. What is the reason why so disproportionate a
space of the gospel is concerned with the last two days of our Lord’s life on earth? What
is the reason why years are leaped over in silence and moments are spread out in detail,
but that the death of a man is only a death, but the death of the Christ is the life of the
world? James sleeps none the less sweetly in his grave, or, rather, wakes none the less
triumphantly in heaven because his life and death are both so scantily narrated. If we
“self-infold the large results” of faithful service, we need not trouble ourselves about its
record on earth. But another lesson which may be learned from this cursory notice of the
apostle’s martyrdom is—how small a thing death really is! Looked at from beside the
Lord of life and death, which is the point of view of the author of this narrative, “great
death” dwindles to a very little thing. We need to revise our notions if we would

understand how trivial it really is. From a mountain top the country below seems level
plain, and what looked like an impassable precipice has dwindled to be
indistinguishable. The triviality of death, to those who look upon it from the heights of
eternity, is well represented by these brief words which tell of the first breach thereby in
the circle of the apostles.
II. There is another contrast, James and Peter. Now this chapter tells of two things: one,
the death of one of that pair of friends; the other, the miracle that was wrought for the
deliverance of the other from death. Why should James be slain, and Peter miraculously
delivered? A question easily asked; a question not to be answered by us. We may say that
the one was more useful for the development of the Church than the other. But we have
all seen lives that, to our poor vision, seemed to be all but indispensable, ruthlessly
swept away, and lives that seemed to be, and were, perfectly profitless, prolonged to
extreme old age. We may say that maturity of character, development of Christian
graces, made the man ready for glory. But we have all seen men struck down when
anything but ready. Only we may be sure of this, that James was as dear to Christ as
Peter was, and that there was no greater love shown in sending the angel that delivered
the one from the “expectation of Herod” and the people of the Jews, than was shown in
sending the angel that stood behind the headsman and directed the stroke of the fatal
sword on the neck of the other. James escaped from Herod when Herod slew him, and
could not make him unfaithful to his Master, and his deliverance was not less complete
than the deliverance of his friend. But let us remember, too, that if thus, to two equally
beloved, there be dealt out these two different fates, it must be because that evil, which,
as I said, is not so big as it looks, is not so bitter as it tastes either; and there is no real
evil, for the loving heart, in the stroke that breaks its bands and knits it to Jesus Christ.
The contrast of James and Peter may teach us the equal love that presides over the life of
the living and the death of the dying.
III. Another contrast is that of James and John. The close union and subsequent
separation by this martyrdom of that pair of brothers is striking and pathetic. By death
they were separated so far: the one the first of all the apostles to “become a prey to
Satan’s rage,” the other “lingering out his fellows all,” and “dying in bloodless age,” living
to be a hundred years old and more, and looking back through all the long parting to the
brother who had joined with him in the wish that even Messiah’s kingdom should not
part them, and yet had been parted so soon and parted so long. Ah! may we not learn the
lesson that we should recognise the mercy and wisdom of the ministry of death the
separator, and should tread with patience the lonely road, do calmly the day’s work, and
tarry till He comes, though those that stood beside us be gone.
IV. Lastly, James and James. In his hot youth, when he deserved the name of a son of
thunder—so energetic, boisterous I suppose, destructive perhaps, he was—he and his
brother, and their foolish mother, whose name is kindly not told us, go to Christ and say,
“Grant that we may sit, the one on Thy right hand and the other on Thy left, in Thy
kingdom.” That was what he wished and hoped for, and what he got was years of service,
and a taste of persecution, and finally the swish of the headsman’s sword. Yes! And so
our dreams get disappointed, and their disappointment is often the road to their
fulfilment, for Jesus Christ was answering the prayer, “Grant that we may sit on Thy
right hand in Thy kingdom,” when He called him to Himself, by the brief and bloody
passage of martyrdom. So let us leave for ourselves, and for all dear ones, that question
of living or dying to Him. Only let us be sure that whether our lives be long like John’s,
or short like James’s, “living or dying we are the Lord’s.” (A. Maclaren, D. D.)

Herod vexes the Church
1. The scene changes. After intimating that the door was open among the Greeks, the
historian shows us that it was shut among the Jews. By His apostles as well as in His
own Person Christ came to His own, and His own received Him not.
2. The king who appears here was mild in his natural temper, but fond of popularity.
The persecution was not of his own motion, but to please the Jews, as was the case
with Pilate.
3. Keeping Judas out of view—this is the first breach in the apostolic circle. The
Church had learned to walk by faith, and even the fall of an apostle will not crush
them now. In the case of James, the Lord shows that He will not always interfere to
protect His servants, and in the case of Peter that He will sometimes, lest the spirit
should fail before Him. This first apostolic martyrdom marks a law of the kingdom,
and illustrates the Master’s word, “My kingdom is not of this world.” Not an inch of
territory will Christ maintain for Himself by the sword.
4. Observing that no Divine power was put forth, either to protect James or to
avenge him, and finding that one murder procured him favour, Herod determined to
perpetrate another. Peter was imprisoned, but the remainder of the king’s wrath it
pleased God in this instance to restrain. “Peter was kept in prison, but prayer was
made,” etc.
a remarkable antithesis. Man proposes, but God disposes; and the prayer of faith
reaches the Disposer’s hand. James was suddenly seized and taken off, but there was
time to pray for Peter. God opened the door of opportunity through Herod’s desire to
keep all quiet till after the passover; the Church eagerly entered that door.
5. Peter meanwhile was sleeping, and his sleep brought as much glory to God as his
wakefulness, although he had sung psalms till the rafters rang again. He slept in
Gethsemane through weakness of the flesh: he sleeps here through the strength of
his faith. How sweet to lie down every night ready, if the Lord will, to awake in
heaven! (W. Arnot, D. D.)
Herod and Peter
I. Herod’s persecution.
1. “Now about that time”—we know that troubles never come alone. A time of famine
was prophesied (Act_11:28). Famine might kill slowly; Herod would find a quicker
way! How well it would have been when Herod “stretched forth his hand” to have
kept it there! Such would be our way. God’s thought has a wider compass, and He
needs more time for the exemplification of His purpose.
2. “He killed James the brother of John with the sword.” This was not a Jewish
method of killing people. But what is crime if it cannot be inventive? What if a king
cannot take a short cut to the consummation of his purpose? Beheading is quicker
than stoning! The wicked cannot wait. They need no further condemnation. Justice
can wait. “Though hand join in hand the wicked cannot go unpunished.”
3. Having performed this trick of cruelty, Herod proceeded further. That is the
natural history of wickedness! It gathers momentum as it goes. You cannot stop with

one murder. You acquire the bad skill, and your fingers become nimble in the use of
cruel weapons. Murder does not look so ghastly when you have done it once. How
many people have you murdered? Murder is heartbreaking; life-blighting; hope-
destroying! “He proceeded further.” The one glass needs another to keep it company.
Crimes do not like solitude; and so one crime leads to another. If you calf do one sin,
the whole life is lost. We are not thieves because of a thousand thefts; we are not liars
because of a thousand lies; we find our criminality in the opening sin. Therefore,
what I say unto one, I say unto all, “Watch”!
4. “Because he saw it pleased the Jews.” There are those who like to see you play the
fool and the criminal, but what will they do for you in the critical hour? All the while
Herod thought he was king; in reality he was a slave. Sometimes the judge has been
the prisoner. Sometimes the conqueror has been the loser. Herod lived upon the
popular pleasure. Therein he tarnished his crown, and sold his kingdom, and lost his
soul!
II. Peter’s deliverance. In verse 5 there is a pitched battle. Read it: “Peter therefore was
kept in prison:” there is one side of the fight; after the colon—“but prayer was made
without ceasing of the Church unto God for him.” Now for the shock of arms! Who wins?
Prayer always wins. You can only be of a contrary opinion when you take in too little
field. There is no action of any importance that is bounded by a single day. Such prayer
as this is irrepressible. The prayers you could keep down if you liked will never be
answered. This prayer was answered by a miracle, in which observe—
1. Last extremities (verse 6). Have we not been in that very same darkness, when we
were to be injured, or impoverished, not seven years from date, but the next day?
Have we not taken up the pieces of the one loaf and said, “This is all”? So far, then,
you have no difficulty about the miracle.
2. Appearances dead against us. Thus—two soldiers, two chains, and the keepers
keeping the door before the prison! These were compliments to Peter! The devil
cannot avoid paying us compliments all the time he is trying to destroy us. Why all
this arrangement about a man like Peter? Why all these temptations addressed to a
man like one of us? It is a reluctant but significant tribute to the character whose
destruction is contemplated. Have not appearances been dead against us? No letters,
no friends, no answer to the last appeal, no more energy, no more hope, the last staff
snapped in two. So far the miracle is true.
3. Unexpected deliverers. Have we no experience here? Is it not always the
unexpected man who delivers and cheers us? “But a certain Samaritan came where
he was,” that is the whole history of human deliverance in one graphic sentence.
“Man’s extremity is God’s opportunity.” “It is always darkest before the dawn.” All
our life properly read is a chain of unexpectedness. Deliverance shall arise from an
unthought of quarter!
4. Spiritual transport (verse 11). Have we not sometimes taken down our harp from
the willows and struck it to some new tone of joy and gladness and hope? Peter did
not understand this miracle at first. He thought he saw a vision. “And when Peter
was come to himself he said”—that is the point we must wait for. We are not
“ourselves” just now. Our eyes are dazed by cross lights, and we cannot see things in
their right proportion, distance, and colour. Do not let us imagine that we are now
speaking final words or giving final judgments. Innumerable visions float before my
wondering eyes. The righteous are trodden down; the bad man has a plentiful table.
The little child is torn from its mother’s arms. What is it? When we are come to

ourselves we shall know and praise the Lord, whose angels have been our
ministering servants! (J. Parker, D. D.)
Herod and Peter
I. The value of small accuracies in the expressions of the inspired history. Paley places
the first verse among his evidences of Christianity, because Herod is called “the king.”
For he declares that there was never a period, for more than thirty years previously, nor
was there ever subsequently at Jerusalem one who wielded such authority as entitled
him to the name of monarch. No one except this Herod, and he only during the last three
years of his life, could have been properly called “the king.”
II. How little the New Testament makes of the martyrdom of even the best of men. Only
two words in the Greek describe James’s execution: “killed—sword.” The Bible does not
dwell upon the deaths of Christians so much as upon their lives. Whitefield used to
remark, “You will have no dying testimony from me, you must take my living witness for
my blessed Lord.”
III. That there is a limit set to the wickedness of the wickedest of opposers (verse 3).
Herod was a time server and a trimmer. His political motto is found in “It pleased the
Jews.” He thought he had made a hit when he slew John’s brother. But even in that
crime he only helped to fulfil a prophecy of Christ (Mar_10:39). So Herod “proceeded
further”; but all he was suffered to do was “to take Peter.” There he had to pause before a
higher power. The all-wise God permits sin to move on for a while, but He may be
trusted to interpose when the time for restraining wrath arrives (Psa_76:10).
IV. That prayer is the welcome instrument of communication between separated friends
(verse 5). A friend when I was abroad sent me a letter with a triangle in it. At the top of it
he wrote “the mercy seat”; and drew for the base a rough wavy mark, which he meant for
the ocean; then he wrote his initials at one angle and mine at the other. He felt that I
knew that the shortest path to those we love is around via heaven, where our faithful
High Priest is to receive our petitions.
V. That true religious trust is always tranquil and undismayed (verse 6). Peter must have
understood that he was now in the power of a wild bad man. He could not expect to fare
any better than did James. But evidently he was not in the least troubled. This old
fisherman meant to have as easy a night of it as was possible with the poor
accommodations. He took off his outer garments and sandals before he lay down, as was
his habit anywhere. And now think of it: while Herod in the palace was uneasy, and the
soldiers wide awake, and the outsiders getting ready for “no small stir” (vers18), and the
disciples holding an agitated prayer meeting, and an angel on the errand of relief, so that
it seems to us as if the whole exterior world was disturbed, Peter went quietly into a
sweet good sleep as usual. We have no record of his experiences, but we conjecture he
said over the old psalm (Psa_34:7).
VI. An affecting illustration of the unhurried exercise of God’s patient power (verse 8).
The angel had nothing to fear there in the prison, and he knew Peter could take all of
time and care he needed without danger. It was not necessary that he should dress in the
dark; the messenger from heaven lit up the room for him, and calmed him with tranquil
words of direction; and the apostle put on his shoes and his loose garment before he
started. The chains had already been removed so cautiously that they made no clanking.
There was no hurry nor confusion; when God takes care of a man, He takes good care.
How calm God is in the heavens where He reigns; and how little He respected the

ingenuities of Herod (Psa_2:4). We have no wonder that Peter afterwards quoted
Isaiah’s words with a fresh turn of interpretation after such an experience (1Pe_2:6).
The only thing Herod could do the next morning was to kill his own soldiers; Peter was
cut of his reach. Why are we so troubled? How calm is the service of such a Saviour as
ours (Isa_40:22).
VII. If people are surprised by answers to prayer, it is because they do not “consider.”
Peter’s conclusion (verse 11) is in edifying contrast with the petulant rebuke which
Rhoda received from the Christians (verse 15). He had “considered the thing” (verse 12).
That must be the reason why he was not “astonished” as they were (verse 16). Rhoda was
not “mad,” only “glad.” A clearer mind was never known than Peter had, only he had
now and then to “come to himself,” and get his bearings. The one grand conclusion is
found well phrased in the remark of Christian in “Pilgrim’s Progress.” After some days of
useless suffering, he suddenly exclaimed, “Why, I have all along had in my bosom a key
called Promise, which is able to open any door in Doubting Castle!” What is the reason
anyone now is afraid of the power of Giant Despair? (C. S. Robinson, D. D.)
A short-lived triumph
We have here a royal persecution in its beginning, progress, and end. We see it in its
success, failure, and punishment. We have before us a whole career, in its pride and its
humiliation, its triumph and its discomfiture, its short-lived arrogance and its frightful
dismay. That is the aspect of the chapter towards them that are without. Its aspect
towards the Church within shows what danger, anxiety, and death itself is to the
Christian; enough to bring out great graces and to exercise faith and patience, but not
enough to make a single true heart doubt where safety, strength, victory lie. Let us look—
I. On the dark side of this picture. There is a king stretching forth his hands to vex
certain of the Church.
1. His first act of aggression was directed against an apostle. “He killed James the
brother of John with the sword.” Such is the short record of the first and only
apostolical martyrdom of which we have any record in Scripture. Far more was told
of the martyrdom of the deacon Stephen. Such is the character of the Scriptures. One
thing is dwelt upon and another briefly told. Simplicity, naturalness,
undesignedness, absence of rhetorical trick and stage effect, this we notice
throughout, and we think we can see it to be of God. Thus one of the chosen
witnesses passed away early from his work to his reward. It was scarcely fifteen
years, I suppose, since he had first heard that word which had changed him from a
fisherman into a fisher of men. He had been one of the favoured few in various
striking occurrences of the Saviour’s life and ministry. He had been one of two
brothers, who, in days of ignorant zeal, had proposed to call fire from heaven upon a
Samaritan village, and who, again, in days of a no less ignorant ambition, had asked
to sit on His right hand and on His left hand in their Master’s glory. Boanerges, sons
of thunder, He had named them, in days when the impetuosity of nature had not yet
been checked by the influence of grace. But now this was past; past too the mighty
transformation of Pentecost, and the devoted years of the ministry which that day
had opened. To him, first of the brothers, is that prophecy fulfilled, “Ye shall drink
indeed of My cup,” etc. And see how lightly the inspired record passes over that great
transition. Not one word of the circumstances. No death bed scene, no dying
testimony, save indeed that best of testimonies which the death itself afforded. He
had given his life in one sense; now he gave it in another. Nothing is made of it. He

did his duty; and to him, as a matter of course, belonged the recompence of the
reward.
2. The fate of the next destined victim is widely different. He too seems to be marked
out for martyrdom. The appetite for blood is ever whetted by its indulgence. It was a
crowded time in Jerusalem: strangers from all parts of the world flocked together to
the festival; and the spectacle of an apostle’s execution was to be their pastime in the
intervals of religious duty. Such is religion when it is once possessed and saturated
with bigotry, fanaticism, and party zeal! All seemed to promise well and surely for
the persecutor and his people. Peter then was kept in the prison: by night and by day
he is the one care of sixteen armed men. Surely nothing can elude such vigilance? So
might man well judge. There is one, there is but one, impediment, which brings us
to—
II. The bright side of the picture.
1. “But there was fervent prayer going on by the Church unto God concerning him.”
Is there not great meaning in that little word “but”? The Church below was calling in
a help, not of man, to counteract man’s design. Little would Herod or his friends
account of that; but He who neither slumbers nor sleeps has Israel in His keeping,
and let no man presume to say, apart from Him, what one day or one night may
bring forth!
2. The last night is come, but not gone. Peter sleeps, while the Church prays: it is
their time for action, it is his for repose. “In quietness and in confidence shall be your
strength”; “Cast all your care upon Him, for He careth for you.” What if his
martyrdom is to follow close upon that of James, and they who were so lately
partners in a fisher’s calling, and have since been associated in a noble ministry, are
to be speedily reunited in a blessedness not of this world—“lovely and pleasant in
their lives, and even in their deaths not divided”?
3. “And, behold an angel of the Lord stood near,” etc., etc. God does nothing in vain:
He begins where man must end, and ends where man can begin. Deliverance
achieved, reflection follows. “He comes to himself,” and to the right conclusion.
4. And whither shall he now betake himself? He knows the deep anxiety with which
the Church of which he is a pillar must have regarded his imprisonment; so he bends
his steps first to one of the homes of the Church. His knock brings to the door a
maiden of the household; not at once to open—for they were hard and evil times, and
peril might lurk in the admittance of a stranger—but to hearken to the voice which
should tell its errand and report upon it to those within. The voice which calls to her
is one well known. She had heard it often, we doubt not, leading the devotions of that
pious home: she knew it at once for Peter’s, and for very joy ran in before she
opened. Her tidings were incredible. “They said, It is his angel”; one of those
ministering spirits who have in their charge the heirs of salvation, and who, in the
character of the angels of Christ’s “little ones, do always behold the face of His Father
who is in heaven.” But no; there is no mistake here, and no apparition; the angel’s
office is ended, and Peter himself, in flesh and blood, is seen, when they open, to
stand before the gate. Silencing with a motion of the hand their eager and wondering
exclamations, he tells his own story and bids them, while he departs elsewhere for
security, to carry the report of his miraculous deliverance to James, the Lord’s
brother, and to the brethren at the headquarters of the Church.
III. The narrative would be incomplete without a record of the end of the persecutor and

his instruments.
1. Just as when the faithful three were thrown into the furnace, “the flame of the fire
slew those men” who acted as his executioners; even so the activity of Peter was fatal
to the soldiers to whose charge he had been consigned. Disappointed rage must have
its victim. If it cannot be an apostle, it must be an apostle’s keeper. But the
retribution ends not there.
2. Herod himself goes down from Jerusalem to Caesarea. There was at this time a
feud between him and the people of Tyre and Sidon. They were ill able to part with
his friendship, and came to him therefore imploring reconciliation. This was the
crowning point of Herod’s triumphs. With an ambition glutted with success, and a
vanity inflated by flattery, he appeared gorgeously arrayed. Flattery ran on into
impiety, and they all with one accord shouted, “It is the voice of a God and not of a
man.” This cry was the signal of the Divine punishment. “Immediately an angel of
the Lord smote him,” etc.
Conclusion:
1. The chapter before us is an epitome of all history. In it the world and the Church
are arrayed on opposite sides, the hosts of God and of Satan being marshalled for the
encounter. On the one side there is kingly power, on the other poverty and
insignificance; but the one calculates without the Divine arm on which the other
depends. For a time the one succeeds, in the end the other wins. Herod is eaten with
worms, but the Word of God grows and multiplies.
2. The practical lesson is to learn the power and practise the grace of that effectual
fervent prayer which availeth much. (Dean Vaughan.)
And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.—
James’ noble end, or “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His
saints”
I. Before man—a melancholy death.
1. Bloody and cruel: the noble head of the apostle falls under the sword of the
executioner.
2. Premature and sudden: he quits this earthly scene before effecting anything
important in his apostolic calling.
3. Without glory and quiet: he departs uncelebrated by the world, unpraised even by
the Word of God.
II. Before God—a noble end and a beautiful death.
1. He had fulfilled his vocation here below: not how long, but how we live, is the chief
matter.
2. He dies in the service of His Lord and preaches as powerfully by his death, as his
fellow disciples do by their word.
3. He hastens towards his heavenly destination, whilst he as the first among, the
brethren receives the martyr’s crown, and is honoured by sitting where he desired at
Christ’s right hand. (K. Gerok.)

The bleeding James and the rescued Peter
or, God leads His people—
I. By many paths.
1. James’ short hour and Peter’s long day of work.
2. James’ sad end and Peter’s glorious deliverance.
II. To one end.
1. Both promote the kingdom of God—James by his death and Peter by his life.
2. Both carry off the crown of life—James after a short contest, Peter after a long
service. (K. Gerok.)
The martyrdom of St. James
As the apostle was led forth to the place of execution the person who had accused him
was so touched with the courage and constancy which he displayed, that he repented of
what he had done, came and fell down at his feet and earnestly begged pardon of what he
had said against him. St. James tenderly raised him up, kissed him and said to him,
“Peace be to thee, my son, and She pardon of all thy faults.” At this, his former accuser
publicly professed himself a Christian, and so both were beheaded at the same time.
(Clement of Alexandria.)
Early death
1. This is one of those incidents in sacred story which had we lived in the apostolic
age would have moved our wonder if it did not shake our faith. The Church is yet in
its infancy, and already a chief pillar is moved, leaving the edifice deprived of what
was certainly one of its best supports and fairest ornaments—one, in fact, of its
twelve precious foundations. What token was there here of Divine love watching over
a Divine institution? How shall such a dispensation be reconciled with what we
believe of the power, and wisdom, and mercy, and justice, and love, and truth, and
faithfulness of God?
2. On the Festival of St. James, we never can do amiss if we refresh our memories by
recalling the events of the apostle’s life. And this is soon done. Originally a disciple of
the stern Baptist, and therefore a man of no common earnestness, James was
brought to Christ by the report of his brother John—and therefore was the fourth to
become a member of the apostolic band. Subsequently, we are shown his former call
to apostleship. On him, with his brother, our Lord bestowed the title “son of
thunder”; and (no unapt illustration of the name!) the two proposed to call down fire
from heaven on the inhospitable Samaritans. But subsequently there is nothing
characteristic recorded of St. James, with the single exception of his ambitious desire
for a chief place in the kingdom of Messiah. He was indeed highly distinguished on
other occasions—as when he was made a witness of the raising of Jairus’ daughter,
and yet more of our Lord’s transfiguration. Again, he was with our Lord during His
agony, and lastly, he was one of the four who heard His prophecy on the Mount of
Olives. But of the characteristic events of his life none are recorded—save his call; the

token of a fiery spirit alluded to; his ambitious aspiration; and his death.
3. When we say something similar of other members of the apostolic body and
rehearse the meagre chronicle of the recorded lives of the other apostles, we all
secretly feel that their unrecorded history must have made full amends, by its fulness
and variety, for the scantiness of the gospel record. Thomas in India; Matthew in
Ethiopia; Andrew in Scythia; Philip, Bartholomew, and the other James—the life
must have been most varied, and doubtless was most eventful. But in the case of
James we know that this was not the ease. His history brings home to us the familiar
phenomenon of a precious life early shortened—a burning spirit suddenly
quenched—a large and a brave heart, which was willing to do and to dare all in his
Master’s service, early laid to rest; the goodly promise of his youth and early
manhood all unfulfilled—the work which he longed to do left unaccomplished—a
legacy of tears left to friends and kindred; a subject of wonder and perplexity to all.
4. I do not pretend to have anything of importance to say on this difficult problem.
(1) The uses of bereavement to the survivors have been often insisted upon. No
doubt it is a salutary medicine—just as salutary as it is inexpressibly bitter and
repugnant to the natural taste. In this way we speak of the death of children
especially; but the wonder is greater when men of grand promise are taken away
in their prime, especially at any great crisis of affairs. We are more perplexed at
the sight of a John Baptist imprisoned at the end of a year’s ministry, a James
beheaded before his ministry on a great scale had begun. Add that the first was
slain at the instigation of a dancing girl, and the other at the caprice of a cruel
tyrant—and the wonder is complete. “Where is the Lord God of Elijah?” Will not
the wrath of heaven fall on the head of the guilty? Rather—Why was not this
prevented, and the life prolonged to the full term of years allotted to man?
(2) But do we not, in all our reasonings on this and similar subjects, confine our
regards much too exclusively to this world?—think of time and its concerns, too
much; the things of eternity and of God, too little? Since, however, this life is
inappreciably short in comparison of the life to come—and the concerns of this
world inconceivably petty if contrasted with the concerns of the next; we should,
in our meditations on the subject now before us, never fail to give a considerable
place to the possible share which the concerns of the other life may have in
determining the affairs of this. What shall we say, then, of the deaths of the
young and the promising—nay, of those whose promise has begun to ripen into
performance—so reasonably as this; that it would certainly appear that they were
wanted elsewhere? that their appointed work in another world could no longer be
kept waiting for them? that they had done quite enough here below to warrant
their removal; and that therefore, and only therefore, they were removed?
(3) Shall we not, too, further open our hearts to the comfortable thought that the
race, however brief, may yet have been fully run? that the spirit may have been
perfected, although in an increditably short space of time? that the allotted work
may have been accomplished, although the bud of life has scarcely yet expanded
into a blossom? and that wondering angels may have already carried away the
subject of so many tears to the enjoyment of an imperishable crown? (Dean
Burgon.)
The quiet disciples of the Lord, how they yet bear testimony for Him

1. Though not by shining gifts, yet by the meek and quiet spirit which is precious in
the sight of God.
2. Though not by mighty deeds, yet by patient suffering and holy dying.
3. Though not in the annals of the world’s history, yet in the brotherly circles of the
children of God. (K. Gerok.)
Times of trial testing times
Then is tested—
I. The sincerity of faith in suffering and death (verses 1-3).
II. Brotherly love in watching and prayer (verse 5).
III. Spiritual peace in rest and waiting (verse 6).
IV. The power of God in rescuing and helping (verses 7-11). (Florey.)
The weapons of the Church in the contest against its enemies
1. Inflexible courage in witnessing.
2. Quiet patience in suffering.
3. Unwearied perseverance in prayer. (Leonhard and Spiegel.)
Lessons for the Church
The Church—
1. May expect to be attacked by its enemies so long as it has any.
2. Often has had to sustain the loss of leaders who seemed to be almost
indispensable.
3. Has had to learn that God will not always interfere to save his servants from
death—that one’s death may be of more service than his life.
4. Often has had to suffer from those who attacked it simply to curry favour with
others.
5. Has been taught that many a seeming calamity has turned out to be a blessing
signally manifesting the glory of God.
6. Has found that prayer is its best weapon in fighting with persecution.
7. Has found through prayer that God could overcome the enemies whom it was too
weak to encounter. (S. S. Times.)
STEDMA , WHE PRISO DOORS OPE
I invite you to resume our studies together in the book of Acts. We will look at the twelfth

Acts 12 commentary

Recommended

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot

What's hot (20)

Viewers also liked

Viewers also liked (20)

Similar to Acts 12 commentary

Similar to Acts 12 commentary (20)

More from GLENN PEASE

More from GLENN PEASE (20)

Recently uploaded

Recently uploaded (18)

Acts 12 commentary