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Acts 12. 1-19
Within the first two weeks of getting my driver’s license I was in a car accident. I was crawling through a grocery store parking lot in my mother’s Nissan Sentra when out of my right periphery I noticed another car beginning to back out. It was one of those slow-motion parking lot dramas, the kind you see coming at an almost glacial pace but still have no power to avoid. The other car continued its course, and I sat there hoping they’d stop. I still remember the feeling of metal on metal, their bumper crunching into my back right passenger door panel. All of a sudden, my sixteen-year-old self was jolted awake to the real world of driving. The real world of responsibly, consequence and in this case, collision. I wasn’t playing with Hot Wheels anymore, quickly handed a healthy respect for my new reality. A license meant a freedom and possibility I’d never known. But whatever fancy-free expectations I had about a life behind the wheel went out the window that day.
It can be tempting to romanticize a life of faith. So much of Scripture encourages and warms the heart. We are loved, we are forgiven, we are free, and the world is now charged with possibility in God’s kingdom. But that is not all we read in the Bible. The Bible was written in the real world. The Books of Acts especially keeps our feet on the ground, reminding us on every page that that world is still our world. A world of possibility, new creation, new life, but also of danger, consequence and collision.
Acts disabuses us of overly sentimental beliefs about a life of faith. When Jesus carried salvation, hope and healing into his world, he wasn’t aways met with a hug. Why would it be any different for his followers? A life of faith is rarely sentimental and never sanitary. In fact, it can be downright scary. But I imagine that’s why we’re here. We’ve signed up with Jesus because we want real life, not a fantasy sold to us by advertisers or a fiction born of naive delusion. We want life to the full, and that means a life of faith that squares with the real world we inhabit every day.
Back to Jerusalem
Here in Acts 12, the writer swings the camera from one scene to another. A moment ago at the close of Acts 11, we were in Antioch with Barnabas and Paul, some five hundred kilometers north. Now we find ourselves back in Jerusalem where it all began. Back with Peter and the other disciples in a city less than hospitable to the growing Jesus movement. Since Acts 8 the believers in Jerusalem had experienced persecution, many scattered all over. Jesus’ disciples, however, the core leadership of the movement at that time, had in large part remained in the city which had become increasingly dangerous.
The Death of James
Just like in Acts 8 with the killing of Stephen, here in Acts 12 that danger again rears its head in the form of toxic political opposition. The believers had seen signs, wonders, healings, thousands of people turning to the LORD, but they still faced significant opposition from the ruling classes in Jerusalem. The higher ups in the Temple continued to apply pressure and form alliances with the other power players of the day, doing all they could to snuff out the movement.
Herod Agrippa was a client king of the Roman Empire, and we meet him for the first time here in Acts 12. The Herodian family line is notoriously confusing, but for our purposes today we need only note that this is the third king Herod we meet between the gospels and Acts (still one more comes later). There was King Herod who tried to have Jesus killed in his infancy, another King Herod to whom Jesus was brought on trial before his death, and now this third King Herod. New Herod, same old story. Power grabbing, corruption and murder. Jesus faced his Herods and so do his followers.
James and John were two of Jesus’ disciples and he nicknamed them “the sons of thunder”. This was not exactly a complement. In the Gospel of Mark chapter 10 we find the brothers asking Jesus if they could have positions of great power in his new kingdom, expecting he was about to set up said kingdom with brute force. Jesus poured cold water on those assumptions immediately.
But in the same breath he informed the brothers that they could indeed expect a similar glory he was about to enter should they follow closely. The glory Jesus first enters in the gospels is of sacrifice and suffering – the cross. The brothers had hoped for one sort of glory, but as we find here in Acts 12, James, the elder brother, was first to follow in Jesus’ footsteps in that other sort. James is killed by Herod, the first of Jesus’ twelve disciples to be martyred.
The Arrest and Escape of Peter
Herod’s killing of James was popular with the Jerusalem Temple elite. Having failed to snuff out Jesus they were unremitting in trying to snuff out the movement. We aren’t told why James went first but Peter was in the crosshairs next, arrested near Passover time. Peter would well remember the seminal Passover of his life, when he saw Jesus arrested, put on trial and killed. The author of Acts no doubt includes details here which draw us back to events in the gospel narratives, making connections to Jesus’ life and death. As the listener imagines him sitting in prison awaiting his trial, we’re preparing for Peter to meet the same end as Jesus and James.
Then, surprisingly, Peter ends up in yet another bizarre drama, something of a pattern for his life. The night before the trial, his life hanging in the balance, locked up and fast asleep, Peter is jolted awake by a jab in the ribcage and a bright light. An angel tells him to get up as his chains just fall off. He’s told to dress and follow, emerging in the dead of night out of the prison and into the dark city. After getting well clear of the prison, the angel disappears as quickly as it had appeared, and it was only then that Peter realized what had happened. We might remember Peter had experienced at least one strange vision as recorded in Acts 10. But this was no vision or dream. He really had been sprung from prison by a heavenly being.
Standing in a dark city street as all this dawns on him Peter eventually makes his way to a house some of the believers had gathered in to pray. Mary’s house. Now as many Herods as we meet in the gospels and Acts we meet just as many Marys, if not more. This Mary was the mother of John Mark, the author of Mark’s gospel, also related to Barnabas. Think of think of these names and connections in the first believing communities like those in ours today. There are more than a few Garys or Sarahs to keep track of. Every name we read is Acts another insight into the small circles of the first believing communities.
With Peter about to go to trial some of the believers had gathered to pray. To their surprise, Peter turns up, as we meet yet another character. Not many ancient sources would bother to mention the servant girl at the gate, but Acts does. Rhoda is her name and after answering the knock ad the door she returns to the others overjoyed, claiming it was Peter.
Prayerful as the group might be, no one believes her. Like any sensible church group, they offer up two more likely explanations than the miraculous. First, Rhoda must be off her rocker. They knew better than to trust the hysterics of servant girls. But she keeps insisting, so the group’s second explanation is that it’s Peter’s angel. What they meant by that is anyone’s guess, but regardless, they are wrong, because Peter keeps knocking and Rhoda is proved right. Quite the “I told you so” moment. If any of this feels vaguely familiar, you’re on the right track.
Rhoda finds herself in a similar position as the women who returned from Jesus’ tomb with the news that his body wasn’t there and they weren’t believed either. Peter is finally let in and tells the group about his ordeal. After asking them to pass on the news to the other disciples he moves on into another place.
As mentioned, the whole scene carries echoes of Jesus’ resurrection in the gospels. Scholars note the timing of events, angelic involvement, surprised witnesses, and vindication of God’s servant all themes aligned with the resurrection accounts. Acts depicts God’s power very much at work in the life of Jesus’ followers as it was at work in Jesus. As we said at the beginning of our study of Acts, Jesus is no less present in the book of Acts than he is the gospels. If anything, we see the increasing influence of his inbreaking kingdom and Spirit everywhere.
As the episode ends we’re reminded again of the difference between the powers and kingdoms of our world and God’s kingdom. Herod has no mercy on the guards who have no explanation for Peter’s disappearance. Herod’s corrupt power, however, will be shown for what it is soon enough. As the kingdom of heaven collides with the kingdoms of earth, God will not ignore toxic political pretenders who push others around for their own glory.
Confidence & Collisions
As we reflect on this drama, a few notes emerge for believers today.
First comes the reminder of the collision of kingdoms. Increasingly now through Acts we’ll see what happens when the gospel arrives some place and is either warmly received or is met with rejection and violence (sometimes a combination of the two). But try as they might to oppose and suppress the victory won through Jesus’ death and resurrection, the powers can’t keep God’s kingdom bay. Between the gospels and Acts, we are now three Herod’s deep. King or not, setting yourself up against God will only have one result in the end.
But secondly, within that larger frame of God’s kingdom and power, this episode also reminds us of how God’s victory unfolds through his people. James’ death is juxtaposed with Peter’s rescue, a reminder for believers that opposition, even persecution and death are as much a possibility as being wondrously sprung from prison by an angelic being. In fact, for most believers throughout history, the former has been more common than the latter. This might be a sobering reminder for those of us who don’t face such opposition regularly. But the truth is that opposition should be expected if believers choose to follow a crucified and raised Jesus. And for many believers globally and historically that opposition has come in the form of persecution, suffering and even death.
This was on our minds even last Sunday around the communion table as we remembered the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Even today, many believers are caught up in the collision of kingdoms. They have chosen devotion to Jesus and pay dearly for it. As we remember our sisters and brothers, and pray for them, we should ask not only that God would protect them, but that he would instill in us all a holy confidence. Whatever believers face in Jesus’ name, we do so in the power of his Spirit, and with the hope of life eternal. As our friend Rikk likes to remind us, that is the very hope of the gospel itself. Even when believers are killed, they still win. That is not a flippant comment in the face of persecution. That is the very hope we carry in Jesus. Here in Acts 12, it is not that James lost and Peter won. They are both alive in God’s hands. James’ time came. Peter’s would later.
Thirdly, we might also remember that a life of faith is surprising. One on hand, believers are secure in the big picture. Trust in Jesus gives us confidence to face suprises. But as this episode reminds us, a life of faith can be surprising in both directions. James is killed, Peter is rescued, and only God in his wisdom knows why. The same goes for our lives. We’ve chosen a life of trust, but not every surprise is easy to navigate, especially the painful ones. No doubt we’ll often find ourselves praying the very words that fellow said to Jesus in the face of fear and worry: Lord, I believe, but help my unbelief. The truth is we do not know how the kingdom will unfold through our lives. The timing, the purposes, the reasons are often unclear this side of eternity. We can pretend to know, but none of us really does.
Twice in this episode we are told the believers are gathered in prayer as Peter is under arrest. We might be tempted here to make a quick application. What should believers do when facing trouble? Pray, of course. And no doubt that is wise council. As our Team was discussing prayer together this week one admittance was that sometimes prayer is our last resort not our first. We’d do well to take a cue from the believers in Acts as they face challenge. Come what may, pray together.
But notice that even as the believers gather to pray for Peter’s life hanging in the balance, they also can’t believe the answer to their prayers even when it comes knocking on their front door. They did not respond to Rhoda by saying, “Ah yes, he’s right on time. We knew our prayers would avail much.” They were in disbelief, just as surprised as Peter.
The believers in Acts 12 are huddled together in prayer, under pressure, holding on as best they can. They had no way of predicting the result of their prayer. We don’t either. We hold on. The power of prayer lies not in the firmness, boldness or even clarity of our faith, but the object of our faith.
Who we hold on to, is of more worth that what we hold onto in prayer. The object of our prayer, less the content of our prayer is where our focus is best placed. And, just in case we forget, Acts here reminds us that the object of our prayer, the LORD himself, holds the keys to every prison, including the prison of death itself! Good news for Peter, yes. But even better news for James.
Believers will face surprises, some wonderful and happy, some heartbreaking and hard. A genuine life of faith brings us into maturity as we do. We are disabused of fantasy in a life of faith, but we are handed something better. We are handed the reality of God’s life and presence writ large over our lives, and even our deaths. A reality and security never threatened by the ups and downs. We might at times feel as though we are hanging on to the object of our faith for dear life. Keep holding.
Do not make God’s life, or your life, so small as to fantasize over some meager predicable existence. We did not come to Jesus for predicable existence. We came to Jesus for real life to the full.
Remember what Paul writes to the Philippians from his prison cell, “I am confident that God who began a good work in you will complete it…”
