Acts 12
Chapter 12 is not long but it is packed with people, places, and power. Luke immediately references member of the Herod family. Luke 12:1 reads, "It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church..." It is wise to take a moment to organize the family of Herod the Great....
We remember Herod the Great for a couple of reasons: he remodeled the Temple and he ordered the murder of all male babies in Bethlehem in an attempt to kill the new born Messiah. But Herod the Great had children and many of his offspring were even more ruthless. Consider the chart below:
This chart represents only a portion of Herod the Great's children and grandchildren. Herod Antipas, Herod Archelaus, Herod Phillip, and Phillip the Tetrarch ruled various portion of the Middle East early in the first century. By the mid-first century, the grandson, Agrippa I, was in power. Luke is speaking of Herod Agrippa I in this passage. With that in mind, let us begin reading Acts 12:
"It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. 2 He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. 3 When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. 4 After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover.
Herod Aggrippa put James (brother of John) to death with a sword. James is the first Apostle to die but he would not be the last. At the end of this blog I have included how each of the Twelve were killed because of their faith in Jesus. Continue reading at verse 5:
5 So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him. 6 The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries stood guard at the entrance. 7 Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him up. “Quick, get up!” he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. 8 Then the angel said to him, “Put on your clothes and sandals.” And Peter did so. “Wrap your cloak around you and follow me,” the angel told him. 9 Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea that what the angel was doing was really happening; he thought he was seeing a vision. 10 They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of one street, suddenly the angel left him.
Multiple jail door locks, guards, and two chains were no match for this angel from God. Peter understood and did as directed, following the angel outside the prison. Continue reading at verse 11:
11 Then Peter came to himself and said, “Now I know without a doubt that the Lord has sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches and from everything the Jewish people were hoping would happen.” 12 When this had dawned on him, he went to the house of Mary the mother of John, also called Mark, where many people had gathered and were praying. 13 Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant named Rhoda came to answer the door. 14 When she recognized Peter’s voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, “Peter is at the door!” 15 “You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.” 16 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. 17 Peter motioned with his hand for them to be quiet and described how the Lord had brought him out of prison. “Tell James and the other brothers and sisters about this,” he said, and then he left for another place.
While Luke noted that James, the brother of John, had been killed, here Peter was referring to “James the Lord’s brother” (Gal. 1:19), one of the pillars of the primitive Christian church (Gal. 2:9), and the author of The Epistle of James. In verse 12 Luke notes another person named John, also called Mark. This is the first time that Luke references John Mark. This John Mark is the (human) author of the gospel of Mark. Continue reading at verse 18:
18 In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter. 19 After Herod had a thorough search made for him and did not find him, he cross-examined the guards and ordered that they be executed. Then Herod went from Judea to Caesarea and stayed there. 20 He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him."
Tyre and Sidon were in the region of Phoenicia, in the Roman province of Syria. Both cities are sea ports just north of Israel, in fact Jesus visited these cities in noted in Mark 7:24. Continue reading at verse 20:
"After securing the support of Blastus, a trusted personal servant of the king, they asked for peace, because they depended on the king’s country for their food supply. 21 On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people. 22 They shouted, “This is the voice of a god, not of a man.” 23 Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died."
Herod Aggrippa chose poorly. It was not yet time for Peter to be killed. So after Aggrippa I died his son, Herod Aggrippa II rose to power. We will learn more about him later. Continue reading at verse 24:
24 But the word of God continued to spread and flourish. 25 When Barnabas and Saul had finished their mission, they returned from Jerusalem, taking with them John, also called Mark."
John Mark is the author of the Book of Mark and the nephew of Barnabas (Colossians 4:10). More importantly, he was a close associate of both Paul and especially Peter. The Gospel of Mark is considered Scripture because it was written under the authority of Peter.
The following slides illustrate how each of the Twelve went on the proclaim the Gospel of Jesus and were later killed for their faith.
