This morning we come to an odd chapter in the book of Acts.  This morning we are doing Acts chapter 12 and it seems strangely out of place.   It doesn’t have much to do with our favorite chapter…10 and the message going even to the gentiles.  It doesn’t show, as chapter 11 did, the fantastic change that was happening in the church and how in Antioch gentiles were, in fact, becoming Christians in great numbers. It doesn’t show this global gospel thing advancing across the Roman Empire.  In fact chapter 12 is a throw back to Jerusalem and what is left of the church there.  Most of the Christians have been scattered out of Jerusalem and you get the sense that the believers that are left are the apostles and their closest friends and relatives.  Chapter 12 is an odd chapter in that it doesn’t advance the plot of Acts going to the ends of the earth.  Let’s read some of Acts 12 and you will see something else odd about this chapter.

Acts 12:1-11  It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword.  When he saw that this pleased the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Feast of Unleavened Bread.  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.  So Peter was kept in prison, but the church was earnestly praying to God for him.  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.  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.  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.  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.  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.  Then Peter came to himself and said, "Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod's clutches and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating."

Isn’t this a strange chapter?  You have the story of one apostle getting beheaded and another one going free.  You have this powerful angel walking busting shackles, breezing past guards and popping gates open.  You have the great escape right under Herod’s nose.  It is an exciting story but it has always struck me as strange.  Why did James face the brutal death of being publicly beheaded, while Peter gets a get out of jail free card? Why does Mrs. Zebedee, James’ mother, have her heart broken, while Peter’s wife gets her prayer answered?  Isn’t that a head scratcher? 

Did Jesus have hard feelings against Mrs. Zebedee from back when she attempted to manipulate Jesus into putting her sons on thrones?  Remember that story?

Matthew 20:20-23 Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.  "What is it you want?" he asked. She said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom."  "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" "We can," they answered.  Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father."

Jesus did promise Mrs. Zebedee that her sons would die for him.  So, he was keeping his promise to her, as James is beheaded? That seems a bit harsh.  And then why let Peter go? He was the one who denied Jesus three times!  Jesus had made a promise to Peter, as well; he would die for him, too. Remember that scene at the end of the Gospel of John where Jesus asks him three times if he loved him?

John 21:18-19  “I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go."  Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.

It doesn’t make any sense.  I doubt Jesus liked Peter more than James.  If anything he liked John, James’ brother the most.  Why then did Jesus free Peter and not James? 

Well, maybe it had to do with the prayers for Peter?  We have already read in verse 5 that the church was earnestly praying for Peter.  It is hard to imagine the group not praying for James, too.  But the churches prayer are a little lame. Watch what happened.  When Peter realizes he is not dreaming.  I suspect Peter expected to lose his head like James.  I’m sure he remembered Jesus’ promise as well. 

Acts 12:12-15  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.  Peter knocked at the outer entrance, and a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer the door.  When she recognized Peter's voice, she was so overjoyed she ran back without opening it and exclaimed, "Peter is at the door!"  "You're out of your mind," they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, "It must be his angel." 

Who says Luke doesn’t have a sense of humor?   This would be hilarious as a sitcom.  The ditsy servant girl (I’m not going to say blond. But if it were a sitcom she would be.) She goes to answer the door.  She knows Peter’s voice but doesn’t let him in.  Then we have this argument about whether or not it was Peter.  Luke has just said they were praying for Peter; presumably for God to let him out – when it happens they don’t believe God answered their prayers. This is hardly prayer without doubting. They don’t believe it when the girl tells them!  They don’t even go check at the door to see if it is true.  Meanwhile back at the door…

Acts 12:16-17 But Peter kept on knocking, and when they opened the door and saw him, they were astonished.  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 brothers about this," he said, and then he left for another place.

They finally let him in. But they are all surprised about his release. So, it doesn’t seem that it was because of the church’s prayer of faith that Peter gets released.

Then Luke cryptically says Peter wanders off and that is pretty much the end of the Peter stories in Acts.  He has one more short speech in Acts 15 and that is it.  So, I am still stuck with my question, why Peter and not James?  It is not like Peter does much more in Acts.  Why was he released when he was mostly done anyway?  Peter does go another 20 or so years before he dies at the hands of another ruler; Nero.

Why does God choose Peter over James? Let’s keep reading because I think there is a clue in the rest of the chapter. The story goes back to Herod.

Acts 12:18-23 In the morning, there was no small commotion among the soldiers as to what had become of Peter.  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 a while. He had been quarreling with the people of Tyre and Sidon; they now joined together and sought an audience with him. Having secured 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.  On the appointed day Herod, wearing his royal robes, sat on his throne and delivered a public address to the people.  They shouted, "This is the voice of a god, not of a man."  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.  

I told you this was a strange chapter.  Not only does James die, but now we have Herod being eaten by worms. You need a score card to keep track of the Herods.  It is almost as bad as trying to keep track of the Jamess or the Marys.  Did they not have enough baby names to go around?  Anyway, this Herod is the grandson of Herod the Great, who attempted to kill baby Jesus and nephew of the Herod who killed John the Baptist.

Here is the part where we get a clue; Herod’s title was King of the Jews.  This begins to tie into what is going on in Acts 10 & 11.  Remember Peter in the last two chapters has been powerfully reminded of who is really in charge! 

Acts 10:15 The voice spoke to him a second time, "Do not call anything impure that God has made clean."
Acts 10:36 You know the message God sent to the people of Israel, telling the good news of peace through Jesus Christ, who is Lord of all.
Acts 11:17   So if God gave them the same gift as he gave us, who believed in the Lord Jesus Christ, who was I to think that I could oppose God?"

And now we have this pretender to the throne decide to persecute the church.  Herod thought he was the king of the Jews.  Herod thought he was in control.  But Herod found out the hard way he was not.  Herod was not King.  It only took an angel to free Peter and strike him with worms.  Herod was not king of anything! However, Jesus is King of All!  I like the next verse in chapter 12:

Acts 12:24  But the word of God continued to increase and spread.

Who is really in charge?  Herod could not stand in the way of the spread of the Gospel because he was not in charge!  This chapter is the segway between the first half of Acts and the second.  It is the transition between Peter and Paul.  It is the shift between the Gospel as Jewish thing and the Gospel for All.  It leads us to see how beginning next week the power of the Holy Spirit moves and take over the empire.  Acts chapter 12 shows Lord Jesus is King of All and petty tyrants are not going to stand in His way. 

And this has to be the answer to my dilemma as well.  Why Peter and not James?  Why allow James to be martyred and Peter released?  Jesus is Lord of All and it is his call!  It is all to his glory!

Quickly go back and read end of both Matthew and John passages we read a moment ago: 

Matthew 20:20-23 Then the mother of Zebedee's sons came to Jesus with her sons and, kneeling down, asked a favor of him.  "What is it you want?" he asked. She said, "Grant that one of these two sons of mine may sit at your right and the other at your left in your kingdom."  "You don't know what you are asking," Jesus said to them. "Can you drink the cup I am going to drink?" "We can," they answered.  Jesus said to them, "You will indeed drink from my cup, but to sit at my right or left is not for me to grant. These places belong to those for whom they have been prepared by my Father."

Been prepared by my Father.  God is in charge!

John 21:18-19  “I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted; but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go."  Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.

Peter would one day bring glory by his death, just as James did here. 
This chapter is all about who is in charge; the king of the Jews; Herod or the king All; Jesus.  

Here is another amazing clue.  Luke makes sure we know that all of this happened at the Passover feast.  The Passover feast celebrated the deliverance, freedom, and release of the captives!  The Passover is all about God being in control over earthly kings, like Pharaoh and Herod.  Here in Acts 12 we find deliverance; Peter is miraculously freed from captivity on Passover night!  Isn’t that cool!  Isn’t that a God thing? 

And it’s also a metaphor for our lives!  When we commit our lives to his Kingship, he delivers us to a life of glory.  We dedicate our lives to his service and he frees us to a life of freedom.  He takes control of who we are and we leave the driving to him and go along for the ride!  Whether our lives end as James did, as martyrs to his glory, or whether we live to be a 100 giving everyday to him, it doesn’t matter.  We live to give glory to King Jesus!