August 12
Bible Reading: Acts 12:1-3
Acts 12:1-3, “About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James the brother of John with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.”
How fast the tragic news must have spread throughout the church. Evil King Herod seized some brethren, and had James, the brother of John, killed with a sword! James’s crime? He was a leader in the church and the Jews despised the witness of Jesus. It was politically advantageous for Herod to go after its leaders. So, the evil King Herod killed innocent James. And then he had Peter locked up.
The news was no doubt met with both heartache and a sense of pending peril. What was the meaning of all that had taken place? How could God allow for it? Were their lives all now in danger? The church had grown and prospered; the message of the gospel having worked to save countless thousands of souls. What would happen now?
Foxe’s Book of Martyrs recounts what happened to James: “The next martyr we meet with, according to St. Luke, in the History of the Apostles’ Acts, was James the son of Zebedee…It was not until ten years after the death of Stephen that the second martyrdom took place; for no sooner had Herod Agrippa been appointed governor of Judea, than, with a view to ingratiate himself with them, he raised a sharp persecution against the Christians, and determined to make an effectual blow, by striking at their leaders. The account given us by an eminent primitive writer, Clemens Alexandrinus, ought not to be overlooked; that, as James was led to the place of martyrdom, his accuser was brought to repent of his conduct by the apostle’s extraordinary courage and undauntedness, and fell down at his feet to request his pardon, professing himself a Christian, and resolving that James should not receive the crown of martyrdom alone. Hence, they were both beheaded at the same time. Thus did the first apostolic martyr cheerfully and resolutely receive that cup, which he had told our Savior he was ready to drink…These events took place A.D. 44.”
We don’t need to speculate as to what happened next. Jesus had said, “I will build my church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it” (Matthew 16:18). “The gates of hell,” adorned in kingly attired (Acts 12:21-22), tried their best. King Herod died in inglorious fashion, “but the Word of God increased and multiplied” (Acts 12:24). And so, it continues to this day in the battle of good vs. evil. “The whole world lies in the power of the evil one” (1 John 5:19). But, praise God, “everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world” (1 John 5:4). King Herod killed James, but King Herod couldn’t kill the church. James received a martyr’s reward in his ready reception in heaven. King Herod was “eaten by worms” (Acts 12:23)!
“God allowed Herod to kill James, but He kept him from harming Peter… We may not always understand His ways, but we know His sovereign will is best.”—Warren Wiersbe
ONCE TO EV’RY MAN AND NATION
Once to every man and nation,
Comes the moment to decide,
In the strife of truth with falsehood,
For the good or evil side;
Some great cause, some great decision,
Offering each the bloom or blight,
And the choice goes by forever,
’Twixt that darkness and that light.
Then to side with truth is noble,
When we share her wretched crust,
Ere her cause bring fame and profit,
And ’tis prosperous to be just;
Then it is the brave man chooses
While the coward stands aside,
Till the multitude make virtue
Of the faith they had denied.
By the light of burning martyrs,
Christ, Thy bleeding feet we track,
Toiling up new Calv’ries ever
With the cross that turns not back;
New occasions teach new duties,
Time makes ancient good uncouth,
They must upward still and onward,
Who would keep abreast of truth.
LookingtoJesus 