July 5th, 2012
Today’s reading from Encounter with God

Death and Resurrection

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Opening Prayer

Lord, I know that all You do is perfect. Help me not to judge You by my own ignorance.

Read Acts 12:1-19

[1] 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. [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. [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. [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.

Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International Bible Society.

Meditate

“You have no control over how long you live; you only have control over how well you live” (Tony Campolo).

Think Further

One of the background themes of Acts is the death and resurrection of Jesus demonstrated in the lives of his followers. Here we see a God who delivers one of his servants while another is executed. James is only the second Christian leader to be killed, but there would be thousands to follow him. It is impossible to answer the question why he should die while Peter was spared on this occasion. We know from the death of Stephen that Jesus waits to receive his martyred followers (Acts 7:56). Belief in the resurrection helps persecuted Christians to face the possibility of death as part of the price of following a crucified Messiah. Western Christians with limited experience of the persecution and suffering is rare in the history and present experience of the world church.

We should laugh with Luke at the ensuing story. Even Peter takes a while to accept that he has been freed. It is the servant, Rhoda, who comes nearest to immediate belief that Peter really is at the door. Reflecting on the fact that normal believers in the first century were sometimes as weak in faith as we are, we should mourn at our own unbelief. The two dangers that we face are assuming that God will deliver us from every danger (he didn’t for James) or praying without any expectation of God acting. We need to balance faith with an acceptance that his plans may be different from ours.

The lack of faith in prayer is compounded by the lack of trust in the testimony of Rhoda. Is their dismissal of her report something to do with her being just the servant girl? Trusting others is a vital part of what it means to be in fellowship with all fellow believers, regardless of differences in social position.

Apply

Are there specific areas where you need to review your faith in God or in your fellow Christians? If so, ask God to help you begin.

Closing prayer

Sovereign Lord, my times are in Your hands. Empower me to live my life to Your glory, in good times or in bad.

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