Tag Archives: Acts 12

Clashing Kingdoms

April 4, 2024 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them.
Acts 12:1 (NIV)

The name Herod appears in various places through both the stories of Jesus as well as the record of the early Jesus Movement in Acts. The name Herod, however, refers to different members of the same royal dynasty who ruled under the authority of Rome.

When Jesus was born, it was Herod the Great who sat on the throne. After his death, the kingdom was divided into three parts, each ruled by Herod’s sons. It was Herod Antipas who had John the Baptist beheaded and participated in Jesus’ trials. Herod Agrippa, grandson of Herod the Great, was made king by Caligula and is the Herod referenced in today’s chapter.

A dynasty does not happen without knowing how to rule the masses and manage the chess game of politics. This is especially true under the ever-shifting political winds from Rome, who demanded, above all else, that order be maintained across the Empire. The Herods were masters at the game of thrones and were absolutely ruthless in gaining and maintaining power. Jesus referred to Herod Antipas as a fox.

In Judea, especially in Jerusalem, the Herods had to manage a tricky relationship with the Jewish rulers who managed the Temple. Herod’s palace overlooked the Temple. It was Herod who paid for the Temple’s renovation and it was referred to as Herod’s Temple. The Herods pretended to be Jews for political reasons, but no one really believed there was real devotion there. The relationship between the Herods and the Jewish leaders was purely about power and money.

In today’s chapter, Herod Agrippa has James the brother of John, and one of the Twelve executed. Luke doesn’t record James’ offense (not that he needed one) but his intention was to persecute the pesky, growing Jewish sect that had been a thorn in the side of the Jewish leaders. Of course, politics is all about leverage and influence, so when Herod realized he’d scored some political points and there was more to be had, he had Peter arrested, as well.

On a grand level, the Jesus story and the Jesus Movement are about bringing the Kingdom of God to earth, and then into the world. There is inherent conflict on this grand scale because the “kingdoms of this world“ are about power, wealth, and pride and are under the dominion of the evil one, whom the Great Story refers to as the “Prince of this World.” The Kingdom of God is about humility, sacrificial love, and service.

Along my life journey, I’ve observed that religion can be as much a Kingdom of this World as any civic or commercial authority. It was precisely this reality that Jesus criticized in the Jewish establishment. It was because the Jewish authorities were operating as a kingdom of this world that they found it necessary to have Jesus killed, Stephen stoned, James beheaded, and Peter arrested. The further I get in my journey, the more wary I become of religious establishments that operate as earthly kingdoms and the more passionate I’ve become about living out the Kingdom of God without the labels of any establishment.

In the quiet this morning, it seems to me that God worked powerfully and miraculously in and through the early Jesus Movement because it was small, weak, humble, and focused on being the kingdom of God. As a disciple of Jesus, I want to follow that example.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Angels

September 28, 2018 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

“You’re out of your mind,” they told her. When she kept insisting that it was so, they said, “It must be his angel.”
Acts 12:15 (NIV)

Just over a decade ago there was an original series that premiered on the TNT network. It was called Saving Grace. Wendy and I absolutely loved it. The show centered around a very hard, broken, and flawed police detective named Grace who was expertly played by Holly Hunter. Grace’s life was all sorts of messed up, and in the opening episode we find her on the verge of suicide. That’s when Earl shows up. The scraggly, dumpy-looking Earl is actually an angel sent to help save Grace from herself, hence the title of the show. The show ran for four seasons.

Across the Great Story there are numerous times that angels enter the narrative. Certainly in the life of Jesus and throughout the book of Acts angels play an active role, as in today’s chapter. Dr. Luke describes Peter’s imprisonment by Herod and his being shackled continually between four armed guards. In the middle of the night an angel arrives to arrange for Peter’s “Great Escape.” Peter is rescued and returns to where the fellow believers are staying.

I love that Luke adds the detail about a servant girl named Rhoda who comes to the door when Peter arrives and knocks. The servant girl is so excited to see Peter that she runs to tell the household forgetting to actually unlock the door and let Peter inside. Upon telling the believers that Peter is outside at the door, they insist she is out of her mind, saying “It must be his angel.”

The Greek word Luke used in describing the event was atou which is correctly translated as a personal, possessive pronoun. It is clear that the believers understood that Peter had a personal angel assigned to him, and this verse is among the passages that have led to the popular belief that each of us has a “guardian angel.” (Matt 8:10 and Heb 1:14 are two others).

For the record, I do believe in angels even though I don’t have a great story like Peter’s (which I’m okay with, btw). I find it interesting that Hollywood regularly uses the humorous device of choosing a very unangelic presence when depicting angels. I think both of the scraggly Earl in Saving Grace and the elderly, diminutive Clarence in It’s a Wonderful Life.

This morning in the quiet I’m thinking about angels. When writing about “fallen angels,” otherwise known as demons, C.S. Lewis wisely wrote that we can make one of two foolish mistakes. One is to waste time thinking too much about them. The second, Lewis said, is to be dismissive of them altogether. I’ve always agreed with Lewis on this, and so I don’t think too much about angels and demons except when I encounter a chapter like today’s. So, this morning I’m allowing myself some creative fun with the notion that every one does have a guardian angel and how my angel might be personified.

I think his name is probably Walter.

By the way, Saving Grace is available to rent through Amazon Prime.

Have a great day, everyone.

photo: by Frank Okenfels; Leon Rippy as Earl

Chapter-a-Day

When You are Weak…

May 26, 2015 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

But the word of God continued to spread and flourish.
Acts 12:24 (NIV)

Executions. Imprisonments. Persecution. And yet, the word of God continued to spread and flourish.

There were so many reasons for hopelessness and despair. If you were a gambler there was every reason to put your money on the powers-that-be. These Jesus followers, becoming known as “The Way” or “Christ-ians,” were such a rag-tag, motley crew of uneducated misfits. The power was with Rome. The power was with the regional ruler, Herod. The power was with the politically leveraged Jewish leaders in Jerusalem. Put your money on the power brokers. These Jesus people are doomed.

But wait a minute…
“‘…my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord.” Isaiah 55:8

I’ve been mulling over our daughter’s blog post the past few weeks. It keeps bubbling up in my heart and mind at random moments. It bubbled up again as I read this morning’s chapter. She writes:

My faith, which had once seemed small and simple became increasingly challenging and complex. I went to six different countries and in each I was confronted with injustice and brokenness that sank my heart and made my blood boil. But I found it impossible to be disheartened to the point of giving up on my faith because the people who had every reason to believe that God had abandoned them were the most faithful, resilient, grateful and joyful people. Consistently. Everywhere I went. And they could tell you of all the ways God provided for them. Even when the world was dark and evil, He was still good, they told me. There was never any denying of the loss that comes from war, poverty, famine, or disease…but there was always rejoicing in hope. I think in much of the third-world there is a greater understanding of Jesus’ words, “I have told you these things so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33).

The river of God flows upstream. The Kingdom of God is not a Kingdom of this world. The Spirit does not operate in the same way as flesh and blood. Those who have the least in this world realize that they have more than anyone perceives. Those who are weak and find a source of power that is not of this world. Those doomed discover that God can do exceeding, abundantly above all that we ask or think.

We who have so much are blind to the true depths of our poverty.

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Acts 12

May 10, 2012 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

Meanwhile, Peter continued knocking. Acts 12:16a (NLT)

How hilarious, the image of the escaped Peter standing outside knocking while everyone inside is celebrating his escape. What a comical moment, to picture him standing there knocking. “Hello? Anyone want to actually let me in? I’m a man on the run here!”

What a funny but apt word picture. Jesus used knocking as a consistent theme and metaphor in His teaching:

“Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. And to everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.”

“Suppose you went to a friend’s house at midnight, wanting to borrow three loaves of bread. You say to him, ‘A friend of mine has just arrived for a visit, and I have nothing for him to eat.’ And suppose he calls out from his bedroom, ‘Don’t bother me. The door is locked for the night, and my family and I are all in bed. I can’t help you.’ But I tell you this—though he won’t do it for friendship’s sake, if you keep knocking long enough, he will get up and give you whatever you need because of your shameless persistence.”

“Look! I stand at the door and knock. If you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in, and we will share a meal together as friends.”

Today, I’m mindful of the things for which I continue to approach God to ask, seek, and knock – and even though I feel like Peter standing outside in the cold knocking forever – I’m encouraged to keep it up. Just like in Jesus’ parable, sometimes the persistence pays off.