Monday, 21 May 2012

Day Fifty-Six

If you have 5 minutes!
Read Acts 12:1-4
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.
The relationship between the Jews and the Roman Empire they lived within is not entirely straightforward! On the whole, until around AD 66-70 when things went badly downhill, the Jewish faith was tolerated within the Empire – albeit seen as odd. In 37 BC the Romans even appointed a half-Jewish leader over Judea (and surrounding regions) in the hope that the Jews would be more compliant with his leadership. This was Herod the Great, the diplomatically brilliant but personally insane Herod of the nativity story.[1] Following his death, the region was split into three areas and his three sons ruled one each. The son who ruled Judea, where Jerusalem was, didn’t last long and was replaced by Roman governors including Pontius Pilate of Jesus’ crucifixion account. The second son – Antipas – ruled over the northern part, including Galilee, and was the Herod who had John the Baptist killed. He was then involved in Jesus’ trial.[2] A third son, Philip, was the most humane.
The Herod we meet here is Herod Agrippa I, in contrast to Herod Agrippa II who we meet in chapters 25 and 26. He is the grandson of Herod the Great and the son of Aristobulus, who was a half-brother of Herod Antipas.[3]
The Herod family was trusted by the Roman Empire but disliked by the Jews due to their Roman upbringing. They were charged with keeping the peace. These two factors explain, in part, Herod’s behaviour here. In killing James he is able to both lend himself to his Jewish critics and demonstrate to his Roman leaders his intolerance of those threatening the status quo.[4] Killing James first perhaps demonstrates a reticence to go straight to the top. Spurred on by “the Jews” approval, however, he arrests Peter and places him in jail…
  • Luke is such a brilliantly concise reader that, in his brevity, it is easy to gloss over the devastating impact James’ death must have had on the church community. Reread these verses and try to imagine how you would have felt if you had been part of the church at that time. How do you think you would have responded?


If you have a bit longer :-)
History repeats itself and sadly today there are many leaders as ruthless as the Herod family. Spend some time praying for those you know of and the people who suffer under their rule. In particular, please pray into the situations in…
  • North Korea, where Kim Jong-un is the current leader having taken over after the death of his father Kim Jong-il. Open Doors estimates that over 25% of Christians in North Korea are languishing in labour camps due to their refusal to worship the founder Kim Il-Sung’s cult.[5]
  • Syria, where Bashar al-Assad is the current ruler having succeeded his oppressive father in 2000. Bashar started his rule with an agenda of reform and openness. Those around him, however, reacted badly to this and recently he has led a violent oppression against those protesting his rule. It is currently a complex situation in Syria – which Jimmy helpfully shed some light on at a recent International Prayer Breakfast (just one reason why you should think about coming along!). What is clear, however, is that the situation needs prayer.
  • Burma, here is an update from Open Doors: “Burma transitioned to a new, semi-civilian government in March, stirring hopes for significant change, including the re-admission of Aung San Suu Kyi into the political arena. A new Human Rights Commission was established in September, with minorities represented on it. It remains to be seen how independently it will operate. However, pressure on Christians from society and the military appears unchanged. There were several reports of the army harassing Christians of the Kachin tribe. In November a bomb killed 7 children and 3 Kachin people at an orphanage run by Christians.”[6]



[1] John Drane, “Introducing the New Testament,” pg. 32.
[2] John Drane, “Introducing the New Testament,” pg. 34.
[3] Tom Wright, “Acts,” pg. 182.
[4] Tom Wright, “Acts,” pg. 182.

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