What About Him?
Scripture Reading: Acts 12
Acts 12 tells the dramatic story of Peter’s deliverance from Herod’s prison and the subsequent and mildly comical reaction of the gathered church who had been praying for that deliverance but didn’t believe it when it happened. This part, the longest section of the chapter, is where most people understandably focus their attention. But not to be overlooked and providing important context is what precipitated Peter’s arrest. That context casts a long shadow over the whole incident. James, to the pleasure of the Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, was murdered by Herod. And that is what led to Peter’s arrest.
Peter, James, and John were the triumvirate inner circle of Jesus. Jesus had twelve disciples, but those three were the clear leaders of those leaders. It was Peter, James, and John who were chosen to be with Jesus both on the Mount of Transfiguration and the Garden of Gethsemane, two seminal moments in Jesus’ life. Jesus had invested special attention into their development and the training of these three young men. Yet, while the church was still in her infancy and when leadership was crucial to her future, James’ lifeless body had been laid somewhere in a cold Judean tomb.
Could God not have sent an angel to rescue James just like he had done for Peter? The Christian and biblical answer to that question is “absolutely yes.” But God didn’t. Why Peter and not James?
We can guess at answers to that question, but to do so is to stumble around blindly in the unrevealed and therefore unknown and unknowable councils of God. We are, I believe, required instead to rest in the character of God. We are to trust in his goodness when we don’t know what good could come from something. We are to believe he is wise when we don’t see the wisdom in it. We are to have faith in his purposes when it looks purposeless. We are to have confidence in his justice when it appears to be unfair.
God doesn’t treat all of his children the same. We can be thankful for that. We shouldn’t look at our brothers or sisters in envy, nor should we complain about the path down which God leads them and not us. Our Father knows each of us by name. We are one family, but individual children in the family. We each require special love and attention. None of our paths will look the same because our Father isn’t building robots, he is birthing and raising a family.
As the old hymn says”
Some through the waters
Some through the flood
Some through the fire
But all by the blood
James died during the days of the church’s infancy under Herod’s sword. Peter was crucified later under Nero’s cruel persecution. Domitian had John exiled to Patmos where he presumably died an old man. And in this, we see the wisdom in Jesus’ words to Peter when Peter asked, “Lord, what about this man?” And Jesus replied, “If it is my will that he remain until I come, what is that to you? You follow me.”
May it be that today I’ll not concern myself with my Father’s plans for others – except to pray for them, encourage them, and help them if I can – and instead just concern myself with following Jesus the way that he is leading me.