Bible Commentaries

The Martyrdom of St. James (For St. James the Apostle's Day)

Acts 12:2

I. The close of St. James" career reminds us that the Bible, as a rule, does not dwell so much upon the persons of those who worked with the Lord as upon the work which they were instrumental in bringing out. The author of the Acts of the Apostles reminds us that, in the former treatise which he wrote, he set forth all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day He was taken up; and surely this second book might be described as having for its theme all that Jesus intended to do and to teach after He was taken up. The theme of the remainder of the books of the New Testament is the life, and the work, and the personality of the eternal, the Incarnate Son of God, and so it matters not very much by whom or through whose instrumentality the work was carried on. James and the other ten Apostles appear, perhaps, every now and then, as elements and factors in that work—they are not really the persons by whom that work was accomplished.

II. And then we are reminded, too, of what is really and truly the littleness of posthumous fame. What does it matter, as regards ourselves, whether in future ages our deeds or our own sufferings are known and thought of? What does it matter to any apostle today? James and John are household words, they are names which are familiar to us all, and yet, beyond just a few circumstances here and there in the books of the New Testament, we know very little whatever about them.

III. Again, the martyrdom of St. James speaks to us forcibly of the littleness of that which we call death. He passed out of this world, "Herod killed James the brother of John with the sword". To all outward appearances his work is done. Is that really so? His activities certainly in this life have come to an end, but his work is not over. The Apostles are the foundations of the Church of God, Jesus Christ Himself being the head corner-stone. The work which they accomplished during the years of their mortal life, being done in His name, and by His power and influence, is a work which survives those who were instrumental in its fulfilment. The work of St. Peter, and St. Acts 12:6

J. M. Neale takes this text along with St. Matthew xvi17 , 19 , "I will give unto thee the keys," etc. He says that St. Peter "was not spending the night in complaining that the promise made to him had not been fulfilled; no, nor yet in reminding our Lord of it, and therefore praying to be delivered. He was asleep; and very likely the only Christian in Jerusalem that was asleep that night. Peter, having committed himself to his Master's hands, knew that he had work to do for Him on the morrow which would require all his strength. Therefore he used the means which God has appointed for the refreshment of our bodies; he lay down and slept.

I read of Peter's sleeping three times; once when our Lord was in His greatest earthly glory, namely, at His transfiguration; once in His deepest humiliation, namely, at His agony; and once in his own great need. Those two first times were not sleeps which did him honour; the spirit might be willing but the flesh was weak. But the last showed Peter's faith and love. He knew that he was to die on the morrow, as James had died before him; he knew that he was shut out from all earthly hope; he knew that the little church of Jerusalem needed him; but he left everything in Christ's hands, knowing that He would keep that which was committed unto Him. He had seen His Master asleep in the midst of great fear and danger, and now He followed His example. If our Lord had said, "Simon, sleepest thou?" there would have been no upbraiding in His words now. So you see, we may sometimes do good service to God, and be working out our own salvation, even while we sleep."

—Sermons in Sackville College Chapel, vol. iv. p78.

Acts 12:6

Compare Macaulay's description of the Marquis of Argyle (History of England, chap. v.): "So effectively had religious faith and hope, co-operating with natural courage and equanimity, composed his spirits, that, on the very day on which he was to die... he lay down, to take a short slumber, in order that his body and mind might be in full vigour when he should mount the scaffold. At this time, one of the Lords of Council came to the Castle with a message from his brethren, and demanded admittance to the Earl. It was answered that the Earl was asleep. The Privy Councillor thought that this was a subterfuge, and insisted on entering. The door of the cell was softly opened; and there lay Argyle on the bed, sleeping, in his irons, the placid sleep of infancy."

Reference.—XII:6.—J. M. Neale, Sermons Preached in Sackville College Chapel, vol. iv. p79.

St. Peter's Deliverance (For St. Peter's Day)

Acts 12:7

The early Church at this time seemed to be in a very bad way. Herod, son of the Herod who slew the Innocents, vexed the Church, and it might have been wellnigh blotted out if it had not been Divine. Just as the old Herod, slaying the Innocents, would have slain the Saviour, so this Herod would have blotted put the early Church. He took Acts 12:8

There is a vividness of detail about this story which assures us that facts are being recorded. No imagination, however lively, could have conceived the scene that is presented here. These words are rich in spiritual suggestion.

I. In the first place, they are the angel's argument that what had happened was actually true. Not by remarkable and striking proofs, nor by the doing of anything uncommon; not in such ways was Peter made to feel that all that had happened to him was reality. It was by doing an ordinary deed—girding his cloak and putting on his shoes—but doing it now in the light the angel brought, a light that "never was on land or sea". That angel-argument with Peter is one that ought to be powerful with us all. There is no such proof that the new light is real as just the use of it for common deeds.

II. Then once our text suggests what I might call the Divine economy of power. "Gird thyself, do not expect me to do it; what thou canst do for thyself, that thou must do." We see this same economy of power when we study the miracles of Jesus Christ. It is an added evidence for Jesus" miracles that the miraculous is kept down to the lowest point. He makes the wine, but will not fetch the water; it is in the power of the servants to do that. Do you see the meaning of that Divine procedure? It makes us fellow-workers with the Highest. Peter needed the angel for his rescue, but for the rescue the angel needed Peter.

III. Lastly, the text suggests to me a certain leisureliness in God's procedure. We know the kind of man that Peter was, and how ardent and impulsive was his nature. Alive to his danger and to his opportunity, can you wonder if Peter clean forgot his sandals? And then the angel, calm amid that tumult, with a calmness born of fellowship with God, said: "Gird thyself and put thy sandals on". When Peter came to look back upon it all, he would see the meaning of the angel's conduct, and learn the lesson (which is so hard to learn) that there is no hurry in the plans of God.

—G. H. Morrison, The Wings of the Morning, p228.

Reference.—XII:9.—Spurgeon, Sermons, vol. ix. No526.

The Departing of the Angel

Acts 12:10

Behold the angel of the Lord came upon Peter, and a light shined in the prison. And the angel touched Peter, and the chains fell off him. And the angel led him out from ward to ward. And the iron gate swung back upon its hinges, and Peter was out under the stare again. And the angel and Peter passed on through one street, and forthwith the angel departed from him. Now, do you see why the angel left the disciple then? I think it is not difficult to see why. The angel's work was done; that is the point There was the presence of Christ for Simon Peter now; there was God in His eternal law and love; but there was no need for the angel any more.

I. I wonder if you grasp, then, what I should venture to call the helpful doctrine of the departing angel? It means that in extraordinary difficulties we may reasonably look for extraordinary help. But when the clamant need goes, so does the angel. The angel departs, but the love of Christ remains.

II. I want then to take that suggestion and bring it to bear on various phases of life. (1) And first we shall think of Israel in the wilderness. Out of the dungeon and prison-house of Egypt they were carried by the constraint of irresistible power. But then, when they reached Canaan, and had, as it were, passed through one street of it, forthwith the angel departed from them. Jehovah was with them still in love and law; the mystical presence of Jesus was their shield. (2) Or we might think of the history of the Christian Church in this light. We might compare Pentecost with after centuries. There was a radiance and a spiritual glory about Pentecost that remind us at once of Peter and the angel. And then the Church passed on through one street mystical, and forthwith the angel departed from them. We are out in the streets now, under the stars of heaven; miraculous ministries would simply ruin our manhood. Now the Lord is our Shepherd and our stay: the grace of an abiding Christ suffices. (3) I think, too, that we become conscious of this truth in the unfolding of our individual life. If at every turn the angel met us, and the vision of a dream enchanted us, we should lose heart and nerve and power for the struggle and be like the lotus-eaters in ignoble quietude. The angel may go, but duty still remains. (4) I think we may swing this thought like a lamp over the dark chamber of the grave. It may be there is some one here who, looking backward, remembers an angel presence. You thought it was going to be a lifelong comradeship; you would travel on through all life's streets together. But you only passed on through one street, and forthwith the angel departed from you. Remember the doctrine of the departing angel, when the heart is empty and the grave is full.

—G. H. Morrison, Sun-Rise: Addresses from a City Pulpit, p74.

References.—XII:10.—J. M. Neale, Sermons for Some Feast Days in the Christian Year, p153. Expositor (6th Series), vol. vii. p121. XII:11.—W. G. Rutherford, The Key of Knowledge, p126.

Honour Retrieved

Acts 12:12

Not the least interesting way of studying the Bible, as you may have found, is to fix upon one of its many minor characters, and trace out, in ordered detail, all that can be known about him. Often it is surprising that so much should be ascertainable, and that so adequate a picture can be drawn of his life and personality. Let us try to write the life, in outline at all events, of John whose surname was Mark; and we shall discover, I think, that there are facts in this life which are also side-lights on our own.

Our information about Acts 12:17; Acts 28:30-31

Both Peter and Paul drop out of Acts suddenly. The reader would have liked to know what became of them, but Luke apparently has no interest in recording the close of their career. Peter departed and went into another place. Paul taught for two years in Rome, no man forbidding him. And that is all. Evidently Luke's concern with both Apostles was not biographical. His aim was to depict the expansion of the Gospel from Jerusalem to Rome, and with the record of that his work is done. Hence, while we learn incidentally of the death of Herod the persecutor, there is not a syllable about the death of Peter or of Paul within his pages. As Harnack observes, in a recent essay on Die Zeitangaben in der Apostelgeschichte des Lukas (p23), "Soli deo gloria! What Luke is occupied with is not Peter or Paul, but the Divine process of impenitence on the part of the Jews and of Gospel-preaching to the Gentiles throughout Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth, and then Rome, as well as the receptivity wrought by God among the Gentiles for this message. Αὐτοὶ καὶ ἀκούσονται."When Luke wrote, they were hearing in still greater numbers throughout the empire. The earlier workmen had been buried, but God's work was going on.

The glad cadence of the last four words of Acts (μετὰ πὰσης παῤῥησίας ἀκωλύτως) and the dramatic position of the closing adverb justify Harnack's remarks, in another essay (Lukas der Arzt, p116 , Eng. trans, pp163 f.), upon the undaunted optimism of the book. "What a trumpet-note of joy and courage and victory resounds from the first page to the last of the Lucan history! Vexilla regis prodeunt! We listen in vain for this note in the other Evangelists. They are all burdened with a far more heavy load of cares, ideas, and doctrines than this Greek enthusiast of Christ, who strides forward bravely surmounting every difficulty." The full significance of ἀκωλύτως; is seen in the light of a passage like Luke 11:52, where the writer has substituted ἐκωλύσατε for Matthew's οὐκ ἀφίετε in Christ's word upon the scribes, or υομίκοι, who prevented other people from entering the kingdom.

—James Moffatt.

References.—XII:17.—Expositor (7th Series), vol. v. p277. XII:21.—Ibid. (4th Series), vol. viii. p301.

Acts 12:22

What illuminations and conflagrations here kindled themselves, as if new heavenly suns had risen, which proved only to be tar-barrels, and terrestrial locks of straw! Profane princesses cried out, "One God, one Farinelli!" and whither now have they and Farinelli danced?

—Carlyle, Essay on Sir Walter Scott.

References.—XII:24.—J. B. Meharry, Christian World Pulpit, vol. xlvii. p329. XII:25.—F. D. Maurice, The Acts of the Apostles, p185. XIII. Expositor (4th Series), vol. ii. p33; ibid. vol. v. p30; ibid. vol. vi. pp163 , 373.