At that time Herod the king laid his hands on some of those of the assembly to do them hurt,
A king now turns on the church in Jerusalem. Three questions follow: who was this Herod, why did God let his hands fall on some of His own people, and who held real power?
More than one Herod appears in the New Testament. This one came from a famous family and had a political motive.
At this moment "Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church." This Herod was the grandson of Herod the Great, who commanded the massacre at Bethlehem, and the father of that King Agrippa before whom Paul was brought. History knows him as Herod Agrippa I. His ruling passion was to stand well with everybody, no matter what it cost. He mixed this vanity with careful attention to the rites of the Jewish religion, so he stood well with his subjects. To win their favour even more, he no doubt began the new persecution of the Christians.
The attack changed hands, and that raised a question.
Until now all attempts to stop the movement in Jerusalem had come from the religious authorities. Now the civil power held by Agrippa entered the fight. He began a campaign against the followers of the Lord Jesus. Would it succeed where the others had failed? At first it seemed to triumph. Herod executed James the brother of John, and heaven gave no sign of its horror at the deed.
The alliance behind this attack was strange.
It was about A.D. 44 that Herod sought to win favour with his Jewish subjects by persecuting the harmless Christians. Not that there was any love between Herod and the Jews, for they hated each other deeply. But here they united, since both hated the heavenly testimony.
Herod did not strike at random.
If one of the sons of Zebedee was to be kept as the last of the twelve apostles, the other fell to the sword of Herod Agrippa. He was the first martyr among the apostles. The king was in no way a violent, unpredictable ruler like his grandfather, Herod the Great. But his grandfather courted the favour of the Romans, and this grandson courted the favour of the Jews. And those who seemed to be pillars in the church gave him the readiest means and objects for gratifying Jewish spite.
Note the word "some." The hand fell on a few, not on all. God did not deal with them all the same way.
He kills James, and goes on to seize Peter and put him in prison. But God preserves His servant, and delivers him by His angel in answer to the prayers of the saints. He allows some to be killed — happy witnesses to their heavenly portion in Christ. He preserves others to carry on the testimony on earth, despite all the power of the enemy, which seemed impossible to resist.
Not every writer explains the difference. One leaves the question open: "Why the Lord did not step in on his behalf, as He did for Peter, who can tell?" (F. B. Hole)
This king also stands as a picture of one still to come.
Here is a striking foreshadowing of the evil king who will appear in the last days. He will reign over the Jews under the shadow and support of the Gentiles, as Herod did. Not less but more than the one before him, he will be bent on murdering the innocent. His heart will be full of evil toward others, whom the Lord will rescue by His goodness.
The chapter opens with a king stretching out his hands. It ends with those hands stilled.
So our God rules over all. He is the Governor among the nations, whatever the pride and will of man may be. Power belongs to Him. The power of every enemy is feeble when He steps in. Herod could not understand the power that beat him. Baffled and confused, he condemns the prison guards to death and leaves Jerusalem. But he little thought that his own death was to come before that of his prisoners.
- The hands that reached — Herod Agrippa I, grandson of Herod the Great, wanted to stand well with everybody. He began this persecution to win favour with his subjects.
- The hands that joined — the king and the Jews hated each other. Here they united, because both hated the heavenly testimony.
- The hands that fell — he struck at those who seemed to be pillars, the easiest targets for Jewish spite. James died by the sword, and heaven gave no sign.
- The hands that were held — God let some die as happy witnesses and kept others to carry the testimony on. Why James was not spared, no writer claims to know.
- The hands that were stilled — power belongs to God, the Governor among the nations. Herod never guessed that his own death would come before his prisoner's.
and slew James, the brother of John, with the sword.
One short sentence records the death of an apostle. Herod's sword falls on James, and Scripture moves on without a word of protest or explanation. That silence raises the questions commentators press hardest: who was this James, why did God allow it, and why was Peter spared days later?
The New Testament holds more than one James, and readers often mix them up.
The James who wrote it was not the brother of John. Herod killed him in the very early years, as Acts 12:2 records. The author of the letter was the James spoken of in Acts 15:13 and Acts 21:18. Paul calls him, "James, the Lord's brother," in Galatians 1:19.
This James is a fisherman's son, and his death holds a unique place in the record.
James. This was one of the sons of Zebedee the fisherman. The name James is the English form of the Hebrew and Greek name Jacob. He is the only apostle whose death the New Testament mentions. Herod Agrippa I had him executed in Jerusalem.
Years earlier, the mother of James and John had asked for the two best seats in the coming kingdom for her sons. Jesus turned to the brothers with a question about a cup, and both said they were able.
You remember that this martyr's mother, Salome, had once prayed, "Grant that these two sons of mine may sit, one at your right hand and one at your left, in your kingdom." Turning to them, the Lord had replied, "Are you able to drink the cup that I am to drink, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?" They said to Him, "We are able" (Matthew 20:21-22, in an older translation). The moment had come for one of the two brothers to drink the cup. The other drank his many years later. John was probably the last of all the apostles to die for his faith, but James was the first. His time of service was short. He died only some twelve or thirteen years after his Master's crucifixion.
James had asked for a throne, and a sword answered him. One writer wonders whether James would have wanted it any other way.
Here we are reminded of James. In the first great success of the gospel he had to seal with his blood the truth he had preached. So he found our Lord's word proved true: he was to be baptized with the same baptism as Jesus Himself. Do you think James would have wanted a throne on earth instead of the martyr's crown?
The killing was not a burst of rage. It was politics, and the most visible Christians made the most useful targets.
So one of the sons of Zebedee lived on as the last of the twelve apostles. The other fell to the sword of Herod Agrippa, the first martyr among the apostles. This king was not a violent, high-handed ruler like his grandfather, Herod the Great. But his grandfather had worked to win favour with the Romans, and this man did the same with the Jews. And those who seemed to be pillars in the church were the easiest targets for satisfying Jewish spite.
James dies; Peter, chained in the same city under the same king, walks out past the guards. One writer traces both outcomes to God.
He kills James, and proceeds to take Peter and put him in prison. But God preserves His servant, and delivers him by His angel in answer to the prayers of the saints. He allows some to be killed. They are happy witnesses to their heavenly portion in Christ. He keeps others alive to carry on the testimony on earth, despite all the power of the enemy, a power that looks impossible to resist. The Lord defeats it by showing the power that belongs to Him and to Him alone — a power He uses when He will and how He will.
Nothing of James's work survives in Scripture. He appears beside Peter and John, then vanishes until this verse.
Yet James was one of the three whom the Lord took into His confidence, along with John and Peter. His life is a blank to us, and his day went down at noon! How little we can see of God's ways! And if we judge a life only by its results, we are certain to judge it wrongly!
- The cup asked for. James asked for a throne beside Christ and said he could drink His cup. Herod's sword answered him.
- The cup given. He is the first of the twelve apostles to die, and the only apostle whose death Scripture records. He is the son of Zebedee, not the James who wrote the letter.
- The cup as politics. Herod struck at the best-known believers to win favour with the Jews. Visible service made James a target.
- The cup withheld. An angel rescues Peter from the same king. God lets some die as witnesses to a heavenly portion and keeps others to carry on the testimony.
- The cup and the crown. James left no record of his work, and his day ended at noon. Judge a life by its visible results and you will judge it wrong.