AN ATHEISTIC BIBLE STUDY OF ACTS CHAPTER TWELVE
Saul who became Paul’s conversion to Christianity led to a period of relatively unchallenged growth for the new religious order, as the man in charge of the international pursuit of the renegades had become one of them.
Now the persecutions were beginning afresh. Herod has James, brother of John put to the sword. The Jews in Judea and in Jerusalem in particular, seem pleased by this result.
Herod now captures Peter, who has inexplicably reappeared in Judea, (having last been seen in Joppa), and has him imprisoned, in preparation for his execution too,
With the Easter anniversary of Jesus’s execution chosen as his execution date (an unlikely eagerness to make a martyr of him, rather than discreetly disposing of him quietly), Herod has Peter guarded by several guards round the clock, and within sight of at least two of them at all times, even though bound in chains in a locked cell. Escape seems impossible.
Of course, Peter has outside help in a very extreme sense. An angel arrives in his cell and wakes him up, breaks his chains, helps him dress and get into his sandals, and makes the gates to the prison open by themselves, guiding Peter into the streets, where Peter is left to fend for himself.
Peter goes to see Mary, Mother of mark, also known as John, and meets a woman called Rhoda, who opens the door to him, and she tells the many people meeting for Jesus worship in the house of Peter’s miraculous escape. No one believes her until Peter enters the room and they see him with their own eyes. This has obvious parallels with Christ’s resurrection, though Peter has not died.
Peter expresses anger at their disbelief and goes round meeting other Christians who had taken his impending death for granted, reassuring them of his continued mission work.
Herod has the guards who let Peter escape executed. He goes off from Jerusalem to Caesarea, and in a fit of madness, he tries to set himself up there as a messianic king, but God has him alive from the inside out by worms, and Herod dies.
The Christian church continues to flourish, with Saul, Barnabus and John returning to Judea as the chapter closes.
There is nothing really new in this chapter, as the leading layers are captured, granted miraculous escapes, and their persecutors suffer and die. This is much the pattern of Acts now for some time. The new faith flourishes, and does well, or a few followers face setbacks due to persecution, until God takes care of things for them (shame he didn’t help James in the same way he assisted Peter), and in other chapters, the Christians fall into schism among themselves, which is now proving to be a greater threat to their survival as a religion than the attacks upon them by unbelievers. In this at least, the New Testament is being realistic and credible. .
Arthur Chappell
