Acts 12:1-19

  Now about that time Herod the king laid hands on some who belonged to the church, in order to mistreat them. And he had James the brother of John put to death with a sword. And when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. Now it was during the days of Unleavened Bread. And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out before the people. So Peter was kept in the prison, but prayer for him was being made fervently by the church to God. And on the very night when Herod was about to bring him forward, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains; and guards in front of the door were watching over the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord suddenly appeared, and a light shone in the cell; and he struck Peter's side and roused him, saying, "Get up quickly." And his chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him, "Gird yourself and put on your sandals." And he did so. And he said to him, "Wrap your cloak around you and follow me." And he went out and continued to follow, and he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. And when they had passed the first and second guard, they came to the iron gate that leads into the city, which opened for them by itself; and they went out and went along one street; and immediately the angel departed from him. And when Peter came to himself, he said, "Now I know for sure that the Lord has sent forth His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting." And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John who was also called Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying. And when he knocked at the door of the gate, a servant-girl named Rhoda came to answer. And when she recognized Peter's voice, because of her joy she did not open the gate, but ran in and announced that Peter was standing in front of the gate. And they said to her, "You are out of your mind!" But she kept insisting that it was so. And they kept saying, "It is his angel." But Peter continued knocking; and when they had opened the door, they saw him and were amazed. But motioning to them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had led him out of the prison. And he said, "Report these things to James and the brethren." And he departed and went to another place.

 

  Now when day came, there was no small disturbance among the soldiers as to what could have become of Peter. And when Herod had searched for him and had not found him, he examined the guards and ordered that they be led away to execution. And he went down from Judea to Caesarea and was spending time there.

 

One of the most troubling realities in Christianity is the way that some believers are not rescued from pain and suffering while others are. This is most commonly seen when people are sick. People pray for both sick believers. One gets well. The other dies. In fact, it seems very rare that God heals a person once the doctors have given us the bad news that she’s at death’s door. We often look back with longing to the days of the early church. Back then, we say, God rescued a lot more believers from their sufferings.

 

God did rescue some people from their sufferings back then, just as he does now. But this story makes it clear that the early church had to struggle with uncertainty in the same way that we do.

 

As the story begins, Herod executes James the brother of John. Just like that. In one verse, he’s dead. Who knows how much the believers prayed for John between his arrest and his execution? I’m sure they prayed fervently. I would be very surprised to learn that they hadn’t. But he died. And Herod seemed to be in control. God allowed him to arrest Peter, too.

 

So the church prayed. And this time God sent an angel to free Peter. Peter himself didn’t believe it was happening at first! Neither did the believers who had gathered for a prayer meeting – even though Peter’s safety was the very thing they were praying for! But Peter was free. God’s rescue was real. The consequences were real. The believers were able to report to other believers that Peter had been rescued. There was a small uproar among the soldiers. Herod executed them for losing a prisoner. God had actually sent an angel to walk Peter out of prison! But he hadn’t rescued James the brother of John.

 

We serve the same God believers have always served. We walk in the same faith, the same calling, the same hope. The early days may seems glorious, but our history would look glorious, too, if we reported mainly on the amazing things God does and devoted only a sentence or two to the times when God seems not to act. When God acts, we respond the same way the early believers did – with wonder and amazement! We must remember that we serve a God who is able to do amazing things now – and does them! But we also must remember that our ultimate hope is not that God will heal us today. Our ultimate hope is that we will be raised to a totally new and indestructible life when Jesus comes again. Today’s “failures” merely remind us to keep looking forward to that hope. God is not weak. But God has an amazing salvation in store for all of us – such an amazing salvation that it doesn’t matter that all of today’s prayers don’t go our way.

 

James the brother of John? He’ll live again. And Peter, who was rescued? He eventually died. But he’ll live again, too. We have to stop putting our hope in temporary rescues, temporary healings, temporary blessings. This life fades and withers, no matter how often God intervenes. We are not Christians because we hope that Jesus will make things easier on us in this life. We are Christians because we know that Jesus is giving us a whole new life when He returns. We should not be confused that God sometimes heals and helps us now while at other times He seems to do nothing. God doesn’t want us to think that His salvation is complete already. He didn’t want the early church to think so, either.

 

Father, thank You that there’s more to come. Better things to come. Thank You that all the frustrating, painful experiences we have today are not forever. Thank You for sometimes acting in response to our prayers, as You did for Peter – reminding us that You are powerful enough to save us. But thank You also that You don’t make this life so easy that we forget to look forward to what is really going to be great – and that You never have. I can’t wait for Jesus to come again! Life will be so wonderful! Your glory and power will be so obvious! We will fully experience and enjoy Your love! Keep reminding us through Your word and through Your answers to prayer – whenever You decide we need them – keep reminding us that You are able to fulfill Your promises. Keep our hope on Jesus’ return.