Persecution and God's Perspective

This morning I turned to Acts 12, and this chapter primarily is about the rescue of Peter from prison, but the chapter begins with the capture and death of James.  In his description of James, Luke calls him the brother of John, which is a flipping of significance from the verses I was reflecting upon yesterday, found in Matt 17.  Anyway, it was just a funny reminder that in the Lord, our position, title, and significance are never set, except by Him.  

Reading on in the chapter, I was thinking about the fact that the Church was under serious attack here, and that the Lord protected them, although James was put to death. Here are the verses - Acts 12:1-4 NIV:

[1] "It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. [2] He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. [3] When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread. [4] After arresting him, he put him in prison, handing him over to be guarded by four squads of four soldiers each. Herod intended to bring him out for public trial after the Passover."

I was thinking about the blow this must have been to the Church.  In Acts 7, Stephen is stoned, and in Acts 8 a persecution of the Church had begun, and many had fled, but the leaders of the Church, has mostly stayed in and around Jerusalem, except for a few short mission trips to places like Samaria.  Anyway, the church had weathered the initial persecution and seemed to be back to somewhat normal life. It had been 8-10 years since Stephen's death, and Saul had been converted, so some of the driving force behind the persecution had waned. The church was starting to grow and Peter had recently had his experience with Gentile's becoming saved and baptised by the Holy Spirit, and presented his case to the rest of the Apostles in Jerusalem (Acts 11).  Into this scenario, suddenly Herod decides to persecute the church and arrests some from the church.  We don't know for sure who all got arrested, but James was part of that group, and later Peter is added. 

Going back to the state of the church, there was definitely still some concern about Gentiles vs. Jew (See acts 11: 2).  The church must also have been a sore spot for the Jews living in Jerusalem, for it appeared they knew who the leaders of the Church were, and they were pleased at the death of James, so much so, that Herod was emboldened to arrest Peter.  The Church was definitely seen, and known, and though not officially sanctioned it was a part of Jerusalem, but probably not a welcomed part.  

If there wasn't an official persecution, there was a certainly a dislike for the church among the Jews.  The political power of the Jews had remained and Herod was probably trying to get in good with the Jewish leaders and his persecution of the church was likely at their behest.  It seems to me that there is a certain similarity to our present political climate in the US.  

Anyway, within this background, we find a very interesting situation, James, one of the leaders of the Church, is killed, while Peter, another of the leaders, is miraculously rescued.  One would think this caused some serious questions of faith and belief.  That God could and would protect them is obvious, but James had died.  Had the church not prayed and fasted enough?  Had the Lord abandoned James in his hour of need?  Had the Lord judged James and Peter and found one lacking faith, while the other was faithful?  Was the Lord too slow in answering their prayers?  I bring these questions up because they represent some of the questions we often raise when God does something, or allows something we don't understand or agree with Him on.

I appreciate that Luke didn't digress into these types of questions, but I am sure they existed and were challenging to walk through as a church.   People always have their own perspective, and questioning is natural when something doesn't make sense.  They were apparently a close-knit group of believers, and the loss of James must have shook them, for He was one of the Apostles, the first of the 12 to die.  All the rest, except John, would suffer martyrs deaths, according to church tradition, but at this early stage, I am sure there was an expectation about their roles, their authority, and their protection, especially after the Lord set the Apostles free (Recorded in Acts 5) from jail the last time.  

I think it is important to step back and look at the bigger picture here.  As people with earthly perspective, we can sometimes focus on the wrong things, in this case the Apostles.  The reality was that the Holy Spirit was leading the church, not the Apostles. They clearly had significant influence, but the Holy Spirit was clearly guiding, directing and enacting change in the Church, as seen in Acts 9 & 10, where He directed and orchestrated Peter's experience with Gentiles, and the church's recognition that the Holy Spirit's seal of approval trumped their concerns.  Thus, while the leadership team had been struck, the leader (Holy Spirit)  was still firmly in charge.

So, as we look at these events, we must consider that God had a different perspective. As humans, we don't like suffering, persecution or martyrdom, but within the Kingdom of God, there is allowance and purpose for all.  One of the early church fathers, Tertullian coined a phrase, "the blood of martyrs is the seed of the church"and this was based, in part, on observation that every time the church was persecuted the church grew!  That certainly does not fit into our human logic, we think the exact opposite should occur.  History is full of rebellions dying after being crushed with force, and yet time and time again the church flourishes under persecution and even executions.  At present the church is growing fastest in places where it is being persecuted the most severely, places like Iran and China. 

So, in light of this how did the church respond to James' death? Luke writes in Acts 12:24 NIV:  "But the word of God continued to spread and flourish."  In fact in Acts 13, Paul and Barnabas begin their evangelistic journeys, and the Church continued to spread throughout the whole region!  The response was not to hide, but rather to spread the Word of God far and wide!  We find the church empowered and encouraged to press further into her call and mission to spread the Gospel to all the nations (Matt 28:18-20).

Oh Lord, we don't understand Your ways, but we certainly can observe them! Help us to be strengthened in our resolve, even as the enemy, through national leaders, politics and power plays, tries to crush Your Church, and silence her voice!  Help us to press into relationship with You in prayer, dedication to Your Word, and in our following Holy Spirit, who still leads Your Church today!

Amen and Amen!