Grace Evangelical-Lutheran: Acts 12,1-11. 16. Trinity

Friday, September 21, 2018

Acts 12,1-11. 16. Trinity

Acts 12,1-11 4618

16. Trinitatis 061

Euphemia, Virgin, Martyr at Chalcedon, Turkey. ✠ 307

Cyprian, Bishop of Carthage, Tunisia. Martyr 258

16. September 2018

1. О Christ Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life, help us to seek our rest and joy in You, so that we may endure the trials and tribulations of this temporal world and look forward to the glories of the heavenly realm of Your Kingdom (Starck 271-2). Amen.

2. »About that time King Herod laid violent hands on some who belonged to the Church. He killed James bar-Zebedee, the brother of John, with the sword, and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread (of Passover). And when he had seized Peter, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the Church. Now when Herod was about to bring him out, on that very night, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains, and sentries before the door were guarding the prison. And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter on the side and woke him, saying: „Get up quickly.“ And the chains fell off his hands. And the angel said to him: „Dress 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 followed him. He did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city. It opened for them of its own accord, and they went out and went along one street, and immediately the angel left him. When Peter came to himself, he said: „Now I am sure that the Lord has sent His angel and rescued me from the hand of Herod and from all that the Jewish people were expecting.“«

3. The events in Acts 12 occurred around ad 41-44, about 8-11 years after Jesus had been crucified, resurrected and ascended (James was martyred in 41; Herod died in 44). The King Herod referenced here is Herod Agrippa I (10 bc - ad 44; reigned from 37-44), and he was a grandson of the infamous King Herod the Great and son of Aristobulus IV and Berenice. His territory comprised most of traditional Israel, including Iudaea, Galilee, Batanaea and Perea. From Galilee his territory extended east to Trachonitis. Emperor Claudius (10 bc - ad 54; emperor from 41-54) named him king and extended his kingdom to match that ruled by his grandfather. He was the first Jewish king since his grandfather, Herod the Great, whose kingship ended a couple of years after the birth of Jesus.

4. Herod Agrippa’s zeal for Judaism is recorded by Josephus, Philo of Alexandria and numerous contemporary rabbis. This zeal led to the martyrdom of the first apostle, James bar-Zebedee who, with his brother John and Peter, was one of Jesus’ closest and earliest disciples. Herod ordered James to be beheaded by the sword and imprisoned Peter, who presumably was up next for execution and martyrdom. Herod’s zeal reveals his political and religious agenda: kill the apostolic leaders of the Christian sect and it will soon scatter and die out.

5. The Acts of the Apostles tell us that within a decade of Christ’s ascension the Church was facing persecution and martyrdom on account of her faith in Christ. Jesus had told His disciples this very thing, saying: »You will be hated for My Name’s sake and they will persecute you. Do not fear those who hate and persecute you; I will confess before My Father everyone who confesses Me« (Matthew 10,22-23.26.32). Thus St. John Chrysostom comments on the martyrdom of James: „that even when slain the apostles prevail“ (The Homilies on the Acts of the Apostles, Homily 27). Chrysostom built upon Tertullian who had written in the 2. century: „The more you mow us down, the thicker we rise: the seed is the blood of Christians“ [1] (Tertullian 50,13). For it as St. Luke tells us at the end of Acts 12: »But the Word of God grew and multiplied« (Acts 12,24).

6. These are words of comfort and grace, for fear and uncertainty often grip the Church when trials, persecutions and martyrdoms begin to increase. The world and its tyrants still rage and Christians often bear the brunt of their wrath. 1 in 12 Christians worldwide are persecuted (Jerusalem Post 11. January 2018). In Beijing, government officials have recently destroyed crosses, burned Bibles, closed churches and are attempting to force Chinese Christians to sign papers renouncing the faith; it is part of a national campaign to Sinicize Christianity by demanding loyalty to the atheist Communist Party of China (BobFu4China; Fox News). The European Centre for Law and Justice recently spoke at the UN urging help as ISIS continues to persecute Christians in Syria and Iraq.

7. The Apostle Paul encourages us with these words: »God has not given us a spirit of fear, for He gives us a spirit of power, love and self-control. Therefore do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me His prisoner, but share in suffering for the gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling on account of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel« (2. Timothy 1,7-10).

8. The apostles and the Church point us to Christ Jesus, for by the Providence of Jesus the Church and Christians have overcome persecution throughout the ages. That Providence flows from His death and resurrection. We have suffered, been persecuted and martyred with Jesus; we have been baptized into His death (Romans 6,3). We have been buried with Him by Baptism into death in order that just as Christ has been raised from the dead we also will be raised from the dead (Romans 6,4). We have been baptized into His resurrection (Romans 6,5). Christ has justified us, forgiven us and saved us. The world cannot change this. Persecution and martyrdom cannot take it from us. Jesus has secured our eternal life with Him in heaven, therefore we can and shall endure everything the world and her tyrants throws at us in this temporal life so as to distract us, discourage us and tempt us to reject Jesus. The Holy Spirit will strengthen us and secure us to trust in Jesus and His promises.

9. Hymnist Paul Gerhard wrote of this victory in his hymn If God Himself be for me:

My heart with joy is springing;

I am no longer sad.

My soul is filled with singing;

Your sunshine makes me glad.

The sun that cheers my spirit

Is Jesus Christ, my King;

The heav’n I shall inherit

Makes me rejoice and sing (LSB 724,10).

And to this we simply say: „Amen and amen. Make it so at your return, Lord Jesus.“ Amen.

10. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, Your Name is Holy and Awesome; keep our faith always and only on You so that we cling to the redemption You give to Your people and look forward to the resurrection of our bodies and souls for You truly are the Resurrection and the Life, the very Mighty Fortress who shields us from our evil foes. Amen.

[1] Plures efficimur, quotiens metimur a vobis: semen est sanguis Christianorum.

All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4. Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 28. Revised Edition © 2012 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart.

Tertullian. Apologeticus pro Christianis.

Grace Evangelical-Lutheran

Grace Evangelical Lutheran Church

Friday, September 21, 2018

Acts 12,1-11. 16. Trinity

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