From Bondage to Freedom - Acts 12

Let's see if we can remember how to do this. I'm so excited about the sermon today. Are you guys ready to go to work? I am. This one in particular, I've been looking forward to. I got to tell you the whole reason I wanted to do a series through Acts was Acts chapters nine, 10, and 11. Missed all three. Lame. But Acts chapter 12 is pretty good. I do want to back up and just kind of catch the flow of where we've been.

First of all, Jesus calls them to go. Jerusalem, Judea, Sumeria, the ends of the earth, right? All over the earth. And he says, I'm going to give you the power to do it through the Holy Spirit. Right? So we talked about that. How do we know we have the Holy Spirit? The fruit. The fruit of the spirit. That's how we know we have the Holy Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control.

You don't get the fruit by pursuing fruit. You get the fruit by pursuing Christ and then the fruit becomes true of you. You can't help it. So if you're struggling with the fruit, it's not a fruit problem. It's a Jesus problem. I got to pursue Christ more.

Then they started to unfold in the book of Acts like, who is this message for? And the expanding circles for the Jewish people are mind blowing. Wait, the gospel is for Roman centurions, too? Yes. Yes, as a matter of fact, it is. And for other Gentiles, for people who aren't from here all the way up in the evil city of Antioch. Yeah, yeah. Them too. It's for everybody. Right?

And so we want to continue to build on this narrative in a really odd hiccupy kind of way. And hope we can land that plane better. By the end of the sermon, we're going to look at Acts chapter 12 today. And once again, lots of text, little bitty time to deal with it. Okay, here we go.

"About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. He killed James, the brother of John with the sword; and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. And this was during the days of unleavened bread. And when he had seized him, 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 shown in the cell. He struck Peter on the side..." I don't know what that looked like. Hey, that's how my brain works.

Okay. Let's stop at struck him. He was asleep. That feels like a sucker punch. Struck Peter in the side, woke him saying, 'Get up quickly.' And if 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. And he did not know that what was being done by the angel was real, but he thought he was seeing a vision. And when he had passed the first and the second guard, they came to the iron gate leading into the city and it opened for them on its own accord.

"And they went out and went along one street and immediately the angel left him. Now, 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.' And when he realized this, he went to the house of Mary, the mother of John, whose name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying."

By the way, church tradition says this is the same place where they had had the Last Supper. So this is an ongoing place of meeting for them. "Many were gathered together and were praying. And when he knocked at the door of the gateway, a servant girl named Rhoda came to answer. Recognizing Peter's voice, in her joy she did not open gate but ran in and reported... You're here!... Ran in and reported that Peter was standing at the gate. And they said to her, 'You're out of your mind.' But she kept insisting that it was so, and they kept saying, 'It is his angel.'"

Like they were so convinced he was going to die. They're like this isn't actually Peter. It's his angel, his ghost. "But Peter continued knocking... Hey, it's cold... And when they opened, they saw him and were amazed, but motioning to them with his hands."

When you take time to look at those little phrases, it's kind of funny. "Motioning to them with his hand to be silent... Maybe it was this... He described to them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he said, 'Tell these things to James and to the other brothers.' And then he departed and went to another place. And now when day came, there was no little disturbance among the soldiers over what had become of Peter. And after Herod searched for him and did not find him, he examined the sentries and ordered that they should be put to death.

"And then he went down from Judea to Caesarea to spend time there. Now Herod was angry with the people of Tyre and Sidon, and they came to him with one accord and having persuaded Blastus, the king's chamberlain..." Blastus, for those of you with child, I submit a name for your consideration. Blastus what a cool name. "They asked for peace because their country depended on the king's country for food. And on an appointed day Herod put on his Royal robes, took his seat upon the throne and delivered an oration to them. And the people were shouting, 'The voice of a God and not of a man.'.

"And immediately the angel of the Lord struck him down because he did not give God the glory. And he was eaten by worms and breathed his last...." Think of that. Worms. "But the word of God increased and multiplied. And Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John, whose other name was Mark."

What a weird story. And it's absolutely unnecessary to the narrative arc of the book of Acts. Like if you take this chapter out of the book of Acts and just shove it together, it's seamless. Check this out, Acts 11:27-30. It says this: "Now in these days prophets came down from Jerusalem to Antioch. And one of them named Agabus stood up and foretold by the spirit that there would be a great famine all over the world. This took place in the days of Claudius. So the disciples determined everyone according to his ability to send relief to the brothers living in Judea. And they did so sending it to the elders by the hand of Barnabas and Saul."

So that's the end of chapter 11. At the end of this story Acts 12:25, and Barnabas and Saul returned from Jerusalem when they had completed their service, bringing with them John whose other's name was Mark. So Agabus prophesied, and the people say, okay, we're going to take up some collection and we're going to give it to the people in Judea, because this impending famine that's coming. And they select Barnabas and Saul to go do it. And when Barnabas and Saul were done, they brought John Mark and went home.

That's what had happens if you take chapter 12 out, Which raises this really weird question, why is it there? Because it's an interruption to the story. There is so much going on in this chapter. And I hope that I can do it justice so that we can kind of get our minds around why this. Not only is it good that it's there, but it has to be there. It has to be there. I want to show you King Herod's family tree. So when we're talking about King Herod, we're not talking about King Herod the great. King Herod the great is the one that was alive when Jesus was born. That's the one that we often think, the King Herod that are arrests and kills James. That's the one that we often think about.

Now, what we're talking about is actually Herod Agrippa the first. That's the one we're talking about. So King Herod, by the way, if you look at this, here's a funny little side note. Herod the great has four sons. He actually has more than that, but there's only four listed here because they're the ones pertinent it to the biblical story. Remember when John the Baptist was beheaded? Remember that? Herodias' daughter Salome danced, rights? Herodias' daughter Salome, who is with Herod Antipas. Herodias was married to Herod Antipas. Furthermore, at one point she was actually married to Philip and Antipas stole her.

And that's why John the Baptist was getting after him because they were talking about, he's like, this is an illegitimate marriage. Not because of the incestral nature of it, but it's an illegitimate marriage because you stole her from your brother. And she's mad about it. If I was her, I'd be like, "Thank you, John. This is disgusting."

So that's who we're talking about here. And I want to go back and take a look at Acts 12:1-2, because this is actually really significant. Here's what it says: "About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church and he killed James, the brother of John with the sword." Now here's what we have to wrestle with. Who is James, the brother of John? Let me show you this graphic. James is one of Jesus' inner three. This is Peter, James and John of the big 12, right? James is really important. James is really super tight with Jesus. And when Jesus is back into heaven, he becomes a major foundation stone in the Jerusalem church. Spiritually speaking, he's a big deal.

This is James. And what's interesting about Acts 12 is that James is the first of Jesus's disciples to be martyred. Now he's the first martyr. Stephen is, but Stephen wasn't with Jesus. James was with Jesus. Not only was he with Jesus, but James was in the in. He was in the inner circle. He was part of conversations that nobody else was part of. And it's so anti-climactic. Like if there was ever a guy that needed to be like, "And so let's take time to immortalize him and his contribution to our faith. Let's remember James."

There's no epitaph. There's no eulogy. There's no remembrance. Just a couple of sentences to state the fact. And then you move on. I don't know. But I think if I was James, I would be hurt. Now here's the deal. He's in heaven. So he's probably like, it's no big deal, whatever. I'll tell you just a side note. So my father last Sunday, after 53 years of ministry, he preached his last sermon. And guess what the church did for him? Nothing. I'm deeply offended by it actually. There are thousands of people who came to Christ under my dad's ministry, tens of thousands of marriages that he counseled people that are still married today because of his investment in them. And what'd they do for him? Nothing. I'm offended for him. That's how I feel about James. Really? James is the man. Like James is one of those people that you want to hang onto. James is one of those people that you want to think about. What'd they do for him? Nothing. Agrippa grabbed him and killed him. Moving on.

Now from an emotional standpoint, the church is really hit by this. They have to be. When one of your leaders is tragic, that's a big deal. This is one of those things that is really like, oh man, I'm not sure that this is worth it. Like this isn't how it was supposed to go. And then Peter gets arrested. And the angel comes and gets him and delivers him. And I want to show you. This is actually kind of fun. Let me show you this graphic. Some pictures here.

This is the Temple Mount. And what's highlighted in green over here on the right hand side of the Temple Mount is where Peter would've been held. This is where Peter would've been held in this section just off the Antonia Fortress is what that's called. But that's where he would've been imprisoned, right? Now this is great that he goes to the house of John Mark, because that's in the upper city. We know that it's in the upper city. So let's go to the next photo. This is a another side view. And in the green here that sticks down along the left hand edge of the Temple Mount there's a road that goes right there and then you can see the dotted line, next picture. To the upper city. It's really a short trip.

So it would've been really easy for him to make that trip and would've totally make made sense. That's where he goes to. Now I think that's the last photo. Is that right? That's the last photo. Yes. They're like, "Yes. Please don't say show us another photo." So Peter gets out of the Antonia Fortress. James is butchered. Peter gets arrested and then an angel comes and gets him. What's wrong with James? So many questions.

An interesting aside here that might confuse you if you're paying attention to your text and this will probably come up in your life group this week. So I just want to address it. Acts chapter 12, verse two says, "He killed James, the brother of John with the sword." Then in Acts chapter 12, verse 17 after Peter escapes it says, "But motioning them with his hand to be silent, he described to them how the Lord had brought him out of prison. And he says, 'Tell these things to James and to the brothers.'"

Okay, wait. I thought he was dead. So there's a couple of options here. Number one, Peter doesn't know. But much more likely is that this isn't the same James. This is the James, the brother of Jesus, the James that wrote the epistle of James, not James the brother of John. Because not unlike the English language, Jim was a pretty common name. I just want to clean that up because I know I'm going to get that question.

Now back to the original question. Why do we need this story? Why is this story so important? I want to show you another picture. This is something that my friend Brad showed me and I'm like, oh the angels saying light shown down. It was beautiful. So in the book of Acts, we have kind of some divisions going on in the narrative. So Jesus said, you're going to be my witnesses in Jerusalem and Judea and Samaria to the ends of the earth. And what essentially happens is the story kind of follows that pattern.

So we saw Philip in chapter eight going to Samaria. We see these unfolding realities going on. So we have Jerusalem, chapters one to seven, and then we have the persecution that starts to scatter them. We have Judea and Samaria in chapters eight to 12. And they're all over Judea and Samaria. If you look at it on a map, they're all over Judea and Samaria. And then when we start chapter 13, we get right to the middle of the book and if you're sitting there and you're savvy with your Bible, you're like, "Wait a minute, there's 28 chapters. 12 isn't the middle of the book. 14 should be."

Yep. Luke didn't write the chapters. He wrote without verses and chapters. That was added later. Okay? So the middle of the book is the end of chapter 12. So what we would imagine is then if we're going to see to the ends of the earth, then we ought to see people going out on, I don't know, missionary journeys. Welcome to chapter 13, but that's next week. Right? We start to see the ends of the earth. And so there's this expanding reality of what's going on in the book.

And so right here, right in this space, we have to have this story here. And the question is why? Right at the end of chapter 12, right before we break out into the whole world, right before we see all this stuff start to really take off, we got to have this story here. And the question is why?

Okay. Let me show you something that's happening in the book of Acts. And by the way, in the whole Bible. Here's your graphic. You're like, "What in the world is that?" What a lot of people do with the Bible is that they assume that it's one gigantic story. Okay? What I would offer to you is that the Bible is one really small story told over and over and over and over and over and over and over and over. And chapter 12 is no exception. It's no exception. This is what's going on.

Now let's go to the next graphic. In the exodus, here's the pattern of the story that gets told. There's an evil tyrant and that evil tyrant feels threatened. And so what happens is he responds with violence and people die. Then someone miraculously escapes and an exodus ensues during the Passover. By the way, when did this happen? Chapter 12, when did it happen? During the Passover. Why do I need to know that detail? You guys are like, "Wait, what? The Bible is detailed like that?"

Oh, we're just scratching the surface. Okay. Look at the next graphic. Pharaoh feels threatened, responds with violence and babies die. Right? Then Moses miraculously escapes and an exodus ensues during the Passover. Right? Are you with me on that? This happens in Exodus. Okay? Here's another one. King Herod feels threatened and he responds with violence and all the babies die. And then Jesus miraculously escapes to Egypt. And then an exodus ensues.

Why? Because he's the new Israel and his first act after he reveals himself messianically in baptism, what does he do? He goes to the desert. We say to be tempted by the devil, but what are the temptations? The temptations are the same three tests that Israel faced in the book of Exodus. Only they failed them, and Jesus passes them. And when Satan comes to talk to them about it, this is the part that's just like. Satan comes to talk to them about it. And Jesus, we always say, how do you fight Satan? Well, Jesus quoted scripture at him. Jesus didn't just quote scripture at him. He quoted scripture about the tests that Israel failed. The same ones.

You guys are not as impressed with that as I am. Let me take it one step further. Let me take it one step further. Not only does he quote verses about the tests that Israel failed, but he's not just quoting those verses. He's quoting verses that are talking about the verses about the tests when Israel failed. It's called a double skipper [inaudible 00:24:06] and only the most brilliant rabbis could even try it. Like you should totally follow him. He is amazing. It's incredible what he does. Why? Because he's the new Israel and he's bringing about a new exodus. So why does he have to get baptized? Why does he have to have the presence of God?

Why do we have to have all that? Why? Because he's got to come through the water. Why? Because we're about to have the three tests. Why? Because we're having a new exodus. Are you with me? Okay. Next graphic. This is continued in chapter 12 of Acts. An evil tyrant gets threatened and he responds with violence and James dies. And then Peter miraculously escapes, and a new exodus is fitting to break out.

So we might imagine that the next story is about the gospel exploding into the world. Guess what? The back half of Acts is? We have to have this story, and it's sad. Like I feel like James gets shafted in this. Like James deserves better. But James' story, isn't his own story to celebrate. It's part of a bigger story of God delivering his people. And there are so many applications to that reality. First of all, you have to understand that your story isn't your own story to celebrate. We're part of the deliverance, but it's God's deliverance. It's God's exodus. It's his to do. And you may be James. And you may be Peter. We love the, I got delivered from prison. Isn't that amazing? Here's the deal though. If we were actually in prison, we'd whine the whole time. You know I'm telling you the truth.

We want to be the one that's part of the big deliverance miracle, but you may be the one who's tragically their life ends in death. Why? To tell the same story. It all tells the same story about who God is. And if we don't under that, then we can start to resent God for stuff like that. But the truth is my life isn't my own. It was bought with a price. Therefore I honor Christ with my body. That's the reality of the scriptures. Your life isn't your own to celebrate, your own fairytale about how awesome you are.

But here's the deal. You're awesome. Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying you're bad. I'm just saying none of that matters because it's all God's. And this is about God doing his work, bringing about the exodus in the world, bringing about deliverance, bringing about. And so our job isn't to decide whether we get martyred or we get delivered in a miracle. That's not our call. I know which one I want. I want to be the one that's in the house on the hill going, "Look at all of my blessings from the Lord. God has blessed me with an ease of life."

I just don't think that's common. I don't think that's really what the exodus is all about. I have people tell me often, "Aaron, you got to talk to people about how we're supposed to live in this world. You need to tell us more about how are we supposed to feel about masks; and how are we supposed to feel about vaccines; and how are we supposed to feel about all of this stuff going on with gender neutrality; and how are we supposed to feel about where our governments at trying to move us to socialism; and how are we supposed to feel?"

Listen, Peter and James understood that the goal of the Exodus wasn't to solve the emperor problem. This wasn't about solving their government. It was about being part of God's plan God's way, and let God do his work regardless of how he chooses to use my life in it. And so I don't need. Listen. I have all kinds of opinions about politics. I know you guys are shocked that I would have an opinion about something, because I'm pretty reserved. I don't talk much. But the goal of God's agenda, and the book of Acts has been painting this picture. Like before we get the deliverance, you got to know who the deliverance is for. You got to know how far this net reaches. You got to know.

And so we have all these stories that set that stage. Then we have this moment where this exodus story comes in and now the deliverance can break out. But it's God's deliverance. So how do we live in this world where we're confused and we have evil tyrants rising up and people are dying and we got to figure out how to miraculously survive in all of this? Here's how. Get on your knees. Get your face in the dirt and surrender your life to Jesus.

There's no strategy to solve the government problem. That's God's issue. My issue is to invite his presence more and more and more. And when a whole bunch of people choose to live that way. "Well, what do you mean? Because if you don't stand for something, you fall for anything." Well, first of all, that's not true. And secondly, you may be James, but it doesn't change God's story. It doesn't change God's story. And it's not my story. It's his. It's his story. It's his deliverance. And in the situation that they were facing, which was far more complex. Like for them, it wasn't just a matter of, if I say I'm a Christian, people are going to look down their nose at me. For them it was, if I say I'm a Christian, I'm going to get my head cut off. I'm going to watch my family members be butchered.

It was for real for them. Like we want to whine about it's so hard to be a Christian. People are making fun of me. Maybe it's time to put our big boy pants on and be part of God's story. The problem is we have whole theologies built around the fact that if God loves you're always Peter. You're always the one being delivered. You're always the one being blessed. You're always the one. Tell that to James. By the way, for the record, tell it to Paul. Tell it to any of the apostles. If God loves you're going to be blessed. You'll have blessings. You'll have it. But that measuring rod that we use to measure what's a blessing and what isn't may be a bit skewed by our own materialistic culture.

And that's what we need to deal with. We don't need to solve. There's so many churches that are preaching like Christ versus culture. The culture war. Bring God's presence more. He'll take care of it. That's what the Bible says. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and I will come down and I will heal the land. That doesn't give you this strategy to heal it. He's going to heal it. My job is to be faithful in bringing his presence more. That's it.

He'll heal it. He'll solve the government. He'll solve it. He's got the perfect strategy for it too. I don't know if you know this, but God's strategies are like meticulous. He's thought of everything. We spend so much energy trying to fix things that are his to fix, and way too little energy spending time on the things that we should be spending time on.

The exodus is happening. Deliverance is coming. The question is, are we going to even be able to see it when it happens? Some implications for us this morning. Number one. Circumstances change, but God's promises are still secure. His promises never go away. They never go away. Now I'm going to be honest with you. If you're going to really stand in the fray with God and go to the messy places with God, there's going to be moments where you're going to think about that statement and raise your eyebrow and go, "Are you sure God, because this looks pretty hopeless." We have to understand. We love the miracle of the deliverance of the angels showing up. But right before that Peter was in prison, chained between two guards. Don't miss that. Circumstances change. Sometimes things are awesome. Sometimes things are really hard. But God's promises are secure.

Number two. At one level, Luke is reminding us that the Exodus from death, from tyranny and bondage, is still happening. It's still happening. Number three. Our job, regardless of context, is to be in the business of deliverance. And I just want to say this. Christians get so wrapped up in pointing fingers at everything that's wrong, but we don't go love people well enough to bring anyone out of it. The way that we talk to people about the places where we think they're wrong just causes them to dig their heels in. And it would me too. That's why, and we've been saying this all along, but that's why we need to lead with compassion. It doesn't change the truth. It doesn't misplace the truth, but we got to lead with compassion.

Number four. As we go into all the world, good and bad things will happen. May we focus on the exodus of our own hearts from the bondage that we are in to freedom. That's enough bondage to deal with. Are you with me? Just dealing with my own heart, and the exodus of those around us that are still enslaved by sin. May we be part of the exodus, the deliverance of the world from slavery to God's chosen people.

That's the story that keeps trying to be told and yes, it's complex. And yes, it's difficult. And yes, it's hard to know how am I supposed to respond to this situation or that relationship? Gosh, it's complex. It is. But what I can tell you is more that we invite God's presence into our own life and into the world around us, the more that he can step in and solve it in ways that we can't. We can't. And as we move towards communion this morning, I just would invite us to really stand in a posture of gratitude before the sacrifice that communion represents. Gratitude that he loves us that much. And gratitude that because of his sacrifice, we gain access to the God who can solve the most complex problems. The problems that we stay up at night worrying about. The problems that we weep over. The problems that cause anxiety in us. The problems that we don't know what to do with. Those problems, God has the answer and through Christ we have access to him.

I think sometimes we can come to communion and be like, "This is because of your sin." Yes. But we can forget the deep sense of gratitude for Christ's love in the midst of it. So let's take a minute and prepare our hearts as we get ready to take communion together. On the night Jesus was betrayed, he took bread and he broke it. And he said, "This is my body, which is given for you. So whenever you eat this bread, do it in remembrance of me." Let's remember him this morning.

And then after the dinner he took a cup and he said, "This is a blood of the covenant, which is shed for you. So whenever you drink this cup, do it in remembrance of me." Let's pray. Lord, more of you, less of me. God, we ask for more of your presence, which is good and holy and pure and transformational and healing. It's life-giving. Your presence, not mine. God, thank you that I don't have to hold the pressure of coming up with all the answers because you already know what they need to be. God, find us as a group of people who long for your presence, and then prove yourself faithful once again, God, by showing up. In Jesus' name, amen.