PETER IMPRISONED

Acts 12:1-4 Now about that time Herod, the king, stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. And he killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also. (Then were the days of unleavened bread.) And when he had apprehended him, he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him, intending after Easter to bring him forth to the people.

In order to be consistent with previous passages, the time referred to at the beginning of the lesson text, is assumed to be during the time that Saul and Barnabas brought the charitable relief gifts from the church at Antioch to those distressed by the famine in Judea. It was about that time (that) Herod, the king, stretched forth his hands to vex certain (members) of the church. Historically we know this king to be Herod Agrippa, the grandson of Herod the Great, who ruled during the days of Christ's sojourn on Earth. To say that he stretched forth his hands, means that he used his influence and powers, as king, to vex -tjat is, to do evil, harm, and render ineffective, the influence of certain leaders of the church (of Christ). His actions do not seem to infer an "all out" military effort to destroy all Christians, but to selectively choose, and persecute, those that had a strong Christian teaching influence in the church, in an effort to keep it from spreading. By placing fear in the followers of Christ, he probably thought that the growth of Christianity would be hindered, suppressed, and possibly even completely destroyed.

In order to gain the favor of the Jewish people over whom he ruled, Herod Agrippa, like his grandfather, was more than likely a proselyte that observed Jewish ceremonial law. And to maintain their favor, he probably submitted willingly to their demands to exercise hostel, persecuting rule over all members of the New Testament church of Christ. In order to demonstrate this and carry out his evil plan of persecution, he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. (In passing, it seems unusual that James was the first apostle martyred, and his brother, John was the last apostle to be slain or to die of natural causes.) However, Herod Agrippa saw that the slaying of James pleased the Jews. From this fact one can easily see that the actions of Herod Agrippa's were influenced, not by what was right or wrong, but by public opinion - on what would be most pleasing to the dogmatic, zealous Jews over whom he governed.

Seeing that it was pleasing in their sight, Herod Agrippa continued his persecution of the leaders of the church of Christ. To do so, he proceeded further to take Peter also. Since Peter was one of the most vocal of the apostles of Jesus, his being apprehended, and put in prison,seemed to be the best course to follow in order to quell the popular influence of Christianity among the Jewish nation. And to make it even more influential and conciliatory to the Jews, Peter's arrest and confinement took place during the days of unleavened bread. Herod Agrippa, when he had apprehended him (Peter), he put him in prison, and delivered him to four quaternions of soldiers to keep him. That is, to assure that Peter would be securely kept in prison, four watches of soldiers were assigned each day consisting of four soldiers in each watch. It is worth noting that, during these feast days, Jewish law prohibited trials and executions from taking place, and realizing this, the judgment of Peter was probably delayed until these days of celebration wereover.

This was a time of celebration; it was during the Passover week of unleavened bread, which is erroneously translated here in the King James Version of the Bible as Easter. This word, Easter, has an English Saxon origin. It is derived from "Eostre," a heathen goddess of love who was celebrated by pagans in the month of April. Since it was celebrated at a time similar to that of the Jewish Passover, the name "Easter" began to be observed erroneously in honor of the resurrection of Christ. Although this festival is observed by many "Christian denominations" today, it should be known that a day of celebration to observe the resurrection of Jesus Christ never took place in the first century church. It was never mentioned by the Holy Spirit-inspired apostles and writers of the New Testament, and therefore, it was not then, nor is it now, a commandment of God that Christians celebrate it today as a religious holiday. In the lesson text, the only significance to these days of celebration was that Jewish law required Peter to be left in confinement until after the Passover (NKJV) was completed before the soldiers could bring him forth to the people.