“And behold, an angel of the Lord stood next to him, and a light shone in the cell…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.’” (Acts 12:7, 11)
Miracle and Mystery
The whole of Acts chapter 12 presents both a great miracle and a great mystery of God. Imprisoned by King Herod and chained to two guards, Peter was likely to be executed for the pleasure of the Jews as early as that next morning. Instead, an angel of the Lord rescues Peter in the middle of the night, breaking him free from his chains and leading him past many Roman soldiers to freedom.
When you consider how this story fits with the events that took place just days before , or perhaps that very day, the storyline can get a bit difficult. Earlier in Acts 12, the author records:
“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. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread.” (Acts 12:1-3)
God is sovereign
For the church in Jerusalem, and for us today, it’s easy to see these two things:
- God had the power to rescue Peter, and he DID.
- God had the power to rescue James, and he DID NOT.
Yet to say that James was not “rescued” by God lacks a biblical definition of rescue. As humans, we define rescue as any time in which a person is removed from an outcome we perceive as negative and brought to an outcome we perceive as positive. But God is not concerned with our limited perception. God is concerned with his glory. We can read this story today and proclaim with complete certainty that God is unchanging despite the two different outcomes. God received glory on the day of James’ martyrdom. God received glory on the night of Peter’s rescue.
Was Peter’s mission more valuable?
Was James’ heart less devoted?
There is nothing in the scriptures that indicates this. Yet how many churches today would love to make that the heart of this passage? Peter must have served more, Peter must have tithed more, Peter must have been more dedicated…God owed this one to Peter. What a dangerous thought that is.
All for God’s glory
God brought glory to himself through both James’ death and Peter’s life. That is the heart of Acts 12. The miracle and the mystery of God should both inspire and challenge us. It is not for us to fully understand, and it is not for us to manipulate for our own benefit. God owes nothing to his children, yet he has graciously given us life, beginning with our mission on earth and continuing on in eternity… all for his glory and our joy.
Our God is an amazing God.
7 Comments on "When God Rescues: The miracles and mysteries of God"
Amen indeed man. He is amazing. So crazy how you can just read over chapters like that without really stopping for thinking about what is going on and why.
I always love these daily articles! =) Thank you
I love the miracle mystery comparison.
Commenting on the post, I think if anyone wanted to bring glory to themselves they would be a proud chovenist, unless that person is God. Since God is the only really transcendent being, then the fact that He is in control and calls the shots and is worshipped is good news.
Bones.
Very legit.
God’s sovereignty is such a sweet thing..,praise the Lord for that. David- I’m excited to read more from you!
God is still a mysterious and miraculous one today.
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