12:1 - The ESV (English Standard Version) translates this verse, "About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church." Violent hands...that is such a simple and powerful description. Everything that God has created in us, that was originally good, can be corrupted and turned towards evil if we choose it. The choice is up to each of us. Hands made to wash feet and embrace one another can be used to destroy and abuse. Eyes made to see the beauty of God's creation and see areas where we can make a difference for God ca be used to lust and covet. The list could go on indefinitely...are we going to follow the example of Herod or Jesus - the oppressive worldly king willing to do anything to maintain the status quot, or the King of kings who was willing to give everything to lead a revolution of love?
12:5ff - Prayer is powerful and effective. Do it.
12:19 - I find it interesting that when the king cannot figure out what happened with Peter, he skips town for a while. Maybe he fears an uprising from the Christians because of the unlawful arrest? He doesn't understand that the Christians don't care. He is caught up in political intrigue surrounding his throne that is just idiocy to a follower of Christ. He lives his whole life worried about how to get more power and more wealth and how to keep what he is got without being literally stabbed in the back by one of the many people he has crushed to get to the top...everything about who he is, is wrapped up in the few short years that he has on earth, and he cannot understand that people who could care less about that junk. The Christians aren't looking for revenge or payback, they are caught up in a much more important struggle...fighting to make an eternal difference. Living to pull back the veil in this world so that people they come in contact with can see that there is so much more to our existence than what we know. He can't fathom that, so he runs off to Caesarea and unwittingly to his grave. Which system do you find yourself more caught up in?
12:22ff - Does any of you remember learning this famous speech that Herod gave when you were in school? I mean we had to have learned it...when the people listening heard his speech they called him a god...we studied it in school, right? Wrong. Like Herod, his beautiful speech has become worm food for the ages, while the word of the Lord continue to bring power and change into the lives of people all over the world.
1 comment:
1 Peter 2 talks about one trying to step over the stone that is Christ, and they will stumble over it. God's way will triumph over anything else. It has been decided. Where are we on this issue?
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