Vindication & Humor

We all like stories of vindication – good triumphing over evil, the bad guy getting just rewards. Personally, I want a good vindication story laced with good humor. A few come to mind: Mrs. Doubtfire, School of Rock, The Grand Budapest Hotel, and an old classic, The Three Amigos. Quotes from Amigos come to mind regularly, an all-time favorite exchange being…

Scripture is laced with stories of vindication. It’s core to God’s project of redeeming his creation. The story of Joseph certainly comes to mind. So do the stories of Esther, Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego. Of course, the greatest vindication story is the resurrection of Jesus.

Scripture is also laced with humor. The Chosen has done a great job of depicting Jesus’ sense of humor. If you don’t see the humor as you read scripture, start looking for it. (Remember, God has a sense of humor – that’s where we get it, being made in his image and all that.)

As I journey through the Acts of the Apostles, I see a plethora of stories of vindication for the new ecclesia of Christ-followers. In Acts 12, we find King Herod exercising his power as the king of Judea. There are many mentions of a King Herod in Acts and the gospels, so we should clarify. Herod the Great (reigned 37-4 BC) was the Roman client or vassal king in power over Judea at the time of Jesus’ birth. He was a brutal tyrant who ordered the massacre of children after the Magi left the country without informing Herod of the location of the new king of the Jews. His known brutality led to Mary, Joseph, and Jesus becoming refugees in Egypt.

Herod the Great’s brutality extended to immediate family as well. According to the Roman historian Josephus, Herod had three of his sons killed: his first-born, Antipater, and two sons with his second wife, Miriamne: Aristobul and Alexander. He also had Miriamne executed. What then made him great we may ask? Great question…

Herod the Great was politically savvy, maintaining favor with Rome and Augustus Caesar, leading to peace and economic stability. He was known as the great architect of Judea, building the city of Caesarea (to honor and gain Caesar’s favor), pagan cities (to gain the favor of non-Jewish people), many fortresses (for self-protection), and, of course, the Second Jewish Temple (gaining the support of the Jewish people). Though his projects bolstered the economy, they also resulted in heavy taxation and labor inscription.

The full name of the Herod of Acts 12 was Herod Julius Agrippa (sometimes referred to as Agrippa I). He was the nephew of the brooding and nefarious Herod Antipas who arrested and executed John the Baptist. Agrippa I came to power ~40 AD following Antipas’ fall from grace with Rome, ruling over the entire known Judaea territory (Antipas only ruled over about a fourth of Judea). He was well-connected with Rome (note his middle name) and was also popular with the people, thus able to wield significant power.

Agrippa I began arresting believers in Jerusalem, probably to appease both the Jews and Rome. Persecution was his intent. For some reason (we don’t know why) he had James, the brother of John, executed with a sword. This was significantly different than the stoning of Stephen. Stephen’s death was because the new movement was seen as a religious threat. Herod apparently viewed it as a political threat.

Realizing that James’ execution met with Jewish approval, Herod arrested Peter (who was known as the main leader of the Way in Jerusalem) for trial. Interestingly, this took place at Passover time (compare to Jesus’ arrest and Peter’s denial). Peter was heavily guarded by 16 soldiers – two of whom were bound to him with chains. He was probably in prison for a few days since Herod intended a public trial after Passover. As you can imagine, the young church went into hiding and prayed, fully aware that Peter was likely to face execution.

The night before trial an angel of the Lord appeared in the prison cell, not stealthily but with a bright light (humor)! The angel slapped Peter on the side to wake him up. I chuckle every time I read this. The chains fell off (I assume noisily), Peter got dressed (no hurry to get out apparently) and the angel led him past the other 14 guards out into the dark and disappeared.

The vindicated Peter, coming to his senses, made his way to the house of John Mark’s mom which was where a lot of people were gathered, praying. Peter knocked on the gate door which was answered by Rhoda the maid who, caught up in the excitement, left him standing at the gate as she ran to tell the others (more humor). Though they had been praying for Peter’s safety, apparently his release from prison was not in their thinking as they tried to convince Rhoda she was mistaken and probably heard a dead Peter’s ghost, meaning they assumed their prayers were to no avail. Meanwhile, Peter kept on knocking!

Peter, after sharing the story of his “escape” with the gathering, said, “Tell James (presumably Jesus’ brother) and the other brothers about this.” Peter then left Jerusalem, a wanted man. But he left vindicated – the leader of the family of the true King had frustrated the plans and intent of the “official” king. Herod was not a happy man!

The story continues in the next blog post…