Peter – Practical Theology Today

Vindication & Plethora

This is a continuation of the previous post, Vindication & Humor. Acts 12 brought to close God’s vindication concerning King Herod (Agrippa I) and the beginning of the expansion of the new movement outside of Judea. It’s an interesting story…

Previously we saw Peter, the leader of the new movement often referred to as The Way, arrested by Herod and imprisoned for trial. It appeared that Herod intended to execute Peter as he did James. I’m guessing Peter and the early believers assumed as much.

Peter was rescued by an angel of the Lord, boldly releasing him from prison in the middle of the night. Peter and the Church were vindicated. In a (likely) fit of rage, Herod ordered the execution of the 16 soldiers responsible for guarding Peter while in custody. Herod then left Jerusalem for his palace in Caesarea on the Mediterranean coast. Built to appease Caesar Augustus, the city and palace were one of the major construction projects of Herod the Great (Agrippa I’s grandfather). Agrippa never returned to Jerusalem. The rest of his story…

We don’t know why Agrippa left Jerusalem for Caesarea. We do know that while there, representatives of the cities of Tyre and Sidon requested an audience with him. Located up the coast from Caesarea and not part of Herod’s domain, these cities and their people relied on Judea for their food supply. Herod had apparently been at odds with the people of Tyre and Sidon. It was to be an economic summit.

Herod, probably to remind the people he was in charge, wore his royal robes, and sat on his throne to address the people. Royal robes were an important part of a king’s wardrobe. Though Scripture gives us little information about Herod’s royal robes, some assumptions commensurate with the period can be made. It would have been made of luxurious, high-quality silk, linen, or finely woven wool adorned with intricate embroidery. It would have included regal accessories – crown, jeweled belts, sashes, etc. And maybe some Roman-influenced bling. Always an embellisher, the Roman historian Josephus described the design of Herod’s robe as glittering to catch the sun, adding to his royal radiance:

He put on a garment made wholly of silver, and of a contexture truly wonderful, and came into the theater early in the morning; at which time the silver of his garment being illuminated by the fresh reflection of the sun’s rays upon it, shone out after a surprising manner, and was so resplendent as to spread a horror over those that looked intently upon him…¹

Scripture doesn’t reveal details of Agrippa’s address but the people were either impressed or responded in collective flattery shouting, “This is the voice of a god, not of a mere mortal.” They were mistaken. Agrippa apparently ate it up…

Immediately, because Herod did not give praise to God, an angel of the Lord struck him down, and he was eaten by worms and died. (Acts 12:23)

It appears that Luke felt Herod Agrippa’s sickness and demise warranted just a single sentence. Josephus was not so succinct…

His flatterers cried out, one from one place, and another from another, that he was a god; and they added, “Be thou merciful to us; for although we have hitherto reverenced thee only as a man, yet shall we henceforth own thee as superior to mortal nature.” Upon this the king did neither rebuke them, nor reject their impious flattery. But as he presently afterward looked up, he saw an owl sitting on a certain rope over his head, and immediately understood that this bird was the messenger of ill tidings, as it had once been the messenger of good tidings to him; and fell into the deepest sorrow. A severe pain also arose in his belly, and began in a most violent manner. He therefore looked upon his friends, and said, “I, whom you call a god, am commanded presently to depart this life; while Providence thus reproves the lying words you just now said to me; and I, who was by you called immortal, am immediately to be hurried away by death.¹

Caesar had commissioned Josephus’ writing of the Jewish people’s history. At times his embellishment of historical accounts was accompanied by political flattery. He depicted Agrippa’s death as honorable, noting a dignified acceptance of God’s providence (while blaming the crowd, by the way). I lean toward embellishment and flattery.

No matter the details, Herod Agrippa I was dead and would no longer be able to persecute the believers. God is not mocked. Peter and the early Christian movement were vindicated.,,

And the word of God continued to spread and flourish (v. 24)

Here’s a bit of fun: The Greek word for flourish is πληθύνω (plēthunō) from which the English word plethora is derived. I had NO idea when I wrote the previous post. Full circle! Mic drop!

¹Josephus, Flavius. The Works of Josephus: Complete and Unabridged (pp. 3996-4000). http://www.DelmarvaPublications.com. Kindle Edition.

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…

Self-Awareness

My friend and colleague, Chuck Jamison, has often related the story of the beginnings of his journey as a Christ-follower. As a high school kid from Kansas City, he found himself spending a week at Young Life’s Castaway Club in northern Minnesota. As he relates the experience…

It was at Castaway in the summer of 1969 and they gave us 20 minutes to go outside after the cross-talk. I remember standing in the middle of what used to be the moonball field looking up at the sky and saying “God, I don’t know if you’re up there. But if you are, I give as much of myself as I understand (which isn’t very much) to as much of you as I understand (which is even less). Then I waited for a shooting star or lightning or some sign. But nothing happened. When I told my Young Life leader what happened, he said, “Oh, if you gave him an opening, he’s in your life! You’ll see evidence of it over time.“ And I did.

I’m reminded a bit of the Apostle Simon, renamed Peter by Jesus. Jesus first met him when he was fishing with his brother, Andrew. Peter was likely 15-16 years old at the time. He was fishing, not in Hebrew school. If you recall, there were various rites of passage in the first-century Hebrew education system in which students were either invited to continue their education or “invited” to discontinue formal education to learn the trade of their father (see Follow the Leader). Peter and Andrew apparently fit the latter category.

Following the life of Peter, we find a young man filled with passion and competitiveness. (The Chosen has done a great job of capturing his personality as depicted in the gospels.) He seemed to always strive to “get it right,” whatever right du jour happened to be. He often spoke or acted before thinking. Self-awareness and self-differentiation were not his strengths. He’s the one who always seemed to get caught up in the moment, blurting out comments without thinking. Think of the Transfiguration account in which he got caught up in the excitement after witnessing Elijah and Moses in person talking with Jesus…

Peter (to Jesus): “Teacher, it’s a great thing that we’re here. We should build three shelters here: one for You, one for Moses, and one for Elijah.” He was babbling and did not know what he was saying because they were terrified by what they were witnessing. (Mark 9, The Voice)

To be fair, he did get it right at times. It was Peter who correctly declared Jesus to be the Messiah (Mark 8:29). However, once his Messiahship was out in the open, Jesus began preparing the disciples for his impending suffering and death under the direction of the religious leaders. Peter’s response? He began to rebuke the Messiah. Jesus responded with the well-known “Get behind me, Satan!” (Mark 8:33) Poor, passionate Peter. So close!

Then there was Peter’s coup de grâce – his infamous denial of Jesus recounted by all four evangelists. Again we see Jesus explaining to his followers the rejection and suffering that lay ahead and the fearful response of his followers. Peter, of course, retorted never: “Even if all fall away on account of you, I never will!” This was followed by Jesus’ prediction of Peter’s denial (which he also vehemently disagreed with: “Even if I have to die with you, I will never disown you”). True to his passion and determination, Peter protected Jesus by taking a swing at the head of one of the arresting temple servants, missing and only slicing off an ear (which Jesus put back on the guy). Poor, passionate, undifferentiated Peter. So close!

We can’t read the denial experience without feeling his pain. But the Gospel is very good news. The Apostle John made sure to incorporate the so-called “Reinstatement of Peter” as a wrap-up to his gospel…

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my lambs.” Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you love me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Feed my sheep. (John 21:15-17)

There is more to the “reinstatement” narrative than meets the eye. In the New Testament, we find two different Greek words translated as “love.” Agape is used to describe the compassionate, self-sacrificing type of love commensurate with the character of God. Phileo describes a fondness that one person has for another. Think of Philadelphia, the city of “brotherly love” (phileo). John used both terms when he wrote this discourse. The narrative takes on a markedly different feel when the Greek words for love are woven into the text…

When they had finished eating, Jesus said to Simon Peter, “Simon son of John, do you agape me more than these?” “Yes, Lord,” he said, “you know that I phileo you”… Again Jesus said, “Simon son of John, do you agape me?” He answered, “Yes, Lord, you know that I phileo you”… The third time he said to him, “Simon son of John, do you phileo me?” Peter was hurt because Jesus asked him the third time, “Do you phileo me?” He said, “Lord, you know all things; you know that I phileo you.”

Peter was finally at a place of self-awareness. Jesus asked Peter if he could love him the way he loved Peter (agape). After the humbling events of the past week or so, I suspect Peter realized that phileo was his best shot. So that was his response to all three of Jesus’ questions. The third time, Jesus met Peter where was at: “Simon son of John, do you phileo me?” Though frustrated that Jesus seemed to have lowered his expectations of him, Peter didn’t respond with agape, with what he thought Jesus wanted to hear.

And Jesus seemed to be OK with phileo. He didn’t change Peter’s calling to shepherd the flock. It seems that Peter was giving as much of himself as he understood (which wasn’t as much as he once thought) to as much of Jesus as he understood (which he was just beginning to understand). The rest is, as we say, history. Peter went on to become a bedrock leader in the new movement referred to as The Way. The Catholic Church posthumously revered him as the first Pope. We, like Peter, discover that…

God doesn’t call the equipped. He equips the called.