God Rescues Peter From Herod

Peter lay chained between two burly men,
Of sixteen assigned to guard him that night;
He knew what awaited at this night’s end---
Beheading, as was James, to the Jews’ delight!
He thought he dreamed, when the angel appeared,
Loosed his chains, and led him through two locked gates;
A block away, he awoke, freed and cleared;
The angel left, and he rejoined his mates!
King Herod, thwarted, killed the guards instead;
By persecuting Christians, he pleased the Jews;
And Peter was their chief; they wanted him dead;
But Christ needed him to spread the good news!
James was the first apostle to be slain
For Christ, but not before he preached in Spain!

“The night before Herod was to bring him to trial, Peter was sleeping between two soldiers, bound with two chains and sentries stood guard at the entrance. Suddenly an angel of the Lord appeared and a light shone in the cell. He struck Peter in the side and woke him up. ‘Quick, get up!’ he said, and the chains fell off Peter’s wrists. … Peter followed him out of the prison, but he had no idea what the angel was doing, what was really happening but thought he was seeing a vision. They passed the first and second guards and came to the iron gate leading to the city. It opened for them by itself, and they went through it. When they had walked the length of the street suddenly the angel left him. Then Peter came to himself and said, ‘Now I know without a doubt that the Lord sent his angel and rescued me from Herod’s clutches, and from everything the Jewish people were anticipating.’ “ (Acts 12:6-11)

This was the same Herod that participated in the crucifixion trial of Jesus. He was not a descendant of David, nor even a Jew, and he had no right to be king of Judea. He was in good with the Romans; however, the Jews did not like him. He began persecuting believers as a way to curry favor with the Jews. He had arrested and beheaded James, the apostle and brother of John, about 44 A.D. He also nabbed Peter and was planning the same for him, but Christ had a different plan for Peter.

The first apostle to become martyred for Jesus was James. He had gone to Spain about 40 A.D. and went up the Ebro River preaching the gospel. Tradition says that he had made only two converts and was despairing when he saw a vision of Mary, the mother of Jesus. She told him not to be discouraged---that Spain would become a Christian nation. A shrine to her is located in Zaragoza, Spain, at the spot where James had the vision. He is said to be buried there, even though he was killed in Jerusalem.