Acts 12:2-3

SLAIN BY THE SWORD

‘And he killed James the brother of John with the sword.’

Acts 12:2

The death of St. James is one of those events which, at first sight, seems so unintelligible to our minds. He was one of the first groups of the Apostles; and yet, almost without notice, according to the narrative, he is dispatched just at the caprice of a monarch. And then, when we come to the account of his death, it seems as summary as the death itself. Simply one short sentence describes the death of him who is the first apostolic martyr.

I. Its counterpart in modern life.—How often, in the range of our own experience, does not this event find counterpart in the more ordinary events of human life! How often it is that what seems to be a life full of promise, a life which might be almost regarded, by those who witness it, as indispensable to the well-being, the advantage of those among whom it is lived, is brought to a sudden and unexpected end!

II. The littleness of posthumous fame.—What does it matter, as regards ourselves, whether in future ages our deeds or our own sufferings are known and thought of? What does it matter to any Apostle to-day? James and John are household words, they are names which are familiar to us all, and yet, beyond just a few circumstances here and there in the books of the New Testament, we know very little whatever about them.

III. The littleness of death.—St. James passed out of this world. ‘Herod killed James the brother of John with the sword.’ To all outward appearances his work is done. Is that really so? His activities certainly in this life have come to an end, but his work is not over. The Apostles are the foundations of the Church of God, Jesus Christ Himself being the head corner-stone. The work which they accomplished during the years of their mortal life, being done in His Name, and by His power and influence, is a work which survives those who were instrumental in its fulfilment. The work of St. Peter, and St. James, and John, is day by day reaping its fruit; day by day producing some active and living effect in the Church of God. Their mortal life may be over, but that which they effected during its continuance in the Name and by the might of their Divine Master goes on and on.

IV. In the hands of God.—There are other points, too, which it is well for us to notice. Notice the great contrast between St. James and St. Peter. St. Peter was in prison at the same time. Why was it that of the two, one was taken and the other left? We cannot fathom the inscrutable decrees of God. The great mystery of life and death we must leave in His Hands—we know not. Or take the contrast in the dealings of God with St. Peter. We know that God, by the angel, delivered the Apostle Peter from the bondage of prison, and that He, at the same time, provided an angel who stood behind the headsman to receive the soul of the martyred Apostle St. James, and take it to the Kingdom above. We know the life of God was equally manifested in the death of him who died as in the prolongation of the life of him who continued to live. And so in the case of St. James by contrast with John, his brother. Both had expressed the wish that their participation in the Kingdom should not in any way separate the one from the other. Why was it that the one was called so soon, and the other lingered to such length of years? Again, we know not; so let us learn to leave the question of living and dying in the hands of God, whether of ourselves or of those who are near and dear.

—Rev. G. R. Hogg.

Illustration

‘No one can carefully read the history of “the glorious company of the Apostles” without noticing how our Lord taught them and trained them, and how their natural characters became quite changed. As Whittier says—

“They touched His garment’s fold, and soon

The Heavenly Alchemist transformed their very dust to gold.”

St. James at one time desired great things for himself, but at last he dies for the faith of Christ and becomes one of “the noble army of martyrs”; in fact, he was the first martyr of the Apostles.’

(SECOND OUTLINE)

EVIL OVER-RULED

The early death of the Apostle instructs us as to certain principles that have ruled throughout the history of the Church of Christ. In his death we see—

I. The permitted power of evil.—Herod, whose character was without a single virtue, assails, and assails successfully, the infant Church of Christ. One of the Apostles is slain, and another imprisoned with murderous design. The Church of Christ is not made sacred and inviolate from the power of wicked men.

II. The restrained power of evil.—‘Because he saw it pleased the Jews, he proceeded further to take Peter also.’ But he is not permitted to accomplish this portion of his cruel purpose. St. James is slain, but St. Peter is wonderfully rescued. The power of wickedness is a restrained and limited power.

III. The overruled power of evil.—The slaying of St. James was not an unmixed evil. The Church needed the death of St. James as much as the life of St. Peter; in other words, the Church of Christ requires martyrs as well as teachers.

Illustration

‘Every sapling of the Lord’s planting has required a plentiful watering of tears and blood before it has taken root and grown in the world. Liberty, truth, religion, have never made much way until men have died for them. Erasmus, a great and good man, to whom Christianity owes much, a man not without faults, and not the kind of man to make a martyr, has this entry in one of his works: “Two monks were yesterday burned for Lutheranism, the first victims in this place; and now the whole city has begun to favour strenuously the Reformed Religion.” ’

(THIRD OUTLINE)

DEATH AND ITS RESULTS

On the Apostle’s side we are called to notice—

I. Death putting the stamp of greatness upon a man.—We had not known how great St. James was but for his death. He was a man whom Herod, and common report on which he acted, recognised as one of the first and chief in the Church of Christ. Only as death takes them do we come to know how truly great and noble Christ’s servants are.

II. Death abruptly closing the early possibilities of the man.—Who can tell what this man might have been and might have done had he lived to the years of St. Peter, or for the half century during which his brother John survived. All these possibilities were suddenly and roughly ended by Herod’s sword. Death often steps in and blights the fair promise made; and better death should do it than dishonour and sin.

III. Death exhibiting the diversities of life and service appointed to men.—Three names are here brought together: St. James and St. Peter and John. The first is cut off early and suddenly, his course not half run. The second lives and labours on to the limit of threescore years and ten. The third is spared to extreme old age, and dies naturally towards the close of the first Christian century. Here is a wonderful diversity of life and service still manifested. Let us not be anxious for ourselves or for others. Let us leave all with Christ.

IV. Death rendering a future life necessary and sure.—If there be no hereafter, the darkness around this scene is deep and awful. An act like this makes the future certain. A good man cannot thus be made to perish. Herod’s sword was to the Apostle the stroke of freedom, and with a bound his spirit passed into the presence of Jesus, to renew under nobler conditions the fellowship begun on earth.

Illustration

‘Ask not of Him more than this,

Leave it in his Saviour’s breast,

Whether, early called to bliss,

He in youth shall find his rest,

Or armèd in his station wait,

Till the Lord be at the gate.’