Why did Peter live and James die? Trusting Our Sovereign God
Acts 12 presents the first loss from the apostolic company, the death of James, brother of John, one of the “Sons of Thunder,” a member of the inner circle of the Lord’s disciples. At the same time, and from the same executioner, we find Peter delivered by the mighty hand of God. Why the difference? If an apostle must die, why not choose one of the “lesser” names rather than one of the inner circle? Why did James have only about 14 years of apostolic service before the Lord took him to heaven?
These puzzling questions relate to questions we have about our lives. Why do we suffer? Why does one man or family seem to suffer more than others do? Why does God allow a man (or woman) to die in the midst of useful ministry, while allowing others at the same time to live to serve a “full life”? When we pray about these troubles, why doesn’t God intervene?
I recall a lovely family in my home church growing up. They had two great kids; he was a respected member of the church, had a godly wife, but he got cancer and died a young man. I remember the church being much exercised in prayer for him, all night prayer vigils and fasting, begging the Lord to let him live. Yet God said, “No.”
Why? Why deliver Peter? Why not James? Why not this Christian brother?
That Peter experienced mighty deliverance on this occasion is beyond doubt. Acts 12.6 tells us the deliverance came at almost the last possible moment. Peter languished in jail the whole of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, probably about eight days. The night before trial and summary execution, the Lord sent deliverance. The church in Jerusalem earnestly prayed the whole time (Acts 12.5).
That night, Peter lay sleeping, chained between two guards by the wrists. The guards would change every three hours, this deliverance occurred probably around 3:30 AM, just after the last change of the guards before a 6:00 AM summons to the court room. The guards were fresh, no doubt alert, as their lives depended on keeping their prisoner secure.
Into this scene comes an angel of the Lord, with a light from heaven. The angel kicks Peter in the side to waken him, starts issuing peremptory commands. “Get up!” “Gird yourself!” “Put on your shoes!” “Put on your coat!” “Follow me!” The text gives no suggestion that the angel was silent, he didn’t speak in a whisper. Did the guards notice nothing? Apparently not. Some commentators think they were asleep, but God could as easily have blinded their eyes and stopped their ears as putting them to sleep. Either way, the text doesn’t say.
Peter is in a daze. He thinks this is another vision, such as he saw in Joppa (Acts 10). He gets to his feet, the chains fall off, he passes out of the cell, through the prison, past other guards, and comes to the iron gate. The gate opens and closes of itself, the angel leads Peter down a side street, and then disappears. Peter finally realizes that this is “real” — the Lord delivered him, Peter didn’t “escape” (as one commentator points out).
What are we to make of this mighty deliverance of Peter in comparison to the simple statement concerning James?
And he [Herod] killed James the brother of John with the sword. (Acts 12.2)
When we think back, we realize that the Lord himself gave these men prophecies concerning their own passing. When James and John with their mother (Mary’s sister) came to Jesus asking for high positions in the kingdom, Jesus asked, “Ye know not what ye ask. Are ye able to drink of the cup that I shall drink of, and to be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with?” (Mt 20.22) Of course, with some naiveté, the brothers reply, “We are able.” Then Jesus says, “Ye shall drink indeed of my cup, and be baptized with the baptism that I am baptized with.” (Mt 20.23. Quite clearly, Jesus means that the brothers will drink the cup of suffering that Jesus anticipated for himself.
No doubt, in his omniscience, Jesus knew what sort of death lay in store for James, and when it would occur. He knew what sort of long ministry John would have, with its many sufferings, finally to end still faithfully in service to his Lord. It is interesting to consider that James was the first of the apostles to die, and John the last. All of this, the Lord knew, and referred to ahead of time in this brief prophecy.
The Lord likewise prophesied concerning Peter’s end. In John’s Gospel, in the final chapter, we come to that incident where the Lord challenges Peter’s love. “Peter, do you love me?” Three times Jesus asks Peter the question, three times Peter affirms his love. Each time the Lord tells Peter to “feed my sheep.” And then the Lord adds these words:
Verily, verily, I say unto thee, When thou wast young, thou girdedst thyself, and walkedst whither thou wouldest: but when thou shalt be old, thou shalt stretch forth thy hands, and another shall gird thee, and carry thee whither thou wouldest not. (Jn 21.18)
John tells us that the Lord meant to refer to Peter’s death, and the manner of it, by this prophecy (Jn 21.19). Remember that John is writing his Gospel some time after Peter’s death. He knew how it came about.
Peter knew ahead of time that his ministry would end in violent death. Perhaps he thought, “This is the time.” Some commentators suggest that is what allowed him to sleep in spite of the impending trial. Or perhaps Peter had even greater confidence in this line of the Lord’s prophecy, “when thou shalt be old…” At this point in his ministry, Peter is probably in his forties. Even given a shorter life expectancy for those days than ours, I doubt Peter thought of himself as “old.” Perhaps he slept because he trusted the Lord to work it out, and bring the violent end when, in fact, he was old and long in the ministry. In any case, it is clear that Peter trusted God.
The Bible doesn’t answer the question, “Why James and not Peter?” We would like to know, but God doesn’t reveal it to us. This is much in keeping with the message of Job. When Job suffered his mighty sufferings and God finally came to speak to him, God gave Job no answers to his questions.
Accounts like this remind us about our proper attitude to the Lord and our sufferings. Our duty is to serve faithfully, no matter what lot our Sovereign God has for us. “Trust and Obey,” as the hymn says. God allows events in our lives that can seem exceedingly hard, but the disciple must come to trust God in the midst of them.
One of my commentators speaks of a colleague of his, a man much loved and very useful in the ministry. The man was cut short in his ministry in a fatal head on collision on the highway. About the same time, another useful believer in the commentator’s circle also died at a relatively young age. Again come the questions, “Why?”
“Such questions, of course, have no answer, nor even any value. God knows what he is doing, and he is doing it—we call it sovereignty. He works with the broad plan of the ages well in mind, for he drew up the plan. We deal with one infinitesimal chronological and geographical dimension of that plan; yet how often we want to second-guess how God works in his world among his people.” 1
The thing we need assurance of is that God knows your needs and the troubles you face. He allows trials, at times, to form a more perfect picture of Christ in your character. He calls on you to trust him; he is the one who knows the end from the beginning. And the end is glorious!
So true, we don’t see the big picture or know God’s plans for everyone involved. In Rosalind Goforth’s book, How I Know God Answers Prayer, she tells of her family being miraculously delivered while trying to get away during China’s Boxer rebellion. Some asked why they were delivered and so many other missionaries were not. She didn’t know, but she took to the Scriptures and came to this difference between Peter and James’ fate in Acts and the difference between the first and last parts of Hebrews 11. She concluded, “In the face of these and many other passages, while still unable to answer the ‘why,’ we saw our Almighty God used His own prerogative to glorify His name whether in the glorious martyrdom of some or in the miraculous deliverance of other.”
Another thought that helped me was from a book by Jennifer Rothschild titled God Is Just Not Fair: Finding Hope When Life Doesn’t Make Sense. A friend of hers died in the midst of a brutal attack. Jennifer grieved that God didn’t deliver her, but her father remarked that God delivered her through the trial, not from the trial. In the midst of man’s brutality, her heavenly father took her straight home to Himself.