People noticed

Like most political families, Herod Agrippa had grown up with political maneuvering. He was the grandson of Herod the Great and it was no easy thing to have that title hovering over your head. The expectations were enormous. Young Herod had grown up with wealth and, like his grandfather, knew how to stroke the right people which got him appointed as king of Judea.

He understood how to exchange favors for influence and when he stumbled onto new influence with the Jews in Jerusalem, he grabbed it. He had killed James, one of the leaders of the early church in Jerusalem, and the Jews were pleased. So he arrested Peter. He couldn’t start the trial until after the Passover, because such a trial would have spoiled the holiness of the feast for the Jews – and he didn’t want to insult the Jews.

When Peter miraculously was rescued from jail and left Jerusalem, “there was no small commotion among the soldiers.” Can’t you see the rumor mills grinding out stories and explanations? Herod had the guards killed and then suddenly fled to Caesarea. Had his mystique been injured by this unexplainable rescue?

We do know he decided to be mediator between two feuding towns, appearing to make a speech decked out in royal robes made of silver shimmering cloth that magnificently glowed in the sunlight. He was a good speechmaker and his words dazzled the crowd like his robe.

The people fell before him, saying, “This is the voice of a god!” He didn’t deny it. What he hadn’t accomplished in Jerusalem with the Jews, he had achieved in Caesarea. And then, as the text in Acts 12 tells, he immediately fell to the ground and died.

Contrast Herod’s political strategies with the early church. When Peter was arrested, they did not begin maneuvering. Instead, they began to pray fervently. While they didn’t expect Peter’s escape, they did expect God to work. They didn’t begin making plans or discussing influential contacts. Their influential contact was with God.

Herod was outmatched. He lived for the praise of others and fell in defeat.

Herod’s words, although seeming to be eloquent and worthy, faded away. The words of the Christians were not so eloquent but they were directed, not to men, but to God. Some people worshipped Herod and some people worshipped God. Herod trusted his own political instincts while the early church trusted God.

Herod had known from childhood that power comes from pleasing the right ones at the right time. He had misjudged who that right one was.

But the word of God continued to increase and spread. (Acts 12:24)