Thought for the week from Revd James Bruce. Peter had come back to Jerusalem to report that even the gentiles had received the Holy Spirit when they bowed the knee, accepting Jesus as Lord of their lives! Even devout religious people!! Saul, now Paul, and Barnabas, both full of the Holy Spirit, had stayed in Antioch (modern Turkey) teaching the believers about, and demonstrating, the Kingdom of God. This is where we were first called ‘Christians.’ Agabus, with the spiritual gift of prophecy, foretold a famine, and the church in Antioch sent food and money to Jerusalem, and early version of Tearfund! Meanwhile, the Roman puppet king of Judea, Herod Agrippa, (grandson of Herod ‘the Great’ of wise men and Bethlehem infanticide infamy) was plotting against the Christians. Agrippa has a story! Educated by Emperor Tiberius alongside future emperor Claudius, he was recklessly extravagant, and fled from Rome in debt. Rescued by his uncle Herod Antipas ruler of Galilee (of John’s beheading infamy), he fell out with him and fled to Syria, then Alexandria, where he was baled out by its ruler Alexander, and restored to Tiberius’ court in Rome. He befriended Caligula, supported him against Tiberius, and was again imprisoned. When Caligula became emperor, Agrippa engineered his uncle Antipas’ banishment, and inherited his rule. He persuaded Caligula not to set up his image in the Jerusalem temple. When Caligula was assassinated in AD41, he helped Claudius to the throne, and grew his own territorial power beyond Herod the Great’s, becoming one of the richest and most powerful rulers of the east, causing Claudius concern. The Jewish historian Josephus confirms the story of his sudden death, aged 54, in enormous debt, in AD 44. Agrippa was threatened by the early church, beheading the apostle James, imprisoning Peter, and executing the guards who, in his view, let Peter escape. Why was he threatened? Almost certainly it was power. The Christians didn’t believe Peter had escaped, and he was left on the doorstep while they argued with the servant Rhoda. How many times do we live as if God can’t break through, as if human, political power is all? We’d much rather argue rather than trust; much rather engage in petty squabbles than forgive and move on. God’s kingdom comes when people accept His rule, and here is true freedom, and true power.
Posted on: Sun, 06 Oct 2013 08:57:57 +0000
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