This chapter is one I think on more than I should.  The miracle of Peter is amazing.  His friend has just been killed, likely beheaded, and for all reasons he likely believes he is next.

He was sleeping between two soldiers.  Crazy as he wasn’t up all night stressing.  He was literally sleeping.

Then out of nowhere an angel struck him on the side to wake him up.  His chains are released.  He gets up and follows the angel not knowing yet that he was an angel.  And then all of a sudden he is out of captivity and out of the gates that held him.  So what does he do?

He goes to the house where the church meets.  They are praying fervently for him.  The servant girl, Rhoda, was so shocked when he knocked on the door that she shut the door in his face.  But then she comes back, Peter comes in, and explains to them everything that happened.  Then he left for another place.

After this we don’t see much more of Peter as the book of Acts shifts to Paul.  We do see him though at the Jerusalem council.

So there’s this amazing miracle that happens.  The church is celebrating.  But the church is also walking with a limp and an aching heart.

While Peter was saved, James had been beheaded.  Why is it and how is it that Peter got the miracle and not James, brother of John?

Some would like to say it is because the church was praying for Peter.  The church, at this point, had woken up to the reality of persecution in a new way.  Their friend was dead.

But then there’s that nagging thought.  Could God not have given him a miracle, too?  I’m sure James’ mother and father asked this question.

Then there’s the situation with the guards.  After Peter’s miraculous escape, Herod has all the guards killed for what appears to him to be their negligence or conspiratorial participation in Peter’s release.  Didn’t God know this would happen?  If so, wasn’t there another way that Peter could have been released?

It’s just some questions that come to mind.  Not always the best questions, but questions.

When I think on this, it does clarify many things.

1) Why does God get the blame when men do evil?

Whenever something happens, many times people blame God.  Because isn’t he powerful enough or loving enough to do something?

The truth is yes, he can.  We see this here.

But it is not Him acting and doing the evil.  It is man.  And if every time he did a miraculous deliverance, evil would abound even more.  Because people would not care and would only want to see more miracles.  They would taunt God with evil to see more.

2) God’s greatest gift to mankind is free will.

To stop all evil God would have to take away free will.  At that point we would be robots.  The only way to love is to have free will.  The great risk, of course, is that man has the same capacity to do evil.

Yes, God could stop all evil.  But it would mean removing free will.

3) God sees the bigger picture.  We do not.

God is on his throne.  He knows the hearts of men.  There are a lot of things going on here and he sees the big picture.  Maybe through the death of James more were provoked to take their faith seriously.  We don’t know.  We do know that through Christ, James is with the Lord.  He is in a good place.

As Peter has said,

“though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials” (1 Peter 1:6).

At the end of the day, it is men doing evil, not God.  He, through Christ, redeems all evil in heaven.  There will be judgment for everyone.  Judgment that leads to death and judgment where Christ is our intercessor that leads to life

Instead of taking offense when we don’t get the miracle, we would do better to celebrate those who do.  God’s purposes and plans are bigger than ours.  We do not understand the big picture like God does.  And at the end of the day, those who put their trust in Christ will receive the salvation of their souls.