Objectively Evil

There are many questions regarding good and evil

If God exists—or is good—why is there evil in the world…theodicy

We’re not chasing that one this morning, at least not at the moment

Another of the major questions is whether evil is subjective or objective

If subjective, it’s measured one thing against another, one action against another, one person against another

if objective, it’s measured against a pure standard

I believe you’ll agree that as we examine this short passage, we’ll see a man, an action, and in intent that are all objectively evil

If we find no other Biblical standard against which we could measure them, we could look just to the second half of the “great commandment”

…love your neighbor as yourself...

An Evil Man

This guy Herod…actually these guys, Herod

Herod the Great, a madman, we find him in the Christmas story; brilliant, viscous madman; ruled from 37-4 BC

Herod Archelaus; ruled from 4 BC-AC 6; the reason Joseph took his family from Egypt to Nazareth, since Bethlehem was in this guy’s territory; ruled Judea and Samaria; the subject of Jesus’ parable of the minas, the man who went to have himself made a king---from Luke 19--or at least is a good suspect to have been the man, ultimately his reign would be ended and he was replaced by a Roman procurator—we know Pontius Pilate

Herod Antipas, 4 BC-AD 39; ruled Galilee and Perea; killed John the Baptist, Jesus reference him as “the fox”

Herod Agrippa I, AD 37-44; only from 41-44 in Judea; Grandson of Herod the Great; the star of Chapter 12

Herod Agrippa II, AD 50---???, we meet him in Acts 26 when he interviewed Paul

Without discussing the rest of the Herods, we should be able to agree that Agrippa 1st was abjectly evil

His involvement in these few verses is summed up by

…laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church....

The word picture underlying this phrase shows intended violence/harm

Best understanding of the text…and history…is that James and Peter were but two of the many who suffered to some degree at the hands of the authorities as directed by Antipas

Historian Eusebius, of the 4th century, mentions a now-lost writing of Clement of Alexandria in the 2nd century, giving the account of James’ betrayal; his betrayer confessed to also being a Christian, begged James’ forgiveness and they were beheaded together

Worthy to note that it was the first state-sponsored violence recorded in the NT since the crucifixion of Christ under Pilate

In all these actions he was trying to build favor with the hierarchy of the Jews—dominantly Pharisees) in an attempt to strengthen his position with Roman Emperor Caligula—not a nice guy by any means

Were we making evil subjective, he would be more evil than Agrippa 1st

A.T. Robertson observes: He was a favorite of Caligula, the Roman Emperor and was anxious to placate his Jewish subjects while retaining the favor of the Romans. So, he built theatres and held games for the Romans and Greeks and slew the Christians to please the Jews.

Such was the politics of the time; he fit in quite well

An Evil Action

Killed James, brother of John, (Sons of Thunder) with the sword—understood to have been beheading; also understood as a demeaning form of capital punishment—not quite as bad as the cross..it made a sort of political statement

This James is not to be confused with James the Just, brother of Jesus

Interesting note: Jesus had predicted that both James and John would “drink the cup” which He himself would drink; James suffered death, whereas John suffered exile and likely many other indignities in his long life

The totality of circumstances may also indicate that Agrippa considered James and the Christians a political threat

Hard to tell if the threat would be personal, locally political, or a treat to the empire

Most likely also as a favor to the Jewish leaders who supported him

Thus, getting double duty from one execution

An Evil Intent

When he saw how happy the execution of James made the Jews, he doubled down

Scholarship is almost unanimous that his intent was to execute Peter as he had James, for the same reasons—to satisfy the Jews and increase his favor with the emperor

He was NOT going to have Peter slip his grasp—he’d probably heard about his two previous escapes from prisons—4:3 & 5:18…not happening on his watch! The security precautions put in place were duplicatively redundant, 16 men, working in shifts; no chance of anyone dozing off and letting this “dangerous” prisoner escape...

After the end of the celebration of Passover, during which the Jews would not hold trials or inflict punishment, Peter would be given a show trial—another kangaroo court to be sure, and executed in a similar fashion to James

An Evil Thwarted

BUT...

The church was earnestly praying to God

We’ve often commented that when we see “but God” it’s opening the door to a game-changer…stay tuned

The underlying word could well be translated “unremittingly” KJV, “unceasingly”

We’ll leave that as a cliff-hanger…just think “but God”

Our Lessons from this Evil

Briefly, the problem of theodicy: we remember that God is sovereign, His will overcomes…even when we can’t see it

We’ve referenced Joseph’s statement in Egypt after his slavery, imprisonment and then his grand use to save many nations: What you have intended for evil, God has intended for good

People may be conspiring against us for the sake of our faith, politics may seem to be conspiring against us for the sake of our faith; Peter kept plugging along through it, confident in the God he served

Maybe this is why, in his letters to the churches—many years later—he could speak not just with apostolic authority, but with his personal history to serve as an example

The problem of the health and wealth preachers: this is not the first time, not is it the last time, we see God’s faithful servants treated horribly by evil people

1 Peter 4:12 ESV

Beloved, do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you.

1 Peter 4:13 ESV

But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

1 Peter 4:14 ESV

If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you.

Any preaching that tells us that God wants us fat, dumb and happy—or healthy, wealthy and wise…needs to read the entire Bible! He—or she...seems to have missed this part

One of the great dangers is people using Scripture as a smorgasbord, taking things out of context—biblical, grammatical, historical

The message & lesson of unceasing prayer

How can I preach this??? let me count the ways!

Just a couple passages—

Jesus and the Syrophoenician woman Mark 7: And he entered a house and did not want anyone to know, yet he could not be hidden. But immediately a woman whose little daughter had an unclean spirit heard of him and came and fell down at his feet. Now the woman was a Gentile, a Syrophoenician by birth. And she begged him to cast the demon out of her daughter. And he said to her, “Let the children be fed first, for it is not right to take the children’s bread and throw it to the dogs.” But she answered him, “Yes, Lord; yet even the dogs under the table eat the children’s crumbs.” And he said to her, “For this statement you may go your way; the demon has left your daughter.” And she went home and found the child lying in bed and the demon gone.”

We see pleading based upon faith—and arguably Jesus being the only hope she had

We see Jesus and the parable of the persistent widow and the unjust judge…she kept up with her petitions even though this was an unjust judge

…and the straight-up directive for God’s people to pray without ceasing

1 Thessalonians 5:16–18 (ESV)

Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.

We must note that all of this is directed to believers--

I see nothing in Scripture that obligates God to answer the prayers of non-believers

Don’t even start the conversation about “sending good thoughts....”

Though He will surely answer the prayer of any who call out for salvation: All who call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved!