Too Many James'

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  Scripture: Acts 12:1-3; 17

  "About that time King Herod laid violent hands upon some who belonged to the church. He had James, the brother of John, killed with the sword. After he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. ...

  
  

  [Peter is subsequently freed from his guards and prison by the miraculous appearance of an angel. Afterwards he tells his incredulous friends what happened.] 

  
  

  ... He motioned to them with his hand to be silent, and described for them how the Lord had brought him out of the prison. And he added, 'Tell this to James and to the believers.' Then he left and went to another place."

  
  

  Observation:

  
  

  Okay, this might be a stretch, but this is what tweaked my imagination from this passage. In a word: James. Sure, Peter was arrested and miraculously freed; but, before that James was executed. Now, verse 2 and verse 17 both name James, but surely they must be talking about two different followers of Jesus, right? The one who is executed by Herod is specified as "the brother of John", but Peter just asks that the good news of his unbelievable rescue from impossible peril be relayed to "James, and to the believers."

  
  

  Today, three possible interpretations strike me as both plausible and faithful: (As an aside, please note that this entire project requires colouring outside the lines a bit. If you insist on reading the bible in small snippets while sticking to headings, pericopes, and daily reading assignments you would never be struck by this "problem of the James'".)
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  1) Acts 12 does, in fact, refer here to two separate disciples of Jesus who were know to Peter and the other disciples as James in the course of 17 short verses. This seems an odd coincidence, but it could well be the case.

  
  

  2) Peter does in fact ask that his good news be passed on to his friend James either because he was not aware of his execution at the hands of Herod, or because through the turmoil of his own ordeal and subsequent deliverance the fact of his death had eluded him. This reading would give the account a rather tragic tone. News of Peter's miraculous deliverance is tempered by the realization that not everyone in their movement had been so blessed.

  
  

  3) Peter is intentional about naming his friend, whom he knows to be dead, when giving instructions as to who should be informed of his liberation from a hopeless situation. In such a reading, either Peter himself, or the writer of Acts (Luke), or both are employing very subtle and subversive humour in order to point out the almost-too-good-to-be-true nature of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. This reading is like a subtle wink to those who are in the know about resurrection and so "in" on the joke.  What prison could be more hopelessly inescapable than death itself? (wink, wink; nudge, nudge; say-no-more, say-no-more.)

  
  

  These are three possibilities that occur to me. What about you?

  
  

  Application:

  Too often people are led to believe that the Bible is a text book or manual written by God for us. Such approaches to holy scripture tend to flatten out the inherited texts as they seek to reach the "right" understanding - once and for all. Usually these approaches yield a word from the LORD that ends up sounding an awful lot like what the interpreter would say themselves.

  
  

  What if scripture is wilder - and more fun - than all that? What if the Bible is a place which God has created and set apart for the purpose of meeting us there. What if, when we take God up on this offer, we don't just hear about what God has done and has said in the past, or for all time? What if when we dwell in scripture, we are actually dwelling in the presence of the Living God who is speaking anew to and for us - even here, even now?

  
  

  I am bold to say this is in fact the case. How can I say such a thing? Because I have experienced the Divine Word, alive and active in just such a way.  

  
  

  Would you like that too?

  
  

  Come and See!

  
  

  Prayer:

  Speak Lord! Your servant(s) is (are) listening. amen.