It was about this time that King Herod arrested some who belonged to the church, intending to persecute them. He had James, the brother of John, put to death with the sword. When he saw that this met with approval among the Jews, he proceeded to seize Peter also. This happened during the Festival of Unleavened Bread.

At times in life, we see world leaders looking to be popular. Some will stop at nothing to get the popularity they desire — they lie, cheat, steal, and kill their way to the top.

Herod was no different than most of the Roman leaders. He wanted to keep the peace and have the Jews not challenge his leadership. So he arrested an innocent man and put him to death. This is the same thing that happened to Jesus, though not as egregious.

James, the brother of John, was one of the three men Jesus set apart for his inner circle. He was with him from the beginning and Herod, not valuing his life one bit, had him killed with a sword.

James was killed during the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, which celebrates when the Israelites were preparing to leave Egypt and they had to make unleavened bread, as they did not have time for the yeast to rise in the bread.

The same God who rescued them sent Jesus. They killed Jesus, and then James, another messenger, they also killed. Unbelievable! And because the Jews were pleased at this bloodfest, Herod also arrested Peter. Sometimes when it rains — it pours. These are two of the three main leaders of the early church. I wonder what was going through the minds of the early Christians at this time?

I think it is important for me to understand that the Christians in the early church had really bad days of persecution, so that when I have bad days, I can see hope. We hope in Jesus in the good times and we hope and cling to him in the hard times.

Lord, teach me to run to you more often and more quickly when hard times come, that I may do your will in the face of persecution. I praise your name and thank you for this example of persecution so I will know what it looks like and will not fear it.