St. Peter and St. Paul, Apostles
Dear friends in Christ. Today—on the same day—the Church remembers two great apostles of our Lord: St. Peter and St. Paul. With Peter and Paul you have the Church’s complete ministry to both the Jewish and Gentile world. This is one of the oldest saints’ day going back to the early 4th century. With the exception of Christmas, this feast day was regarded as the greatest of the year in ancient Rome.
Why are these two great apostles remembered on the same day/ share a day? There is a tradition that they were martyred on the same day but in different years. Why the 29th of June? There is a tradition that on 29 June 258 their bodies were removed to the catacombs.
As we think about these two great apostles today and the fact that they were both killed on account of their confession of Christ, we are reminded of the fact that Christ set up His kingdom, the Church, and rules all things of her benefit far differently than we would. After all, Jesus set up/ established His kingdom, the Church, by His suffering and death on the cross because it is precisely by these that He reconciled sinful humanity to the holy God; by His holy and innocent suffering and death Jesus brought about the forgiveness of sins which He now gives freely to all through His Word and Sacrament. Now Jesus, the true almighty God Himself, is ruling all things for the benefit of His kingdom, the Church.
Here is where we may scratch our heads: if Jesus is ruling all things for the benefit of His Church, why were Peter and Paul both killed on account of their faith and confession of Christ? Why didn’t Christ allow them to continue on in their work and so bring many more people to the saving knowledge of Christ? Such questions belong to the hidden counsel of God and so we cannot answer them. But by faith we know that Christ is ruling all things in the best possible way for His Church. And, in fact, what is so comforting is that Jesus is not somewhere far removed/ distant from His Church, unaware and unconcerned, but rather He is so closely and intimately connected with His Church. For example, when St. Paul was Saul, the persecutor of the Church, and Jesus called him to be an apostle, Jesus said to Him [Acts 9.4], Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me? That’s the point that we examine in our text this morning: not only is the Church the body of Christ, not only is Jesus so intimately connected with His Church, but it even goes to the extent that Jesus’ life—both His suffering and His exaltation—is reflected in Church.
1. The first point is that the Church, the body of Christ, suffers. Jesus’ life—even His suffering—is reflected in His Church. Just as when Jesus, the God-man, came—He wasn’t free from suffering; He was marked by the devil and his allies as One to be attacked—to suffer. We are reminded of that in the first verse of our text: Now about that time Herod the king stretched out his hand to harass some from the church. Then he killed James the brother of John with the sword. We heard of King Herod. This is Herod Agrippa, the grandson of the Herod who was king when Jesus was born—that Herod that feared for his throne and tried to trick the wise men into telling him where the Baby Jesus was so he could kill Him—but when that failed ended up killing the babies in and around Bethlehem. Already from early on, even the Baby Jesus was suffering. And now that suffering is reflected in the life of His young/infant Church.
Then [Herod] killed James the brother of John with the sword. And because he saw that it was pleasing to the Jews… At the beginning of Jesus’ earthly ministry, He was popular and well received. At the end, the crowds were screaming for His blood, Crucify Him! Crucify Him! So also at first the Church was held in high regard, but it was fleeting. The Jews were increasingly hostile toward the Christians and persecuted them. That same pattern continues in the life of the Church.
We next read: And because [Herod] saw that [James’ murder] was pleasing to the Jews, he proceeded further to seize Peter also. Now it was during the Days of Unleavened Bread. Does that sound familiar? The Days of Unleavened Bread, that is, the Passover. Jesus came to Jerusalem for the Passover to fulfill with His suffering and death what the Passover was pointing towards; and now Peter had returned to Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover in its fulfillment in Christ with the mother congregation in Jerusalem. What happens? Peter is seized; he is seized without reason or charge—just like Jesus had been arrested without cause and was declared innocent by Pilate on several occasions. What is also so interesting is: So when [Herod] had arrested [Peter], he put him in prison, and delivered him to four squads of soldiers to keep him, intending to bring him before the people after the Passover. Had Herod’s plan succeeded, Peter would have been killed the day after the Passover—the same day Jesus was killed.
All of these striking parallels between the events in our text and the events of Jesus’ life drive home to us the point so clearly that Jesus’ life is reflected in His Church—even/ especially His suffering. That means we should never expect that things will be wonderful for the Church; that it will be easy for the Church; that the Church and our Lord’s dear Christians will have life of health, wealth, wisdom. It means we should not be surprised when we see the world around us openly and flagrantly rejecting our Lord, ridiculing Him, showing Him and His Church contempt and hostility. The Church should not expect any favors from the world; any blessing/ benefit the world seems to give the Church is only because of Jesus’ almighty working. Jesus suffered during His earthly ministry; He suffers now in His Body, the Church; and each of His dear Christians, members of His body will suffer as well. Jesus’ life is reflected in His Church—even in suffering.
This suffering was not unexpected by James, Peter, Paul, etc. Any number of times Jesus had foretold/ prophesied it. For example, right before His betrayal, arrest, suffering and death, Jesus told His disciples [John 15.18]:
If the world hates you, you know that it hated Me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love its own. Yet because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you, ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted Me, they will also persecute you. If they kept My word, they will keep yours also.
Jesus’ life of suffering is reflected in His Church. The hatred and rejection Jesus experienced during His earthly ministry, He still continues to experience as His Church is hated and rejected. His Church, His Christians, experience the same that He did. In our circles, certainly not to the degree that Jesus or His disciples did, but that persecution elsewhere is bloody.
Yet, Peter, to whom the Lord specifically prophesied his martyrdom [John 21.18]: “Most assuredly, I say to you, when you were younger, you girded yourself and walked where you wished; but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will gird you and carry you where you do not wish.” This [Jesus] spoke signifying by what death [Peter] would glorify God—Peter has great peace: And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison. Death was just around the corner for Peter but he was fast asleep; little worried. He was living by the Lord’s promise to Him to keep Him steadfast in the faith; he committed himself into the Lord’s hands; he was trusting in the Lord’s promise that His Holy Spirit would give him the words to say [Matthew 10.19]: When they deliver you up, do not worry about how or what you should speak. For it will be given to you in that hour what you should speak; for it is not you who speak but the Spirit of your Father who speaks in you. Peter’s perfect peace—shown by his sleeping, not up worrying and fretting—is a reflection of Jesus’ suffering as He willingly laid down His life, committed Himself to His Father.
In faith, Peter knew Jesus was in control of everything—ruling and guiding all things for the benefit of His kingdom, the Church. Although it looked like the Lord was unable to save James from being killed, Jesus was still in control for it was by his death that James would glorify Christ; Jesus, in control, in His divine wisdom still wanted Peter for the time being to glorify Him by preaching the Gospel. Jesus showed His almighty rule and control as the heightened security measures ended up only showing His might and power all the more. And when Herod was about to bring him out, that night Peter was sleeping, bound with two chains between two soldiers; and the guards before the door were keeping the prison.
2. But remember: Jesus’ life is reflected in the life of His Church—not just His suffering but also His exaltation. Just as Jesus was killed and the tomb was made as secure as the Jews could make it—what happened? Jesus rose! Death and the tomb could not hold Him. Peter’s mighty deliverance is a reflection of this:
Now behold, an angel of the Lord stood by him, and a light shone in the prison; and he struck Peter on the side and raised him up, saying, "Arise quickly!" And his chains fell off his hands. Then the angel said to him, "Gird yourself and tie on your sandals"; and so he did. And he said to him, "Put on your garment and follow me." So he went out and followed him, and did not know that what was done by the angel was real, but thought he was seeing a vision. When they were past the first and the second guard posts, they came to the iron gate that leads to the city, which opened to them of its own accord; and they went out and went down one street, and immediately the angel departed from him.
The picture of Peter in prison is that he is chained; he had to leave quickly; he was led by an angel; the iron gate opened by itself—all these things are parallels to the Passover, which the Jews were celebrating that night! The Israelites were bound in slavery in Egypt; they left Egypt quickly, led by the Angel of the Lord; their seemingly impenetrable iron gate was the Red Sea that separated before them giving them dry ground to walk on. The OT Passover looked forward to that great act of deliverance by which Jesus would rescue us from slavery to our tyrant sin, death and devil and destroy them. Notice Jesus’ life reflected in the life of the Church, here in our text: you have the angel—just like at Jesus’ tomb to roll away to stone to show it was empty and to announce to the women and disciples that Jesus had risen. You have the prison lying undisturbed—all the locks and bolts in place; all the guards right where they should be—but the prisoner is gone; just like Jesus’ tomb was undisturbed and His burial clothes still there and intact.
What’s even more wonderful for us personally is not just that Peter was rescued and could continue to preach the Gospel—but that Jesus’ life, His exaltation, is reflected in His Church; and here it is reflected in each of our lives. Jesus passed through death to life. That’s what happens to us when Jesus comes to us and brings us to faith—He brings us from spiritual death to spiritual life.
Here’s the glorious connection with Baptism. Listen to St. Paul [Romans 6.4]: As many of us as were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death. Therefore we were buried with Him through baptism into His death, that just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we should walk in newness of life. Do you hear our new/ blessed condition, dear Christian? We are connected via baptism to Christ! We are one with Christ—He is in us and we are in Him. Baptism connects us to Him—we are in Him—and now in a few moments He will come to us in a special way in His Holy Supper giving us with the bread and wine His very Body and Blood—He is in us! Is it any wonder that Jesus’ life—both His suffering and His exaltation—are reflected in His Church and in each of His dear Christians?
On this day as the Church remembers the blessed apostles, Saints Peter and Paul, let us remember and rejoice in the fact that in a wonderful, almighty and gracious way Jesus rules all things for His Church, with whom He is in closest fellowship. INJ Amen