Whatever They Can Get Away With

 . . . After he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also.

- From Acts 11

First, it is important to recognize that the label "the Jews," definitely means something different, in New Testament times, than it does in modern times. In it's context here, regarding the martyrdom of James the Apostle, it is referring to a functional majority of the people, that are in aggressive opposition to a movement that would bring down the current order of things. 

We see that Herod was trying to control this infant Church of Christ. Now . . . the Church wasn't doing anything. It was preaching love and self-reliance. It was urging an approach to charity and servanthood in which the people took care of each other. 

But despotic governments (whether from Rome, or King Herod) have always had the curious need to feel as though they are "helping" the people. They always claim, as Henry VIII, Josef Stalin, and Hitler did, to "love" the people. "I love them and take care of them. Shouldn't they, in turn, love me?"

And so governments try to control the welfare of the people. Ostensibly, because they "love" the people. But in reality, because they love power, and there's nothing like dependency to ensure the powerful stay that way. 

But what happens when a movement comes along and says, to government: "We'll take care of ourselves. We can establish peace, justice, and love . . . and we won't even need a government." This isn't to say that they advocated overthrow of the government. Quite the opposite - their attitude was "live and let live" and they preferred to ignore the government.

But from the vantage point of Rome, and Herod . . . this was a serious threat to their authority. The irony is that they could have cemented their own personal welfare, and that of their families, simply by embracing the ethic of the Christ-followers. But they saw it as a mortal threat and acted accordingly. They were joined and supported by masses of people that liked the Order of things as they were; and probably did not like, at all, this focus of the Christians upon honorable, and pure, living.

Herod did the unthinkable - seized some of the leaders, including James the Apostle, who had witnessed Jesus Transfigured - and had them put to death with the sword. The crowd, or at least the crowd that showed up, loved it! And so Herod went and had Peter brought in, too.

Corrupt politicians are always mindful of what the masses are thinking. And if they can get applause, they'll do it, no matter what the law says. If they can get away with "making an example" of somebody . . . they'll do it. 

It's something always to be mindful of. When the Christian message starts rubbing too many the wrong way, see if the Powers that Be try to stop it. And be wary of what they are willing to do, to stop it.