Acts 12:1-5--James Killed and Peter Imprisoned

Acts 12:1-5
English Standard Version
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James Killed and Peter Imprisoned
12 About that time Herod the king laid violent hands on some who belonged to the church. 2 He killed James the brother of John with the sword, 3 and when he saw that it pleased the Jews, he proceeded to arrest Peter also. This was during the days of Unleavened Bread. 4 And when he had seized him, he put him in prison, delivering him over to four squads of soldiers to guard him, intending after the Passover to bring him out to the people. 5 So Peter was kept in prison, but earnest prayer for him was made to God by the church.

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We haven't seen or heard anything from James the son of Zebedee, the brother of John, in the entire book of Acts.  It's assumed that he would have been one of the leaders of the church in Jerusalem as Peter, James and John formed Jesus' inner circle of friends, but we have only seen Peter and John ministering for some reason.  James was the first target of Herod the king, this is Herod Agrippa I, the grandson of Herod the Great, and after Herod saw that the killing of one of the apostles pleased the Jews (that would probably mean the Sanhedrin), he arrested Peter also, planning to also put him to death.

This was during the time of the Feast of Unleavened Bread (the Passover), so this would be exactly one year after the week leading up to Jesus' crucifixion.  Herod didn't want to do anything to him until Passover was finished at which point he wanted to bring him out to the people (probably for public execution).  So, Peter was kept in prison during the Feast of Unleavened Bread and the Church prayed earnestly for his safe release.  We'll see next time how their prayers were answered.