by Perry Hall<\/p>\n
Which apostle had it the easiest? James. That answer may be surprising. Even more surprising is why and how.<\/p>\n
In Acts 12, James is martyred first among the apostles. Some may question God’s fairness, and may even complain, “Why did God allow James to die but allowed Peter to live?” Considering the church was praying for Peter, we can assume they were praying for James too (Acts 12:5). So…”Why did God answer their prayer for Peter but not James?”<\/p>\n
Such questions are myopic. We assume what <\/b>the church was praying for. The early church could have been interceding on behalf of James and Peter in the same unexpected way wherein God answered their prayers with an astounding “yes!” Instead of their release, they could have been praying for James and Peter’s strength. They could have been praying for their spiritual safety over their physical safety. Are we too focused on freedom over faithfulness? Is our perception of ease too worldly?<\/p>\n
One could say that James’ mother had her “prayer” answered, but in a way unexpected. She demanded of Jesus, “Promise,<\/em>” she said to him, “that these two sons of mine may sit, one on your right and the other on your left, in your kingdom<\/em>” (Matthew 20:20-21). Jesus responded such was not his to give. However, all believers who overcome, though death, sit on the throne with Jesus (Revelation 3;21). James’s mother had her prayer answered but in a way never expected. Be careful what you pray for! Answering prayers is God’s way of surprising us. When James overcame, though death, he began to sit on Jesus’s throne with him! Surprise!<\/p>\n After James was beheaded, he entered into eternal peace first among the apostles. So, which apostle has been the safest and the longest from all harm? Which apostle suffered less than the others? Which apostle has enjoyed the Father’s presence the longest? Which apostle was first with Jesus on His throne? James.<\/p>\n Why did James have it the easiest? God allowed James to die. Sitting beside Jesus in eternity, do you think he was complaining about God being unfair? No. Who has enjoyed the ease of peace longer than any of the apostles? James.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" by Perry Hall Which apostle had it the easiest? James. That answer may be surprising. Even more surprising is why and how. In Acts 12, James is martyred first among the apostles. Some may question God’s fairness, and may even complain, “Why did God allow James to die but allowed Peter to live?” Considering the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_seo_schema_type":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[170,109,335],"class_list":["post-62030","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-apostles","tag-death","tag-james"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":54449,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/james-peter-and-i\/","url_meta":{"origin":62030,"position":0},"title":"James, Peter, and I","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 28, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Matthew W. Bassford Acts 12 offers one of the great conundrums of the New Testament. In the first few verses of the chapter, the wicked king Herod Agrippa arrests and executes the apostle James, the brother of John. Shortly thereafter, he arrests Peter with the same intention. However, God\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":52796,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/did-mary-lead-prayers-did-people-receive-all-the-gifts-of-the-spirit\/","url_meta":{"origin":62030,"position":1},"title":"Did Mary lead prayers? Did people receive all the gifts of the Spirit?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Thank you for taking my questions. We were discussing the upper room Wednesday night. Acts 1:13-17 mentions that Mary, Jesus' mother, and other women were present. We were trying to determine if Mary herself was praying while all the people were there. I know some women prophesied back then.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":4066,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-new-testament-canon\/","url_meta":{"origin":62030,"position":2},"title":"The New Testament Canon","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 14, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0On the night of Jesus\u2019 betrayal, Jesus promised his troubled disciples that he would send a helper - John 14:16 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0The helper would be the Holy Spirit, the Spirit of Truth - John 14:17 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0B.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0His purpose in coming would be to teach and to remind the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":12761,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/i-dont-think-you-proved-paul-to-be-an-apostle\/","url_meta":{"origin":62030,"position":3},"title":"I don’t think you proved Paul to be an apostle","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 20, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: There are so much strife and debate among the world and believers in Christ that it seems to be a waste of time that we debate among ourselves. So please understand that I do not come in the spirit of debate, but truly searching the Scriptures to see if\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":90130,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/james-first-peter-and-second-peter\/","url_meta":{"origin":62030,"position":4},"title":"James, First Peter, and Second Peter","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 5, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer While there were many men named James in the first century, this is most likely the brother of Jesus who became a very strong leader in the early church (James the apostle was put to death about AD 44, Acts 12). We find James becoming prominent in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":86240,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/how-could-peter-be-in-rome\/","url_meta":{"origin":62030,"position":5},"title":"How could Peter be in Rome?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 2, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read from many early Church fathers that Peter was in Rome and preached in Rome. Still, in Galatians 2:7-9 at the Jerusalem Council, the agreement is made that Peter would only go to the Jews, not the Gentiles, so Peter would be breaking that agreement if he went\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62030","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=62030"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/62030\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=62030"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=62030"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=62030"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}