ACC ~ Acts 12 v2

WHY GOD PERMITS THIS DEATH. CHRYSOSTOM: “And,” it says, “he killed James the brother of John with the sword”; simply that, as if it happened by chance. If someone should ask why God permitted this, we would answer that it was for the sake of the Jews themselves. First of all, [God] thereby persuades them that even when being put to death, the apostles triumph, which also happened in the case of Stephen. Second, [God] gives them an opportunity, after satiating their anger, to return from their madness. Third, he shows that it was with his consent that this happened. HOMILIES ON THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 26.

EVERY CHRISTIAN’S TRUE HEAD. GREGORY OF NYSSA: James, under pressure to cut off Christ, his true head, was [physically] decapitated, yet the [true] head of every person is Christ according to the apostleand at the same time the head of the entire church. HOMILY 2 ON ST. STEPHEN.

Acts