May the mumbling commence!

Oh the machinations of men and the power of God!  Acts chapter five has a wonderful contrast between these two givens.  The chapter begins with the jealousy of the Sadducees.  They were jealous of the apostles.  Why?  They were jealous because of their preaching of the resurrection – in which they refused to believe for anyone, let alone Jesus.  Not only were Jesus’ disciples preaching resurrection they were gaining in popularity. 

This would not do.  They had the disciples arrested.  The Sadducees would bring them before the entire Sanhedrin the next day.  Then, along came an angel of God, who released the disciples and ordered them to return to the Temple and tell the full message of this new life in Jesus.  And the disciples’ did just that. 

Imagine the surprise of the Sadducees when they sent for the disciples!  The disciples were no longer in the jail.  They were in the Temple, the chosen place of worship for the Sadducees, preaching the resurrection in Jesus!  The disciples were re-arrested without any resistance from the disciples.  But, the tempers were rising among the Sanhedrin.  Read from Acts chapter five the exchange between the Sanhedrin and the apostles:

Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest.  "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name," he said. "Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood." 

Peter and the other apostles replied: "We must obey God rather than men!  The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead – whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.  God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.  We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him." 

When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death.  But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people, stood up in the Sanhedrin and ordered that the men be put outside for a little while.  Then he addressed them: "Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these men.  Some time ago Theudas appeared, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men rallied to him. He was killed, all his followers were dispersed, and it all came to nothing.  After him, Judas the Galilean appeared in the days of the census and led a band of people in revolt. He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered.  Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.  But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God." 

His speech persuaded them. They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 

The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. (Verses 27-41)

The disciples had their strict marching orders, which they resolutely disobeyed.  The high priest accused them of trying to make them guilty of this man’s blood.  (Weren’t they the ones who asked that the blood of Jesus be on their heads not so long ago?)  In the face of this rage, the disciples lead by Peter replied with the consistent message.  We must obey God rather than you.  Then, Peter proceeded to preach again to the Sanhedrin.  He even insinuates that the Sanhedrin does not have the Holy Spirit of God. 

Fury ensued.  But a cooler mind prevailed.  Gamaliel, who I note is a Pharisee rather than a Sadducee, pointed out that troublemaking leaders in the past have been killed and their band of followers amounted to nothing.  Hidden in this information is that Jesus also was executed, but his disciples continued on stronger than ever.  Killing them made no sense in light of this.  Let them be and see if it succeeded or failed.  Failure would mean that is was of men.  Success would mean it was of God – and there is nothing that can be done to fight the will of God.  That’s a battle that is sure to be lost.  So they flogged the disciples and gave them the same message not to speak in the name of Jesus – they were more specific this time, they said the name. 

And the disciples rejoiced to be flogged for the Name.  Amazing!  But rejoicing at persecution for the sake of the Name was spoken of by Jesus in the Beatitudes.  Could you and I stand our spiritual ground in the face of persecution and rejoice?  It’s a tall order.

Enough mumbling for now… 

Peace Out