God’s Next Move

Posted on January 23, 2018 by Don Merritt

Acts 5:34-42

With the apostles standing before the Sanhedrin, having just infuriated everyone to the point of murder, something happens that is surprising to say the least. The greatest of the Pharisees in those days was a man named Gamaliel. He was highly respected by all, had descended from a line of Pharisaic superstars and was the greatest of the teachers of the law; most scholars believe that he was the mentor of a fellow called Saul of Tarsus, whom we will meet soon in Luke’s narrative.  Right at the moment of greatest fury, Gamaliel rises to speak…

He reminds the Sanhedrin that there have been false teachers before, and that they soon run out of steam and then are gone, for their teaching comes from men (5:35-37). After citing a couple of names, he comes to his point:

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.” (5:38-39)

His argument carried the day; the high priest ordered the apostles flogged, gave them another warning and let them go. Luke mentions this almost as though it were nothing, but let’s remember that they would at minimum be scarred for life after this, and over the years many who received 39 lashes died from infection of the resulting wounds; this was no small matter, and as a result, the apostles rejoiced!

Upon release, they continued their teaching, even going from house to house in flagrant disregard of the Sanhedrin’s warning, for they were, at the leading of the Holy Spirit, moving forward with their purpose to do God’s will (5:41-42).

Soon, the Good News would spread into the surrounding regions…

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The Apostles Before the Sanhedrin

Posted on January 22, 2018 by Don Merritt

When Peter and John had first appeared before the Sanhedrin (4:1-22), they were not guilty of any particular offense against the Jewish leadership, but this time they were guilty of continuing to preach Christ after they had been ordered to cease and desist. In addition, there was the matter of their little escape from custody; surely the Twelve had cause for concern, and ample reason to be very careful about what they said.

The apostles were brought in and made to 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.” (5:27-28)

So, here is the scene: They have been brought forward to be questioned by the high priest in front of the full leadership, only the high priest has no questions for them; look at what he said, there was no question asked at all. Any lawyer would tell the apostles to remain silent at this point.

The high priest, rather than ask a question, has made accusation without asking a question which I would suggest is a rather ominous sign that he has already made up his mind about what happens next. In fact, his accusation that the apostles have acted in disobedience to his previous command is accurate, for they have most assuredly disobeyed his order to cease and desist. Of course, there is a rather humorous note to all of this when he accuses the apostles of being “determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood” which of course everyone in the room knows that they are guilty of.

If you were in the apostles’ sandals, what would you do at this point?

Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” (5:29-32)

Well, “in for a penny, in for a pound” as the saying goes; Peter and the others fire a full broadside at their attackers, who by the way are also their judges. That they must obey God and not humans is about the equivalent of telling the court that it lacks competent jurisdiction to judge them, not usually a wise assertion for a defendant to make. Then, they make their assertion that the Jewish leaders were in fact guilty of Jesus’ blood, which in this instance would be essentially a guilty plea considering what they’ve been accused of. Finally, they claim that Jesus sits at the right hand of Almighty God and is ready to forgive the Jewish leaders of their sins if they will only repent of their misdeeds.

At this point, we must remember who these leaders are; they consider themselves the most righteous and holy of all Creation, they keep the Law of God best of all, just ask them. Forgiveness − they don’t need forgiveness; they keep the Law.

At this point, we must come to grips with the real facts of the matter, which are that the apostles have only just begun to carry out their Commission from our Lord, and that Commission is God’s eternal purpose to build up a Body of believers on the earth. As long as the apostles still have work to do on the earth, no human authority is going to stop them.

Yet if we look upon this scene from an earthly perspective, the apostles are doomed:

When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death. (5:33)

It was now time for God to make His next move…

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Reason for Concern

Posted on January 22, 2018 by Don Merritt

Acts 5:17-26

While the followers of Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit, the priests and teachers of the law were full of something quite different: jealousy. Consequently, they ordered that the apostles be arrested and thrown into jail. At some point during the night, the angel of the Lord came to the apostles and released them from custody, and commanded that they resume their teaching in the temple courts the next morning.

When morning came, they were once again in the temple courts teaching about the “new life”. As the Sanhedrin assembled, none of them had noticed what was going in the courts outside, and they sent for the apostles to be brought in, only to discover that the jail was locked up tight, the guards still posted at the door… and the cells were empty. Suddenly someone comes running in with the shocking news that their prisoners were out in the temple courts teaching another crowd of people!

It is hard to miss the fact that God has intervened in events to make complete fools of the Jewish leaders.

Upon hearing this, the captain, who was second in authority only to the high priest, took charge of his officers and went after the apostles, yet even now, enraged as he must have been at this humiliation, the captain dared not use force against the apostles, for fear of his own people. The apostles came along quietly.

Would anyone in the Sanhedrin, the wisest of all religious bodies, recognize what was going on; would anyone be able to see clearly enough through their jealousy and avarice to notice that the hand of God was against them? God was working His eternal purpose through these apostles, and no human agent, not even the devil they were serving, would stop these men until their mission was complete. Needless to say, there is a lesson for us in this story.

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Sunday Sermon Notes: January 21, 2018

Posted on January 21, 2018 by Don Merritt

Title: Created in God’s Image

Text: Genesis  1:26-27

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 1:26-27 (NASB)

One thing is very clear from the start; Man was created in God’s image, His likeness; there isn’t anything hidden in this is there?

It doesn’t appear so at first glance, the English of the New American Standard Bible is clear, concise and fairly literal in its translation. Even so, it is a translation from ancient Hebrew, and particularly when we are basing a study on a specific word, we need to check the original language to verify the translations.* When I checked, I found that the Hebrew word translated “image” in the English is tsehlem, and for good measure, the Hebrew word translated “likeness” is demuth. Here are the definitions:

tsehlem:  from an unused root meaning to shade; a phantom, i.e. (figuratively) illusion, resemblance; hence, a representative figure, especially an idol:—image, vain shew. (Strong’s H6754)

demuth: resemblance; concretely, model, shape; adverbially, like:—fashion, like (-ness, as), manner, similitude. (Strong’s H1823)

When we look at these two definitions, we might be slightly confused with the first one, since there can be a connotation with an idol, and in fact this word is used multiple times in the Old Testament to mean just that; an image, an idol. Yet when you think about it, “image” is exactly the point, and not all images are images of false gods. A photograph is an image, which is why we go to Google and do an “image search” when we want a picture of something or someone, for the image looks just like the real thing. A photographic image of you bears your likeness, and so it would appear that Man bears the likeness or image of God; we look like Him, or at least, when humans were first created, we looked like Him.

There are some leads in these two verses that we will need to follow up on, but first, it seems to me that we need to ask ourselves a question:

Knowing what happens in Genesis 3 when the woman, and then the man chose to eat from that one tree they were forbidden to eat from, did the resulting fall, and its consequences cancel out this image thing? We need to look into this now, because if it cancelled out God’s image within

us, then what’s the point of going forward? Our questions would be answered; the fact that we were created in the image of God at the beginning really makes no difference now. However, if the image and likeness of God were neither cancelled nor revoked after the fall, then we have a great deal of exploring left to do.

So here’s what I did to find out: I went to Bible Gateway and searched for “image of God” (with quotes) and I got three hits: First, I got Genesis 1:27 (above) and then I got Genesis 9:6, and finally 2 Corinthians 4:4. Here they are:

Whoever sheds man’s blood,  By man his blood shall be shed,  For in the image of God He made man.

Genesis 9:6 (NASB)

in whose case the god of this world has blinded the minds of the unbelieving so that they might not see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.

2 Cor. 4:4 (NASB)

It would appear that we have something of value here, but without looking further, we only have a couple of “proof texts” which may or may not prove anything, so I’d better follow my own rules and check out the context…

Genesis 9:6

Holy heart attack! I looked this verse up, and I found that it falls within the context of Gen. 9:1 29, which falls within the overall context of Gen. 7-9; the Flood. Chapter 9 is God making His covenant with Noah, whereby God promises to never again destroy the earth by a flood, and gives Noah some terms to follow, one of which is found in vv. 5-6; that stipulation is that we are not to shed man’s blood (murder), and if we do, our blood will be shed by man, and God gives His reason for this: We are made in His image. In Genesis 9:6, God Himself is speaking to Noah; it is an imperative command of God. Thus, this confirms that the image of God is still intact in us after the fall.

2 Corinthians 4:4

This verse falls within the larger context beginning in 2 Cor. 2:12 and running through chapter 5 about the ministry of reconciliation. Throughout this section in various ways, Paul makes the point that Jesus is the source of our message, of our resolve and of our calling as Christians, not ourselves, for Jesus is the exact representation of the Father, and we, as ministers of reconciliation, are vessels of clay through which He ministers in this world. God is seen in Jesus (image, likeness) and Jesus is seen in us (image, likeness).

Of course Paul didn’t write this in Hebrew, for he wrote in Greek, and the word he was using was eikon (from which we get our English word “icon”) and guess what it means? Yes sir, it means “image, likeness”.

Therefore, not only is the image of God present in Man after the Fall, it is present all the more with us in Christ.

I don’t know about you, but I would have to say that our exploring is just getting started, and we have some leads to follow up on. Certainly there are two that I can’t wait to get into: First is, who is the “us” and “our” we found in our verses, and second is this: Are women created in the image of God, or is it just men?

Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.

Genesis 1:26-27 (NASB)

If we decide that humanity is made in God’s image, and we cite a text in which God speaks of Himself as “us” and “our”, which is to say in the plural, then we need to consider what this plurality refers to so as to ensure that our understanding of this “likeness” is correct. One way to work this out would be to look at the other “In the beginning” passage in Scripture, which is found in John 1:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.

John 1:1-5, 14

In John’s account, which actually begins before the Creation, it is clear that at least 2 Persons of the Godhead are present, for the Word that became flesh and was with God, and was God from before the beginning of Creation, is quite clearly a reference to the Son, Jesus. So it would seem that Father and Son were very much involved in Creation; I wonder if we can find the Spirit as well…

Returning to the Genesis text, I found this:

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters. (1:1-2)

Thus, we find all three Persons of the Godhead present and at work in the Creation, and we humans are made in the fullness of the image of God; that appears to me to be the meaning of the “Us and the “our”.

 

 

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Random Ramblings: January 20, 2018

Posted on January 20, 2018 by Don Merritt

Readers’ Advisory: This post is about politics today. It is not diplomatic in the slightest. Proceed at your own risk!

Well here we are friends, it’s the first anniversary of the Inauguration of Donald Trump as president− how’s it going so far?

It depends on who you ask!

If you’ve been with me for a while and you read these ramblings, you might recall that I wrote more than once that the hissy fit of the far Left over Mr. Trump’s election would get a lot worse before it ended. Well, that turned out to be right on the mark didn’t it?

The hissy fit continues unabated.

Over the past year we’ve had endless accusations and investigations, not to mention charges of derangement and mental imbalance. We’ve had a spate of irresponsible lawsuits and legal claims, and protests and marches. There has been violence perpetrated by the far Left including violence at the Inauguration itself followed by violence in Berkley, California and other communities perpetrated by Antifa, and how can we forget the Democratic Party activist who opened fire on Republican Congressmen at baseball practice nearly killing one of them, and the Democratic party activist who attacked a Republican U.S. Senator with a club breaking 5 ribs and nearly killing him?

Of course, reporting of the fact that these loons have clear Party connections was a bit slim.

According to the Media Research Center, news reporting about Mr. Trump is 90% negative. If the reporting is not biased, how can that be?

In the past year, the stock market has risen a record 32%, unemployment has dropped like a rock as businesses are expanding like we have seldom seen in such a short time. Consumer confidence is at its highest level in a very long time as real income has risen faster than we’ve seen in decades. In normal times, these stories would blast everything else out of the news cycle, but this time only the financial media bothers to mention it.

Very interesting.

Mr. Trump doesn’t help his own cause as we all know too well. With his adolescent outbursts and juvenile Tweets, he provides more than enough cannon fodder for his opponents. Sadly, I must report that the man simply isn’t very likeable in his demeanor.

As I write this in the predawn darkness here in the American Heartland, the Government is shut down. We’re shut down because one party in U.S. Senate is blocking a temporary measure to provide funding for governmental operations over a completely unrelated issue that nearly everyone in Congress agrees on. Does this move make any sense to anyone with an honest brain?

No, it does not. This is the “Resistance” at work. Remember that?

Oh, come on, how can we forget the “Resistance Movement” that the Congressional Democratic Leadership signed onto a year ago with a promise to block everything Trump wants to do. They need DACA reform passed, Trump wants it passed in a comprehensive form, they must block comprehensive reform, so they attach DACA to a spending bill to keep the government in business and go to the mat− that’s the play. And why shouldn’t the Democrats resort to such a tactic?

They will get away with it once again because the news will dutifully report that Trump is the problem, and you will blame the whole thing on him, instead of those who are really responsible.

Unless the Republicans cave, of course, and there is still time for that.

We’ll see…

One person said something intelligent yesterday, it was Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana who said:

Our country was founded by geniuses, but it’s run by idiots

Yep, that pretty much says it all!

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The Work of the Apostles Continues

Posted on January 20, 2018 by Don Merritt

The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.  As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by.  Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.

Acts 5:12-16

For the third time, Luke interrupts his narrative to give a summarization of how things were going for the fledgling church. In his last summary statement (4:32-35) he spoke of their unity, here he speaks of the signs and wonders performed by the apostles.

It would seem that the word has spread about the healings of the sick and lame that have been going on, and people are shown bringing the sick to be healed; notice that people believe that even simply being in proximity of the apostles would bring healing, and here for the first time is specifically mentioned that people who are possessed by impure spirits are being delivered from oppression by the apostles’ presence; Luke is careful to mention that “all of them were healed”.

As a result of these wondrous events, the believers were highly regarded by the people, many of whom had come to believe.

Yet there is a problem in the background; notice that the believers were regularly gathering at Solomon’s Colonnade in the temple courts, but no one else “dared join them” (5:13). Notice the apparent contradiction between this and verse 14: “Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.” One might well ask how it could be that on the one hand “no one dared join them” and on the other hand many “were added to their number”. I would suggest that the answer to this seeming paradox is that while many came to believe, thus being added to “their number” not many of those new believers were committed enough to join the other believers right out in the open, at least not yet.

We face a similar phenomenon today, for there are many more who believe than who will be seen to believe, for to believe in Jesus Christ and to follow Him carries with it certain complications in this world. For instance rejection or ridicule of family and friends, and in some places even economic or political sanctions of various types; persecution in other words. Certainly in the first century this was the case as we will shortly see…

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The Curious Affair of Ananias and Sapphira

Posted on January 19, 2018 by Don Merritt

Acts 5:1-11

Two things are vital to the understanding of this most curious little affair: First, we must recognize that this is a part of the same narrative as 4:32-37. We must not be confused by the chapter break which is entirely arbitrary and added centuries later. Second, we must properly understand what is meant by “kept back” in verse 2.

Luke has just given his readers the example of Barnabas in 4:35-36, an example of sincere giving that recognized both the authority of the apostles and the legitimate needs of some of the community of believers. In this passage, Luke provides an example of something that was not so sincere. It would appear that Ananias and Sapphira were rich enough to own real property and that they have announced their intention to sell it and give the entire proceeds of the sale to the apostles to be used in their ministry of benevolence, but when the sale had been completed and Ananias had delivered the sale proceeds, he did not set all at the apostles’ feet, having “Kept back” some of the money.

To be very clear, this was money that belonged to Ananias and Sapphira, and they were under no legal obligation to give all of it to this ministry, yet it is clear from the text that at some point they had represented to the apostles that they would give the entire proceeds to God’s service. We can also infer from this that had conditions or circumstances changed in a way that necessitated their retaining a portion of those proceeds, they could have made those facts known, but they had made no such disclosures. I am taking this inference from Luke’s use of the Greek word nosphizō in 5:2 which is rendered “kept back” in the NIV. The word means “to deprive, rob; to misappropriate or to make secret reservation of something”. Peter confronted both of them; here is his conversation with Ananias:

Then Peter said, “Ananias, how is it that Satan has so filled your heart that you have lied to the Holy Spirit and have kept for yourself some of the money you received for the land? Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold? And after it was sold, wasn’t the money at your disposal? What made you think of doing such a thing? You have not lied just to human beings but to God.” (5:3-4)

Then a curious thing happened as the Holy Spirit took over:

When Ananias heard this, he fell down and died. And great fear seized all who heard what had happened. Then some young men came forward, wrapped up his body, and carried him out and buried him. (5:5-6)

In these verses, Peter is acting in the role of God’s prophet, able to perceive the thoughts and motivations of others and pronouncing God’s righteous indictment, a role so evident nowhere else in the New Testament. I can’t help but add that one of my preacher friends calls verse 6 “History’s first youth group project”.

I’ve always thought that it is quite interesting that Peter attributes this to Satan, but I doubt that he does so because Satan cares about keeping cash out of church coffers, for in spiritual matters money is about as noteworthy as horse dung. No! Money is entirely our hang up, not God’s, and not even Satan’s. In truth, this curious affair is entirely apocalyptic in nature, for Ananias and Sapphira have told of their intention to give their all to the work of the Holy Spirit in the midst of the church, and when the moment came, they held onto the world’s greatest prize− money. A person may choose whether or not to follow Jesus Christ. If we choose to follow Him, we can do so wholeheartedly or we can do so halfheartedly, but we do not get to promise the former and do the latter and then willfully and deliberately lie about it to God, for falling short of the mark is one thing, and attempting to defraud God is quite another.

Needless to say, this little episode made quite an impression back in the day! The ministry of the apostles kept moving forward, as we will see next time…

 

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Unity in the Body of Christ

Posted on January 19, 2018 by Don Merritt

All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of their possessions was their own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. And God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all  that there were no needy persons among them. For from time to time those who owned land or houses sold them, brought the money from the sales and put it at the apostles’ feet, and it was distributed to anyone who had need.

Acts 4:32-35

After the things which we have seen in the last few sections, Luke gives us a glimpse into the lives of the believers in those early days. They lived in unity of purpose and of mind; they were generous, holding back nothing in their devotion to the Lord and each other. As we can see, those who had means often put their means at the feet of the apostles who used the resources to ensure that no one in the community of faith had unmet physical needs.

It should be observed by all that those donations from the sale of assets were entirely voluntary, for nowhere in our text are we told that anyone directed anyone else to dispose of an asset or give for the needs of others. Rather, we can rightly infer that those who made such gifts did so entirely of their own accord as the Lord led them to do so. Another thing we should note here is that there were believers of substantial economic resources and those with little or nothing in this world within the Body of Christ at that time, and since the text is clear that they lived in unity in “heart and mind” they were not divided along socioeconomic lines, a concept as radical in the first century as it would be today; perhaps even more so.

Luke adds a specific account of this generosity and in this case he mentions a name:

Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means “son of encouragement”); sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostles’ feet. (4:36-37)

Here we are briefly introduced to Barnabas, of whom we will see much more later in the book. There is an interesting note here that we might not want to miss, for Luke notes that Barnabas was a Levite. The Levites served in the temple, and were not permitted to own property and so we must infer either that this practice was not observed in the first century or that Barnabas might have owned the property he sold through marriage, or perhaps that the non-ownership of property was only applied to those living in Jerusalem; as usual, scholars debate these things. Whatever the case was, Barnabas demonstrated his devotion to the community of believers and the leadership of the apostles in his act of generosity.

Barnabas also stands in marked contrast to what happens next in Luke’s narrative…

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The Reaction of the Believers

Posted on January 18, 2018 by Don Merritt

On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.  When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.  You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:

“‘Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord
and against his anointed one.

Act4:22-26

In the last section, Peter and John were arrested, thrown into jail overnight, and then questioned about their activities. They told the authorities that they had healed the lame beggar by the power of the name of Jesus, and were ordered to cease preaching in His name− they refused. After more warnings and threats they were released, and now we see what followed; they told the other believers exactly what had happened and then they had all begun to pray.

Interestingly enough, their prayer contains a quotation of Psalm 2:1-2 in which David seemed to describe the events of not only his day, but the times of the Apostles as well. Certainly, the words “anointed one” in the English could have just as accurately been rendered either “Messiah” or “Christ” in these verses since they all mean the same thing. If we never read any further, we might expect them to ask God to soften the resolve of the authorities so that the believers might not come under persecution, but is that what they asked God for?

Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. (4:27-31)

After the Psalm 2 quote, they mention that the same kinds of things were going on then as had been going on in David’s time, and then they did something quite remarkable, they asked for boldness in their preaching, not safety. To put it quite directly, they asked God for the courage to preach the Truth in spite of the danger, come what may.

In doing this, they were praying that God’s will would be done, for they had been commissioned to spread the good news of the Gospel, not to live lives of safety and security, and God answered their prayer immediately.

I have sat in church assemblies for decades now hearing prayer for healing, good health, good jobs and safe travels, yet very few for the advancement of the Gospel; I have heard many prayers for relief from oppression or persecution, but almost none for boldness in the face of persecution. Please understand, I’m not saying there’s anything wrong with the prayers I hear often, yet the absence of prayers concerning God’s will and purpose trouble me.

What is God telling us in these verses, and what will we do about it?

As I survey the times in which we are living, I should think such questions and the answers we give them are every bit as relevant as they were in the first century.

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A Rude Interruption

Posted on January 18, 2018 by Don Merritt

Acts 4:1-22

The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. (4:1)

Already the Jewish religious leaders were becoming uncomfortable with the message they were hearing about what was going around, that the old disciples of Jesus were spreading… and here they were again addressing a big crowd right out there in the temple courts; they must do something. It’s interesting that the Sadducees are mentioned here, but there’s no mention of Pharisees, but then Peter and the others were talking about Jesus, saying that He had risen from the tomb, and that was clearly an affront to the Sadducees who taught that there was no resurrection from the dead.

They had the Apostles arrested and thrown into jail for the night.

The next morning the Sanhedrin was convened and the men were brought forth for questioning. Clearly, they had reason to be concerned because even though they had broken up the address Peter was making to the crowd, a rather large group there had come to follow Jesus (4:4).

Their interview with Peter and John was an interesting one for the man who had been healed was also present, making the job of the Jewish leaders quite awkward for he stood there as a testament to the fact that the Apostles were telling the truth… and to make matters even worse, Peter decided that this was a good time to preach the Gospel (4:5-12).

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. (4:13-15)

Had the members of the Sanhedrin had any interest in getting to the truth, this could have been a groundbreaking moment, but just as when Jesus stood before them, they had no qualms about truth; they were in a real political pickle. There was no way they were going to admit that they had been wrong about Jesus, and they needed this Jesus talk to stop right now to avoid being exposed. After discussing the matter, they decided to order Peter and John to stop preaching about Him, and had them brought back into the room (4:16-18)

But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old. (4:19-22)

It had been a tough day for the Jewish leaders.

Much could be written about this incident, and much has been, yet the really telling scene is what the response of the community of believers was, and we will see that when we get together next time…

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