Acts 5:17-42
New International
Version (NIV)
17 Then the high priest and
all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled
with jealousy. 18 They arrested the
apostles and put them in the public jail. 19 But during the night an
angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. 20 “Go, stand in the temple
courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”
21 At daybreak they entered
the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.
When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called
together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to
the jail for the apostles. 22 But on arriving at the
jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, 23 “We found the jail
securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened
them, we found no one inside.” 24 On hearing this report,
the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering
what this might lead to.
25 Then someone came and
said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching
the people.” 26 At that, the captain
went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force,
because they feared that the people would stone them.
27 The apostles were
brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high
priest. 28 “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.”
29 Peter and the other
apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! 30 The God of our ancestors
raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. 31 God exalted him to his
own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance
and forgive their sins. 32 We are witnesses of
these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey
him.”
33 When they heard this,
they were furious and wanted to put them to death. 34 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. 35 Then he addressed the
Sanhedrin: “Men of Israel, consider carefully what you intend to do to these
men. 36 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. 37 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. 38 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. 39 But if it is from God,
you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting
against God.”
40 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.
41 The apostles left the
Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace
for the Name. 42 Day after day, in the
temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and
proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.
These
are the things that struck me in this passage:
· Jealousy is a horrible
thing. People act foolishly when
jealousy is part of the picture. Have
you ever been treated poorly because of jealousy? Have you ever treated someone else poorly
because of jealousy?
· We need to obey God over
man. Often times God wants us to follow
the laws of the land but if they are in direct conflict with God’s law then we
need to follow God over man. If someone
tells us not to speak about God, we know this is not from Him.
· We need to obey God,
even when it doesn’t make sense. These
men had been told not to speak of Jesus.
They were thrown in jail, again, because of their bold witness. They are now freed from jail by an angel who
tells them to go speak in the temple courts.
The common sense thing to do would be to go hide away. Maybe even have someone bring a few people to
them in secret, not show up in the most public place ever! They could have been easily killed for this
action.
· We need to rejoice, even
when things seem like they cannot get any worse. We need to rejoice when we face trials and
tribulations for the name of Christ because we have been found faithful in
serving Him.
· We need to keep on
keeping on.
When
we seek Him we will find that He is faithful to us even in those times that are
full of turmoil and strife. Are we
faithful to Him?
Seeking
Him with all my heart,
Sheila
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