Acts 5:27-32 (NIV)
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.”
The high priest was not used to being ignored. He had threatened the apostles severely if they persisted in speaking or teaching at all in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:18), but they had not only persisted, they seemed to have increased their activity.
So, he put on his most threatening demeanor, and raised his voice so all could hear the charges against the men: they had ignored a direct command from the Sanhedrin. They had not only continued to teach the things that Jesus had taught, and to teach the people that He had risen from the dead, they were teaching that Jesus execution had been unjustified, and that it had been instigated by the Sanhedrin itself!
But instead of being cowed by having to stand before the whole Sanhedrin again, instead of being humbled by the charges of disobedience, the apostles stood up straighter and said loudly and clearly, “We must obey God rather than men.” This was the same defense that they had used in their earlier trial (Acts 4:19-20).
This argument was key to all that the early Church stood for and did. They did not preach the gospel because it was the cool thing to do. They did it because it was a direct command from Jesus own lips (Matthew 28:18-20). And that command moved them forward powerfully against any headwind that people tried to put in their way. In the current instance, they had actually been commanded by an angel sent from God to go back to the temple and teach the people about life in the kingdom of God (Acts 5:19-20). In a contest between God’s commands and the threats of people, even highly-placed people, God’s commands win.
But there was more. Far from shying away from the charges of them teaching Jesus’ resurrection, they loudly proclaimed it now in front of the whole assembly, looking directly into the eyes of the high priest himself, a Sadducee whose theology did not allow for resurrection from the dead. And far from backing away from accusing the Sanhedrin of orchestrating Jesus’ execution, they stated it clearly now, in front of the whole group, even calling it murder.
And they went even further. They clearly proclaimed that Jesus, whom the Jewish leaders had murdered, was the long-awaited Savior, who had come to not only grant forgiveness to those who would repent, but who had already poured out the Holy Spirit on those who were obedient to Him, even if that obedience meant disobeying the commands of mere people.
Father, Your people, the people of the kingdom, have no business but to obey You in everything You command. But we all too often get busy, distracted, and drawn away from Your commands by the exigencies of day-to-day life. And we do allow ourselves to be swayed away from Your clear commands and requirements by popular theology and the fear of appearing to be politically incorrect. Forgive us, Lord! Help us instead to take these powerful, Spirit-filled men as our models, men who obeyed You at every turn, no matter the scenario, no matter the consequences. Keep us right in the center of Your will, walking with You every moment of every day. Amen.
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