Acts 4:13-17 (NIV): 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. “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”
The members of the Sanhedrin were stunningly hard-hearted. In Acts 5:28 they accuse the apostles of being “determined to make us guilty of this man’s (Jesus’) blood.” This defense is remarkable, since they had actually plotted for months about how to successfully kill Jesus, and finally, by bringing intentional pressure on Pilate and on all the people, had been able to persuade them to crucify Jesus. Now that the tables had turned, they tried to appear stunned that anyone would believe that they had anything at all to do with Jesus’ crucifixion!
But little shows the depth of their depravity or the hardness of their hearts like the passage above. They were in a spot. Here were two of Jesus’ disciples, neither one of them trained in theology, who had nonetheless pulled off an amazing miracle: the complete healing of a man who had been crippled from birth, who was now over 40 years old! They themselves had likely seen this man many times on their way into the temple. They had probably thrown him a coin our two out of the “goodness of their hearts.” But none of them had ever thought to heal him, and they had no idea how they could have accomplished it if the thought had arisen. But here were these two simple, unschooled men, having clearly performed a mighty miracle (the proof of which was standing(!) right there with them), and claiming that they had accomplished it all in the name of Jesus.
So what was their response? Was it, like so many people, to immediately believe in the powerful name of Jesus, and give their lives over to Him? No. That would run counter to their belief that Jesus had been a dangerous charlatan. Instead of giving up their beliefs, and at the same time having to confess their sin in plotting against and crucifying Jesus, they said, “But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name.” They were unwilling to believe in Jesus, unwilling to admit that they were sinful men who really did need a savior. So instead, they tried to shut the mouths of those whose belief in and witness about Jesus gave them great power. They couldn’t compete, so they tried to suppress them.
That same dynamic is happening today in our own country. There are many people who are unwilling to admit that they are sinners, lost and hopeless. They are unwilling to repent, and to admit that their beliefs, founded upon and bolstered by their own opinions and the shifting sands of man’s philosophies, are wrong and lead to a dead end. So when they are confronted by the peace and joy, and yes, even the miracles that accompany the lives of God’s people, their response is not to repent, but to try to shut them up; to suppress them in the name of “equality,” or “fairness,” or “tolerance,” or “separation of Church and state.”
It is vital for God’s people to understand, though, that these are not the actions of people who are genuinely interested in equality, or fairness, or tolerance. They are the desperate actions of people who are deeply fearful of something so powerful, which they can’t understand or control.
When confronted with these kinds of pressures, we, as God’s people, must stand firm, and obey God rather than mere people (cf. Acts 4:19-20). We need to keep our relationship with God solid, keep our hearts and wills directed solely to God’s agenda, and keep speaking and acting boldly in the name of Jesus, regardless of the cost.
Father, thank You for this encouragement. It is good to know that this seemingly difficult path that we are on right now is nothing new, but has been successfully navigated by Your bold people clear back to the first century. Thank You for Your love, Your grace, and Your power to be able to withstand everything that the enemy could possibly throw at us, and to come out victorious in the end. Amen!