As is usually the case, when Jesus is moving and doing great things, there will be opposition! And also as is usually the case, the opposition first comes from the religious persons.
Again in this situation, Peter speaks quite boldly and plainly says that the crippled man was healed by Jesus Christ of Nazareth, "whom you crucified ... rejected by you". He doesn't hold back in his clear condemnation of the leaders. I'm actually surprised that the reaction of the religious leaders at that point was not to throw them into prison more or have them flogged or something. But instead they "let them go, finding no way to punish them, because all of the people were praising God."
This is a good example of not worrying what to say when brought before the leaders and courts (Matt 10:19), but clearly Peter is "filled with the Holy Spirit" who gives him boldness and leads him in what to say.
This always stands out to me: "Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus."
Their boldness was astonishing because they knew that it didn't come from the disciples themselves. They recognized that something had changed these common men and that something was from being with Jesus and being filled with the Holy Spirit.
To me what absolutely highlights their boldness is that after they are going to release them and they command them not to speak about Jesus any more, instead of just exiting and being glad that they were released, Peter says that they have to obey God and keep speaking. He is clearly less worried about prison than about obeying God. Wow! Lord, give me that boldness and conviction! I want to be so totally devoted to you that being a witness and speaking the truth about you is more important than how people view me and more than my physical safety!
As they gathered back together, they didn't pray to be protected and kept from prison, but rather they prayed that God would give them boldness to speak and that Jesus would continue to heal and perform miracles as they go in his name.
Amen! Lord Jesus give us boldness to speak and act in your name!
An important note is that the Holy Spirit shook the place AGAIN and filled them AGAIN! The baptism and filling of the Holy Spirit is not a one time experience but he can fill us over and over! Holy Spirit come! Fill us and give us boldness to speak and act in the name of Jesus!
Here again we see the deep and complete sharing and fellowship of the believers. They gave of what they had to provide for each other, even selling properties to provide the needs for others. This of course needs to be led by the Holy Spirit and there were particular circumstances happening here (like that Jerusalem was going to be destroyed soon) but the giving to one another is quite notable.
Lord, guide us in reaching out as witnesses to your love and power and in reaching in to those in the body to help and give and provide for!
Thanks God for helping Peter and John when they meet priests and Sadducees!
ReplyDeleteI am seeing how much the priests heart is hardened.
They kept listening to the bold speaking of Peter and John and no way to respond and they are still seeing the praising miracles.
As pastor Nathanael mentioned, the priests recognized holy spirit changes Peter and John.
However, they didn't admit Jesus Christ. They chose not to follow God but to keep their rule.
I pray Jesus Christ for softening their/our heart to fully accept and surrender to God.
The work of the Holy Spirit in the lives of Peter and John and other disciples is obvious. They were being challenged by the same men who demanded the crucifixion of Jesus Christ, but they were not afraid for their lives. They spoke exactly what they knew was true about the resurrection of Jesus, and God had confirmed their message with an amazing healing miracle. They also preach to the leaders calling them to repent for putting Jesus to death, and saying that only through faith in Jesus can they be saved. It is by the grace of God that the disciples can escape this situation too, because clearly the priests were not willing to change their minds about Jesus and repent.
ReplyDeleteI have not experienced this kind of persecution before, but I do have people asking me why I believe in Jesus and the Bible. I pray for the Holy Spirit to help me speak with boldness what I know is true about Jesus and call people to be reconciled to God.
I also like how the believers in Jerusalem are unified in their faith in Jesus and are able to share so many things together. The church is providing the needs of the people around them. They have the obvious presence of God with them and the power of God working to heal and protect them--but they are praying for more growth in the Kingdom of God and asking for even more boldness to speak the truth.
Thanks for the comments!
ReplyDeleteFrom this chapter, I learned how to pray in my daily life. Rather than pray that God helps me to avoid difficult times and persecutions, I should pray to God that I can have strong faith in Him and stand my ground when they come. I need to thank God for the difficult times and persecutions He provides for me, because I get trained and grow up in His body.
Thank you for pointing out this second instance of filling of the Holy Spirit involving the same group of people. I have seen a lot of confusion in this area when I talk to other Christians. The average American Evangelical viewpoint seems to be that the Holy Spirit enters into a Christian's life at the moment of conversion, and that is it. It is taken by faith without any particular evidence of the Holy Spirit working, beyond the "born again" experience. Pentecostals seem to accept a secondary-to-conversion baptism of the Holy Spirit - but I get the impression that some view the Holy Spirit like a divine vending machine, rather than God Himself, a personal and free Being that is not bound to us or by us in any way. I still don't understand fully.
ReplyDelete