In Acts, chapter 3, (just after Jesus ascended to heaven and the church was filled with the power of the Spirit) Peter and John healed a lamb beggar at the temple. This miracle shocked everyone. The text says that they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened. But not everyone was happy about what had happened.
The religious elite of the day took notice that Jesus’ followers were living their lives with power and they sought to put an end to this threat to their authority. They questioned both Peter & John publicly, held them in prison, and eventually (in Acts, chapter 4) brought them before the council in Jerusalem. Keep in mind this is the same council that had crucified Jesus! The apostles knew what they were capable of.
So, the council questioned Peter & John. They put the pressure on them. They charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus (v.18). But what happens next has shocked me for years.
19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.”
Acts 4:19-20 (ESV)
What courage it must’ve took to stand before the council and say what they said. After being charged to stop speaking and teaching Jesus, Peter and John said, “We can’t and we won’t.“
Looking out at our cultural landscape, you see some pressure coming our way. (It’s nowhere near the pressure the early church experienced, but it is pressure.) And what do we often do? We cave. We give in. We let the culture write the rulebook. But what if we were more like Peter and John? What if we stood in the face of opposition with the same boldness and confidence?
That would change the world.
East Maple 
Leave a comment