Acts 5:17-33
My friend Joe Whitehouse and I worked on the same project
team for several years and before that we worked as key account representatives
in the Utility business of 3M Electrical Markets Division. Joe, being a good friend, told me in the last
years of my employment the following; Bob, you cannot let well enough alone, it
seems as if you always have to toss a grenade.
Reflecting back on those times, it always seemed that I was always
trying to get management to see the possibility outside the puzzle palace they
called the Electrical Market Division, or I was standing up for someone who
needed help. I fought many a battle that
did not need to be fought, in hindsight I wish that I had not done so. Now as you read these verses you will see
management (high priest and (the party of the Sadducees) do not approve of what
is taking place under their watch, and the Scriptures tell us they were filled
with jealousy. In Corporate America you
will find jealousy, especially in the lower ranks of management, and it’s the
same as the high priest and his hinge men were experiencing. You may never experience jealousy so let’s
define the actions: it has these parts; envy of some ones accomplishments,
covetousness of what they have or being resentful of their promotions, or
suspicious of their intentions.
That definition works well on the Scripture above, the high
priest and the lower management under them were full of jealousy, why, because
God had taken center stage, and religion has no legs went God shows up. So they did what management often does, lock
up the one that they see as the problem, and in this case it is Peter and his
running buddies that are seen as a threat.
So Peter and the apostles were put in the jail and the jailhouse began
to rock. Many, many years later Elvis
Presley made the term “Jailhouse Rock” into a movie and a song, but it was
faint in comparison to what God did on the first night Peter and the apostles
were put in jail.
This is the account, and I must tell you that this grenade
thrower would have sure enjoyed being a fly on the wall. “But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the
prison doors and brought them out, and said, “Go and stand in the temple and
speak to the people all the words of this Life.” And when they heard this,
they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Now when the high priest came, and those who
were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people
of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers
came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, “We
found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when
we opened them we found no one inside.” Now when the captain of the temple and
the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them,
wondering what this would come to. And someone came and told them, “Look! The
men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.”
Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force,
for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. (Acts 5:19-26 ESV)
If you spent time in Corporate America you come to this
understanding, they are not always right, and when they are confronted with
facts that prove such, watch out! Both
Peter and the apostles have been told to stop promoting Jesus that is not the
product that management wants to be the focus.
This is the account from management: “We strictly
charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with
your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.” But Peter
and the apostles answered, “We must obey
God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you
killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader
and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we
are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to
those who obey him.” (Acts 5:28-32 ESV)
What happens when you confront a religious man who has
authority, I surely hope they do not have the authority of this council,
because when they were confronted with truth, this was the desire of their
hearts; “When
they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.” (Acts
5:33 ESV) My prayer for you is that you
do not act like this writer, fighting battles that have no eternal value, but
that you follow the example of Peter and the apostles, “We
must obey God rather than men.”
From the Back Porch,
Bob Rice
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