Wednesday
Wednesday
The Continuance of Persecution
The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.
Acts 5:41
Angered by the failure of their first assault on the apostles, the authorities resolved to take further action. This time they arrested most if not all the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel rescued them and told them to preach the gospel in the temple courts, which they did. In their defense the apostles were concerned to uplift Christ, whom God had raised and exalted. The Council were infuriated by this outspoken testimony to Jesus and wanted to put them to death.
But at this point the widely respected Pharisee Gamaliel made a diplomatic intervention. Using two earlier rebels as precedents (whose historical details are uncertain), he advised the Council to leave the apostles alone, since if their activity was of human origin, it would fail, whereas if it were from God, it could not be stopped; rather, the Council would be found fighting against God. We should not, however, credit Gamaliel with an invariable principle, since at least in the short run evil sometimes triumphs, while good sometimes fails.
The Council accepted Gamaliel’s advice, had the apostles flogged, repeated the order not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles’ reaction arouses our admiration. Their backs cruelly lacerated and bleeding, they nevertheless left the Sanhedrin rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for the Name (v. 41). Luke has now completed his account of the two waves of persecution that broke over the infant church. In the first the Council issued a prohibition and a warning, which led the apostles to pray for boldness to go on preaching. In the second the Council repeated the prohibition and flogged them, which led to their praising God for the honor of suffering dishonor for Christ.
The devil has never given up his attempt to destroy the church by force. Still today in many cultures the church is being persecuted. But we need not fear for its survival. As Tertullian wrote in his Apology, “Kill us, torture us, condemn us, grind us to dust…. The more you mow us down, the more we grow; the seed is the blood of Christians.”
For further reading: John 12:20–26