Acts: To The Ends Of The EarthSample

The ongoing growth of the church is inhibited neither by politicians’ threats nor by internal hypocrisy.

Clearly God is accrediting His gospel message in miraculous ways (vv. 15–16). Luke now tells us that the motivation of the Sanhedrin is jealousy (v. 17), the same motivation behind their earlier attitude to Jesus. But prison is an ineffective weapon against the apostles. God’s messengers cannot be stopped as long as He has work for them to do. The denial of responsibility for the death of Jesus by the Jewish authorities (v. 28) has a very familiar contemporary ring to it. Verses 29 to 32 are an excellent summary of the apostolic response. Note the following elements:

• God raised Jesus from the dead. "You killed him on the tree;"
• God exalted Jesus to His right hand that He might give repentance and forgiveness to Israel;
• we are witnesses of this and so is the Holy Spirit.

The response to such a message is similar to the response to Stephen’s speech (Acts 7:54) and perhaps the apostles would have met Stephen’s fate but for the wise intercession of Gamaliel (vv. 34–39). Gamaliel reminds the Sanhedrin of Theudas (v. 36) and Judas the Galilean (v. 37), who both appeared claiming to "be someone," but later were killed, and their followers scattered. Similarly, he says, let the apostles go, for their cause will fail if it is of human origin (v. 38), but if, on the other hand, it is of God, who can effectively oppose it?

The apostles were flogged, then released, but kept teaching and proclaiming, despite the Sanhedrin forbidding that activity. Saul/Paul, a student of Gamaliel, had no such open attitude to Christianity. He saw more clearly that the old system must stay, and therefore the new must be banished. According to the logic of Gamaliel, the ongoing growth of the church and its continuation to this day is ample evidence of its divine origin.

To oppose the gospel is to fight against God (v. 39)—surely a hopeless enterprise.

Reflection

Why did Gamaliel and Saul have such different attitudes to the new movement? Note the following: The high priest and his associates (v. 17), the captain of the guard and chief priests (vv. 24, 26), the Sanhedrin (v. 33), the flogging and the silence ordered (v. 40). What do the opponents of the apostles have in common?