Daily Thoughts from Acts: Persecution (Acts 4:1-4)

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.  (Acts 4:1-4 ESV)

What began as persecution of Jesus, leading to his death, is now directed at his disciples who are preaching his resurrection.  The hope had been that by getting rid of Jesus the (for lack of a better term) religious elite would be rid of the teaching and movement that was so threatening their hold on the populace.  Jesus was teaching things that made them look bad and that was leading to change in the social structure that would not abide their current privilege.

The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection and they were most keen on keeping any idea of insurrection out of Roman thinking, fearing Rome would feel the necessity to quash any rebellion and limit self-governing for Israel.  So they had much to object to in this preaching by John and Peter.  But it wasn’t just the Sadducees who were upset.  The priests as well, many of whom but not all were Sadducees, saw this message as dangerous to their existence.  And indeed, the whole Sanhedrin, made up of Sadducees and Pharisees, priests and scribes, their supreme court allowed by Rome to exercise some jurisdiction, was willing to hear the case.

Because they intended to try them in the Sanhedrin, the Jewish high court, they detained John and Peter overnight.  Jesus had predicted to his disciples that because the religious elite hated him they would hate his disciples as well.  And here that prediction is coming true.  Stopping Jesus had not been enough.  His elect representatives the apostles and his many followers, were continuing to spread the message.  The elite felt they must stop and detain these rebels.

What they could not detain was the burgeoning growth of the church, with 5,000 new converts added after this undeniable miracle of healing the lame man.  God uses miracles to stir up faith but they can also stir up opposition.  Miracles become the razor’s edge that divides believers from unbelievers.

This is why Jesus, in the midst of performing many miracles, challenged those who, according to Matthew 8, declared that they would follow Jesus anywhere, with a description of his difficult living conditions (“the foxes have holes but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head”).  Miracles bring opposition in some as well as faith in others, and we must count the cost of following Jesus.

Do you follow him because of the benefits that accrue to you, and if so, what will you do when persecution comes?  Do we follow him because we love him and can’t live without him, or do we follow for the perks?

A story is told by Mrs. R. J. Richardson, a missionary refugee from China. When traveling with two little children, she was examined by a Japanese soldier whose rude handling of her person provoked her protest. This was answered by a harsh slap on her face, which stunned her mentally and physically. She was finally released and got into her rickshaw and drove off. “As we passed through a little lane, seeing nobody in sight,” she remembers, “I gave vent to my feelings and began to sob. I could not help it. When the rickshaw laborer heard me crying, he turned around and said, ‘Don’t cry, lady. Blessed are those that are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.’ This humble servant of the Lord, a perfect stranger to me, was being used of the Lord to bring me a message of comfort and to give me a thought that would overcome all feeling of resentment.”—The Sunday School Times