The apostles had been arrested for preaching the news of Christ; God miraculously frees them from jail where they proceed to tell others about Jesus in the same place they had just been previously arrested. Now, captured again, the Chief Priest and Sadducees desiring to kill the apostles are forced to pause when a Pharisee named Gamaliel speaks.
“Men of Israel, take care what you are planning to do to these men! Some time ago there was that fellow Theudas, who pretended to be someone great. About 400 others joined him, but he was killed, and all his followers went their various ways. The whole movement came to nothing…
“So my advice is, leave these men alone. Let them go. If they are planning and doing these things merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown. But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God!”
I imagine Gamaliel as one who didn’t speak often, but when he did people listened. I surely listened. As a young believer I had many questions about God. The question always floated in my mind, “What if I’m wrong, and all this is a lie?”
Gamaliel’s words were powerful. A lie would never stand the test of time, and the message of Jesus has only grown stronger. It could only be through the power of a very real Holy Spirit that that could happen. I still get chills today.
Read today's passage at Biblegateway Acts 5:12-42
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