Hey there, welcome back to the Semi -Seminarian.
In this episode, we are continuing our look at
the Acts of the Apostles. In this episode, now
after the Pentecost event, we're going to focus
this evening on an event which occurs between
Peter, John, and a lame man, in which they heal
that man, and the authorities don't know quite
what to make of it. We'll see you on the other
side. So we're going to look at three, four,
five of the Acts of the Apostles tonight, which
deals with the early ministry of the apostles
within the city of Jerusalem. And just to recall
the promise made by Jesus in the first chapter,
the Acts of the Apostles, in the eighth verse,
Jesus gives some directions to his apostles,
forecasting. how they were going to grow the
church. He says, but you'll receive power when
the Holy Spirit comes on you, and you will be
my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and
Samaria and to the ends of the earth. So Jesus
is kind of showing them how this missionary...
project is going to take place that they are
going to focus their message of the good news
the gospel account of jesus within jerusalem
and then he mentions judea and samaria those
are regions outside of the city of jerusalem
a little bit further out and then eventually
to the ends of the world to the whole world jesus
is indicating here in the first chapter of acts
point of ascension That his ministry on earth,
that his kingdom that he proclaimed to have come
to the earth with his public ministry was not
just a restorative movement for the Jewish people,
but was actually a kingdom for the whole world.
And that's what the disciples do. We find the
Acts of the Apostles opening up in that first
chapter with him basically saying goodbye to
Jesus. makes his ascension into heaven. They
then continue to stay in the city of Jerusalem,
praying as directed by Jesus. When the point
of Pentecost, or the Jewish festival of first
fruits, takes place 50 days after the Passover
event, of which Jesus was a part of at the very
end of his life, 50 days later we have the feast
of the first fruits. or Pentecost, and we find
in chapter 2 the coming of the Holy Spirit on
the people, their ability to speak in foreign
languages, and we find Peter giving us the first
public sermon of the resurrected Christ, and
doing so in a way that was both frightening and
confusing to much of the city of Jerusalem, but
as well convicting. because the second chapter
of Acts indicates to us that about 3 ,000 people
were saved at that point of that first sermon.
So we pick up today, after that very momentous
event of Pentecost, something has definitely
changed in the boldness of these apostles. Obviously,
it's the coming of the Holy Spirit, a coming,
a birthing. a celebration that we'll actually
celebrate this coming Sunday. This Sunday is
Pentecost Sunday, so we will have this discussion
again on Sunday morning about what it means to
be indwelt with the Holy Spirit as the individual.
This is after that event as they began to preach
in the city. So beginning with verse 1, chapter
3, one day Peter and John, two apostles, We're
going up to the temple. Now, it's 3 o 'clock
in the afternoon. Some translations may say the
ninth hour of the day. If your translation says
that, it's telling you that it's 3 o 'clock because
the first hour of the day is 6. Nine hours later
from 6 in the morning is 3 in the afternoon.
The day concludes at 6 p .m. This is one of the
important times of prayer for devout Jewish people.
They would pray in the morning. At six in the
morning, they would pray in the afternoon. Here
we see them praying in the ninth hour or 3 p
.m. And then they would commit themselves to
prayer again at sunset. So here we see John and
Peter going to the temple as religious Jews.
This is important because even though they are
now preaching this message of the resurrected
Jesus, they are still observing. the customs
of the Jewish faith. It's very interesting to
show us this kind of interplay between the message
that they have now about the power of the resurrected
Christ and at the same time its relationship
with their Jewish heritage. So even with the
resurrected Christ and their recognition of his
power, that doesn't mean that they just stop
going to temple. They're still observant. And
here we see them walking up to the temple gate,
which is called the beautiful gate. And they're
going for the afternoon prayers. Whenever they
get to this gate, there was a man unable to walk,
was being carried to the temple gate called beautiful.
And he had been that way since he was born. Every
day someone put him near the gate. There he would
beg for people going into the temple courtyards
to pray. He saw that Peter and John were about
to enter, so he asked them for money. Peter looked
straight at him, and so did John. Then Peter
said, Look at us. So the man watched them closely.
He expected to get something from them. Peter
said, I don't have any silver or gold, but I'll
give you what I have. In the name of Jesus Christ
of Nazareth, get up and walk. Then Peter took
him by the right hand and helped him up, and
at once. The man's feet and ankles became strong.
He jumped to his feet and began to walk. He went
with Peter and John into the temple courtyards.
He walked and he jumped and he praised God. All
of the people saw him walking and praising God,
and they recognized him as the same man who used
to sit and beg at the temple gate called Beautiful.
And they were filled with wonder, and they were
amazed. At what had happened to this man. Now
as a journalist. And the author of the gospel
according to Luke. And the Acts of the Apostles.
Luke is doing in many ways a journalistic work
here. With both his gospel account. And the Acts
of the Apostles. He has interviewed the eyewitnesses.
He has checked the facts. And he is trying to
give the reader as a. objective and dispassionate
take on these events as he possibly can. So in
many ways, he's acting as biblical journalist
here. And one of the things that you learn as
a journalist is you never bury the lead in a
story. You pack the biggest punch you can in
the very first few paragraphs of whatever story
you're writing. In verse 43 of chapter 2, Luke
says the apostles did many wonders and miraculous
signs. Now in chapter 3, Luke is leading off
with the biggest story in the church chronologically.
He is showing this is the most important story
up to this point that I could tell you. This
was a story that people were just told about
as something miraculous after the fact. Remember,
this beggar was well known among the people at
the temple. And that is going to set up a confrontation
because of that fact. Because he was so well
known and because so many people actually saw
this miracle take place, this is going to become
very sticky for the religious leaders and the
apostles. And we'll see that here in a moment.
But here we have a captive audience now for Peter
in these temple courts. He could say anything
he wanted to them in this moment. gathered around
and they are all abuzz at what he has just done
with this well -known beggar man. And he could
say anything he wanted and he chooses to basically
repeat the Pentecost sermon. Beginning with verse
11 in chapter 3, the beggar, who now is healed,
was holding on to Peter and John and all the
people were amazed. They came running to them
at Solomon's porch. That's one of the porticos
of the temple courtyards. When Peter saw this,
he said, Men of Israel, why does this surprise
you? And why do you stare at us? We haven't made
this man walk by our own power or godliness.
The God of our, not just our, but yours too.
The God of our fathers. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
has done this. He has brought glory to Jesus
who serves him. But you handed Jesus over to
be killed. Pilate had decided to let him go.
But you spoke against Jesus when he was in Pilate's
court. You spoke against the holy and blameless
one. You asked for a murderer to be set free
instead. You killed the one who gives life. But
God raised him from the dead. We are all witnesses
to it. This man whom you see and know, this beggar
man, was made strong because of faith in Jesus'
name. Faith in Jesus has healed him completely.
You can see it with your own eyes, Peter says.
Now in these verses 11 through 16 of chapter
3, we see a characteristic or a type of sermon
that is preached very commonly early on amongst
the apostles. This sermon is a public exhortation,
right? It's something I'm declaring something
out loud to public people. What we're seeing
in that declaration reveals to us a lot about
what... These early followers, or at least certainly
Peter, would see as central to the faith in Christ
at its very beginnings. These early sermons of
the apostles are going to illustrate that the
crucifixion, number one, that the crucifixion
was the worst crime committed in history. Peter
even indicates in his Speech we just read, even
Pilate, the Roman governor, thought the punishment
was unjust. Secondly, these early sermons are
going to indicate a belief by these early Christians
that the resurrection is a distinct repudiation
of Jesus' opponents and a vindication for his
claims. What that means is, The fact that Jesus
was resurrected from the dead as He promised
is proof that He is who He says that He is. If
He is not everything power -wise that Jesus claimed
to be, He would have been unable to raise Himself
from the dead, but He did. And that makes all
of the difference. And that will make all of
the difference. For Christianity. Because had
Jesus died and stayed dead, we most certainly
would not be here right now talking about it.
The resurrection literally showed that Christ's
power is indestructible. The resurrection literally
shows Him to hold power literally over life and
death. And thirdly, The third thing these sermons
will show is that this power that we're talking
about doesn't rest in us. It rests in Christ.
It may be possible through us, through the power
of the Holy Spirit, but this is not our power.
Peter even says, why are you looking at me? I
didn't do it. It's the power of Jesus that did
it through me, through the Holy Spirit. So, this
is an indicator or a type. Early sermons of Peter
and the other apostles are all going to kind
of follow this same little pattern. And I think
if we think about it closely, we can see what
early Christianity must have meant to these early
apostles and how much emphasis is placed not
necessarily on moral or right conduct or the
adherence to a certain type of law or laws, Rather,
the importance at the beginning of Christianity
was in the belief that Jesus died and was raised
from the dead and we all saw it. It's not a story
somebody just made up. We all saw it. The chapter
3 continues with verse 17. My friends, Peter
is continuing his sermon. My friends, I know
you didn't realize what you were doing. Neither
did your leaders. But God had given a promise
through all of the prophets. And this is how
he had made his promise come true. He said that
Christ would suffer. So, turn away from your
sins. Your Bible might say repent. Because that's
what that word repent means. To turn away. Change
your mind. Change your mind about what you think
the Messiah is supposed to look like and do because
the Messiah has come and is here. So turn away
from your sins. Turn to God. Then your sins will
be wiped away. The time will come when the Lord
will make everything new. He will send the Christ.
Jesus has been appointed as the Christ, the Messiah.
That Christos is Greek for the Hebrew word Messiah,
right? Jesus has been appointed the Christ or
the Messiah for you. He must remain until the
time when God makes everything new. He promised
this long ago through his holy prophets. Moses
said, the Lord your God will raise up for you
a prophet like me, Moses said. He will be the
one of your own people. You must listen to everything
he tells you. Those who do not listen to him
will be completely cut off from their people.
Those words of Moses come from the 18th chapter
of Deuteronomy. He continues, Samuel and all
of the prophets after him spoke about this. They
said these days would come. What the prophets
said was meant for you, people in the courtyards
that have just seen this miracle take place.
How can you deny it? The prophets, their message
was for you. The covenant God, our God, the guy
we all showed up here at three to pray to, He
made that covenant with us long ago with you.
He said to Abraham, all nations on the earth
will be blessed through your children. God raised
up Jesus who serves Him. God sent Him first to
you. He did it to bless you. He wanted to turn
each of you from your evil ways. Here we see
Peter again repeating the same things that come
up in the Pentecost sermon. You, mankind, you
killed Jesus, but God raised him up. And despite
the level of cruelty and hate that is possible
amongst humankind, Even so far as to kill an
innocent man, God's love and power are greater
than that. Even over death. So, that's the end
of that sermon. The end of chapter 3. We're moving
on to chapter 4. Peter and John are speaking
to the people. The priests and the captain of
the temple guard. And the Sadducees come up to
the apostles. So now the authorities have come
to the gate of Solomon, to Solomon's porch, and
they're like, what's going on here? What's all
of the hubbub? Because they were very upset by
what the apostles were teaching the people. Because
the apostles were saying that because Jesus rose
from the dead, people can be raised from the
dead. And Sadducees... These conservative religious
leaders, they didn't even believe in resurrection,
much less that the guy that we killed could do
it. So obviously they're upset. And so they arrest
Peter and John. And it was already evening, so
they put them in prison until the next day. But
many who heard this message believed, and the
number of men who believed grew to about 5 ,000.
The next day, the rulers, the elders, and the
teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. And Annas,
the high priest, was also there. So were Caiaphas,
John, Alexander, and others in the high priest's
family. They had Peter and John brought to them.
They wanted to question them. By what power did
you do this, they asked. And through whose name?
Peter was filled. with the Holy Spirit. And He
said to them, rulers and elders of the people,
are you asking us to explain our actions today?
Do you want to know why we were kind to a disabled
man? Are you asking how he was healed? Then listen
to this. You and all of the people of Israel,
you nailed Jesus Christ of Nazareth to the cross.
But God raised him from the dead. Peter is not
going to let them off the hook for understanding
they had treated the Messiah this way. And it's
through Jesus' name that this man stands healed
in front of you. Scripture says that Jesus is
the stone your builders did not accept. But it
has become the most important stone of all. Peter
continues, you can't be saved. By believing in
anyone else, God has given us no other name under
heaven that will save us. Again, this is a part
of that type that I was just talking about with
the sermon here. The power of Jesus is exhibited
through the resurrection, and that power comes
from no place else but God through Jesus, empowering
us with the Holy Spirit. There's only one way
that this thing happens. So every opportunity,
rather than trying to defend himself, rather
than trying to figure a legal loophole out of
whatever they're charging him with, he just continues
on with another version of this sermon. And the
leaders saw how bold Peter and John were. They
also realized that Peter and John were ordinary
men. With no training. And this surprised the
leaders. They realized that these men had been
with Jesus. Now I'm going to stop right here
because I think we can read past that. And we
know everything I'm about to say in loose bits
kind of in our mind. But if we don't actually
put them together, we can't actually see the
picture of what's going on here. So let me just
very briefly paint this scene for you. Peter
and John are Galilean fishermen. Very, very,
very, very likely they are illiterate. They cannot
read nor write. They are poor and have always
been poor and have never even stepped foot in
a school. Put yourself in their sandals. And
with a penalty perhaps of death, You have now
been placed in front of the United States Supreme
Court. And the chief justice of the country looks
from that massive bench or altar thing that they
sit from behind and looks down at you and says,
explain yourself. You can't even read the Constitution
that is to protect the rights whilst you're in
the Supreme Court. You're illiterate. How would
that feel? Would we be scared? Would there be
a level of intimidation there? But they're bold.
So bold that it's pointed out here in the account
told by Luke. It was actually shocking to the
Supreme Court justices that these guys seem to
be able to hold their own and there's no reason
why they should be able to. The leaders could
see the man who had been healed. And this guy
that was at the beautiful gate is literally standing
there next to them. So there was nothing they
could say. They can't say, well, that was all
some illusion or you guys played some sort of
trick on the people. And that guy's not even
around anymore. This is some sort of... This
is some sort of fraud. You have pulled some sort
of magic. You've done something. But they can't
say anything because there's the guy in which
they have all seen and more than likely have
walked by ignoring perhaps every day for all
of this guy's 40 years of his life. But they
can't say anything because he's right there.
So they ordered Peter and John to leave the Sanhedrin.
The Sanhedrin is the Supreme Court. So they could
talk things over. What can we do with these men,
they asked. Everybody in Jerusalem knows that
they've done this outstanding miracle. We can't
say it didn't happen. The dude's still here.
We have to stop this thing. It must not spread
any further among the people. We have to warn
these men. they must never speak to anyone in
Jesus' name again. Once again, the leaders call
Peter and John back into the Supreme Court chambers
there, the courtroom. And they commanded them
not to speak or teach at all in Jesus' name.
Now, if you have any sense of the boldness that
Peter has going on right now, you probably have
an idea of how he's going to respond. But Peter
and John replied to the judges, Judge for yourself,
which is right from God's point of view. Should
we obey you or God? Because there's nothing else
we can do. We have to speak about the things
that we have seen and heard. You can't tell us
not to talk about... what we have seen and heard
regarding Jesus. And if you guys want us to stop,
you're going to have to just kill us because
we're not going to do it. So the leaders warned
them again, and then they did really the only
thing at this point that they could do. They
let them go. And there are biblical commentators
that say this was the most important mistake
the Sanhedrin made. Because they had arrested
them so quickly after whatever offense they believed
that they had caused here with the healing of
this man. And then they let them go so quickly.
And it really gave an indication to the people
as they watched that the Sanhedrin are powerless
over these men. That the people who are supposed
to be in charge of our law have no way to actually
punish these guys. So they let him go. They couldn't
decide how to punish him. They knew that all
the people were praising God for what had happened.
And the man who had been healed by the miracle
was over 40 years old. Now, why is the man's
age so important to the story here? Remember,
these first century writers, they don't have
to tell us anything. So anytime they give us
a fact that might feel a little bit sideways
to the narrative, we have to kind of stop and
go, I wonder why Luke bothered to point that
out. This is a witness to this man's infirmity.
This was a guarantee that this was a genuine
miracle. The fact that everybody acknowledged
that this was a grown man who had been this way
from birth, that this wasn't just some sort of
stunt that they had pulled, just some scam. This
was a legitimate miracle. Skipping down to verse
32 of chapter 4. of the believers. Now we're
going to focus rather than on the sermons, and
now we're going to talk a little bit on the relationship
amongst the early believers in the church here
in Jerusalem. All of the believers were agreed
in heart and mind. Now we're going to find through
the Pauline epistles, the letter that the Apostle
Paul writes, we're going to find in the disagreements
between Peter and Paul later down the road, we're
going to Discover also the council of Jerusalem,
headed by James the Just, or Jesus' half -brother,
has to deal with disagreements amongst believers
in their assemblies. And that's showing us that
people are people, and just because maybe we
had a good idea how to do things right at the
very beginning doesn't mean it always stays that
way. And sure enough... That is what happens.
But right now at the very beginning of the creation
of the church, and that's what we have here.
This is the apostolic age. This is the literal
beginning, the genesis of what we will call the
body of Christ amongst faithful believers. This
is the very, very beginning right here. And in
that very beginning, all the believers were agreed
in heart and mind. They didn't claim that anything
that they had was their own. They shared everything
that they owned. With great power, the apostles
continued with their teaching. They gave witness
that the Lord Jesus had risen from the dead.
They were greatly blessed by God. There were
no needy persons among them. From time to time,
those who owned land or houses sold them. They
brought the money from the sales, and they put
it down at the apostles' feet, and then it was
given out to anyone who needs them. Joseph was
a Levite from Cyprus, Cypriotic Jew. And the
apostles called him Barnabas. That's his surname.
So his name would be Joseph Barnabas. But the
way that we would say his name, if we were going
to say it the way they intended to say it, we
would call him Joseph, the son of help. Joseph,
the helpful friend of ours. Joseph, the helpful
guy. Okay, that's what that surname there is.
He did something very, very... and very generous.
He had a field. We're not sure what type of field
that it was, but it was sold and he took that
money and he gave it to the early church. It's
interesting in this process. There was a famous
doctor of the church, one of these second, third
century guys who studied the scriptures and really
poured themselves and then wrote themselves a
guy by the name of Thomas Aquinas. who is a famous
doctor of the early church. And he's telling
a story to Pope Innocent. They're having a discussion,
rather. And Pope Innocent says, boy, we can't
say in the name of Jesus, get up and walk anymore,
can we? That doesn't seem to happen like it used
to. And Thomas Aquinas says, yeah, and we can't
say silver and gold, none do I have anymore either.
and wonder about what the relationship may be
between the church and the power of the Holy
Spirit versus church and the almighty dollar
might have done in that time between genuine
acts of the Holy Spirit and the church becoming
an earthly institution. Moving on to chapter
5. The apostles did many miraculous signs and
wonders among the people. All of the believers
used to meet together at Solomon's porch. That
makes perfect sense, right? That's the goodest
place as any, just outside the beautiful gate
into the courtyards and then adjacent to the
entrance to the actual temple proper itself are
these porticos along the edges of the rectangularly
shaped courtyard. One of them is the... portico
the porch of solomon where the original um miracle
had happened tonight in our story tonight so
they continue to go back there and people actually
know that they can find them there so people
went up hoping to be healed more and more men
and women believed in the lord and they joined
the other believers so people brought those who
were sick into the streets They placed them on
beds and mats. They hoped that at least Peter's
shadow might fall on some of them as he walked
by. I think it's a very interesting parallel
to some of the stories that we hear sometimes
in the gospel accounts of people and how desperate
they were just to get close enough to Jesus that
they would reach out and if they feel like if
they could just touch Jesus, I'd be healed. If
I could just touch the garment Jesus was wearing,
I could be healed. There's a really interesting
similarity between these two instances. Crowds
even gathered in towns around Jerusalem. They
brought their sick. They also brought those who
were suffering because of evil spirits, and all
of them were healed. So the high priest and all
of his companions were Sadducees. They were very
jealous of the apostles. This is a big political
dynamic. With the high priest and his immediate
entourage of other priests being Sadducees, those
not believing in resurrection. The Sadducees
believed once you died, that was it. That the
relationship between God and mankind is about
how we live on earth now. But once you die, that
is all she wrote. Obviously, that is in direct
opposition. to what this message is that these
apostles are teaching. Because for them, the
resurrection is the number one thing they've
come to talk about. They're not telling stories
of the loaves and fishes. They're not telling
stories about the time they were out on the boat
and Jesus came walking up on the water. They're
not talking about whatever he said at the Sermon
on the Mount. They're not talking about any of
that stuff. At this part in the ballgame, they've
got one message. Jesus died, you killed him.
He raised from the dead, we saw him. Now say
you're sorry. The Sadducees, that is a direct
affront to the way they see their worldview.
They were very jealous of the apostles because
of the traction that these apostles' message
was getting amongst the people. So they arrested
them. and put them in the public prison. But
during the night, an angel of the Lord came.
He opened the prison doors and brought the apostles
out. Go, stand in the temple courtyard, the angel
said, and tell the people all about this new
life. Early the next day, they did as they had
been told. They entered the temple courtyard,
and there they began to teach the people. The
high priest and his companions arrived. And then
they called the Sanhedrin, the remainder of the
Supreme Court together. And the Sanhedrin, right,
was a gathering of the elders. They sent for
the apostles who were in prison. The officers
arrived at the prison, but they don't find the
apostles there. So they went back to the temple
and reported it. We found the prison locked up
tight, they said. The guards were standing at
the doors, but when we opened the doors, we didn't
find anybody inside. When the captain of the
temple guard and the chief priests heard this
report, they were bewildered and they wondered,
what is going to happen next? And then someone
came out and said, look, the men you put in prison
are out there preaching in the temple courtyard,
and they're preaching to the people. So the captain
went with his officers and brought the apostles
back, but they didn't use force because they
were afraid the people would kill them by throwing
stones at them. I think this is a fascinating
story. We are going to lock you dudes up in prison.
We are going to hold court tomorrow. Tomorrow
comes. Go get them out of prison. They're not
there. They're over there. Well, go get them.
Excuse me, guys that we just arrested last night,
would you guys mind coming to your trial, please?
Because we can't make you, because if we try
to make you, people are going to kill us. Please?
That's what's happening here. They brought the
apostles to be judged by the Sanhedrin. The high
priest questioned them. We gave you clear orders.
Why can't you guys help us out? Don't teach in
Jesus' name. But instead, you filled Jerusalem
with your teaching. And you want to make us guilty
of this man's death. And Peter, I'm sure, is
like, do you think? Peter and the other apostles
replied, we must obey God instead of people.
We've told you this before. After what we have
seen and heard and experienced, we can't do anything
but. He's going to remind them, you had Jesus
killed by nailing Him to a cross. But the God
of our people raised Jesus from the dead, and
now Jesus is Prince and Savior. God has proved
this by giving Him a place of honor at His own
right hand, and He did it so He could turn Israel
away from their sins and forgive them. are witnesses
to these things. And this is just another example
of reminding us in the 21st century that people
who began to believe in Jesus Christ, even when
Roman soldiers or Jewish soldiers... would put
swords to their necks, or throw them in prison.
The reason why these people believed in Jesus
Christ is not because some book told them so.
There was no Bible to tell them Jesus loves them
yet. They believed even at the point of death
because they were witnesses. They saw it and
they experienced it with their own eyes. Our
belief in Jesus Christ is not a belief in something
a book says. Our belief in Jesus Christ is of
an eyewitness account. And that makes all the
difference in the world. Because it means we
don't have to have faith in just faith. We can
have faith in something we believe to be true.
And so is the Holy Spirit a witness to these
things. And God has given the Spirit to those
who obey Him. And there is that. He's done His
little formula there all over again. Right? The
crucifixion was a crime and you committed it.
Right? Jesus was raised through the power of
God. And that power has given power to other
people. people through the Holy Spirit. Same
formula of Peter's speech. That to me is probably,
if you were to say, where is Peter's spiritual
life right now? It's those three things and probably
nothing else at this point. When the leaders
heard this, they were angry and they wanted to
put the apostles to death. But a Pharisee named
Gamaliel, time, Gamaliel is maybe one of the
most famous Or at this time, he probably would
have been the most famous of scholars. He would
have been a student of a guy named Heliel. And
Heliel was a teacher of Jewish thought that was
probably more along the lines of what the Pharisees
would believe. They weren't really quite sure
about a resurrection, but there was a possibility
of a life that existed outside of the human reality.
And Gamaliel was his disciple. And by this point
in the game, Helial is dead. Gamaliel is a major
player in Jewish thought and education. And he
has this great student, a kid from Tarsus, by
the name of Saul. Saul of Tarsus is a student.
He wouldn't be at this time because he'd be a
Pharisee in his own right. but was a student
of Gamaliel, that Saul of Tarsus will end up
becoming Paul. So Gamaliel stands up and says
to the Supreme Court, to the Sanhedrin, that
men of Israel, he says, think carefully about
what you plan to do with these men. Some time
ago, Thutis appeared. And he claimed he was really
somebody. And about 400 people followed him.
But he was killed. And all his followers were
scattered. Bless you. So they accomplished nothing.
And after this, Judas from Galilee came along.
And that was back in the days when the Romans
made a list of the people, right? And they forced
everybody to their own hometowns to go and register
for the census, right? Something that we do know
occurred in the time of Quirinius in 6 BC, and
that led to a revolt by this man right here,
Judas of Galilee, right? He too was killed, and
all of his followers scattered. Okay, so real
quickly, history lesson about Palestinian history
in the last century B .C. and first century A
.D. Gamaliel is talking about a couple of uprisings
that had taken place within the realm of most
people's memory. Certainly these old dudes because
they're elders of the... nation of Israel, these
old dudes that were on the Sanhedrin, they would
have all been alive whenever these things happened.
Okay. These both, these dudes, Thutis and Judas
are rebels. And there's a bit of confusion here
because some people think that Luke is talking
about an uprising that took place by a guy in
45 AD by a guy by the name of Thutis. And he
actually leads a bunch of his followers out to
the Jordan River. And he tells them once they
get out there that the Jordan River is going
to part, and they're going to be able to walk,
just walk across, and it's going to be dry, and
the Jordan River will part. And they get out
there, and the Jordan River doesn't part, and
the Roman legion shows up, and they just go up
to Thutis and cut his head off and take it back
to Jerusalem, and that's the end of the story.
That's it. That's all there is. They just, people
freak out and go, well, that didn't work out.
And go back home. Now that can't be the event
that we're talking about here because these events
are taking place in about 37. Okay? 33, 37, somewhere
in the mid -30s. This is right after the resurrection.
Right? So this is 10 or more years later, earlier
than the story I just told you. But we do know
of Judas from Galilee and Thutis from Galilee
at the time of the census at the end of the last
century B .C. The point of Gamaliel here is if
we kill these guys, I just want to point out,
do you guys remember what happened the last time
we killed one of these guys? Thousands more of
them sprung up and here we're still dealing with
them. Right? And if somebody could please show
up with that body of the Jesus guy, I would certainly
appreciate it. But to this point, nobody could
seem to find the body. So we've got to be careful.
So if this is really of God, Gamaliel is about
to say, there's not a darn thing you could do
about it anyway. And if it's not of God, then
these guys are going to be another Judas of Galilee
and another Thutis. They're just going with a
little finally fizzle out. Let's not make this
last any longer than it has to. So he gives them
some advice. Verse 38. Leave these men alone.
Let them go. If their plans and actions are only
human, right? If they're not of God, they'll
fail. But if their plans come from God, you won't
be able to stop these men. You'll only find yourselves
fighting against God. And his speech won the
leaders over. They called the apostles in and
he had them whipped. The leaders ordered them
not to speak in Jesus' name. Then they let the
apostles go. They each got 40 lashes of the cat
-of -nine -tails. And the apostles, rather than
being beat to a bloody pulp, which they probably
certainly looked like they were, They were full
of joy as they left the Sanhedrin because they
considered it an honor to suffer shame for the
name of Jesus. Day after day, they kept teaching
in the temple courtyards and from house to house.
And they never stopped telling the good news
that Jesus is the Christ. Well, there you have
it. The Christian community there in Jerusalem
after the Pentecost event seems to be growing
by leaps and bounds, empowered by the Holy Spirit.
But there are some troubles on the horizon. We're
going to cover that in our next episode. I hope
to see you right back here, friend. Until then,
be blessed and be a blessing.