June 8, 2022 - Acts 5:26-29, 33-35, 38-39
“The captain went with his Temple guards and arrested the apostles...Then they brought the apostles before the high council, where the high priest confronted them. “We gave you strict orders never again to teach in this man’s name!” he said. “Instead, you have filled all Jerusalem with your teaching about him, and you want to make us responsible for his death!” But Peter and the apostles replied, “We must obey God rather than any human authority. When they heard this, the high council was furious and decided to kill them. But one member, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, …said to his colleagues, “Men of Israel, take care what you are planning to do to these men!…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!”” Acts of the Apostles 5:26-29, 33-35, 38-39 NLT
Jesus, as we read the accounts in the Bible about how the Pharisees responded to you and your followers it is easy to judge them for not accepting you. We can assume that most of them were men who thought they were doing their best to follow you and help the Israelites do the same. They might have seriously missed the mark, but likely in their minds they were doing what was right. They just were so closed to the idea that you would do something so out of their comfort zones or even the realm of thinking. Lord, help us not to ever be like the Pharisees. We don’t want to try to place you within the box of our comprehension or comfort. You are God and you have the power and freedom to move in ways that we can’t predict, don’t understand, or that make us uncomfortable. We never want to find ourselves fighting against you. We want to come to you for your insight and follow you even into the unknown.
In Jesus name, amen.
