Hello,
Read Acts 5.17-42
Today’s reading takes us through another round of prison for the apostles, followed by Peter giving another sermon.
We could easily focus today on God freeing the apostles from prison, Peter’s sermon, the apostles’ determination to obey God over humans, or the fact the apostles rejoice after they are flogged.
Instead, I want to turn our attention to the religious leaders. We learn from Acts that the religious leaders are described as jealous (5.17), perplexed (5.24), incredulous (5.28), enraged and out for blood (5.33). The religious leaders call to mind some of our most reflexive emotions and reactions. Who among us hasn’t been jealous of someone else, enraged, or bewildered? Emotions aren’t a bad thing and often clue us into important things to work on in our lives. In this case, the religious leaders are like this because their version of the truth, their way of God has come into question and they are trying to hold on to what power and control they have.
And into these intense emotions speaks Gamaliel. Gamaliel reminds the leaders of other “messianic” or religious movements that rose up, died down, fizzled out, or scattered. He calls the religious leaders to think critically about what God might be up to in this moment, and leave the apostles alone. Gamaliel trusts that in the end God’s way will be clear. Either the apostles are wrong, and the status quo will continue like normal. Or the apostles are correct, and there’s nothing the religious leaders can do to stop the movement of God.
Have you ever found yourself in a situation where it became clear you had been fighting against God? In what ways do you struggle for control instead of yielding to God’s Spirit? What might be some issues or topics that it might be best for you to let go and trust that God is working and will indeed reveal God’s way to everyone down the road?
Grace and Peace,
Matt
Inductive Questions: (These will be included each day and your work on them will be the foundation we build upon at our Wednesday evening in-person and Zoom Bible Study as we explore the church, mission, and Holy Spirit in Acts.)
Pick at least one of these to be a focus for all of Acts, but answer as many of them as you want.
- What does the church look like in Acts? Who is a part of it? What do they do? How is it formed? How does it relate to mission and the Spirit? In other words (fancy, technical terms) What is the ecclesiology of Acts?
- What does mission look like in Acts? Who does it? What do they do? How does it happen? How does it relate to the church and the Spirit? In other words (fancy, technical terms) What is the missiology of Acts?
- What does the Holy Spirit look like in Acts? What does the Spirit do? How is the Spirit active? How does it relate to church and mission? In other words (fancy, technical terms) What is the pneumatology of Acts?
Answer the question with the language of Acts as much as possible and cite the chapter and verse reference in your notes.