F O O T H O L D
READING
69 BEFORE THE COUNCIL
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PRAY 'Be my rescue shelter
and a strong fortress to protect me' O God.
(Psalm 71:3, GNB)
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READ Acts 4:1-22.
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THINK Is there, in this
passage, an example for present-day Christians
to follow?
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FOCUS It had all happened
before - Annas, Caiaphas and the 'rulers and
elders and scribes' (6) had
met to decide what to do with a
troublesome preacher who
said disturbing things about them and
their ways (Mark 15:1). They
had got rid of him, they thought.
And now here they were, back
again, facing the same problem. They
no doubt thought they could
easily bully these ignorant followers
of Christ into submission.
But what a surprise they had! For they
had more than Peter to cope
with (8).
The Jews wanted to turn it
into a case of disloyalty to the
Jewish religion. But Peter
began by reminding them that it was
all to do with a cripple who
had been healed - there was no
argument about him! peter
was quite direct and stated plainly
that the man had been made
well 'through the power of the name of
Jesus Christ of Nazareth -
whom you crucified . . . ' (10). Yet
in spite of all the leaders
had done, salvation through Jesus
could still be offered to
them (12).
You can sense the
bewilderment of the leaders in verse 13; how
could these ordinary men of
no education do things they did, and
how could they presume to
challenge the powerful religious
authorities? It was the
company they kept (13)!
There was no denying the
fact that the lame man was changed. he
could walk. 'Proving' that
the gospel is true by speaking or
writing is important' but
the proof that counts most is a life
transformed - physically,
morally or spiritually.
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PRAY Pray that your life may
be a demonstration that you have been
with Jesus and that your
friends will notice.
