Monday, February 5, 2024

Listen to the Word

“Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.” (Acts 5:42)

Acts 5 describes the biggest threat the infant church has experienced in its young life. The Sanhedrin, the same group of religious leaders who had turned Jesus over to be executed just a few months before, now has his followers in the crosshairs. They have the apostles arrested. The apostles miss their first court date because an angel has busted them out of prison and told them to go preach some more, which they were happy to do. Then they are re-arrested and hauled to court, where they continue to preach, this time to their accusers. The Sanhedrin has the apostles flogged and “ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus” (Acts 5:40).

This week’s verse tells us just how effective the threats and punishments were: “they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.” Jesus’ followers would rather be arrested than be quiet.

Live the Word

Ponder for a moment what consequence you fear for speaking about Jesus. Ask him to make you bold enough to speak about him anyway.