Boldness

The more I study the gospels the more I realize one thing in particular. Jesus did and said things that no one would dare do or say. He was a "jaw-dropper". The boldness with which He would proclaim the truth and the situations in which He found Himself in was handled with poise and power. What really interests me, is that the early church, possessed that same mentality. Peter and John were called before the Jewish leaders for healing a forty-year old lame man who had been begging for alms outside the temple for probably the better part of his life. The leaders wanted to know by what power they had healed this man. Now, mind you, these are the very leaders that Christ would have appeared before during His trial and crucifixion. The passage continues and declares that Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and he said the following: "Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead--by Him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation by no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved."

Can you picture the jaws drop? These are the same men who days earlier had fled in fear of these very leaders. Something had changed. These men were different. Not only were not running in fear, but they were standing defiant to the religious leaders of their day. The leaders were so dumbfounded that they couldn't find any fault in Peter and John for healing the man. They wrap the meeting up and tell them that they are not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus.

I love Peter and John's rebuttal. "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge, for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard."

I want that boldness! In the face of opposition and possible persecution, Peter and John felt so strongly about the truth that they had no choice but to continue to live and proclaim. They continued to meet in the temple and the church continued to grow. The apostles truly had become like their Master. Jesus didn't back down to the leaders and neither did His disciples at this time. I pray that I will be faithful to do the same.