In verse 33 it says, “When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death.” “Heard this” refers to hearing the defense of the apostles. The apostle’s teaching, in other words, the teaching of salvation only through the name of Jesus Christ, had spread throughout Jerusalem. The High priest and all his associates out of jealousy arrested and put the apostles in prison. (vs.28) However, the Word of God needed to be preached so God sent an angel that set them free and had them preach the Word of life. Therefore, the temple officers arrested them again and brought them before the Sanhedrin saying, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name… Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” (28)
In response to this the apostles answer is given in verse 29. “We must obey God rather than men!” (29) Even if you command us not to do it, God has told us to do so. He has commanded us to do so. Therefore, we are going to follow His command. Also our God raised Jesus, whom you have put on the cross and killed, and has made him the Savior and exalted him to his own right hand. This wasn’t just to show Israel that they were wrong. This was to make Jesus “Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.” (31) It was so that the Jewish leaders would realize their responsibility, repent, and ask God for forgiveness. When they heard this defense, “they were furious and wanted to put them to death.” (33) However, in the midst of this there was someone who was calm, Gamaliel. Also the apostles themselves in the midst of this continued their responsibility to share the Gospel. In this passage 3 different attitudes towards the apostle’s defense can be seen. These 3 attitudes are seen in all ages and in this country too. Today let’s look at these three attitudes and what kind of attitude God wants us to have.
The first attitude can be seen in verse 33, the attitude of the High Priest and all his associates. The second is in verses 34-40 in the proposal of Gamaliel. The third is the attitude of the apostles themselves in verses 41 and 42.
I. The furious people (33)
“They” in verse 33 are the High Priest and all of his associates. (21, 27) “Furious” is extreme anger that controls both our heart and mind. Why were they so furious?
1. They had wrong preconceived doctrine. The apostles are saying that Jesus who is supporting them is the true Messiah. The reason for their belief is the cross and resurrection. Therefore, in verse 30 they say, “The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead-whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.” The fact that Jesus who died on the cross and rose 3 days later proves that Jesus is the Savior. However, this proof made no sense to them. It made no sense to them because they didn’t believe in miracles. The Sadducees which made up the Sanhedrin rejected the idea of a spiritual world and only believed in natural things that they could perceive in their brains, but other than God and Moses, they wouldn’t accept anything that they couldn’t understand logically. Therefore, they not only couldn’t accept Jesus’ resurrection, but they saw it as disobeying God and thus such people should be killed. Their preconceived idea that a dead person could never be resurrected caused them to be against Jesus’ resurrection and made the argument that following Christ was actually following God meaningless.
2. The second reason was pride. They were the highest authority in the temple. The apostles criticized them saying, “The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead-whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.” Therefore, becoming furious was natural. When their pride is hurt, sinful man’s attitude is anger. The other day on T.V. Tamori and Atsushi were talking about what kind of attitude you should take when you have a fight with your spouse. Atsushi said, “I never say, ‘I’m sorry’.” Until the other person comes and apologizes, he doesn’t make any contact at all. When the other person apologizes, he says, “O.K. I’ll forgive you.” He says that this works well. Tamori commented that that was really immature. A person that is good at marriage relationships does not take that kind of attitude. That type of person throws away his pride. A husband throws away his pride and from his end apologizes. That’s how a mature person that is good at marriage relationships thinks. I thought Tamori knows what he is saying. An immature person is set in his thinking and position. A really mature person can throw them away. Christ was God, but he was able to throw his position away and become a person that served others. He became human. Not only did he become human, but he humbled himself to the cross. (Phil. 2:6-8)
The High priest and his associates were the opposite of that. They weren’t able to throw away their authority and positions. They couldn’t accept the criticism of the apostles. Instead, they tried to get rid of them. They weren’t able to change their thinking or opinion. They had an illusion that they would be able to show that they were right. Because they couldn’t change, they became hysteric and furious. We need to realize what God is doing, and not decide truth according to our own strength or authority. We need to interpret what events mean spiritually, accept the message that God is giving us, and follow the Lord’s will. Then our heart will really be peaceful. To be stuck in our own thinking, to have to have our own way is like a radio that isn’t tuned to a station. You can’t hear the program that you want to hear. Under such conditions you will never have peace. You need to be tuned to channel of Gods will. Only by following God’s will you be able to find peace.
When do you get angry? When you aren’t recognized by others? When you are the center of gossip? When someone uses your things? When someone didn’t keep their promise? When someone betrays you? When others receive more respect than you? No matter when it is, when you need to throw away yourself, give it all to the Lord, and accept the fact, and you will be freed from the anger. If like the High priest and his associates, you try to protect your position, then it shows that you are still immature. When you try to stick to you own thinking, then you can’t grow. No matter what situation you are in, you need to find spiritual meaning in it, catch the message that the Lord is giving through it, follow the Lord’s will, and take the attitude that it will help you mature.
II. Gamaliel’s proposal (vs.34-39)
Here “a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, who was honored by all the people” appears. He was a teacher of the law and a Pharisee, but he was different from other teachers of the law. He was honored by all the people. According to Acts 22:3, he was the great apostle Paul’s teacher so he was a high ranking teacher. At that time in the Jewish world he was from the most popular Hillel school. The man who started the Hillel school was possibly his grandfather. Usually the teachers of the law out of respect were called Rabbi, but those Rabbi who were really high level were called Rabban. Within the Jewish history there aren’t many teachers who were called Rabban. The first person to be called Rabban was Gamaliel. Jewish traditions expressed his importance by saying, “When Rabban Gamaliel, the Elder died, the glory of the Law ceased and purity and abstinence died.”
This Gamaliel stood up in the middle of the Sanhedrin and “ordered that the men (apostles) be put outside for a little while.” (34) Then he addressed the Sanhedrin encouraging them to think carefully as to how they were going to handle the apostles. There was a Jewish revolutionist who said he would the divide the Jordan River and people rallied to him. He was killed by the Romans and “all his followers were dispersed.” (36) Also there was Judas the Galilean who led a revolt, but “He too was killed, and all his followers were scattered.” (37) Therefore, he suggested that they leave the apostles alone too. “For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” (38, 39)
Gamaliel was certainly a teacher to be respected . He made a perfect proposal.
1. We can see a deep trust in God. He didn’t try to do things in his own strength, but left everything in the hands of God’s providence. He had a deep trust in God and obeyed him.
2. For him the apostles were a completely different type of people. Even towards people with different opinions and principles, he never lost a kind spirit.
3. By sending the apostles who were hated out of the room for a while, he tried to bring calmness back to the room. He can be given credit for trying to control his emotions.
In other words, His attitude was a deep trust in God and obedience; kindness towards people with different opinions; controlled his emotions; in every aspect he used great care and properness. Indeed, he was a Rabban, a great teacher.
Shuraierumahar (spelling ?) said, “The Lord wanted to tell him more than any one else, ‘you are not far from the kingdom of God.” Also in the old church legends there was stories that Gamaliel quietly became a Christian, and then with his son and Rabbi Nicodemus were baptized by Peter and John.
He is a perfect example of when you are among overwhelming different opposing views, to say what is right, and when you don’t know what God’s will is, to be patient. This passage has a lot of things to teach me I think. Over and over again I make mistakes because I start to do something before I check to see if it is the Lord’s will or not. Also his words had power to influence everyone not because his opinion was just logical and outstanding, but because his life was one that he was respected by all people. That means that we too should strive to listen to and follow the Word of God. Then we will be filled by the Holy Spirit, and by receiving the Holy Spirit’s wisdom and power, we will be a good witness to those around us.
However, is Gamaliel’s attitude really to be praised? If his opinion was really accepted, then why do we see in verse 40 that the apostles were whipped, charged not to speak in the name of Jesus before they were freed? This is not leaving the men alone. That is not something that people who are persuaded by Gamaliel’s proposal would do. What does this mean?
Yasuo Sakibara in the commentary that he wrote he said that if Gamaliel was really a person with understanding and if his words were really persuasive, then the apostles would not have been treated like that. They would have left everything in God’s hands and quietly waited for the Lord’s leading. The fact that they treated the apostles like that shows that Gamaliel’s plan to do nothing, tells us in reality it was not the kind plan like we are thinking of. His attitude of kindness, looked like he had understanding, but in reality there was no will to follow it If the apostles work from men or if it was God, even if it was just from one of them, they couldn’t just “”Leave these men alone!” (38) If it was from God, could they say “Oh, so. It’s from God. Then what shall we do. Wait a minute. I’m busy right now. I’ll believe a little later.” They couldn’t say that. If there was any possibility, they would have enthusiastically looked into it. However, we can’t see any attitude like that. This shows that they had no intention to follow it.
Therefore, Gamaliel’s attitude looks at a glance as being fair. It looks like there’s understanding, but in reality there is a problem in their respect for the living God. “Leave these men alone”, is not a real concern about whether it is from God or not. What is needed is like what the apostles said, “We must obey God rather than men!” (29) This can be seen in us today too I think. Even though the truth is clear, in order to avoid it, we always stand looking on. We don’t jump into it. This is the Japanese way. At a glance it looks good. However, if it is truth, either you follow it or you are against it. There is no way you can be a outside person looking in.
Rev. 3:15-20
The Lord is knocking at the door of our heart. Don’t be satisfied in yourself. You say you are rich. You have acquired wealth. You say that you lack nothing. To become a really rich person we need to put salve on our eyes so that we can see clearly and see that we are satisfied with a lukewarm faith. We need to realize that we are really poor, and then earnestly depend on the Lord. The Lord wants us to become that king of our heart. For that reason he is standing and knocking at the door to our heart. The Lord knocks at the door so that the Christians in the Laodicea church would not be content in their condition and that there would be no lukewarm Christians there. It was also discipline from the Lord.
Every morning when I get up, the first thing I do is drink coffee. After sitting in the sofa and drinking hot coffee, I begin my work of the day. It’s not after I pray. It’s after I drink my coffee. However, the coffee must be hot. I can’t drink lukewarm coffee. God is the same. God wants us to be either hot or cold. He doesn’t want us just looking on. He wants us to have a faith where we respond enthusiastically to the challenges of the Lord. This means that Gamaliel’s attitude was at a glance one of trusting the Lord and being kind to others and he had an amazing ability to keep himself calm. However that wasn’t the response that God wanted. Then what kind of attitude does God want us to have. Next let’s look at this.
III. Rejoicing that you have been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the name of Jesus. (41,42)
The Sanhedrin influenced by Gamaliel, called the apostles back in, whipped them, told them they were not to preach in the name of Christ and then set them free. When they left, they rejoiced that they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the name of Jesus. Then “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 Christ.” (42) It’s unbelievable. When they suffered disgrace for the name of Jesus, they weren’t sad, but rejoiced. It was thought that to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus meant having a very difficult and important experience. Jesus taught this too.
Luke 6:22,23
I Peter 4:14,16
To suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus is something for Christians to rejoice about. This is because it is the Lord’s will. The joy we have is from the Lord. It comes from having our hearts satisfied by the Lord. In general we think of joy being selfish, coming from something we gained or from being praised. That kind of joy we have when we are content, but other times it disappears. However the joy that Jesus gives is different. It does not depend upon circumstances.
Phil. 4:11
Paul was able to say this because the joy that Paul had was different from selfish joy because it was from God. He tells us this secret in Phil. 4:12,13
The key to his victory was Jesus Christ. Joy is having your heart satisfied by Christ. The Sanhedrin thought that joy was produced by having their claims accepted and having their authority recognized. Also, not like Gamaliel, they didn’t find their joy by trying to take a position in the middle of the road so that they would be like by others, but instead found joy in living to proclaim Jesus’ name.
This is the characteristic of Christians. It’s wonderful. Even if we are not accepted by many people and we have been left out history and have suffered disgrace, for the sake of Jesus Christ it becomes the source of our joy in Christ. Christians have had victory in this world by having this kind of stable joy.
Nobumichi Murakami from the Japanese Holiness Church whose father was also a Pastor too during the middle of the war was put in prison. The church was disbanded, and they were not allowed to meet. At that time Rev. Murakami was in Aomori and his mother supported the rest of the family by putting little bags on the apples. Rev. Murakami said that when he grew up his mother was experiencing many troubles. As a child it seemed unbelievable that even though his father had been arrested and put in prison, his mother was always singing praises. Her face was always smiling. It wasn’t because she hated the father. It was because the suffering was for the Lord, Jesus Christ. His mother often said, “Dad is suffering for Jesus, so he must be happy.” Because of the era he lived in, Rev. Murakami was often called “a child of the spy” at school and other children would throw stones at him. Then his mother would encourage him by saying, “Today you suffered for Jesus so your prizes in heaven increased.” Because his father was sick he was able to be released from prison after several months. However there were many pastor who died in the prisons. In present day Japan where there is peace and freedom, it is hard to believe that such things happened before during the war.
We can’t say for sure that this will not happen again in the future. Even if this doesn’t happen, we may be disgraced in other ways. We need to be like the apostles and rejoice that we are worthy to share in it. We need to be prepared for it. This is the attitude that Jesus wants us to have in every age and every place.