Boldness

What an amazing example of boldness in the walk of a Christian. In Acts 3 Peter and John are walking into the temple for 3 o’clock prayer service. They came upon a beggar who was laying lame at the gate named “The Beautiful Gate”. The beggar asks for money but he gets far more then he expects. Instead of tossing a coin in the direction of the crippled man Peter leans over and gives him the ability to walk again in Jesus Christ’s name.

This being done caused the beggar who now can walk again to leap up and down and praise God. Peter noticed a crowd of over 5000 people who all were looking at what all the commotion was about. He took that opportunity to tell them all about Jesus and who he was. The temple guard also heard this and grew worried and arrested Peter and John. In the process they were brought before Annas and Caiaphas the two men who were at the heart of the plot to kill Jesus. They in essence were the God Fathers of the kill Jesus movement. So telling them Jesus was the son of God and resurrected meant sure death.

However this did not happen! You must read Acts 4 to see how bold Peter and John were in front of these men. They end up letting the two apostles go because of fear of riot! In that statement I find Gods humor. That is exactly what Pilot feared when dealing with the mob who wanted to Crucify Christ. What makes it even more humorous is that the people in that mob that Pilot feared were the same people who Annas and Caiaphas now feared! What goes around comes around fellas!

I am amazed at the situation these guys were thrust into obviously by the hand of God. Without God it was the worst situation that they could be thrust into. Standing in front of the two men who hated Christ and wanted to silence anything spoke about him. It was these two men who manipulated the crowds so the powers that be would put Jesus to death without a fair trial. They were ruthless enough to put an innocent man to death because the power they held was threatened by Jesus.

Now Peter and John stand before them and testify boldly in front of these two men about the man they had put to death. They did this without flinching because of their protection in the Lord. I have to say this has become one of my favorite stories in the bible. It shows how God is in control and we should never fear persecution if we are in stride with God. I’ve read this before and never grasped the miracle and power behind this story. I am truly amazed and grateful that I do now.