The high priest and his officials, who were Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But an angel of the Lord came at night, opened the gates of the jail, and brought them out. Then he told them, “Go to the Temple and give the people this message of life!” So at daybreak the apostles entered the Temple, as they were told, and immediately began teaching. When the high priest and his officials arrived, they convened the high council—the full assembly of the elders of Israel. Then they sent for the apostles to be brought from the jail for trial. But when the Temple guards went to the jail, the men were gone. So they returned to the council and reported, “The jail was securely locked, with the guards standing outside, but when we opened the gates, no one was there!” When the captain of the Temple guard and the leading priests heard this, they were perplexed, wondering where it would all end. Then someone arrived with startling news: “The men you put in jail are standing in the Temple, teaching the people!” The captain went with his Temple guards and arrested the apostles, but without violence, for they were afraid the people would stone them.
It’s not a difficult thing to picture
the look of surprise on the faces of the Temple guards when they arrived at the
empty jail cell, and imagine the thoughts that flashed through their minds.
·
Uh….they were there…the cell’s still locked…what the….?
·
I’m gonna get fired for this…
·
What are these guys, magicians?
Ghosts?
·
Am I going nuts?
We can also hear the laughter of Heaven,
as all the angels are gathered around God’s 148” flat screen monitor, watching
it all unfold. I can imagine the email
they’d all gotten the night before…Hey, angels, you don’t wanna miss this; we’re
gonna pull a spoof on the Romans. Watch
it live, tomorrow morning…what a hoot.
Now, those are always my first
thoughts reading this passage. And, if
you’re entertained by the good guys making a miraculous escape, you are also
pleased to read this passage. But, it’s
easy to miss the message about what a miracle means. Especially when God plays David Copperfield
and makes an apostle disappear – poof!
We wonder, how’d
he do that? Where’d they go?
The real story is not the “how” but
the “why”. And then the “what”. How God does stuff is always God’s business.
Answering the why and what are our task in learning to stay connected with God’s plans for bringing
praise and glory to Jesus.
So, let’s consider the why of this miracle – just like the
grave couldn’t hold Jesus, when God has something He wants accomplished,
titanium bars, security systems constructed by CPI or Brinks, mean
nothing. God will release anyone He
wishes, and imprison those who get in the way of God’s brand of justice.
The real key to understanding what
happened here is the what. And that is where discipleship
rubber meets the cultural road. Cutting
to the chase, simply, God wanted to elevate the game of the disciples’ impact
on the life of people worshipping at the Temple. He wanted Peter and the others to have a
platform.
But there’s a secondary understanding
we don’t want to miss about miracles. If
you watch any religious TV broadcasting, miracles are a hot ticket. And, although God usually gets the credit,
the effect is much more about our comfort.
The “prayer” that got through and
brought this great big blessing is the preacher’s hook of promise. And he uses that lure to draw in more
donations. The bait on the hook is the
idea that if
you’ll just believe, God will give you what you want.
But, that is just plain
manipulative, both from the standpoint of the “evangelist” who is dangling
anything that might stir up your greed to have something, and his characterization
of a God who can be manipulated by humans with the right kind of handling. In short, the evangelist’s message is you too, can be David Copperfield!
Let’s
Pray Together:
Father, we are sometimes stunned by our carnal appetites and the lengths to which we can sink to satisfy all our wants. Help us to remember what our Lord taught, that to truly follow Him, our understanding of miracles has to be praise that Your will is being carried out, and our part is to deny self in favor of picking up a cross.
For You Today
You
chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.
Have a blessed day!
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