‘But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men”‘ (Acts 5:29 ESV).
When the Jewish council again brought the apostles before them for preaching in Jesus’ name, ordering them to stop, Peter replied that their ultimate obedience was to God. In other words, the ruling that the council gave went contrary to the command of Christ, therefore the apostles had chosen to obey Him instead.
In all other regards, the apostles and the early Christians were model citizens, obeying the human authorities over them. But when man’s law went against God’s, they chose to obey God, even when it might mean imprisonment, torture, or death.
After their response, the council ordered that Peter and the apostles be beaten and again warned them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus. Yet when they were released after the beating, they went out rejoicing that they had been “counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” of Jesus.
Over the next years, every one of the apostles, except for John, would die a martyr’s death. And even John, was tortured by being boiled in oil and exiled to live in a grotto on the Isle of Patmos. Yet neither the Jerusalem Council, nor the emperors of Rome would be able to stop the spread of the Church of Jesus. So much so that Tertullian, one of the Early Church Fathers of the second century, coined the phrase “the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church.”
PRAYER: Dear Father, help us to obey You above all others. Strengthen us to not live in the fear of man, but to seek Your approval in all things. For we want to rejoice in the name of Jesus. For it’s in His name we pray, amen.