Tuesday, May 22, 2018
Suckers for punishment
Acts 5:41
So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.
A bit of good argumentation by the Pharisee Gamaliel got the disciples off the hook at their second trial when the court seemed determined to put them to death. But they didn’t get off scot-free, they were beaten and warned again to cease and desist from preaching in Jesus name.
Whenever people are released from custody and have a case dismissed, there is celebration and rejoicing. These guys were no different, they rejoiced too. There was a difference though, people rejoice that they have escaped more punishment, the apostles were rejoicing that they actually received punishment.
In contemporary terminology, we speak of a “sucker for punishment,” someone who has an enormous capacity to endure pain and hardship without complaining. Suckers for punishment have both determination and resilience in the face of difficulty and trials. Suckers for punishment seem to thrive against the odds. Sometimes we think of a sucker for punishment as someone who seems to actually look for tough situations to fall into.
These apostles seemed like suckers for punishment. Earlier, at the time of their first arrest, they were warned that they should stop the preaching. “So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.” Acts 4:18. Peter protested but that only led to further warnings and threats, “So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done.” Acts 4:21.
They didn’t stop, instead, they prayed. They prayed, given that they were warned, that they would be bold in their defiance. Further, they prayed for more miracles like the healing of the crippled man so that it would be established that Jesus whom they preached was alive and working through them by the Holy Spirit.
“Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.” Acts 4:29,30. They had to be suckers for punishment.
Their prayer for the boldness to resist the Jewish leadership, and for signs and wonders to be worked at their hands, was so fervent that is was like a second Pentecost. “And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.” Acts 4:31
Having had this experience with the Holy Spirit the apostles were back on Solomon’s Porch in defiance of the warning and threats. They were thumbing their noses at the Jewish authorities and the temple leadership. This open show of disrespect was certainly going to lead to more confrontation, more jail time, more courtroom proceedings. And sure enough, it did.
The apostles were arrested for the second time and this time the authorities were in a rage. The defiance could not be allowed to stand. “Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison.” Acts 5:17,18
We have no idea where they were held at the time of their first arrest, but on this occasion, Luke was careful to point out that they were being kept in the “common prison,” the public jail. The oppression was becoming more intense. Nevertheless, by morning, with some angelic help, they were back defiantly preaching in the temple.
By the time they were back into court, Peter was now demonstrating that their prayers had been answered, that they were going to take on the rulers head on regardless of the consequences. No command, no threats, no jail time, no trial was going to stop them. According to Peter and the others, “We ought to obey God rather than men.” Acts 5:29.
If you ever meet someone who has suffered bodily for the sake of the gospel your whole perspective will be changed. One night in the early 90s I was in a prayer meeting at the USA headquarters of Operation Mobilisation (OM) in the city of Tyrone in Georgia. Many of the persons in the meeting were serving as missionaries in difficult parts of the world and were home on a break. I was scared during the prayer meeting, I was meeting people who had been beaten, imprisoned, and on the run for their lives.
These guys wanted us to pray for their ministries because, after rest and recuperation, they were going back. Back into difficult countries where religious states had let loose the religious police on them for seeking converts. Back into difficult countries where the dominant ideology outlawed proselytising. One man was going back to smuggling Bibles and wanted us to pray for a new van for his illegal operation of spreading the gospel.
The punishments endured and the known risks made their enterprise completely dangerous but I was praying with people who were suckers for punishment. I was shaken on the inside.
Most of us live in safe parts of the western world where, while we might endure social and intellectual resistance to the gospel, no one is likely to put us in prison and beat us badly as a result of a court decision over our faith.
We may not have been selected for punishment for Jesus’ sake, but he never gives us more than we could bear.
Think on these things:
- Have you ever felt threatened on account of your faith?
- Have you ever been in a place that is dangerous for Christians?
- How would you respond to physical violence for being a Christian?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today for those who are in difficult places suffering on account of the gospel.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex
