Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men!” Acts 5:27-29

(see Daniel 3 for a similar encounter)

The Jewish religious leaders thought they took care of Jesus when they ordered him to be crucified. Yet here were Peter and the apostles, publicly teaching and preaching about the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus, and causing quite a stir. So the religious leaders had them arrested and brought before the court.

Peter boldly risked everything with his reply. He knew he could face imprisonment, beatings and possibly death by refusing to keep quiet about His Lord & Savior. Yet the apostles were changed men; they were different, transformed by the power of Christ on the cross. They were eyewitnesses to Jesus resurrection; they had seen God’s fulfillment of numerous prophecy, and they would never be the same.

Are we equally transformed by Christ today? Do we believe what we say we believe? Will we boldly proclaim His Name and risk ridicule, rejection by family and friends, or physical harm? Will we honor God with our words and our actions, regardless of the personal cost? In some parts of the world today, the risk is not as great as the apostles faced, but in many places it is dangerous or even illegal (possibly punishable by death) to try to convert someone to Christianity. But whatever the cost, whether great or small, we are called to obey God always.

Will you obey God rather than men? Do you have courageous obedience?