Ultimate Authority

July 22, 2010

Take a look at this picture. You are the captain of the boat on the other side of this bridge. You have been given strict instructions to sail from point A to point B, and then you run into this obstacle. Your sail is taller than the bridge. What are you going to do?

You could turn around and go back failing your mission. You could continue forward and crash into the bridge losing your sail.

OR You could follow a higher authority who has the power to change the obstacle.

Peter and John found themselves in a similar situation in Acts chapter four. They were preaching in the name of Jesus Christ, and people were believing! Then, they were taken into the high priest and asked not to speak in this name anymore.


“The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They seized Peter and John, and because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. But many who heard the message believed, and the number of men grew to about five thousand.


The next day the rulers, elders and teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and the other men of the high priest's family. They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: "By what power or what name did you do this?"


Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: "Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. He is " 'the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.' Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved."


When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. "What are we going to do with these men?" they asked. "Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name."


Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."


After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.” (NIV)


The best part of the story is the reply that Peter and John offer when the high officials demand that they stop preaching in ‘this name’.


“But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (NIV)


The New Living Translation puts it this way: “But Peter and John replied, “Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him? We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard.”


The boldness that Peter and John speak with only comes from the power of the Holy Spirit! They are bold enough to stand their ground in the face of a blatant obstacle.

The bridge was lowered in their face, and it seemed like there was no way around it. But, because of their faith and belief and obedience in the ultimate authority, their obstacle became a passageway to new opportunities.