It is really amazing what people will do to protect their doctrine. The Sadducees were so angry that Peter and John refuted their doctrine of no resurrection that they had them arrested. Attempting to use their God-given power to promote their own doctrine the Sadducees were met with a stubborn rejection of their perspective and a challenge; “Choose for yourself; is it right to obey you or God?” (Acts 4:19) The Sadducees’ doctrine was based on ignorance while Peter and John spoke as witnesses of the events they had experienced. The more the defiant and “ignorant” fishermen spoke about what they had witnessed the greater the anger of those who were politically connected grew. This was not a situation for the weak willed or faint of heart. But Peter and John were also empowered; not with the political influence of the institutions of man, but with the same divine presence which had moved Jesus to challenge the same corrupt political structure. We need to recognize that being the target of a political assassination is not necessarily a defeat. God has always turned what we might see as a defeat into mighty a glorious victory for his true Kingdom.
Stuart
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