Our reading from Acts begins with a very powerful statement by Peter and the apostles: “We must obey God rather than men.” What was the occasion for such a bold statement by the followers of Jesus? Well, just prior to this, the apostles had been arrested by the high priest and the Sadducees for preaching and teaching about Jesus. They had put them in jail, but that night they were set free by an angel of the Lord who told them to go and speak “the words of this Life” (that is, the Gospel of Jesus Christ) to all the people. The next day, when they didn’t find the apostles in prison, they found them in the temple and brought them before the council and charged them strictly not to preach about Jesus.
The command not to preach and to teach about Jesus was impossible for the disciples to follow. They had been sent to do exactly that by Jesus himself, and to disobey Jesus was to disobey God. And so they answered, “We must obey God rather than man.” They even teach about Jesus to the council by telling them about Jesus’ resurrection!
Now notice, why should anyone listen to the apostles? Well it says right there in Acts 5:32, “And we are witness to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.” The testimony of the apostles is trustworthy because they were witnesses. They were there. They saw Jesus with their own eyes! The whole Church is founded on the testimony of these eyewitnesses and their teaching.
This is what we discussed this week with St. Thomas. He and the other apostles were all given the gift of seeing Jesus resurrected before his ascent into heaven. And they saw Jesus raised from the dead so that they could then go and tell others about it. But what does Jesus say? “Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed” (John 20:29). We believe because of the testimony of the eyewitnesses, and we receive the Holy Spirit who gives us faith, and that is our blessing!
But there is more to it than that. A wise man of the council, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, pointed out all the other people who claimed to be something special. Yet all those others died, and after they died their followers dispersed. But not Jesus! Jesus’ followers continued to preach and teach his message after his death, because he rose from the dead! And so Gamaliel says, somewhat prophetically, “if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” (Acts 5:38–39)
Indeed, no one was able to overthrow the teaching of the apostles. It still continues to this day. It continues with all of us. Their undertaking was not of man, but it was from God, and God has preserved his church through the teaching of the apostles. Even as the years passed and nearly all the apostles were killed because of their faith, their witness and their teaching lived on. God has established his church, and he preserves his church.
So today, we know that Jesus has been raised from the dead because of the testimony of the apostles who witnessed it. And believing in Jesus, we have received the Holy Spirit. We have life in His name! We thank God, therefore, for the gift of the apostles and their testimony which points us to the Son, which gives us the word of life.