With Power Comes Responsibility

March 14

(Acts 5:26-28 NIV) ““At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them. {27} Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. {28} "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.””

(Matthew 27:15-26 NIV) ““Now it was the governor's custom at the Feast to release a prisoner chosen by the crowd. {16} At that time they had a notorious prisoner, called Barabbas. {17} So when the crowd had gathered, Pilate asked them, "Which one do you want me to release to you: Barabbas, or Jesus who is called Christ?" {18} For he knew it was out of envy that they had handed Jesus over to him. {19} While Pilate was sitting on the judge's seat, his wife sent him this message: "Don't have anything to do with that innocent man, for I have suffered a great deal today in a dream because of him." {20} But the chief priests and the elders persuaded the crowd to ask for Barabbas and to have Jesus executed. {21} "Which of the two do you want me to release to you?" asked the governor. "Barabbas," they answered. {22} "What shall I do, then, with Jesus who is called Christ?" Pilate asked. They all answered, "Crucify him!" {23} "Why? What crime has he committed?" asked Pilate. But they shouted all the louder, "Crucify him!" {24} When Pilate saw that he was getting nowhere, but that instead an uproar was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the crowd. "I am innocent of this man's blood," he said. "It is your responsibility!" {25} All the people answered, "Let his blood be on us and on our children!" {26} Then he released Barabbas to them. But he had Jesus flogged, and handed him over to be crucified.””

With power comes responsibility. The religious authorities in our Scripture verses today didn’t want Christ’s name and teaching to spread. They feared they would lose power. If people began following Jesus, they would likely stop obeying the religious big shots in Jerusalem. But while the religious authorities were guarding their power and coveting more of it, they were also denying any responsibility for the death of Jesus -- even though it was their exertion of power that brought about His crucifixion. Christ’s blood was on their hands, and on Pilate’s. He tried to wash his hands of it, but blood does not come off that easily. An unholy alliance of religion and state had nailed an innocent man to a cross and there was no escaping that truth. Corrupt power always brings death. We would all do well to learn this lesson, because like it or not, with power comes responsibility. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day

A Dollar Short and a Day Late

March 13

(Acts 5:21b-25 NIV) ““When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin--the full assembly of the elders of Israel--and sent to the jail for the apostles. {22} But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, {23} "We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside." {24} On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were puzzled, wondering what would come of this. {25} Then someone came and said, "Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.””

(Isaiah 42:16-25 NIV) ““I will lead the blind by ways they have not known, along unfamiliar paths I will guide them; I will turn the darkness into light before them and make the rough places smooth. These are the things I will do; I will not forsake them. {17} But those who trust in idols, who say to images, 'You are our gods,' will be turned back in utter shame. {18} "Hear, you deaf; look, you blind, and see! {19} Who is blind but my servant, and deaf like the messenger I send? Who is blind like the one committed to me, blind like the servant of the LORD? {20} You have seen many things, but have paid no attention; your ears are open, but you hear nothing." {21} It pleased the LORD for the sake of his righteousness to make his law great and glorious. {22} But this is a people plundered and looted, all of them trapped in pits or hidden away in prisons. They have become plunder, with no one to rescue them; they have been made loot, with no one to say, "Send them back." {23} Which of you will listen to this or pay close attention in time to come? {24} Who handed Jacob over to become loot, and Israel to the plunderers? Was it not the LORD, against whom we have sinned? For they would not follow his ways; they did not obey his law. {25} So he poured out on them his burning anger, the violence of war. It enveloped them in flames, yet they did not understand; it consumed them, but they did not take it to heart.””

Religion ruled the lives of those who opposed the apostles -- and when religion rules our lives, we will always be a dollar short and a day late when it comes to the movement of God’s Spirit. Focusing on the rules of religion, rather than on their relationship with the Ruler, caused them to be unaware of what God was doing in their time. They didn’t get it, and were “puzzled” by God’s miraculous delivery of the apostles. Religion blinded them to the workings of God, and deafened them to the gospel. They were more concerned with being in control of the situation, than with being conscious of the Spirit. One of the keys to successful ministry is finding out where God is moving and then going there. We can’t do that when we focus on the wrong stuff. When we follow a religion rather than Jesus, we will always be a dollar short and a day late when it comes to sensing the Spirit’s moving. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day

The Zealous Disciple

March 12

(Acts 5:21 NIV) "At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people.”

(Romans 12:11 NIV) "Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord."

(Psalms 69:8-9 NIV) "I am a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my own mother's sons; {9} for zeal for your house consumes me, and the insults of those who insult you fall on me."

The apostles had been jailed for preaching Christ and warned not to teach again in His name. But when the angel freed them, they went right back out and began preaching again. This is zeal for the Lord. Their zeal for obeying God and telling others about Jesus overpowered their natural fear of being chastised, imprisoned, or even killed. Their calling became more important than their personal safety or their personal agenda. When Christ rules in our lives, our zeal for witness grows, and our concern for personal prestige wanes. Our zeal for sharing his name with others multiplies to the point that we can’t hold it in any more. Is your zeal increasing or waning? Have you committed your life to being a witness for Christ, or are you more committed to being popular? Was it the “In crowd” who saved you? Or was it Jesus? Allow zeal for Christ to consume you. Become a zealous disciple. -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day

The Full Message

March 11

(Acts 5:19-20 NIV) ““But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. {20} "Go, stand in the temple courts," he said, "and tell the people the full message of this new life.””

(Romans 10:17 NIV) "Consequently, faith comes from hearing the message, and the message is heard through the word of Christ."

(2 Timothy 4:17 NIV) "But the Lord stood at my side and gave me strength, so that through me the message might be fully proclaimed and all the Gentiles might hear it. And I was delivered from the lion's mouth."

The angel commanded the apostles to tell people “the full message”. The “full message” goes like this. We were created to be with God, but we have all sinned, and our sin separates us from Him. We have all gone astray, but the Lord came looking for us. Jesus came to seek and save the lost. He loved us so much that He paid for all our sins by dying on a cross. To prove that His payment was sufficient, God raised Jesus from the dead. He lives today, and calls us to become His followers. To be saved, we must believe God, and believe that what Jesus did was sufficient. We must put our faith in God’s grace and provision. When we believe, we are born again and given a new life. We are called to be Christ’s disciples -- to witness to His grace with our changed life. God works through us to call people to Him. This is the “full message” in a nutshell. Have you believed this message? -- Friar Tuck’s Word of the Day