And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, You have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!” (29) But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men. (30) The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. (31) Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. (32) And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.” (40)And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus and let them go. (41)So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name.

The Acts of the Apostles, the historical record of the early church, was written by Luke, writer of the gospel, physician and beloved companion of the apostle Paul. In our verses today we learn that the apostles, warned earlier by the Sanhedrin – the rulers of Israel – not to preach Jesus as the Messiah, openly disregarded that command. (I should mention here that verse 40 refers to the words of Gamaliel, rabbi and teacher of the apostle Paul who advised the Sanhedrin to proceed with caution. The Sanhedrin agreed with him.) The apostles were arrested for a second time and were confronted by the high priest and the council and charged with disobeying their command. . Transformed by the Spirit and given a commission by Christ Jesus to carry the gospel to all the world, the apostles didn’t defend civil disobedience but simply and strongly stated their duty was to obey God rather than men – and specifically the Sanhedrin. The apostles thought of themselves not just as messengers of God but as eyewitnesses of that to which they testified. They were men of courage because they were men of conviction.

The apostles were in the midst of a magnificent movement – the Spirit was in them and God is giving testimony to their message through gifts of healing, both physical and spiritual. They were preaching with authority and power to largely Jewish people that the promises God made to ”the fathers” were being fulfilled to them; God is overthrowing the wisdom of the wise with the foolishness of the cross. And there was no compromise in what they preached. Peter spoke the principle that we must obey God rather than men which pertains to our personal life and to church life. We shall be judged by this.

The Bible commands us as Christians to be subject to governing authority but if commanded to do something disobedient to God we must obey God. And there are always consequences for compromise. I’m reminded of Martin Niemoller, German theologian and Lutheran pastor in Nazi Germany who ended up in a concentration camp: “First they came for the socialist and I did not speak out – I was not a socialist. Then they came for the trade unionist and I did not speak out – because I was not a trade unionist. Then they came for the Jews and I did not speak out – because I was not a Jew. Then they came for me – and there was no one left to speak for me.” There is no “take it or leave it” option in our verses today.