If we were arrested for being followers of Jesus Christ, would there be enough evidence to convict us? Remember that the apostles prayed for boldness to share the message of Christ. As the church continued to grow, the same authorities who delivered Jesus to be crucified arrested the apostles. How did it feel to be arrested for speaking good news? Meanwhile an angel released them from prison and told them to go back to the Temple and give to the people there, “the message of life.”
Now imagine the surprise of the religious authorities when they went to put them on trial and discovered that the prisoners were not only free, but that they had returned to the scene of the “crime” and started talking about Jesus again. The Temple guards returned to re-arrest them and then the leaders asked them why they were still talking about Jesus. Peter answered, “We must obey God rather than mere mortals!” Then he preached to them. This is boldness! God answered their prayer not by removing persecution but by enabling them to tell the good news.
The disciples were beaten and released. So what did they do? They rejoiced that they had been counted worthy of suffering for the name of Jesus. This is our spiritual ancestry. We come from a long line of bold believers. Thomas Kidd in his book about Baptist History tells of Dunster, the Harvard President who was fired for becoming a Baptist back in colonial times. God’s people have paid a high price to follow him. Will we? If we were put on trial for following Jesus would there be enough evidence to convict us?
