The physician Luke wrote while Peter and John, “spoke unto the people” in the temple, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them. Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead”, and in chapter four and verse three of the book of Acts Luke shared how the religious leaders, “laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day” where we read:
And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide.
The verse begins, “And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day:” Luke began with the words, “and they laid hands on them” which means “and the religious leaders seized or arrested Peter and John”, “and put them in hold” which means “and placed, set forth, fixed and established Peter and John under a watching or as prisoners” “unto the next day” or “until the following day or morrow”. Luke shared how the religious leaders “arrested” Peter and John and placed them in “prison” until the following day.
The verse goes on to say, “for it was now eventide.” Luke continued with the words, “for it was now” or “because, since and on account that the present time was” “eventide” which means “ toward evening”. Luke shared the reason the religious leaders arrested Jesus and put them on hold in prison till the next day was because it was near the evening time.
When we think through Luke's words in this verse, we discover an interesting development in this story. Peter and John were “arrested” by the religious leaders because they taught in the temple, and even though they were used by God to perform the miracle on the lame man, they were held captive by “the priests, the captain of the temple and the Sadducees”. This result may have been a surprise to Peter and John, but it wasn't for the Lord Jesus. Jesus told His disciples they would be “hated” for His name, (See John 15:18), and now Peter and John were seeing the words of Jesus fulfilled. A personal relationship with God through His Son Jesus does not guarantee there will not be burdens to bear even when we are used mightily by Him. Peter and John stayed close to the Lord, and He stayed close to them. Those who are wise will surrender themselves to the Lord and allow Him to determine their destinies. May all who read these words receive Jesus and the plans and purposes He has for their lives.
Next time Luke shares how, “many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
No comments:
Post a Comment