Thoughts on Acts 5:27-42

There are the apostles, waiting in the hall for Gamaliel to finish his speech. I wonder which of them first exhibited the attitude of gratefulness for their coming punishment. It had to be someone. Maybe Peter. They didn’t all take a flogging and then, leaving the court, smile at each other and say in unison, “That was great!” No, they were nervous in the hallway about what was coming. But one of them was full of foresight and faith. And the others followed his lead. He may have said, “I hope they flog us, boys. We’ll be the first people beaten for the name of Jesus, the first persecuted!” The Sanhedrin might have killed them instead. Did the leader in the hallway welcome that, too? To be the first martyr? And imagine what might have happened had the Apostles of the church not taken the attitude they did. What if they had complained against God for allowing them to be beaten? Would we still take that attitude and teach it in our churches? Would our doctrine today be void of the concept of gratitude for suffering? Would we miss opportunities to depend wholly on Jesus in times of trouble if our fathers had missed this one? And just as these twelve may have unknowingly rose to an important challenge in the history of the church, how often do we face challenges that might affect the lives of our children, grandchildren, and brethren in Christ? Will we reenter the trial chamber with faith and leave it, having received our scourging, with rejoicing?