In the course of my working life, I can only remember a couple of occasions when honesty has let me down. In every other situation, both personally and professionally, the old adage, ‘honesty is the best policy’, has applied. That should not be surprising but it is, bearing in mind how many times I hear people facing a difficult situation asking one another, ‘what shall we say’. I always make the same remark, ‘try the truth’.
Peter and John were in front of a tribunal [Acts 4:13-22], otherwise known as the Sanhedrin. This was the religious court. The presiding Rabbis would have been senior people; leaders respected for their judgment, or so you would think. They needed to stop Christianity spreading, they thought, but they were puzzled by their take on who Peter and John were. Seen as unschooled, ordinary men who had been with Jesus, the two Apostles could not be ignored.
So I wonder, would Peter and John have been more effective had they been educated or is that irrelevant. On the basis that Jesus called them as they were, it follows that being themselves was what he would have wanted them to be. Jesus himself had shocked people with his knowledge, despite having ‘no education’. [Luke 2:41-52].
When Jesus prepared the disciples for the possibility of arrest [Matthew 10:19-20] he told them not to worry about what to say. You will know at the time, was his hint.
Preparation is vital but planning how to spin an account or whether to embellish or withhold parts of it may not be so bright. Peter and John were released on this occasion because the Sanhedrin could not decide what to do and anyway, a person had been healed and other people were praising God. Puzzling for them, this confrontation with the real world of ordinary discipleship.
A Prayer
Lord Jesus, help me to avoid the temptation to embellish or withhold truth; help me to avoid being who I am not. Help me being dazzled by authority and education but to listen and follow witnesses to the truth for your justice’s sake. Amen.