God Is Trustworthy. Men Are Not.

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a cripple, by what means this man has been healed, be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well. This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, but which has become the head of the corner. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Acts 4:8-12

When the Apostles Peter and John went to the Temple on the Sabbath, they were confronted by a crippled beggar seeking alms. Instead, Peter healed him, and bid him get up and walk.

As one might expect, that drew quite the crowd at the gate to the Temple, so of course the two began preaching the Good News of Jesus’ Resurrection, exhorting those who would listen to seek forgiveness for their sins and embrace the Redemption found in Jesus.

As one might also expect, Caiphas and the priests of the temple were not pleased. They had been responsible for Jesus’ arrest and then His Crucifixion. Now His followers were proclaiming that He rose again from the dead—something a mere man obviously could not do.

Just as obviously, this would have been an extremely awkward moment. They had to wrestle with doubt. What if Peter and John were right, that Jesus was raised from the dead, and that He is the Son of God?

That would leave the priests of the Temple in a very parlous position. Trying to kill God is just not a good look for any priest!

We need no extraordinary insight to recognize the interest the priests of the Temple would have had in suppressing and silencing Peter and John. Even after being Crucified—moreso after the Crucifixion than before—Jesus posed a unique threat to the authority of the priests.

The priests of the Temple were supposed to be the mediators between God and His people Israel. They were the ones who entered the Holy of Holies, the most sacred part of the Temple, and the ones who offered sacrifices on behalf of the people. Their task was serious, and their responsibilities weighty.

Yet, as Jesus pointed out time and again throughout the Gospels, the priests and the Pharisees were still human, and still corrupt. Moreover, they had been corrupted. No matter the seriousness of the duties that lay before them, all too often the priests of the Temple exploited their position for their own gain.

Jesus’ teachings had made plain all the hypocrisies and corruptions that had overtaken the Temple priests. Peter, by preaching the Risen Jesus after the Temple priests had Crucified Him, was continuing Jesus’ none-too-subtle challenge to their position.

Peter’s challenge was obviously a threat to the priests, but it was also a dilemma to the crowd that was listening.

The role of the priests in ancient Judaism was well defined in Mosaic Law. Their role as mediators between God and His people Israel was an assigned role, not an assumed one.

Yet there were literally hundreds who had witnessed Jesus Resurrected. The testimonies of so many of the Risen Jesus meant that when Peter proclaimed the Risen Jesus as the Son of God, he brought receipts.

The dilemma for the crowd at the Temple gate was simply this: to whom should they turn? Should they turn to the priests, the ones whose role and responsibility were explicitly ordained by God? Should they turn to Jesus, who through the Sign of Jonah made a good claim to be the Son of God?

Ultimately, it is Peter who provides the answer.

Peter does not claim he healed the crippled beggar through his own power, or even on his own authority. The healing power and authority came through Jesus. The healing power and authority were of God, not of Man.

Peter further points out that it is through Jesus and none other that Man is Redeemed. It is through Jesus and none other that all will be saved. It is Jesus and none other who is the Son of God.

This is the crucial difference between the message embodied in Caiphas and the priests of the Temple, and the message proclaimed by Peter:

Caiphas’ implicit message was “follow us”. Peter’s explicit message was “follow Jesus.”

The priests of the Temple wanted the people of Israel to follow them—to follow men. Peter, in preaching the Good News of Jesus Christ, wanted the people of Israel to follow God.

We need no profound revelation of faith to understand that, whenever the choice is between God and Man, the right choice is always God.

By the time of Jesus’ Ministry here on Earth, the priests of the Temple had turned away from their sacred duties, turning their mediating role into a position of worldly power and material gain.

Their eyes were not on God, but on the world. Their path was not towards God, but into the world. Their service was not about God, but about the world.

For the crowd at the Temple gate, and for all of us today, the right choice is always to look to God, not the world. The right path is always towards God and away from the world. The right service is always about God, never about the world.

Every day, in ways large and small, we are confronted with this same dilemma, presented with this same choice: trust in God, or trust in men.

Yet we already know the answer, for we know that God is perfect, and men are not—men make mistakes, men get things wrong, men sin. We know God does as He will, while men struggle to attempt what we wish. We know that God has all authority, while men foolishly claim the pretense of authority.

God is trustworthy. Men are not. That has always been the order of things.

My prayer this day is that all people everywhere will make the right choice in all things, that choice being always to turn to God. My prayer this day is that all people everywhere will have their hearts and their minds opened to the gift of Redemption promised by Jesus through His Crucifixion and Resurrection. My prayer this day is that all people everywhere will be blessed with the faith to put their trust in God and not in men.

Every day, in ways large and small, we are confronted with this one dilemma, presented with this one choice: trust in God, or trust in men.

Yet we already know the answer. We know that God is perfect, and men are not. We know God does as He will, while men struggle to attempt what we wish. We know that God has all authority, while men foolishly claim the pretense of authority.

God is trustworthy. Men are not. That has always been the order of things.