Friday of the Second Week of Easter
(Acts 5:34-42; John 6:1-15)
Today’s readings from the Acts of the Apostles features a
Jew who however unwittingly speaks on Christ’s behalf. Gamaliel was a Jewish sage and teacher of the
law. St. Paul proudly states later in
Acts that Gamaliel instructed him (22:3).
Gamaliel demonstrates earthly wisdom when he tells the Sanhedrin to free
Peter and the other apostles.
Gamaliel reasons that the Christians are either from God or
not. He says in effect, that If they are
from God, they cannot be stopped. And if
they are not, they will die under their own weight. Rather than possibly offending God, Gamaliel says
that it would be better to leave the Christians alone.
Gamaliel’s human wisdom, however, is surpassed by the divine
wisdom of the apostles. They first rejoice
with the experience of having suffered for the sake of Jesus. And then they defy the temporal rulers in
order to tell others about Jesus. We should
want to both cultivate Gamaliel’s earthly wisdom and more earnestly seek to
develop the apostles’ divine wisdom.
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