Wednesday 10 April 2024

Today is Wednesday 10 April, in the 2nd week of Eastertide.

Bless the Lord, my soul, who leads me into life. The most important thing for me to do now, as I enter into prayer, is to let go for a moment, to let go of my own concerns, my own worries and fears and reluctance, and let myself be led by God, trusting that God, who loves me, will lead me into life.

Bless the Lord, my soul, and bless God's holy name

Bless the Lord, my soul, who leads me into life


Today’s reading is from the Acts of the Apostles.

Acts 5:17-26

Then the high priest took action; he and all who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with jealousy, arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, brought them out, and said, ‘Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.’ When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching.

When the high priest and those with him arrived, they called together the council and the whole body of the elders of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the temple police went there, they did not find them in the prison; so they returned and reported, ‘We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.’ Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were perplexed about them, wondering what might be going on. Then someone arrived and announced, ‘Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!’ Then the captain went with the temple police and brought them, but without violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

From the outset of this passage, the high priest and the Sadducees are presented as the bad guys. We are told that they are acting out of jealousy. What do you think it is that they are jealous of, exactly?

The freed apostles are told to go and “tell the people the whole message of this life”. If you were told to do that, where would you begin?

There are a lot of players in this passage – chief priests, Sadducees, apostles, temple police, elders and others. As the passage is read again, notice what each of these does, and what they say.

Bring the prayer to a close by talking with God about whatever has caught your attention here. Perhaps you recall a time when God’s actions stirred up some confusion or perplexity in your own life.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.