Acts 4:13-18: a reflection

13Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled. They recognized that they had been with Jesus. 14Seeing the man who was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. 15But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, 16saying, “What shall we do to these men? Because indeed a notable miracle has been done through them, as can be plainly seen by all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we can’t deny it. 17But so that this spreads no further among the people, let’s threaten them, that from now on they don’t speak to anyone in this name.” 18They called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.

When Peter and John stand before the council and speak with striking boldness, the rulers are astonished, for they perceive that these are uneducated, ordinary men, without the training and credentials the council prized. How could such men speak so boldly and wisely? And the passage gives the telling explanation: they recognized that they had been with Jesus. The boldness and wisdom of these ordinary men were not their own; they came from time spent with Jesus, which had left its mark.

Notice what the council recognized: that these men had been with Jesus. Peter and John had no impressive credentials, no formal training; what they had was the mark of one who had spent time with Christ, a boldness, a wisdom, a something that could only be explained by their having been with him. Time with Jesus had changed them, and the change was visible enough that others could see it and name its source.

That is a beautiful and challenging thing: that time with Jesus leaves a mark others can see. The disciples were not impressive by the world's measures, but their having been with Jesus showed, in their boldness, their words, their transformed lives. And the same is true for us: time genuinely spent with Christ changes us in ways that others notice, marking our speech, our courage, our character. Do people recognize, in you, that you have been with Jesus? Spend real time with him, in his word, in prayer, in his presence, and let that time leave its mark, so that others, seeing your life, might recognize that you, too, have been with Jesus.

Lord, when Peter and John spoke with boldness, the council, seeing they were ordinary, uneducated men, recognized that they had been with Jesus; their time with you had left a visible mark. Let that be true of me. I have no impressive credentials, but I long for my life to bear the mark of time spent with you, a boldness, a wisdom, a character that others can only explain by my having been with you. Draw me to spend real time with you, in your word, in prayer, in your presence, and let that time change me. Make the mark of your presence visible in my speech, my courage, my life, so that others, seeing me, might recognize that I have been with Jesus. Change me by being with you.