³³But when they heard this, they were cut to the quick and intended to kill them. ³⁴But a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, respected by all the people, stood up in the Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short time. ³⁵And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you propose to do with these men. ³⁶For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a group of about four hundred men joined up with him. But he was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. ³⁷After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census and drew away some people after him; he too perished, and all those who followed him were scattered. ³⁸So in the present case, I say to you, stay away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or action is of men, it will be overthrown; ³⁹but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them; or else you may even be found fighting against God.” ⁴⁰They took his advice; and after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and then released them.

Gamaliel stands out like a light among the rest of the crazed, murderous religious leaders. Highly respected by the other religious leaders, he gains an audience by offering what Luke presents as wise counsel. He makes no appeal to the Law, for he must know that nothing that has happened with this Christian movement is patently against the Law, unless Jesus turned not to be God after all, which would make the movement guilty of blasphemy. The tack he takes, rather, is a practical one.

Gamaliel’s wisdom is essentially this: “Let this thing ride out; the results will be revealing.” He appeals to two previous similar situations when an individual leader gained a following: when the leader died, the movement died. If the Jesus movement was not of God it would die out on its own. If not, then they must be careful in their opposition to the movement, lest they fall on the wrong side of Jewish history!

Luke may have included Gamaliel by name because he would have known of the latter’s education of the apostle Paul in his pre-conversion days (see Acts 22:3). Luke’s somewhat favorable depiction here may reflect Paul’s appreciation for Gamaliel’s influence. Interestingly, Saul (Paul’s Hebrew name) went beyond Gamaliel’s caution and actively persecuted the church, as we shall see in Acts 8:1–3. At any rate, Gamaliel’s counsel brought the Christian mission from the brink of disaster by diverting the Sanhedrin’s desire to murder all the apostles, instead letting them off with a flogging—another evidence that the Holy Spirit was at work in this movement.

Lord, thank You for saving Your people from all attempts to wipe them out.