And now I say to you, Withdraw from these men and let them alone, for if this counsel or this work have its origin from men, it will be destroyed;
The Jewish ruling council had just decided to kill the apostles, when Gamaliel — a respected teacher of the law — told them to wait and see instead. His advice is still quoted as wisdom, yet commentators differ: was it faith, caution, or an excuse for not looking at the evidence?
A member of the council itself now argues for the apostles' release. One writer sees God at work behind a man who never believed:
Christ's witnesses are now to prove this: they will be sheltered, yet with no visible act of the divine Hand. One of the councillors himself is a Pharisee and not a believer. All he has seen and heard has brought him into the neutral position his advice shows. He is the instrument God uses at this time to shelter the witnesses of His grace to men.
Gamaliel's proposal is often read as an early plea for religious freedom. One writer separates his kind of toleration from the modern kind:
This was the kind of toleration a serious Jew might feel. He was impressed by recent events, by the character of the accused, and by the state of public opinion. But his view looks to the outcome under God far more than the modern doctrine of toleration does. That modern doctrine is usually a mere tribute to the rights of man, and it ignores God and the truth. He may have felt that persecution is a poor way to overturn error or maintain truth. Whatever his judgment was worth, and whatever his motives, the council accepted it. It saved the apostles from a death that seemed certain.
Gamaliel's rule is that time will sort it out: what is human collapses, what is from God survives. One writer rejects that rule outright, while allowing that the outcome served God:
This was sheer worldly wisdom, and wholly false in principle. Neither prosperity nor adversity in this world proves whether a man or a cause is of God or not. The wicked often prosper. Job's friends erred in this most sadly. It troubled Habakkuk greatly. Asaph, who wrote Psalm 73, had to follow the wicked in his thoughts beyond the grave to understand. But Gamaliel's advice served God's present purpose, and His servants were released.
Gamaliel backed his case by pointing to two other men. Setting Jesus alongside them is where his argument breaks:
Between the cases of these two men and that of Jesus there is no resemblance. The folly and rebellion they displayed demanded their rejection. The grace and truth that came by Him called for allegiance. Moral judgment should have refused the first and embraced the other. But Gamaliel, half-blind teacher of the law, places them on the same level. Is that all that learning could do for him? … How is it that these "uneducated, common men" were wiser than this respected councillor? What did they have that he did not? … They had taken up, by grace, a cause that would survive the hatred of centuries — a cause that bears the stamp of being both a counsel and a work of God.
"Let them alone" sounds generous. But it settles nothing, and the same writer argues that here there is no neutral ground:
When the truth is in question, neutrality becomes opposition. Everyone has a moral duty to know the truth and follow it. He will be judged by how much light he has walked in, and by the privilege he has enjoyed… To shut your eyes to light, or to prefer darkness, is not neutrality. It is opposition. It is wilful stubbornness.
People still quote Gamaliel's rule as though time settles every question. One writer answers that history says otherwise:
This was the common sense, and perhaps the conscience, of an unbelieving rabbi. He was warning his fellows, who were blinded by fury. But he and they were in the dark about God's mind. We know too well that the worst departures from the truth can last for ages and flourish on the surface, instead of being overthrown quickly… What He wills is revealed. What is not revealed lies outside faith, and so has no claim on obedience.
- Sheltered. God protected His witnesses with no visible act of power. His instrument was a Pharisee on the opposing bench.
- Spared. The advice persuaded the council. It saved the apostles from a death that looked certain.
- Suspect. As a rule it fails. Success or collapse in this world proves nothing about whether a cause is from God. Job's friends, Habakkuk and Psalm 73 all show it.
- Shallow. He put Jesus on the level of men marked by folly and rebellion. Uneducated, common men saw what the respected teacher of the law missed.
- Sidestepped. "Let them alone" left the question open. Where truth is concerned, refusing to decide is already opposition.
but if it be from God, ye will not be able to put them down, lest ye be found also fighters against God.
Commentary for this verse has not been generated yet.