They noted that these men had been with Jesus.

Not long after Pentecost the Apostles were hauled up before the authorities of their day to account for their preaching in the name of Jesus and the emergence of the early Christian Church in Jerusalem.  They had just healed a man, and had been speaking to the crowds explaining how it was through Jesus that they had performed the miracle. Having been imprisoned overnight, and having had opportunity to make a defence of their actions, their accusers were led to the following observation "When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realised that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus...".

So they recognised that these men had been with Jesus. What did that signify and what did they mean by that statement of the obvious ?  Were they referring to the fact that Peter and John had come up to the capital with Jesus ?  That was true.  Or that they were among the vast numbers who had followed him around Galilee ?  That was true as well.  Or maybe that they had been around Jesus just before his arrest and subsequent trial ?  That also was correct.  But none of those was what the Sanhedrin were referring to.

Unschooled, ordinary men had been transformed by three years of following their Rabbi, the Rabbi, day and night, 24x7.

Now, they behaved remarkably like him.  They did what he did.  They spoke about what he spoke about.  They went where he went.  They were opposed as he was opposed.  His mission was now their mission.

Today, when we interpret and apply this passage, we usually 'spiritualise' it. Since we can't spend time with a physically present Jesus, we say something along the lines of ah ! we too must spend time with Jesus, therefore we must pray more, dwell in him more, commune with him more and so on, and in that way we will be 'transformed' as were Peter and John.  Now all those are good and right, and we should indeed spend more time with our saviour.  But is it reasonable to make that application from this passage, even as a secondary point ?   Possibly, but it depends on whether we place the emphasis on 'communion', or on 'transformation', or both.  If we focus on transformation we will need to pull in the wider NT teaching on holiness or growth in godliness, otherwise we sell our hearers/readers short.

The Sanhedrin were pointing to men transformed by three years of 24x7 following.  So we need to ask, what is the NT equivalent for the generation who had not personally met Jesus, how did they become like Peter and John ? How did Paul and Luke, Apollos and Epahroditus become like the Jesus they had never physically met ?  And as we answer that question we may be able to answer what or where is the 2009 equivalent of 24x7 following and transformation ?

At cost, subsidised, or 'with profits' ?

At the weekend, we got to see this. The Logos Hope. Having heard about the Logos ships down the decades, and having been told that morning that one was in town (or more correctly in the harbour), I found myself driving to the Cardiff waterfront with no little anticipation. To see, in the flesh so to speak, an item of evangelistic legend, would be an opportunity not to be missed - after all they don't visit the UK very often, preferring instead to take the good news of Jesus to places with less 'chance' of hearing about Him, or so I imagine.

The ship was in the inner basin, just by the lightship restaurant. Big signs on the superstructure welcomed all aboard for no cost, and thus encouraged, we too mounted the gangplank to see what lay inside. On the main visitor deck, we found a large bookshop, a cafe, an excellent exhibition about the ship and its recent visits, and a briefing area for those who wanted the full tour (cost 2 (or 3) pounds), which alas we didn't have time for. But it was the bookshop that surprised me. It was billed by the smiling crew members as 'educational', which when translated meant it comprised about 60% christian books, 10% christian music CDs, 20% kids stuff, and the balance being general interest. There was nothing from UK publishers that I spotted, and UK authors were only represented via US publishers. The CDs were American, and the general interest stuff was anodyne in the extreme, and also American. But none of that was particularly noteworthy in itself, Logos has, after all, O.M. behind it, and that is American. No, what stuck me was the cost. Or rather, the lack of it. Bibles on sale for a few pounds, books that cost nine or twelve pounds in the UK on sale for 2.50 or 3.50. And those were not odd 'bargains', everything was priced at the same level.

So I asked myself, and I ask you gentle reader, is the UK Christian book buying public being ripped off ? Or was it all heavily subsidised ?

Whatever the answer, next time you see a Logos ship in your harbour, if you need a good book or three, step on board.