Whoever remains stiff-necked after many rebukes will suddenly be destroyed—without remedy. When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.
Proverbs 29:1-2 NIV
I am feeling these truths in my life. I see some stiff-neckedness happening. Even in the face of the people groaning there is no change visible. I cannot say that I see wickedness ruling but I can see that rebuke is not taken as such and may be misunderstood because of stiff necks not being able to look around and see the truths.
Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people!
Acts 4:6-8 NIV
If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is “ ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.” When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
Acts 4:9-13 NIV
Look at this list of audience to what is happening. All those who condemned and handed Jesus over to be crucified. Again the change in the disciples is enormous. When Jesus was crucified, they all went into hiding for fear that they would be next. Now they stand in front of the men who put this all into action and speak confidently against them and speak the truth without fear of punishment. This is support for the truth of the resurrection. These men who were in hiding would never have become the men they are here if Jesus had not really risen from the dead and appeared to them in person. This is support from a human perspective alone. We know that their boldness and ability to know what to say is because they also are filled with the Holy Spirit, but if you look for evidence of the resurrection, the change in the disciples disproves a lot of the alternative theories for why Jesus was not still in the tomb. As believers we too can call on the Holy Spirit to give us the words and actions that we need when confronted with opposition to our faith.