But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.
Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.
Comment: The plan was simple. The High Priest and his cronies had the Christian preachers caught and imprisoned. The next day they planned to deal with them much more harshly than the last time when they gave the preachers a rap over the knuckles and a ‘don’t do it again’ speech. But an interfering angel opened the locked prison door and told them to get on with their preaching. The priestly council sent to the wrong place, the prison, to have the prisoners brought before them. Which reminds us just how many times angels are involved in the time before and at the birth of Jesus. Much could be written about angels – but I’ll simply say that they were a figment of the writer’s mind or there is another world running parallel to ours about which we need to do some serious thinking!
PS. I wonder Joseph and Mary slept last night. They will arrive at Bethlehem soon.
Prayer: Help me to see beyond the unseeable please.
As I read it! 