They Had Been with Jesus

Read

Acts 4:13-14 "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. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say."

Think

Read that verse again and notice what is missing from it.

The people were not astonished by the apostles’ education. Luke actually says the opposite. They were unschooled. They were not astonished by their status, because these are fishermen standing in a room full of the most credentialed religious minds in the nation. They were not astonished by their platform, because there was no platform. There was no following. There was nothing about Peter and John that should have made anybody in that room nervous.

The only explanation the room could come up with was this: “These guys have been with Jesus.”

You already know how this works, because you have watched it happen with friends.

You start hanging out with somebody new and three weeks later you are saying a phrase you have never said in your life. Their word. Their weird laugh. The way they say a certain vowel. You did not sit down and decide to talk like them. You did not practice. It leaked, because that is what happens when you spend time around a person. Their stuff gets on you.

Somebody in your family says, “Where did you pick that up?” and you honestly do not know. That is exactly the point. You never notice it happening. Everybody else notices it first.

That is what the council saw. Not a technique. A resemblance.

Here is why this matters for you right now, in the second half of August, walking into a new school year.

Most students think the reason they stay quiet about Jesus is a courage problem. If I were just braver, I would say something. So they try to manufacture courage on the drive to school and it lasts until second period.

But look at the order in Acts 4. Nobody manufactured anything. Boldness came out of them because Jesus had been in them. The being with came first. The courage came second.

Which is really good news, because it takes the pressure off the thing you were dreading and puts it on something you can actually do.

You cannot decide to be fearless tomorrow. You can decide to be with Jesus tomorrow.

And you need to hear the second half of this too. There is a lie floating around your generation that says you are not qualified to talk about Jesus until you have your theology sorted out. Until you can answer the hard question your friend is going to ask about suffering, or science, or the Old Testament. Until you have stopped struggling with the thing you are struggling with.

Peter and John were unschooled. That word is in the text on purpose. God let the record show that the two men who shook Jerusalem could not have passed a theology exam.

You do not have to know everything about Jesus to tell somebody what Jesus has done for you.

Notice verse 14 as well. There was nothing they could say, because the healed man was standing right there. The argument in the room ended not because Peter won a debate but because there was a living person in front of them that no argument could explain.

You are that person. Not perfect, not finished, but different, and getting more different, and the people around you can see it even when you cannot.

So the real question for this school year is not, “How do I get bolder?” It is, “When do I actually spend time with Jesus?”

Because if you are around him ten minutes a week, do not be surprised when nothing leaks. And if you are around him every day, do not be surprised when something starts showing up in you that you did not put there.

The people at your school are not going to be astonished by your arguments. They are going to take note that you have been with Jesus.

Apply

Set the time – Pick a time and a place for tomorrow morning, before school, and write it down. Ten minutes with your Bible open and your phone in another room. Not a promise to do it more. One specific time.

Pray

Jesus, I have been trying to work up courage instead of spending time with you. I want to be around you enough that it shows up in me without me forcing it. Meet me tomorrow morning when I show up. Make me look more like you than I did last week. In Jesus’ name. Amen.