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Acts 5:21 "And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and taught. Now the high priest came and those who were with him and called together the council and all the senate of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought."

 

The apostles had been imprisoned by the Sadducees, but an angel came, opened the prison doors, and told them to go preach in the temple, so they did. (Acts 5:17-21). Meanwhile, the high priest called together the council and sent to the prison to have the apostles brought before them, only to learn that they were not there. The officers came back and reported that although the prison was securely locked and the sentries remained at the doors, they found no one inside (Acts 5:23). The chief priests and others were "much perplexed" about this, and sent the guards out to bring the apostles in from the temple for questioning (Acts 5:26).

 

I bet they were much perplexed! It is quite perplexing! These men escaped a locked, guarded prison without anyone noticing and were preaching openly in the temple. Rather than running away to save themselves, they went right back to what they had been doing when they had been arrested. There is really no explanation for all of this other than divine inspiration and intervention. If the priests would have stopped to think about it, they would have realized that, but they were too consumed with jealousy (Acts 5:17) and anger that they were not being obeyed (Acts 55:28) to spend any time wondering what God might be up to. 

 

God is always up to something. Our lives and our faith are not static, everything is meant to be working, growing, and striving toward the Kingdom. God's plan plays out in all of time, so in our relatively short lifespans we only get to see a part of it. If we are comfortable in our lives, we can forget that there is constant change, and an ongoing spiritual battle, behind the scenes. The Sadducees had been comfortable in their power and position, so they had not only missed, but striven against, the greatest thing God had done up to that point. They missed the fact that the promised Messiah and redemption had come, they killed the Messiah, even after witnessing many miracles. There is no way they will now stop to consider one more miracle that might wake them up to that fact. 

 

No matter how comfortable we are, we should always remember that God is active, sometimes, like now, in very big ways. The signs of His activity are all around us, all we have to do is look, and then stop and consider what they mean. Only God can perform miracles (sometimes through other people), so if we see one, we should think about what God may be doing. His purpose and His plan are all encompassing, so it is often more that meets the eye. God, of course, was concerned for the apostles' safety, but He didn't free them to keep them safe, He told them to go preach in the temple, because He was doing something.

 

Modern miracles are like that too. They are for the individual person, of course, but also for the greater good. When we see miracles, we shouldn't just be perplexed, but be open to what God is doing. It may counter our way of understanding the world, and it may require great change, and maybe even repentance, on our part, but in the end it will be wonderful, as everything God does is.*

 

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*For the record, I think that what is happening now with the chastisements and miracles all around us, is that God is preparing the world for the coming of the Kingdom of His Divine Will, as revealed to Luisa Piccarreta.