Photo from the episode “The Wrath”
With the attempted assassination of Pilate things are now spinning out of control for Caiaphas. Pilate says he will crucify 10 Jews every day until Boaz is captured. Each side is pressing to find him. Caiaphas’s underling is super sketchy, I would not want him skulking the city streets looking for me.
Peter and John find boldness before Caiaphas. You can see the disciples becoming bolder as the Spirit empowers them with a visible gentle wind. They beggar whom Jesus healed was bribed to lie, one of the many false witness employed by the Sanhedrin to stop the spread of the Gospel. Peter utters his famous line to Caiaphas with no small measure of hutzpah, “Now you should judge, should we obey you or God?”
Peter has a scene where a mother calls upon him, if he is willing, to heal her child. Peter is not arrogant but says, “It will be be God’s will not mine.” I do like that Peter is feeling his way into being a vessel for miracles. He does not treat his role with hubris. In fact, he has to ask God twice to heal the little girl. In my mind, I’d like to think God does everything I want the first time I ask him, but this has not been the case. I have begged God for answers, healings, salvations, and more. Some say God is not answering me but I have to be willing to allow God to say no as well as yes and wait
I like the creepy moment where Pilate is making a cross with the ashes of Marcus, hi slain soldier. It shows how difficult it is for an occupying leader to deal with insurrection. Showing Pilate slowing going mad is a nice touch.
The death of Ananias and Sapphira was graphic and would have surely sent fear into the hearts of those who would consider lying to God. Peter called them out uttering a line, though not in scripture, was worth being said, “You bet against God.”
Pilates cruelty and madness reach a boiling point when he is challenged by Caiaphas to stop the crucifixions. Let’s just say Caiaphas has a new understanding of the term “Eat my dust.”
My Pastor recently shared that someone in our church challenged an idea I also shared in my last post about there not being 120 in the upper room at the time of the Holy Spirit’s falling. It’s easy to get caught up in the numbers or how the Spirit fell and miss the larger point that people were filled with the Holy Spirit of God. Some do not like the extra background flavor of this kind of story telling. I, on the other hand, appreciate a deeper, richer, three dimensional narrative. I won’t be quoting A.D. The Bible Continues or putting it on par with Scripture itself, but absorbing this kind of story makes these characters more real to me. My human condition welcomes a greater context to understand something I was not present for. A.D. is hit with me because it chooses to be real and encourage me to be a 3D Christ-follower in a one dimensional world.
Your Turn
What did you think of the episode?
What did you think of the side bar stories?
Does it matter that some of the quote or stories are not in the Bible?