Monday 17, August 2026

Life is filled with little ironies. They present when things turn out differently than expected. There are other nuanced subtleties, however. One such was the search for the apostles, who were ‘hidden in plain sight’ in the same building they were banned from. Each time I’ve read the text for our reflection, a thought has been niggling at me. That question is what prompts us to consider Today’s Holy Nougat

Acts 5:26-27 CEVDCI

[26] The captain went with some of the temple police and brought the apostles back. But they did not use force. They were afraid that the people might start throwing stones at them.

[27] When the apostles were brought before the council, the high priest said to them,

Casting Stones

Siblings, I have wondered where the Sanhedrin, i.e., the Jewish Council, met in Jesus’s day. Although they had an extraordinary meeting at Caiaphas’s home, they typically met in the sacred temple chambers. Yes, siblings. It’s not guesswork any more. The religious leaders were in one wing of the temple while the escaped apostles were teaching in another. According to Google AI, the prison was actually a holding cell in the same private wing of the temple where the Sanhedrin met.

That’s ironic.

How could the prisoners escape the notice of the religious leaders as they made their way from that wing to the other section of the temple?

The irony (or, as I’d say, further proof of God’s humour) continues. The Sanhedrin’s special meeting room was called the Hall of Hewn Stones. It was not only a meeting room, but it was a refuge. That would have been the most physically fortified place in a building, as hewn stones were cut from larger rocks. That room was virtually impenetrable.

Yet, when they entered the humble area between the Women’s and Gentile’s gate where the apostles preached, the religious leaders were afraid of being stoned! In leaving to find the apostles, the vulnerability of the religious leaders was exposed. They, the powerful, were at the mercy of the powerless and were obliged to tread carefully around them.

Point to Ponder

Where have we seen this played out in current time?

Application

Siblings, the more I read the Bible, the more convinced I am that what’s written is not accidental. Luke knew his audience; Theophilus (lover of God) would have been familiar with some of these nuances about the temple. Luke’s references to the meeting of the Sanhedrin and the jailbreak would not require as many details or explanations as we do. Theophilus would have spotted the irony and the lesson. Hopefully we now do.

Embedded in the Nougat is a not-so-subtle warning that we ought to heed also. When living in our fortresses, we dare not exclude God from our lives, or we will be as vulnerable as those religious leaders who were scared of being stoned. It’s worth noting that God forbade hewn stone in the building of the temple. That’s similar to trusting in ‘chariots and horses’ (Psalm 20:7). Isaiah 9:9-18 speaks against pride and extreme independence away from YHWH. The people opted to flaunt their wealth and strength by replacing temple bricks with ‘hewn stone’. Yet the result was conquest and destruction. That same chapter predicted Christ’s birth, proclaiming Him Messiah.

Siblings, could this be a call to us to ensure that we are not partakers of injustice, living or working in stone towers, fearful of being stoned by the masses? Wouldn’t that be the worst kind of irony?

No.

The worst of all would be looking like the picture of godliness, but denying God’s power in our lives (2 Timothy 3:5). May it never be so, in Jesus’ name.

Self-Check

Are we living in gilded, cut-stone towers, fearing being stoned? Let’s aim for justice, God’s justice in all we do.

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May all we seek be found in Christ