Saturday of the Octave of Easter
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and had perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marveled. They recognized that they had been with Jesus. Seeing the man who was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, Saying, "What shall we do to these men? Because indeed a notable miracle has been done through them, as can be plainly seen by all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we can't deny it. But so that this spreads no further among the people, let's threaten them, that from now on they don't speak to anyone in this name." They called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
But Peter and John answered them, "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, judge for yourselves, For we can't help telling the things which we saw and heard."
When they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people; for everyone glorified God for that which was done.
The right hand of the Lord is exalted! The right hand of the Lord does valiantly! I will not die, but live, And declare the Lord's works. The Lord has punished me severely, But he has not given me over to death.
Open to me the gates of righteousness. I will enter into them. I will give thanks to the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; The righteous will enter into it. I will give thanks to you, for you have answered me, And have become my salvation.
Now when he had risen early on the first day of the week, he appeared first to Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons. She went and told those who had been with him, as they mourned and wept. When they heard that he was alive and had been seen by her, they disbelieved.
After these things he was revealed in another form to two of them as they walked, on their way into the country. They went away and told it to the rest. They didn't believe them, either.
Afterward he was revealed to the eleven themselves as they sat at the table; and he rebuked them for their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they didn't believe those who had seen him after he had risen. He said to them, "Go into all the world and preach the Good News to the whole creation.
The authorities in today's first reading find themselves in an impossible position. They can't deny the miracle—the healed man stands right there before them. They can't punish Peter and John because the people are celebrating what God has done. Yet they desperately want to silence these "unlearned and ignorant" fishermen who speak with such boldness about Jesus.
What strikes us here is how the religious leaders recognize something they can't quite name: these ordinary men "had been with Jesus." There's a quality to their presence, a confidence that doesn't come from education or social standing, but from encounter with the risen Christ.
Peter and John's response cuts to the heart of every believer's dilemma: "Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, judge for yourselves." They've moved beyond seeking approval from human authorities because they've experienced something that has reordered their entire understanding of authority itself.
This connects beautifully with Mark's account of the resurrection appearances. Notice how Jesus appears first to Mary Magdalene—a woman whose testimony wouldn't have been legally valid in that culture—then to two disciples on the road, and finally to the eleven who had abandoned him. The pattern reveals God's preference for working through the unlikely, the marginalized, the ordinary.
The psalm captures this reversal perfectly: "The right hand of the Lord is exalted!" What the world considers weak or foolish becomes the very instrument of God's power.
In our daily lives, we face our own versions of this tension. Whether it's standing up for what's right at work, choosing mercy over judgment in our families, or simply living with integrity when no one's watching, we're constantly choosing between human approval and divine calling.
How might God be asking us to speak boldly about what we've seen and heard? When do we find ourselves seeking human approval over divine truth?