It wasn’t just what he said, it was who said it. Very few of the dignitaries in that room could have stopped that lynch-mob. It took a special voice, at the right time, and a lot of courage to stand and rebuke the elders of Israel. God elevates His people to positions of leadership so He can speak through us at critical moments. There are times when even one voice speaking clearly, forcefully, respectfully, will turn the tide of a decision. In fact, looking back in history, most great decisions came because one person, or only a few, took a stand for what was right, and then persevered in that stand. In hindsight, these people are heroes, but at the time they often suffered under enormous pressure to conform, and when they didn’t they were mocked, threatened and even killed. Undoubtedly most of those brave souls questioned themselves, wondering how they ended up so out of step with everyone else. Often their selfless service took place out of sight, behind closed doors, one-on-one, and came as a passionate appeal to principle. Those about to open a door that would usher in trouble were confronted with truth and a deceptive spell was broken. And sometimes that brave, lonely person was the leader, the final decision-maker, who had to take a hard unpopular stand trusting that God would intervene and defend him or her.

Our lesson today looks at just such a person. A man named Gamaliel whose faithfulness to the Word had elevated him to high position, and who, on this day, within a window of a few seconds of time, had to decide whether or not to risk it all by rebuking the entire Sanhedrin and eldership of Israel. He’s a man to whom we owe a great debt of thanks, and who models for us the godly courage each of us will need when our moment comes.