“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter
and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they
marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus.”
–Acts 4:13
It has been said before, that old cliché; perception is reality. Perception is reality, in many cases, so much
so that people and businesses are jockeying to control your perception of
things. How you perceive a: product, situation,
or person. They are pushing their agenda
on you subtly or forcefully to try and change your perception in hope you will
accept this as reality. Businesses do
this, the government does this, the media does this, the government and
businesses through the media do this. To
change the perception is to change the reality.
However there are times, ever so rare, when the reality changes
perception. The genuine reality is so
stark and unavoidably clear that it supersedes the perception (be it accurate
or not) and drives home a greater fundamental truth.
Peter and John were many
things, but religious scholars were not one of them. If you were inquire about the intricacies of
the Mosaic Law or the historical pretext of Isaiah with regards to the prophetic
undertones; they would have been at a loss.
When it came to religious matters they were unlearned and ignorant
men. This was the perceived realty of
the Pharisees towards Peter and John whether it was true or not. In the context of Jewish religion and
practices they were ignorant when compared to the Pharisees, just as you or I
would be ignorant when compared to a doctorate of divinity (not saying that all
those who receive religious degrees are Pharisaical). That being said, in the context of genuine
religious experience they were the elect.
They had been taught by the best and in their heart they had EXPERIENCED
the righteousness that all those Pharisees and learned men were so laboriously
learning about. Imagine in your mind two
aspiring musicians. One sets out to
learn his instrument and learn he does.
He studiously researches how it’s made, what it’s made from, the history
of it, the proper playing technique, and the musical theory behind it. However, in all this he never actually plays
it! He never experiences it. In word and in mind he is learned, but in
reality he is ignorant. Now the other
musician goes about learning very different.
He sits at the feet of a master, and he learns, and he plays, and he is
critiqued, and he plays, and he learns, and plays; always playing, always
learning, always experiencing. I ask
you, which of these two men are ignorant?
Which of these two would you call a musician? The Pharisees perceived that they were
unlearned and ignorant men and in some respects they were, but the “took
knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus”! The manner in which they spoke, behaved, and
the miracles that they performed were so powerful and in the likeness of Christ
that they could not avoid the reality that they had been with the Master. They had supped with Him, they had walked
with Him, they had learned from Him, and they had experienced in their hearts
the gospel which he brought.
Have we been with Jesus?
Have we experienced the Christ in our lives, and in our hearts? Or is the perception of Him our reality, the
act of learning enough to satisfy the ambition of being a Christian? I firmly believe that there are many people
who want to be Christians. They just get
caught up in being a Pharisee. We can go
to church, listen to sermons, and learn all about the theory of proper
Christianity, but until you experience it in your life; it is only
perception. A real genuine experience
with Jesus Christ will liberate you from all false perception, beyond that, it
will liberate others (God willing). The
reality of Christ within will break perception and bring reality that you can
be with Jesus.
