Tuesday, 7th Week of Ordinary Time

Acts 5:27-42

Gamaliel is known today as one of the greatest rabbis of all time, a man recognized for his personal devotion and expertise on the Jewish Law. At that time there were two competing schools of thought on how best to defend and uphold the Law. They were named for the two rabbis who inspired the two schools in the immediate years before Jesus. They were known as the Shammai and Hillel schools of interpretation.

Shammai was “hard-core” when it came to the Law. Not only must a faithful Jew strictly adhere to the law personally, but they must also be zealous against those who violated the Law, or even questioned some of it. And if violence was necessary to stop that opposition or questioning, well that was simply proof of one’s devotion to the Law of God. Rabbi Hillel taught the opposite: God’s desire was for each Israelite to keep the law for themselves. Since the Law could be summed up in the command to “love the LORD your God,” then keeping the law was principally a matter of the heart. And no one, however zealous, could coerce another human heart into agreement.

Clearly Gamaliel was a member of the Hillel school, another characteristic of which was, apparently, patience. If after all, one cannot coerce obedience to the Law, then one must take responsibility for one’s self and leave the seemingly disobedient to God. That assumed of course that they, and not you, were the ones standing against God.

Patience and self-understanding are two of the most important traits that we need to develop in our life as Christians. Not every perceived slight must be answered, or every argument answered. We should never forget that in any conflict, God will win the argument in God’s good time. And when we are in the midst of a conflict, and our emotions are stirred, it is easier to act on instincts of anger and self-defense than to reflect thoughtfully and prayerfully on why we feel the way we do. But if we can slow our breathing and the beating of our hearts, then our minds will be free to understand the truth of ourselves.

And if we can all do this at the same time, then we might actually understand each other better, and the common truth that God wants us to share, not possess.