I’m going to tell you a free speech story from the 1st Century A.D., a story with lessons for those of you who are standing up to speech-chilling bullies today. Peter, a fisherman follower of Jesus of Nazareth, went around telling everyone in Jerusalem that though Jesus had been executed, unjustly, he had risen from the dead. And everyone was saying that Peter had talked to a beggar well-known to anyone who came in through a certain city gate and cured him of his lameness.1
Naturally, Peter got in trouble. What he was saying was offensive, after all, causing much emotional distress to the people who had shouted “Crucify him! Crucify him!”, even though at the time they did not have psychologists to scientifically diagnose the harm he was causing. But he certainly was being offensive. As Paul said some years later, what some people think is perfume, other people think is stench: “To the one are the aroma of death leading to death, and to the other the aroma of life leading to life.” So Peter was arrested:
Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.2
Shortly before this, Jesus had been arrested by those same people, given a summary night-time trial, and executed. The speech police won’t execute you nowadays, but their ideas about free speech and fair trials remain pretty much the same: if the guy is saying something false, why let him say it, and why bother with a trial at all except to make sure you’ve identified the right person?
So the leadership got together, packed the room full of their supporters, put Peter and his friends in the middle so they were surrounded by enemies, and started off with an intimidating question:
And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?”
Peter is in big trouble. He’s just a fisherman from the Galilee—the boondocks— and the entire capital-city Establishment is out to get him. He has no supporters. He has no lawyer. They’re trying to get him to admit that he’s promoting the ideas of Jesus, someone they recently framed as a criminal insurrectionist and pressured the Romans put to death. What can Peter possibly do in such a lonely, awkward, and dangerous position?
Well, Peter can do a lot. The priests think they have Peter where they want him, but they’re wrong. Peter has the priests where he wants them. He’s a captive, but they’re a captive audience.
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them,
“Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
I just retired from teaching in a business school. One thing we teach the MBA students is SWOT analysis: Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Threats. What Peter has here is not a Threat, but an Opportunity. He has the rulers, elders, and scribes, Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and high priest’s clan all in the room with him, and they were dumb enough to ask him, “By what power or by what name have you done this?”
So he told them. They didn’t know how to respond. They thought all Galileans were half-wits from flyover country. But Peter was clearly not. Thus we have:
Lesson 1: when the authorities call you on the carpet, they’re on the carpet too, on the other side of it, and you’ve got a golden opportunity to hit them with your message.
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus. And seeing the man who had been 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? For, indeed, that a notable miracle has been done through them is evident to all who dwell in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. But so that it spreads no further among the people, let us severely threaten them, that from now on they speak to no man in this name.” So they called them and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.
It looks like Peter got away with it. They’re not going to do anything to him, because they don’t dare— it would look too bad. Peter escaped with a warning, and all he has to do is tone down his preaching and he can declare victory.
But he doesn’t.
But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way of punishing them, because of the people, since they all glorified God for what had been done.
Peter didn’t give an inch. He doubled down, and refused to compromise, and they had to let him go anyway. That’s the way to deal with bullies. Don’t give in, and they’ll back off, humiliated. Thus we have:
Lesson 2. When the bad guys are on the run and offer a compromise, think carefully, but then say: No.
This a lesson known in the academic literature on bargaining. If the other side shows weakness, that’s not the time to say “Done!”, it’s the time to retract your previous offer and get tougher. People said of a certain law school dean, a genial but tough man, that one of his great talents was that when an alum would offer to donate $100,000, he had the nerve to say, “How about $200,000?”.3
But that’s not the end of the story. Peter got arrested again.
Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation, and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, “Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.” And when they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning and taught.
The second arrest didn’t work either. The angel of the Lord let Peter out— or, if you don’t believe in angels, they got out through the window or something.
After they’d escaped the second arrest, they could have gone on the lam, back to Galilee, or maybe Egypt. But they didn’t. They went right back to the temple— the high priest’s headquarters— and resumed their rude habit of offering offensive criticisms of the Council.
What happened? We get a touch of humor. The high priest sent his guards to the jail to bring Peter up to the Council meeting, but Peter wasn’t there. . .
But the high priest and those with him came and called the council together, with all the elders of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came and did not find them in the prison, they returned and reported, saying,
“Indeed we found the prison shut securely, and the guards standing outside before the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside!”
Now when the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these things, they wondered what the outcome would be.
So one came and told them, saying, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!”
Thus we come to Peter’s third arrest. He and the guards know the routine by now, so this time there’s no “they laid hands on him” business. I imagine the guards could see who was winning, and didn’t want to get on Peter’s bad side.
Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned. And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, saying,
“Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!”
Bullies are cowardly and stupid, especially the bureaucrat kind. The Council hadn’t caught on to “Lesson One: When the bigshots call you on the carpet, that’s an opportunity, not a threat.” So Peter did it again.
Peter and the other apostles answered and said:
“We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.”
What could the high priest do? He’d been outsmarted twice. He was furious, but scared and off balance. And then he was blind-sided.
When they heard this, they were furious and plotted to kill them. Then one in the council stood up, a Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in respect by all the people, and commanded them to put the apostles outside for a little while. And he said to them:
“Men of Israel, take heed to yourselves what you intend to do regarding these men. For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody. A number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and came to nothing. After this man, Judas of Galilee rose up in the days of the census, and drew away many people after him. He also perished, and all who obeyed him were dispersed. And now I say to you, keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.”
And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
So this time the Pharisees, who were the archrivals of the Sadducees, broke ranks, happy to see the high priest defeated. Being a bit smarter, the Pharisees were ready to end the show, and wanted to avoid getting tangled up with a fighter like Peter. Or, maybe Gamaliel and others of the Council were actually coming round to being on Peter’s side, even if they weren’t ready to publicly admit that Jesus had risen from the dead.
To be sure, Peter did get a beating after this third arrest. But he “departed rejoicing”. He didn’t cease “teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ” (that is, as “the anointed one”). Peter had stood up to the entire Establishment and won.
Compare this with another, more famous, Peter story. The book of Acts, which I have been quoting, was written by Luke, a doctor. It is actually a sequel, a sequel to the Gospel of Luke, which tells the story of Jesus. After Jesus was arrested, here is what happened.
Having arrested Him, they led Him and brought Him into the high priest's house. But Peter followed at a distance. Now when they had kindled a fire in the midst of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat among them. And a certain servant girl, seeing him as he sat by the fire, looked intently at him and said, "This man was also with Him."
But he denied Him, saying, "Woman, I do not know Him."
And after a little while another saw him and said, "You also are of them."
But Peter said, "Man, I am not!"
Then after about an hour had passed, another confidently affirmed, saying, "Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a Galilean."
But Peter said, "Man, I do not know what you are saying!" Immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed.
And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him, "Before the rooster crows, you will deny Me three times."
So Peter went out and wept bitterly.
Peter remembered that weeping. Being cowardly isn’t the solution. It leaves you feeling rotten. You despise yourself, because even the servant girls can intimidate you. Peter was in no danger from her. It was Jesus the high priest was after that night, and he wasn’t arresting underlings like Peter. But Peter was scared anyway, not just into silence, but into “compelled speech”, so he denied Jesus. When he left the servant girl that night, he wept bitterly. But when he left the high priest after getting a beating, he rejoiced. Thus we have:
Lesson 3: If you give in to bullies to save pain now, you’ll get more pain later.
END OF PART I
This article has gotten long enough that I’m separating it into two parts. The second part will add some present-day “insider” stories (that is, some stories I know that aren’t public) to illustrate the same point, and talk about the story of Stephen from Acts 6.
Note that even if you’re an infidel who thinks Peter was lying or fooled, you’ll find this story instructive, and if you’re a decent infidel, you’ll be cheering for Peter’s right to speak. If you’re a college administrator or a wokester, you’ll probably cheer for the high priest and the Sadducees, but maybe you’ll learn something too.
The two big political parties were the Pharisees, who believed that people would rise from the dead in an afterlife, and the Sadducees, who didn’t. The high priest and his clique were Sadducees. So despite Jesus’s harsh criticism of the Pharisees for their many petty rules, he was closer to them than to the Sadducees.
I don’t think I should name him here, since I heard it second-hand, but if you ask me, I’ll tell you the name of the dean. He’s a very nice guy, tiramisu on the outside, but iron on the inside.