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The Sadducees receive a surprise:
v. 21. But the high priest came, and they that were with him, and called the Council together, and all the senate of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.
v. 22. But when the officers came and found them not in the prison, they returned and told,
v. 23. saying, the prison, truly, found we shut with all safety, and the keepers standing without before the doors; but when we had opened, we found no man within.
v. 24. Now when the high priest and the captain of the Temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them where unto this would grow.
v. 25. Then came one and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom ye put in prison are standing in the Temple and teaching the people.
The next morning the high priest was stirring betimes. Having come to the place where the Sadducees met, he and his henchmen called a meeting, not only of the entire Sanhedrin, the highest ecclesiastical court of the Jews, but also the presbytery of the children of Israel, the old and experienced teachers of the nation that were no members of the Council. But when they now, after all this formal and impressive introduction, sent servants over to the prison to get the prisoners, the latter were not in evidence. The servants returned with the information that they had found the prison locked up and made secure in approved fashion, that the guards had been occupying their accustomed places, but when they had opened the doors, there had been no prisoners. The angel of the Lord had therefore not only smitten the keepers of the prison with temporary blindness, but he had also relocked the doors to remove all evidence of the miraculous deliverance of the apostles. This message produced a great deal of consternation in the Sanhedrin. And it perplexed not only the members of the Council themselves, but also the "man of the Temple mount," the chief of the Temple police. Clearly the hand of God had here intervened, as they admitted indirectly in their perplexity, not knowing whereunto this might grow, where it would all end at the present rate of progress. Meanwhile a man came and announced to them that the men whom they had thrown into prison were standing in the Temple, openly and boldly engaged in teaching the people. Thus many an enemy of the Lord and His Word has found himself baffled by the manner in which the Lord protects them that are His, and takes care of His own interests. It is a good plan, a safe plan, to put all trust in Him.