God can save Anybody

What really is fascinating about the accounts of the plots and secret counsels of the Pharisees in the Gospels is that the writers would not have known that intimate information unless influential and well-connected Pharisees at that time had gotten saved later on (Acts 15:5). 

What’s wild about that is that it shows that even the most adamant and extreme enemies of God in one season can be softened towards Him in another. No one is ever too far gone to be outside the reach of Gods draw on their hearts.

It also makes for a fascinating thing to consider. Imagine what it must have been like inside a small group fellowship time when a Pharisee not only repented and confessed his sins to having plotted for the very crucifixion of the One who has now forgiven his sins but then spelled out all of the intimate details of both which instances of Jesus’ teaching that triggered their rage and also how they went about planning it out.

Truly the reflection of the early Church on what happened over that 3.5 year period would have been fascinating to behold. Just imagine Peter or John seeing the same face of one of the guys in the group that resisted Jesus and then hearing that same person’s take on the story. Imagine how they must have reflected on what God had done together. Maybe at a camp fire somewhere. Maybe over a meal.

The Pharisee says “I plotted for Him to be killed” but Peter says “I denied Him 3 times” and both men sit there in a humble awareness of their absolute moral failure. Every mouth is stopped and both are guilty before God (Romans 3:19). And yet it’s a celebration -  a time of wonder where sinners behold the Grace of God given to them at the Cross. Mercy given both to the apostate apostle and to the persecuting Pharisee.

For Peter it’s a fresh take on the God who saved him and a retelling of the story of how He did it - now with the other side in full view. For the newly born again Pharisee the entire thing is fresh - particularly the part about the God who has forgiven his sin.

And there sitting across from each other at the table we see a beautiful picture of the Gospel. Hostiles have become friends. Both with a wild story to tell about the Goodness of God.