Acts 5.17-26; Psalm 33; John 3.16-21
“We found the gaol securely locked and the warders on duty at the gates, but when we unlocked the door we found no one inside.” The dramatic intrusion of an angel opening prison doors in the middle of the night is a kind of analogue to the resurrection of Jesus from the tomb. “Go … and tell the people all about this new Life” the freed disciples were exhorted, just as the women who came to the tomb at dawn were spurred to “go quickly and tell.” [Matthew 28.7]
What they are to declare is the triumph of light over darkness. Are we among those who prefer darkness to light, who fear exposition and revelation? God comes into the world not to condemn us, but to call us out of darkness into light, out of slavery into freedom, out of death into Life worthy of the name.