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"They've Been With Jesus"Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. - Acts 4:13Does this verse give you the willies? It does me. The religious leaders who killed Jesus were more than a little annoyed because now these rubes from upstate were insisting that Jesus rose from the dead. Is it never going to stop, they must have wondered. So they hauled them in for questioning—intending to intimidate and threaten them. Peter, instead of groveling, stood up and preached a mini-sermon accusing them of killing Jesus and declaring that the lame man was walking because of that name. There was more, of course, but it was a magnificent presentation—eloquent, forceful, and compelling.That’s when these pompous religious rulers looked at each other in surprise—because what they were hearing was an ignorant fisherman speaking with authority, just like Jesus used to do. They recognized by Peter’s demeanor and bold courage that he must have been one of Jesus’ followers.The last time you ran afoul of some authority, be it a supervisor at work, or a police officer, or a state inspector of some kind—did they walk away thinking “Wow, she must be a follower of Jesus?” Isn’t that what it means to “honor Christ,” as Paul puts it in Philippians 1:20. Wouldn’t you like to know what the customer service person thinks of your faith after you’re done airing your complaint? When you’re done filing your grievance with the union steward, do they say “now there’s a real Christian gentleman?” Perhaps our goal today, and every day, should be to live in such a way that even people who don’t know us sense that we “have been with Jesus.”