<p>5:28 <em>We strictly ordered you not to teach-</em> The same words used of how the Lord strictly ordered Peter, James and John not to speak of the things they saw at the transfiguration until after He had resurrected (Lk. 9:21). Now that He had risen, that 'strict order' was from the Lord to teach... and so the 'strict order' from the High Priest sets him up as a kind of anti-Christ. And there was no way that the Lord's people could do anything else than speak forth their experiences of Him.</p><p><em>In this name</em>- For them, authority was so important. Likewise the Lord had been asked by what authority He taught and cured. And it is likewise difficult for many today to see beyond mere religion and denominationalism, and realize that individuals who have experienced the Lord will therefore teach Him purely on their own private initiative.</p><p><i>And yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and</i>- The reference in the next phrase to guilt for blood makes us think that they were alluding to the two references to how wicked Manasseh &quot;filled Jerusalem with innocent blood&quot; (2 Kings 21:16; 24:4). Condemning the righteous in Biblical terms and through out of context Scriptural allusion is therefore no new thing.</p><p><em>Intend to bring this man's blood upon us</em>- Consider how the disciples responded to the High Priest rebuking them for preaching; he claimed that they intended to bring the blood of Jesus upon them. The obvious, logical debating point would have been to say: &lsquo;But <em>you</em> were the very ones who shouted out &lsquo;His blood be upon us&rsquo; just a few weeks ago&rsquo;. But, Peter didn&rsquo;t say this. He didn&rsquo;t even allude to their obvious self-contradiction. Instead he positively went on to point out that a real forgiveness was possible because Jesus was now resurrected. And the point we can take from this is that true witness is not necessarily about pointing out to the other guy his self-contradictions, the logical weakness of his position&hellip; it&rsquo;s not about winning a debate, but rather about bringing people to meaningful repentance and transformation.</p>