NOTES for Act 5:38-39
This is how Gamaliel, the most authoritative rabbi, recommended that the Sanhedrin treat the newborn Church of Christ. These words of his are called "Gamaliel's principle"; the evangelist Luke cites them in Acts as a kind of testimony that Old Testament spirituality as such proved open enough to judge the actions of the Spirit of God by their fruits.
This means that the hostility of the Jewish religious authorities toward the Lord Jesus and His Church was dictated by other, purely human causes: envy, political calculation... According to tradition, Gamaliel himself became a Christian at the end of his life. Thus Gamaliel's principle is a generally biblical principle, flowing from both Testaments, for our attitude toward spiritual phenomena unfamiliar to us.
This is very important, because only by being guided by it do we avoid placing our judgment ahead of God's. The actions and views of other people often seem strange to us, and sometimes even outrageous, and it is natural for us at once to show our position and take corresponding measures. Our judgment is quick and unambiguous. But here is what wisdom nourished by the deepest knowledge of Scripture says: "Do not hurry; give God the opportunity to reveal His judgment". The fact that we do not agree with something can become our own condemnation if it is from God. For God Himself says that He makes all things new. New means unfamiliar to us, something with which it is not easy to agree at once. Here patience and a peaceful spirit are needed, without which it is impossible to be a Christian.