Sermons Worth Stealing - Pt 3

On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” (Acts 4:5-12 ESV).

After Peter’s sermon in Acts 3, after healing a man at the temple, Luke tells us that the Jewish leaders were now as concerned with Peter and John as they had been with Jesus. This was true for several reasons. For one thing, they did not believe in the concept of resurrection. The Sadducees, who were part of the leadership, disputed the resurrection in general. But at the same time, and more significantly, the issue was what the “resurrection of the dead” signified for the history of the world. Sadducees and Pharisees alike agreed on the consequences of teaching the resurrection in this regard. It would ultimately lead to the dismantling of their belief that Israel was to be the only power in the world. In essence, when Peter and John proclaimed “in Jesus the resurrection of the dead,” they were saying that the end-time blessings of the resurrection age had intruded the present age for the sake of everyone who believed in Jesus. This is important to wrap our heads around. These end-time blessings of the resurrection age were the hope of Israel (cf. Acts 28:20). These Jewish leaders knew all about the pouring out of the Spirit and the triumph of God’s salvation and the defeat of his enemies. They had read Joel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. They understood what the resurrection age meant. And now these fishermen-turned-preachers were walking around “their” temple saying that this age had arrived in Jesus, the man they had executed. Peter and John were telling the Jewish people that Jesus had launched a new and long-awaited epoch in the history of humanity. This was as bad, or worse than Jesus’ ministry. Now they were healing and preaching on their doorstep! So, they had both of them arrested, bringing them to the very place Jesus was tried and unjustly convicted. Peter and John knew full well where they were and what was happening. Without hesitation, they called them all to the person and power of Jesus. I believe there is a very contemporary message here. The church should exhibit this kind of boldness, to know Jesus and what his gospel work means for the world. To know Jesus and speak clearly about who he is. This is how we’re called to live – undaunted and unfettered!