Time to Stand for Jesus Christ of Nazareth
July 12, 2020
Acts 4 New International Version (NIV)
Peter and John Before the Sanhedrin
4 The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. 4 But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.
5 The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. 7 They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is
“‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’[a]
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16 “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”
18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
Have you ever been ashamed?
I’ll answer for you…. Of course you have…..I hope you have anyway. How do I know?
Because when you do something wrong, and you either admit it or get caught, you should feel remorse, you should feel ashamed for doing what was wrong.
I have an example, I was in the 6th grade, living in Forest Grove, Oregon. When your in the 6th grade, that personality is starting to really shine, you know what I mean, I taught 6th grade for years, so I have a pretty good sample of 6th grade behavior to go by… many 6th graders are starting to think of themselves as teenagers, independent of any rules for some of them. When I was in the 6th grade, I was probably leaning that direction.
It was summertime, my brother and I were picking Strawberry’s for spending money, and to help buy our school clothes come fall. I don’t remember if I was not liking getting up early to go pick strawberries for 6 hours, but I’m guessing I would have rather been sleeping in….. and maybe that is why I got caught doing what I was doing one day on the way to the berry patch….
One day, we get home from picking berries, by the way they were great, we ate lot’s of our profit. We get home and there is a man standing in our living room talking to my parents, I didn’t think much of it until I was called over to join them. My dad, who’s a local Pastor mind you in town, begins to unravel my wrongdoing. He’s tells me that this man was standing on his front porch this morning when the Berry Bus went rolling by his house, and he says that you had your hand out the window, Flipping Him off and everyone else who happened to be outside this morning…. Is this true?
Caught “Red Handed” so to speak… I admitted my sign language problem, I apologized to this guy who I still don’t know how he knew where I lived, and as you can imagine, there was a price to pay. But, I was truly ashamed of my actions, I was ashamed of how this reflected on my parents…. This is why I still remember it. I was ashamed for doing wrong, I was guilty.
Now, we can all share stories most likely that would demonstrate similar instances when being ashamed for doing wrong was appropriate and taught us a lesson for life.
In our passage this morning, our two apostles have just healed a lame man, he had been lame from birth, he was known to everyone in the whole town, and especially to those in the Temple, because that is where he had laid and begged for years….now this lame man was walking, Praising Jesus and these disciples for his healing….these Religious leaders could not deny the miracle, so they decided to go after the one responsible for the miracle… Peter and John, and ultimately who they were trying to discredit was Jesus of Nazareth.
First thought this morning that I want you to Catch:
Don’t ever be ashamed of Jesus Christ and His Word!
So who was the Sanhedrin? Did the Apostles have anything to worry about? Let me give you a little background information on the Sanhedrin that I found this week. (Material from Chabad.org) Jewish site
The Jewish supreme court was called the Sanhedrin (“Council”) or Sanhedrin ha-Gadol (“the Great Council”) and consisted of 71 rabbis.
Why 71? God told Moses, “Gather for Me 70 men from the elders of Israel.” Moses presided over them, as the verse continues, “And they shall stand there with you.”1 Thus, the 70 judges plus Moses equals 71.
Once Moses died, the judge with the greatest knowledge was appointed in his stead. Called the nasi, he would sit at the head of the court. To his right sat the (patron of the court), the second greatest judge, who was appointed as the nasi’s assistant. The remaining 69 would sit before them, arranged according to age and stature. The wiser the judge, the closer he would be seated to the nasi.2
The Sanhedrin’s Function
Any laws and (decrees) issued by the Sanhedrin were binding on the entire Jewish nation. Although lower courts consisting of 23 judges could try capital cases, only the Sanhedrin had authority over cases involving the king, capital crimes committed by the high priest, or crimes committed by an entire tribe or city.
Powers exclusive to the high court also included:3
• Crowning a king.
• Authorizing “voluntary” wars, such as wars for the sake of expanding the country’s borders.
• Expanding holy sites, such as Jerusalem and the courtyard of the Holy Temple.
• Appointing lesser courts of 23 judges.
Additionally, since the Sanhedrin was required to hear all testimony directly, rather than through an interpreter, it was preferable that its members be familiar with every language spoken by Jews around the world. When a foreign language was used in testimony, the Sanhedrin had to have at least two members who spoke that language to examine the witnesses, and a third member who at least understood the language.4
So this was the Supreme Court for the Jewish people, so Peter and John were being called in front of the premier court in Jerusalem as far as the Jews were concerned.
Did Peter and John wilt and shrink because of who they were talking too?
Look at verse 7: 7 They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is“‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’[a]
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
The key to their response wasn’t their intellect, it wasn’t their schooling because they didn’t have any… it wasn’t because they were powerful figures in the Jewish entertainment business or in the Jewish business class…. None of that, they were fisherman. The most important aspect of why they were able to respond the way they did was simply, “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit,”
These men spoke boldly, they were unashamed of representing the Name of Jesus, and they even reminded these powerful people that they were the ones who crucified Jesus, but God (who they supposedly represent) raised Him from the dead….no fear, not ashamed. Friends, this is who we are to be in our world.
I’m not talking about being a Social Media warrior… I’m talking about talking to your family and your friends about How Jesus of Nazareth has changed your life!
We need Christians who will share God’s Word with their own families, sharing what it means to live as a Christian, what it means to walk in obedience to all that God has taught us. We need Christians who will make it a priority to find ways to share the good news with their neighbors, with their coworkers, with those people that are in their sphere of influence.
Can you share the Good News on Social Media, yes. But making a post and hoping people read it, that’s not effective, but getting people into actual conversations, in private conversations is more effective.
And when you share verse 12 of Acts chapter 4, you will find out what people believe about Jesus and God’s Word….
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Second thought: Our Responsibility is to Share the Truth… God’s Spirit will draw them to a point of decision.
Early in chapter 4, it tells us that the number of new believers had grown to 5,000 men, and who knows how many thousands more of family members. These disciples were boldly speaking about Jesus and what He had done for them, and were repeating the Salvation story of Jesus dying on the Cross for their sins…and the Holy Spirit brought about the change of heart, the repentance.
The truth is every person realizes that they are a sinner. We all have fallen short of the Glory of God, Romans tells us…. Not one of us has escaped the sin nature.
With everyone knowing this fact in their heart, because we know God has written His Law on our hearts, so we know we have broken His law at some point, many times over…. So with this knowledge, we don’t have to spend our time trying to point out what People are doing wrong…that’s not our function… I don’t want that function, because I’ve done all those same things too!
Our responsibility is to Share the Redemption Story, the Story where we are Lost and we are without Hope, we are caught in our own mess…. But, Jesus shows up, He takes our place on the Cross….He sheds His own blood for me and for you….He dies on that cross carrying the sin of the world, my sins and your sins….He who was without sin, takes on all man’s sins so that we could find forgiveness through his shed blood.
We have the greatest love story ever to tell those who are so desperate to know that God loves them, that God wants to deliver them from Fear, God wants to deliver them from Hate, from Envy, from addiction, from materialism…. You name the trap…. God wants to set you free.
I’m sharing this news to you today, those here in person and those who might watch this online…. God’s Truth and set you free, so that no matter what is going on in our world, no matter who wins the election, no matter what the Supreme Court decides, no matter what next catastrophe is coming next in 2020, God has you in His hand….
Who are you sharing this news with? It’s time to Stand up for Jesus and share His good news. Boldly. With Passion. No Fear. Peter and John Style, Filled with the Spirit style. Will you Stand?
Romans 1:16a 16 For I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God that brings salvation to everyone who believes;…
