One of the things I’ve noticed since our last holidays is how often someone will say to us, "What were the highlights of your trip." You do lots of things on a four week holiday but only some of them are highlights. That’s one of the things you realise as you get your photos back from processing. You discover all those photos that were a total waste of effort (not to mention money) because they don’t show anything of any great interest. What goes into the photo album in the end tend to be the highlights of the trip.
Well, a similar thing is happening here as we go through this account of the early church. Fairly obviously, a lot more happened in those early days than Luke has space to record. So he has to filter them out. He has to work out what are the highlights. What are the important things that he needs to write down for posterity.
Now that’s important for us to realise because it means that what we find here are the things that really matter in the life of the early church and often in our church life as well.
So what are the highlights so far?
Obviously the coming of the Holy Spirit on all the disciples. The message about Jesus Christ being heard and understood by people form the far ends of the known world. Peter preaching on day of Pentecost and thousands becoming Christians.
Then there’s the healing of a crippled man that we looked at last week. And today we find the Jewish leaders reacting. In fact this was more than just a healing as we’ll see in a moment. There’s a certain continuity between the miracles of Jesus and this healing of the crippled man. As we saw a few weeks ago, Jesus continues his work on earth through the Apostles, working in the power of the Holy Spirit. And that’s no more obvious than in this miracle in the Temple. And we’ll see in a little while that the Jewish leaders themselves recognise this.
But first notice that it’s the Priests and Sadducees who are upset about this miracle and in particular about the way Peter explains it. They’re particularly upset because Peter is convincing people that this miracle has happened as a direct result of Jesus’ resurrection. You may know that the Sadducees were the establishment group within the Jewish religion. They were the ruling, priestly caste who’d accepted the political inevitability of the Roman rule and had adapted themselves to that reality. Theologically they believed that the Messianic era had begun 200 years before with the Maccabean rebellion. So they weren’t interested in this suggestion of Jesus as Messiah. Nor did they believe in the resurrection. You may have heard the old saying that they didn’t believe in the resurrection and that was why they were sad you see. Well, in fact they weren’t just sad, they were very upset about Peter convincing people that Jesus had risen because it undermined their position of authority.
And so they arrest Peter and John. Again this is one of those highlights. So soon after the day of Pentecost and already Christians are facing opposition! Already they’re being persecuted for their faith!
Though notice that this persecution doesn’t affect the work of the gospel. Even as they’re being taken away, we read that 5000 people are converted.
Michael pointed out last week that there’s a lot that’s left unsaid in these accounts. There are obviously things going on in the background while the main action is happening around the Temple. And part of that action is the follow up to Peter’s speech that leads to these 5000 people believing in Jesus.
One of the things we discovered while we were away (and I’m not sure this was a highlight) is how many works of art there are in Europe featuring either the Madonna and child or some saint or bishop, or a combination of both. I have to say, very quickly overloaded on them. But there was an interesting phenomenon I noticed in lots of these paintings. The centre of the picture features a bishop or a saint or the holy family and various figures surrounding them, but then in the background, through a window or on the surrounding hills you find images of daily life in whatever part of the world the work was painted. It’s almost as if the artist refused to be constrained by the desires of the person who commissioned the work and so decided to include what he was interested in as well.
As a result, you find that while the main action is happening at the centre other things are also happening in the background. And so it is here. Peter and John’s arrest doesn’t stop the church from growing. God’s Spirit continues to work and more and more people become believers in Jesus Christ.
But we’re concentrating here on the highlights. So what’s happening centre stage?
The council of elders is called together and Peter and John are brought before them. There’s a certain formality to the proceedings that makes it seem very much like a trial. The charges are presented and they’re asked to explain by what power and authority they’ve done this healing. And here’s where you get the feeling we’ve seen it all before in the life of Jesus. In fact it’s very reminiscent of the scene in John 9 where Jesus has just healed a blind man and the man is called in to the Sanhedrin and is asked how he’s received his sight. They’re angry because Jesus has healed on the Sabbath and so must be a sinner but the man replies that all he knows is that once he was blind but now he can see.
Here the question is similar. By what power has this man been healed? And the answer is the same. By the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
And there lies the problem. Jesus is dead, isn’t he? How could this man have been healed by his power? But notice how Peter answers them. Yes he was dead because you put him to death. But God raised him from dead. In fact he is the fulfilment of the prophecy of Psalm 118. He’s the cornerstone on which God’s salvation of his people hangs: Listen to the words of Ps 118: "19Open to me the gates of righteousness, that I may enter through them and give thanks to the LORD. 20This is the gate of the LORD; the righteous shall enter through it. 21I thank you that you have answered me and have become my salvation. 22The stone that the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. 23This is the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes." Peter answers them with a typical rabbinical answer. But the punch line comes in his summing up of their message. v12: "There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved."
Now I’m not sure that message would have been quite as jarring then as it is today. Certainly they would have had no problem with the idea that God is the only God and that he alone can bring salvation. They certainly had a problem with the source of that salvation being Jesus and his death and resurrection, but not with the idea of an exclusive claim for such salvation.
But of course this is more of a problem for us today isn’t it? When we proclaim this message we risk the accusation of arrogance or intolerance. It’s OK if we believe this is true for us, but don’t go foisting these sorts of ideas on others.
The trouble is we believe this is true for everyone don’t we? Well I hope we do. So how do we share this message with people without seeming arrogant. Well, perhaps it makes it easier if we realise that we’re not trying to show we’re any better than anyone else. Our knowledge of God’s salvation in Jesus Christ doesn’t make us superior to anyone else. It’s more that we’ve discovered a great treasure that can make everyone’s life better. In fact it’s a treasure without which everyone’s life will end up in disaster. It’s like the aircraft engineer who first discovered that certain types of aircraft wing were subject to stress failure and that if you didn’t check them and replace them at regular intervals the wings would break off and the aeroplane would crash. He could have been accused of arrogance or superiority for claiming he knew something that others didn’t know, so he could have kept quiet about it, but the result would have been disastrous wouldn’t it?
And what about us? We have a message that effects people’s eternal destiny, not just whether they’ll survive the next airline flight. So why don’t we show the same sort of boldness that Peter shows? Let’s share with our friends this great message of good news that those who claim the name of Jesus Christ as their Lord have God’s promise that they’ll spend eternity with him.
And let’s be encouraged by the evidence we see here that gives the Sadducees such concern but should give us such heart. Let’s look at it.
First of all Peter & John speaking sound theology with boldness despite their obvious lack of education. The Sadducees are as impressed by Peter’s grasp of the Old Testament as we are, not to mention the apparent ease with which he stands up to defend his beliefs.
Secondly they recognise that Peter and John were companions of Jesus. Perhaps they too recall that time when the blind man was healed. And if they’re Jesus’ companions perhaps they have some of his power working in them.
Thirdly, the man who had been cured is standing beside them. The power of God in what’s happened is plain to see. Again, this is one of things we too can do. We too can show people that God is with us, as they see him at work in our lives and in the lives of our Christian community.
Well, the high priests don’t know what to do about them. They can’t do anything to them because the people are obviously even more impressed than they are. So they simply warn them to be silent. Which is a bit like telling a British rugby fan not to talk about the Rugby world cup. Or a Collingwood supporter not to mention the footy if Collingwood were ever to win a grand final.
At least that’s Peter’s response. How can we be silent? After what we’ve experienced, it wouldn’t be right. We can’t keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard. How could we not tell people about our experience of the risen Christ, the only Son of God who came to live among us. How could we not share with them the secret of salvation, the grace of God that brings us back to him without fear. We couldn’t possibly stop.
Finally, notice the response of the church when they return. They all join together in prayer. And what do they pray for? For boldness. For the ability to proclaim God’s word with power. For Christ’s presence with them to be obvious from the sorts of wonders that are performed. And God answers their prayer in a palpable way as the place where they’re gathered is shaken, as a sign of God’s powerful presence with them and they’re all filled with the Holy Spirit and speak the word of God with boldness.
Well, that’s the highlights so far. The Holy Spirit has been poured out. The disciples proclaim God’s word with clarity and boldness. Their proclamation is centred on Jesus Christ as the only way to God. They face opposition, but they’re enabled to stand up against that opposition as the Holy Spirit continues to empower them and give them the courage to speak about Jesus Christ.
For more sermons from this source and for questions for Discussion go to www.sttheos.org.au
