It seems to me there are 2 different questions that arise for us in this passage today.
The first is this: "How will you respond to the work of God in the lives of his followers? Will you respond with faith, with allegiance to Jesus Christ as Lord or will you reject his claims over you as unwarranted?"
The second question is this: "If you’re a Christian how will you respond to opposition? That opposition may take the form of persecution or it might simply take the form of moral or emotional pressure to be silent. How will you respond?
It’s fascinating to see how different people can react differently to the same event. I guess a classic example is the reaction of people to "The Passion of the Christ." Some people have said how it deepened their faith, others have seen in it only the threat of anti-Semitism. Some think it’s a God-given opportunity for evangelism, others think it will turn people off.
We see something similar in this passage today, as Luke tells us more about the growth of the early Church. He takes us from the scene of Ananias and Sapphira suffering under the judgement of God to the scene in the Temple where the apostles are demonstrating the healing power of God. Straight away we see this dichotomy appearing. The Christians have adopted Solomon’s Portico as their meeting place in the Temple but no-one else is prepared to go near them. Already you can see their position becoming precarious. Peter & John have already been thrown into prison by the High Priest and Sadducees and the general populace don’t want to risk being associated with them in case they get into trouble as well.
But at the same time, the people hold them in high esteem. The result of the signs and wonders that they’re performing is that more than ever believers are added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women. By the way, notice there’s an inclusiveness in this process that Luke wants to highlight. This isn’t a religion that’s just for men. It’s for everyone. And as the Apostles heal the sick and cast out evil spirits the word spreads and people come from far and wide to be healed and then in the process to learn about Jesus Christ. And so the Church continues to grow.
But despite this amazing display of the power of God not everyone is convinced. Now think about this. Look at v15. "they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he came by." Even his shadow passing over them was enough for them to be healed. This is so like that incident when the woman with the flow of blood simply touched the hem of Jesus’ cloak and was healed, isn’t it? This is such a clear demonstration of God’s supernatural power, of his presence with them, that you’d think no-one could miss it, wouldn’t you? Yet that’s exactly what happens. The High Priest and the Sadducees, looking on, can only see a rival, a challenge to their position of authority among the people. They can’t actually see God at work.
It reminds me of the parable Jesus told of the rich man and Lazarus. Do you remember how he finished that parable? The rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus back to earth to warn his brothers of what awaits them in eternity if they don’t reform their ways. Abraham says they have Moses and the prophets to teach them how to live, but still the rich man insists that if only someone were to return from the dead they’d be sure to repent. So Abraham says: "If they do not listen to Moses and the prophets, neither will they be convinced even if someone rises from the dead."
The reality is that there are some people for whom the truth of the gospel is just too much to take. It requires too great a change in their lifestyle or their priorities. It demands a realignment of their allegiances, particularly of their allegiance to themselves and their own glory. It requires an admission that we don’t understand everything that there is to know about life and particularly about God’s place in life. It may even require us throwing out everything we thought we knew about God and learning it all over again. That’s one reason this is still relevant to us today. Because it places before us again the question, how will you respond to what God has done through Jesus Christ and continues to do through his Church? Are you willing to change your worldview perhaps? Are you willing to submit to Jesus Christ as Lord? To acknowledge that he is indeed the God, the Lord of the whole world and therefore Lord of your life?
Now certainly some of these questions would have been issues for the Sadducees and the Pharisees. Though as we’ll see in a moment, even among them there are some who are worse than others.
But at this moment it’s safe to say that the major opponents of the gospel are the Sadducees. As I said a couple of weeks ago, the Sadducees were the ruling party of the Jews. They were the ones who controlled the Temple worship and everything to do with the religious expression of the nation. So this new sect, teaching that Jesus had risen from the dead, convincing people that Jesus had introduced a whole new way of approaching God, was a serious threat to their authority and position.
We’re told they were filled with jealousy. ’How dare these followers of Jesus of Nazareth set themselves up in our Temple precincts and build up this sort of popularity?’ No-one ever came to sit in the shadow of the high priest as he walked by. And so they had them arrested for a second time.
You know it’s interesting how often Satan uses religion as his major weapon against the gospel. We see it here in an obvious way. It happened in the middle ages as religion became more like superstition, as people forgot what the gospel was really about and substituted religious formularies and practices for a living faith in Jesus Christ. We saw it during the reformation as the established church tried its hardest to wipe out those trouble makers who were upsetting the established order. And we still see it today as Christians are diverted from the work of proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ to engaging in religious ceremonies that are often devoid of references to the grace of God and the call to make Jesus Christ the Lord of their lives. Or when Christians spend all their effort supporting the structures of an often ageing church rather than building God’s kingdom. And of course we see it in the way so many in our culture are seeking for God in new age religions of one sort or another rather than listening to his revelation of himself.
It’s something we need to be constantly on the guard against: of making our religious observance an end in itself rather than as something that focuses our minds on the saving work of Jesus Christ.
Well here the opposition appears in the form of a gaol sentence. This time it would seem all the apostles are arrested and thrown into gaol. The Sadducees aren’t taking any chances. The only trouble is they haven’t taken into account the fact that the apostles are working in the power of God’s Spirit. During the night an angel of the Lord appears and let’s them out of prison with the instruction to get straight back to work. "Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life." There’s almost an urgency about the way the instruction is given. It’s vital that people hear this message of new life. You mustn’t waste any more time in this prison. Get on with it!
Wouldn’t it make a difference if we had that same sense of urgency; if we were in a hurry to share this good news of eternal life with our friends; if this were our first priority in life? Well it should be our first priority shouldn’t it?
At daybreak, the Sanhedrin is called together to hear the case against the apostles, but they get a terrible shock. When the guards get to the gaol, it’s empty. The doors are securely locked. The guards are standing at their posts. But there’s no-one there. They don’t know where the prisoners have got to until someone comes in and says "Those men you put in gaol are back in the temple teaching the people again!"
They must have been flabbergasted mustn’t they? Not only had they somehow escaped, but here they were back on their doorstep doing exactly what they’d been forbidden to do. You can imagine the fear and stress levels in the Sanhedrin rising significantly at this point.
Well, the apostles are brought in again and how do they respond? Well how would you expect them to respond in the face of the threat of further imprisonment? In fact their response is exactly the same way as Peter and John’s the last time: "We must obey God rather than any human authority." Why? Because "the God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree." His reference to the God of our ancestors may be a shorthand way of reminding them of the way the Israelites had so often treated those who spoke out for God. When we get to ch7 we find Stephen expanding on this theme as he recounts the way Israel had so often rejected the person God had sent to bring them salvation.
In any case the main issue is that Jesus has now been raised from the dead and exalted to the position of Lord and Saviour. Jesus has died and risen to bring repentance and forgiveness of sins to all of Israel. This is a message that must be proclaimed. The Temple sacrifice is no longer necessary because Jesus has fulfilled the law. That of course is why they’re so angry. It isn’t just that Peter’s accusing them of killing Jesus. It’s that his message undermines the whole sacrificial system.
But then we get a surprise. Just as their anger begins to rise, one of the Pharisees gets up. And it’s not just any Pharisee. It’s Gamaliel, a well respected teacher who’s held in high respect by all the people. In fact he’s the rabbi under whom Paul studied. And he has a word of caution for them. It seems that some of the Pharisees at this stage are still a little bit open to the working of God, certainly to the idea of resurrection and perhaps even to the possibility that the apostles may be telling the truth about Jesus, even if later they take a hard line against them.
Gamaliel understands God’s ways and is a student of history. He’s seen uprisings come and go. He’s seen leaders who engendered great enthusiasm and sizeable followings but in the end these have all faded away. So he isn’t worried about another revolutionary. He knew that the Romans were too strong to be overthrown by any human uprising.
On the other hand, Gamaliel is a firm believer in the power of God. So he knows that if this movement truly did come from God as Peter claims then nothing they can do about it will stop it. These are very wise words aren’t they? "If this is from God, then you will not be able to overthrow them -- in fact in that case you may even be found fighting against God!"
That solemn warning was enough to calm the Sanhedrin. Again they threaten them and warn them not to proclaim Jesus and the apostles leave. But are they worried by this warning, by these threats? "As they left the council, they rejoiced that they were considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. 42And every day in the temple and at home they did not cease to teach and proclaim Jesus as the Messiah." Of course not! They’re proclaiming Jesus Christ who’s risen from the dead. What can the Sadducees do that will threaten that? So they keep on preaching and teaching without stop.
Well let me pause at that point and ask you that question I asked at the beginning. "How do you respond to opposition?" Not necessarily physical opposition. We may not be the victims of physical persecution these days, though some may have their job security threatened. But what about the sort of moral or emotional pressure to be silent that we’re often subjected to? How do you respond? What do you do when someone suggests that we don’t have the right to celebrate Easter or Christmas in this increasingly secular society? What do we do when we’re told that Christian moral values are old hat or that we shouldn’t impose our view of the world on those who don’t hold our opinions (with the emphasis on opinions). How do we deal with people who are happy to talk about spirituality but don’t want to hear about Jesus Christ because that’s too narrow. What about those who object to ’The Passion of the Christ’ because they think it takes away from the loving image of Christianity? Do we respond as Peter did by telling people that Jesus Christ was crucified and has risen from the dead to bring life to all people? Do we warn them that there is no other name given among mortals by which we can be brought into God’s kingdom; through which we can enjoy Christ’s risen life for eternity? That’s the truth isn’t it? If it is then let’s be as bold before the sort of opposition we face as the apostles were. Let’s share this message of hope with everyone we can. Because the time is short. They need to hear it before it’s too late. If the angels were here today their message to us would be the same: "Go and tell the people the whole message about this new life in Christ."
Well let me ask you those 2 questions again. Have you responded to what God has done in Jesus Christ and in the life of Christians ever since? Have you put your faith in Jesus Christ. That’s the first and primary question from this passage. Then the question is, are you prepared to proclaim the risen Christ with the same boldness as Peter and the other apostles? Even when people try to silence you? We have the same Holy Spirit within us a they had, so lets have the same courage as they had in proclaiming the gospel to those who haven’t yet heard it.
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