Shortly after the events of Pentecost, Peter and
John was going into the Temple to pray. As they approached the gates of the
Temple, they heard a pleading cry for help. Although Peter and John had
passed this man many times and heard his cry many times, something was
different as they approached him on this notable day.
A divine appointment was about to occur. The risen Jesus would come forth in
the connections of Peter, John, and the impotent man. Experiencing the power
of Christ, the man who perhaps had never walked would rise to his feet
healed. He would walked, he would leaped, and he would praised God.
Since he was over forty years old and had been asking for alms all of his
life, the healing of the impotent man who now walked caused a great wonder
among the people. The misunderstanding of the excited but confused crowd
opened the door for Peter to preach a powerful message of salvation. Jesus
Christ could save all men from their depravity, the inability to walk as
they were created to walk.
Just as the man who never walked physically was enabled to walk, the risen
Jesus could enable all men to walk as they had never walked in their past.
He would give them a new way of talking, a new way of seeing, and a new way
of thinking. He would give them a new way of walking.
As Peter and John preached the powerful good news of the gospel, the
established church (the High Priest, the elders, the rulers, and others of
Israel) came to them. They were grieved that Peter and John taught the
people. They were upset that they preached through Jesus the resurrection of
the dead. The people of God, who took great pride in what they were doing
for God, could not accept the gospel of Jesus Christ. The message that
proclaimed that the Holy Spirit would take them down to nothing in order
that Jesus could be raised out of their lives was rejected.
Peter and John was arrested and bought before the assembly of elders,
rulers, and the High Priest. They demanded of them, "By what power, or
by what name, have ye done this" (Acts of the Apostles 4:7)? They
wanted to know who gave them the authority to teach the people and how was
this man made whole.
Peter, as he had done on the day of Pentecost and after the actual healing
of the man, spoke to them in the power of the Holy Spirit. Beyond the limits
of his understanding and ability, Peter spoke forth a summoning challenge to
the leaders of Israel. He boldly proclaimed that Jesus Christ of Nazareth is
the only name whereby man could be saved. Salvation for man could come from
none other.
If Peter and John were being examined for what had happened to the impotent
man, their response was clear. It was "by the name of Jesus Christ of
Nazareth, whom [they had] crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by
him doth this man stand here before you whole." The building
stone which was rejected and despised by them had become the cornerstone.
Now, "there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we
must be saved" (Acts of the Apostles 4:12).
The exclusiveness of salvation for man was make clear. Jesus had said,
"I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father,
but by me" (John 14:6). Now, Peter was stating that salvation for man
came only in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. It was a message that
most of Israel did not want to hear and would not accept.
Although their history could be traced back to Abraham and was a testament
of being the people of God, this particular work of God, the coming of
Jesus, met resistance among those who took pride in being descendent of
Abraham, Moses, and David. Their resistance centered around the preaching of
the resurrection of the dead (Acts of the Apostles 4:2). Although the
initial resistance came from the Sadducees who did not believe in a literal
resurrection of the dead, the opposition soon spread to the Pharisees who
did believe in resurrection. There seemed to be something at the very core
of this preaching that prohibited acceptance by the leaders of the nation of
Israel.
It would seem obvious why the Sadducees resisted this preaching. They had
taught for years that there was no resurrection of the dead. The message of
the gospel of Jesus Christ confronted the foundational belief of their
doctrine.
The Pharisees, who believed in the literal resurrection of the dead, also
became bitter opponents of the message of those early believers in Christ.
They were for the resurrection of the dead especially if it would occur only
by following their teachings, their doing. Resurrected in the life to come
was their reward for working hard for God in this life. When they began to
realize what the apostles meant by their preaching of the resurrection of
the dead, they could nothing else but reject the message for it also
confronted the foundational belief of their doctrine.
The people who were working hard for God in their own effort could not
accept the message of grace, the message of the early church. For their
message was more than just the simple truth that Jesus died upon the cross.
It meant much more than the raising of the physical body of Jesus from the
grave. The message of the gospel of Jesus Christ they preached contained the
real essence of death and resurrection. It was the fundamental message of
the way of life (Acts of the Apostles 2:28), the continual dying off of the
outward robe of the flesh in order that the inward essence of the Spirit
could be raised in newness of life (Romans 6:1-14).
The powerful message of the resurrection of the dead with its emphasis not
on the future resurrection from the grave but the present resurrection of
the Jesus life was opposed both by the Sadducees and the Pharisees. The
leaders of the people who had long been the people of God just could not
accept the message of the ages, the resurrection of Jesus Christ who was the
first fruit of all those who would be raised to newness of life. There was
and is no other name by which man can experience the abundant life.
Peter and John preaching in this newness of life caused the leaders of
Israel to marvel especially because they perceived that Peter and John were
"unlearned and ignorant men" (Acts of the Apostles 4:13). When
they were asked how they were able to preach with such boldness, they simply
acknowledged that they had been with Jesus. Jesus of Nazareth was producing
the preaching and the healing.
With the healed man, who never before stood, now standing with Peter and
John, the leaders of the people of Israel could saying nothing openly
against what had occurred. The miracle was widely known in Jerusalem and all
the people "glorified God for that which was done." (Acts of the
Apostles 4:21). The rulers of Israel could not deny or discredit what had
happened.
Sending Peter and John out of the assembly, they conferred among themselves
how they might stop the preaching and the healing of the risen Jesus. They
would bring Peter and John back and threaten them not to "speak
henceforth to no man in this name." They "called them, and
commanded them not to speak at all not teach in the name of Jesus"
(Acts of the Apostles 4:18).
Upon being threatened, Peter and John answered with a simple but yet
profound truth. They said, "we cannot but speak the things which we
have seen and heard" (Acts of the Apostles 4:20). They had seen the
risen Jesus. They had heard Him tell them not to depart from Jerusalem until
He returned to them. He had come back to them and they could nothing else
but be the mouthpiece of the Holy Spirit.
There was nothing the rulers of Israel could do. They had nothing by which
they might punish them. All they could do was to threaten them and let them
go.
Being released, they returned to their fellow believers and reported what
had transpired at the hands of the leaders of Israel. It immediately brought
a response of gratitude and prayer from the church assembled. They
"lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, thou art God,
which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: Who
by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and
the people imagine vain things?" (Acts of the Apostles 4:25).
They knew Old testament prophecy was being fulfilled. They quoted from Psalm
2, "The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered
together against the Lord and against his Christ" (Acts of the Apostles
4:26). Then, they replied "For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus,
whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the gentiles,
and the people of Israel, were gathered together, For to do whatsoever thy
hand and thy counsel determined before to be done (Acts of the Apostle
4:27,28).
They knew the events of their day was a direct results of God working in
their lives. They were not looking forward to an event in the future. They
were living in the reality that Jesus had come. He had come into their lives
to be the essence of their speech, the essence of their seeing, and the
essence of their thinking. He had come back to them to be the essence of
their walk.
Their cry, their prayer could only be "Lord, behold their threatenings"
(Acts of the Apostles 4:29). When Herod and Pontius Pilate stood against
Jesus during His earthly ministry, it was as David had said. When the people
of Israel were gathered together against Peter and John, it was as David had
said. Jesus was once again being stood against. They had killed Him but God
had raised Him. He had went away but He had returned. His disciples knew
Jesus was alive and lived within them and they, too, were despised.
Their prayer continued, "Lord . . . grant unto thy servants, that with
all boldness they may speak thy word. By stretching forth thine hand to
heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child
Jesus" (Acts of the Apostles 4:30). They desired that the gospel of
Jesus Christ would go forth in all boldness, go forth in healings, in signs,
and in wonders. They desired Jesus to once against speak through their
mouths and live the will of the Father.
When they had prayed, the place where they were meeting began to vibrate. It
seems that the coming of the Holy Spirit to fill their lives was coming with
such force the meeting place was shaken by its power. The Holy Spirit cane
to "imbue, influence, or supply" the power for them to "speak
the word of God with boldness." The Holy Spirit had come to give them a
new way of talking, a new tongue. Being with Jesus, they could do none other
but experience His power.
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