Sep 12
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Luke’s testimony to Christianity’s weak, timid apostles – NOT!
ChristianGovernance eletter – September 17, 2012
Luke’s testimony to Christianity’s weak, timid apostles – NOT!
Here’s another very encouraging point from Acts; this time chapters 3 to 5. It’s really quite funny listening to these Sadducees and other Jewish leaders trying to figure out how to get themselves out of the mess the apostles put them in without simply repenting and converting to the new sect, which is how they saw Christianity.
In chapter 4, these Jewish leaders have to deal with an indisputable miracle: not just indisputable, but very public. The man who was healed had been begging – at the temple gate called Beautiful (3:2) – for many years. (He was lame from birth and he was in his 40s when healed.) He was well-known.
The Jewish leaders were stuck. Luke tells us (4:14): “But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.”
You’ve got to hate it when that happens! If you’re on the wrong side of the equation!
Perhaps the greatest problem for the Sadducees and their colleagues was that the miracle testified to the power of the God in whom the apostles believed; the God they confessed. And the thing was that they had just killed this guy. The apostles kept accusing them of killing the Christ, the Son of God (2:22-23; 3:13-17). And the problem was: He didn’t stay dead. At least that’s what the apostles kept saying. Even if the Sadducees didn’t believe the apostles – and they didn’t because they didn’t believe in the resurrection from the dead – they knew that, if the apostles believed this to be true, it could be a pretty motivating force for some dangerous zealotry.
To the Sadducees, that meant a volatile situation with the Romans and a risk to their position of privilege and influence. All the conversions to this new sect (cf. 2:41&47; 4:4) also diminished their power and influence within the Jewish community. We know that this was their reason – they couldn’t care less about doctrine – because Luke tells us (5:17) that “the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were FILLED WITH JEALOUSY.” (emphasis added)
What’s funny is how hopeless the situation is for the Jewish leaders. As Luke said, there was nothing they could say – or do. But that didn’t stop them from trying.
Picture what’s going on. These apostles are bold. They preach publicly to large crowds about repentance and salvation in Christ Jesus, the God-man who was crucified and who rose from the dead. They accuse the Jewish leaders, to their faces, of murdering this Christ – who didn’t stay dead. They link Christ to the line of Jewish prophets to expose the Jewish leaders of the day as enemies of Abraham.
The apostles were no less bold when arrested by these leaders and thrown in jail (4:3-12). Peter probably looked at John in jail and said, “Are you thinking what I’m thinking?”
“I don’t know, Peter. What are you thinking?”
“Well, I’m thinking what we’ve got here is a divine appointment!”
“I’m with you on that,” says John.
The next morning, after getting the best sleep they’ve had in weeks, Peter, “filled with the Holy Spirit,” let’s it fly: “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, WHOM YOU CRUCIFIED (emphasis added), – ouch! – BUT WHOM GOD RAISED FROM THE DEAD (emphasis added), – double ouch! – that this man stands before you healed. …” Then he proclaims the Gospel: “salvation is found in no one else…”
But let’s not move on too quickly. Look at this passage again because you’ll see that Peter decided to have a bit of fun with these Jewish leaders before hitting them between the eyes. Normally people are dragged into court for doing bad things, right! In today’s North America, we’re beginning to see a reversal of that, but mostly we expect people to end up in court charged for doing something bad. That’s a normal expectation at any time in history.
So Peter starts off, asking for some clarification (though in a strictly rhetorical fashion). “Gentlemen, before we get started, I just want to be clear on one thing: we’re here because of an act of KINDNESS (emphasis added) to a man who was lame? Not because we killed anyone? You’re not accusing us of hitting a little old lady over the head and running off with her handbag? OK, I just want to be clear on that. You really want to know how that lame fellow was healed. That’s cool. We can answer that question…
Then he gives them the straight goods.
It’s immediately after that where Luke tells us (4:13) that these Jewish leaders “saw the courage of Peter and John and … took note that these men had been with Jesus.”
So they knew these men had courage. They were bold. They didn’t back down.
So what did they first propose to do to discourage them from continuing to preach about salvation in Christ and denounce them for murdering this man? This was after they “ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin [so that they could privately] confer together” (4:15). Are you ready for this: “we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name” (4:17).
Pow! There’s a leveling blow. Let’s go with that! “Are we of one mind on this, guys? OK, bring them back in.”
The fact of the matter, though, is that there was nothing else they could do. Luke tells us (4:21): ” They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened.” You almost feel sorry for these Sadducees and their colleagues.
And true to form, when WARNED, Peter and John replied (4:19-20): “OK, gents, help me out with this. Maybe we can work through the logic together. If God tells us to do one thing, and somebody else – yes, even you – tell us to do something else, who should we obey? You tell us! “You be the judges! Alright! Just kidding! I knew you wouldn’t want to answer that question!”
Now, in chapter 5, the Sadducees and the high priest and his associates arrest them again. And they’re even more ticked off this time. This is where Luke says they are jealous. They’ve upped the ante. This time they throw a bunch of the apostles in jail, not only Peter and John.
The problem for the Jewish leaders, though, is that God ups the ante as well. He goes and rescues them in the middle of the night, sending an angel to escort them out (5:19). The next day, they are found teaching again first thing in the morning in the temple courts. And it was the rescuing angel who told them to get out there and get in their face: “‘Go, stand in the temple courts,’ he said, ‘and tell the people all about this new life’.”
The high priest and his colleagues learned that they were out there teaching after being rescued from a jail that was found to be still locked and secure that morning. You have to wonder what was going through their minds with a scenario like that. It didn’t seem to affect their resolve to destroy the apostles, though. The elixir of power and jealousy was too strong.
They still had to be careful though because they feared the people would rise up if they caused the apostles harm. Because of this, Luke says (5:26), “they did not use force.” But they were still able to bring the apostles back before the Sanhedrin (5:27), which suggests that they went willingly. Me thinks the apostles were feeling pretty good about how this scenario was playing out. Another divine appointment maybe!
As they began the trial, the Jewish leaders were clear about the two matters they had against the apostles: their teaching AND that they “are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”
The apostles must have looked at each other and said, “Well, at least we can’t fault their hearing!” Luke says that right after hearing the charges, Peter and the Apostles repeated their same message. We have to obey God rather than men, they said, and then it was bang, bang, bang, bang, with perhaps the best economy of words you’ll find in any Biblical sermon: the God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead (i.e., you’re at odds with Abraham); that’s the same Jesus you killed by hanging Him on a cross; He’s not dead anymore – actually He’s a Prince and Saviour; and repentance and forgiveness of sins is in His name.
“Ah, Paul. Don’t you realize these guys are nasty? They already don’t like us. Couldn’t you, like, tone it down a bit? Just for one day? Just for one sermon? This would actually be a great time to diversify your message, Paul. Maybe something about the unity of the Church, or social justice – you know, something about solidarity in our victimization at the hands of the Romans!
“OK. I see you’re not going that route, Paul. You don’t mind if I inch my way towards the door while you’re talking, do you?”
And the Sadducees were enraged. According to Luke (5: 33): “When they heard this, they were furious and wanted to put them to death.”
Well, no kidding! But clearly that wasn’t of great concern to the apostles. The intervention of the Pharisee teacher of the law, Gamaliel, probably saved the apostles from a more severe punishment, but they were, nevertheless, flogged (5:40) before being released. Oh yes, and again they were “ordered … not to speak in the name of Jesus.”
A lot of good that did. These obstinate, trouble-making, leaders of The Way clearly didn’t appreciate what a lucky break they got with the Sanhedrin. As Luke reports (5:41-42), these bold, confrontational, narrow-minded, public witnesses to Jesus Christ, “left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name. Day after day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Messiah.”
If you were dragged into court today on charges of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict you?
If I was dragged into court today on charges of being a Christian, would there be enough evidence to convict me?