The next day their rulers elders and scribes
Assembled in Jerusalem with a nossa high priest Caiaphas John and Alexander and all who were of the high priests family
When they made the prisoners stand in their midst they inquired by what power or by what name did you do this then Peter?
Filled with the Holy Spirit said to them rulers of the people and elders
If we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and her asked how this man has been healed
Let it let it be known to all of you
And to all the people of Israel that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth
Whom you crucified
whom God raised from the dead
This Jesus is the corner this Jesus is a stone that was rejected by you the builders it has become the cornerstone
There's their salvation in no one else for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved
Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men
They were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus
When they saw the man who was had been cured standing beside them they had nothing to say in opposition
So they ordered them to leave the council while they discussed the matter with one another
They said what will we do with them?
For it is obvious to all who live in Jerusalem that a notable sign has been done through them. We cannot deny it
But to keep it from spreading further among the people let us warn them to speak no more to anyone in this name
So they called them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus
But Peter and John answered them
Whether it is right in God's sight to listen to you rather than to God you must judge
For we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard
The Word of God for the people of God so friends as we continue to walk through the book of Acts during this Easter season
We are rediscovering how the resurrection of Jesus brought about something new in the world
we learned how the new community that formed in his name embodied the values of the kingdom of God and
Last week we explored how the power of the risen Lord
Continues to bring about new and healing as we continue in the story of how the Apostles Peter and John
Healed a man in the name of Jesus Christ
We hear the new message that they are able to proclaim as they explain what happened to the authorities now
You remember how Peter and John were on their way to the temple to pray and they saw a man who couldn't walk?
Sitting at the temple gate asking for alms
Peter got his attention and explained that they didn't have any money to offer him
but they could offer him something even better, and then he said in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth get up and walk and
the man did
They went together into the temple and Peter started teaching everyone there about Jesus
But that didn't sit too well with the authorities in fact
They were annoyed that they were teaching people in the name of Jesus and that he was teaching about the resurrection from the dead
Now I can appreciate
What the authorities may have been thinking you see among them were some of the bigwigs who orchestrated the arrest and death of Jesus
Including anise and Caiaphas plus there were some Sadducees there who didn't even think that resurrection was a thing that could happen
Of course they would be annoyed they were probably thinking oh, I thought we were done with this whole Jesus thing already but surprise
Jesus was alive and glorified and people were coming to faith every day
Not even the arrest of the Apostles could stop the good news from spreading
So after Peter and John have been jailed for the night the authorities bring them out to question them
And they ask by what power by what name are you doing this?
What gives the Apostles the right to teach or to heal?
Peter basically tells him y'all seriously you're questioning us because something good has happened
No crime has happened here a man has been healed. That's amazing, but fine you want to know how this happened
Let me tell you about this guy Jesus
He goes on to tell them the same message that he has been saying every time he has the chance that
Jesus was crucified, but now he's alive and through him there is salvation
Now in Peters response we see an example of what I think is the basic job description of the church
You see our whole job as the church as the community of faith is to bear witness to the resurrection
Of Jesus and it's redemptive significance in other words
We are called to tell people that Jesus is alive and that through him. We also have new life
Now even though. This is good news sometimes. It's challenging for people to hear
sometimes people don't think that they want or need new life that what they have going on is working just fine and
Others somehow think that they don't deserve a second chance or that they're not worthy of new life
But friends
We know the truth we know the reality that God's grace is sufficient
That God calls all people to experience this gift of new life in Jesus
So even when them hearing the message or or sharing it is slow going or challenging
We are nonetheless called to be as persistent as Peter who spoke the truth even when he was confronted by those in power
Now the scene in this account is set up like a confrontation not just between the authorities and the Apostles
but between the old faith and the new
Now in one sense this message that Peter proclaims really isn't anything new
It's a proclamation of how God
continues to save people the same God that called forth a nation and
Rescued it from slavery and led them to the promised land and redeemed them time and again from the hand of
Oppressors this same God is the one who raised Jesus from the dead and through him continues to save all of creation
but in another sense
this message is
entirely new
What's new about it?
Is how God is uniquely revealed and at work through Jesus Christ?
Who was and is the promised Messiah and that it is through his resurrection that in it's possible for us also
To have new life
our message, then is that
Jesus whom God raised from the dead is the one who offers us salvation
That has both spiritual and social dimensions
Something that I find interesting though is how Peter uses the word safe whenever he proclaims the good news
you see in Greek Shozo means to safe, but it also has the connotation of rescue or
Healing it's helpful to think of it in terms of the Hebrew word Shalom, which means wholeness and well-being and peace
That's why when Peter talks about healing the man who couldn't walk he uses the word saved
To be saved as more nuanced than a simple rescue
it's a restoration to wholeness and
That friends is the good news of Jesus Christ that we proclaim to the world in a unique way
Jesus offers us salvation
healing those who hurt
uniting those who are divided and
restoring those who are broken and
That salvation that healing isn't some far-off dream, but it's a reality that is happening right now
Friends who here has experienced restoration
Who here has had a change in the way they see things because of Jesus I?
know I have
Friends just in the last couple of months. I have experienced
How deep wounds can be healed and peace can be restored because of Jesus and?
I know that God is continuing to bring up new life in me and in you and in the world around us
Now that vast
Transformation that is happening can be challenging even
Puzzling for some people just as it was for the authorities who are questioning Peter and John
They were amazed not only at the content of the message, but by the boldness with which they spoke
You see they figured that the apostles were uneducated and ordinary man or in the Greek that they were illiterate idiots
But here they were speaking with profound conviction and authority
Yet, there was no refuting the evidence that the man the Apostles healed was standing right there
So the authorities couldn't say anything else
They tried to tell Peter to stop speaking in the name of Jesus
But Peter gets a little bit sassy and tells them hey we can't stop
Talking about what we have seen and what we have heard the good news of Jesus is too big, too
important too amazing to keep to ourselves
They can't help but speak out even when they are threatened I
Think that's an amazing turnaround for Peter who we remember just weeks before
Had cravenly denied Jesus three times
But now here. He is boldly aggravating the authorities with his convicting speech in Jesus name
Now how was Peter able to speak with such boldness?
Friends he's filled with the Holy Spirit. Just as Jesus prayed what happened for his disciples
The spirit gives Peter the words to speak at just the right time
Now today, I wonder how bold we are in proclaiming the name of Jesus
We do need to recognize that the church today is in a very
Different place than the apostles were no longer is the church a ragtag community coming up against powerful authorities
We have to recognize that in a lot of ways we have
become the authorities
even so I
Wonder if the increase in our position has sometimes led to a decrease in our boldness
when we proclaim the good news of Jesus in
Some cases we desire to keep our position or good name and that silences our desire to share Christ
for others
The thought of saying the name Jesus or praying out loud or or talking about how God is at work in our lives is
Nerve-racking after all we don't want to offend anyone. We don't want to look weird. We don't want to rock the boat
We especially don't want to be conflated with those Talking Heads who get up on their soap boxes and just make everybody mad
So how are we supposed to proclaim the good news?
What does speaking boldly in the name of Jesus Christ look like I
Think it's helpful for us to take our cue from Peter as we shared the gospel
You'll notice as we continue to walk through Acts that Peter is consistent in his message
He is sensitive to his context. He knows his audience and
He speaks from the heart of what he knows to be true
He speaks from a place of conviction because he trusts in what God is up to?
Most importantly though Peter is open to how the Holy
Spirit is going to speak through him and touch the lives of those around him now
I imagine that Peter had some inkling of what he would say I mean he had all night in jail to kind of come up
With his speech right?
But ultimately his boldness did not come from preparation or experience
It came from being open to the Holy Spirit in that moment and trusting that the words would come
So - it is for us
Friends boldness of speech in the name of Jesus isn't about volume or preparation or experience
It's about how the Spirit of God is filling us
What if we
Instead of trying to keep the good news to ourselves or trying to shout down people who think differently than us, what if we instead?
Allowed the Spirit of God to teach us how to act and what to say
We talk a lot about how we embody the good news of Jesus Christ
And how we bear witness to the resurrection by how we live our lives and that is important
but I think sometimes we need to remind ourselves that our verbal our spoken witness is important -
The good news is too important for us to keep silent about it
The message we have been given to share with the world is unique, and we must not be afraid to acknowledge
How God's love and grace are revealed uniquely through Jesus Christ
But friends we also do well to remember that boldness in the name of Christ isn't about bashing people over the head with the gospel
What about cooperating with the holy spirit?
speaking the truth about what we ourselves have seen and heard and
inviting others to
Receive the wholeness and healing that can be experienced in a special way through Jesus
We are given the power by the Holy Spirit to speak boldly the good news of salvation in the name of Jesus Christ
One of the saddest things I think is when the name of Jesus is used to justify division and hatred and hurt
That's the opposite of good news
So friends as we take up the call to boldly proclaim
new life in Jesus Christ
Let us remember that words have meaning and power and the name of Jesus in particular has enormous
meaning and power
Let us be mindful of whether we use the name of Jesus to bring harm or blessing
Do we speak the good news to divide or to unite?
Do we talk about the resurrection to wound or to heal?
When we speak the good news about the unique revelation and blessing that Jesus offers the world
Let us be sure that we do it out of love and respect for the people who hear us
Now after Peter and John are released. They go back to the community of faith, and they tell them about everything that has happened
They all praise God, and then they pray together that God would grant them the grace to speak the good news boldly
the room shakes a sign of God's presence among them and the Holy Spirit fills them and
Indeed they go on to speak the good news of God
May that be our prayer to friends
That God may give us the grace to speak not our own words
But the word of God and that we may do so with all boldness and conviction and love
May it be so
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