Bible Reading: Acts 5.27-32
Having brought the apostles, they made them appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.”
Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead – whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Saviour that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
This evening’s reading covers a period of time in the experience of the apostles that I would place perhaps a couple of months or so after the resurrection. The Pentecost experience had already taken place and the apostles, filled with the power of the Holy Spirit, were making a big impact in the city of Jerusalem – both by their many miracles and by the compelling authority of their preaching.
And the main thrust of their message was that the Jesus of Nazareth who had been crucified at the insistence of the Jewish hierarchy and on the approval of the people – was none other that the Son of God. And Jesus himself had demonstrated this by “miracles, wonders and signs, which God did through him” (2.23)
So they had a terrible crime on their consciences. Yet God had miraculously raised Jesus from the dead; he had now ascended to the right hand of the Father; and the promised Holy Spirit had come upon those who believed. Now the people were being called upon to repent.
But this message was being promoted in love and with integrity – so much so that the people held the apostles in awe and respect. These were sincere men. They seemed to have a genuine concern for the people – which was demonstrated not only in pleading with them to repent of their sins and get right with God, but also through miracles, through there admirable charitableness, through their courage and lack of concern for their own safety and wellbeing – and all of this born in regular prayer together and the ‘breaking of bread’. These men were truly continuing the work of Christ with a spirit of transparent Christ-likeness within their own lives.
But obviously all of this was not going down well with the Jewish hierarchy; but they had a problem – the growing popularity of the twelve (I say twelve because a man called Matthias had been appointed to replace Judas) and indeed of all the believers who were joining their ranks. This was a growing and vibrant Church that was being added to daily.
So what did they do? Well, first of all (in Acts 4) we read of how the priests and the Sadducees and temple guards broke up a meeting that Peter and John were addressing and had them put in jail.
And the next day the hierarchy called a meeting. The rulers, elders, teachers of the law, Annas the high priest and influential members of his family – the men who controlled both the political and social life of the nation (under the Romans) and who guarded the religious life of the people – an awesome gathering of leaders, and what must have been a frightfully intimidating experience for the two apostles.
But nobody seems to have told Peter and John that; because when the two are dragged in and Peter, under the anointing of the Holy Spirit, begins to speak – it’s the Jewish leaders who ‘sent back on their heels’.
Peter tells them, in no uncertain terms, that the miracles they are performing are being performed in the name, and by the power of, Jesus – the one they had crucified, but that God had restored to life again. He was the promised one of God and they had killed him. Now, continued Peter, “Salvation is found in no-one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.”
Now this to the Sanhedrin was blasphemy. Salvation was something to be hoped and striven for through a painstaking adherence to the law of Moses, through regular sacrifices, and an outward appearance, at least, of Godliness, - not through repentance and faith in a miracle worker from Galilee.
The trouble was, these men had –
a unique power, manifested in spectacular miracles;
an equally unique authority reflected in their persuasive preaching;
and a genuineness demonstrated in their social concern and charitableness.
So faced with the apostles’ growing popularity the members of the Sanhedrin and all the leaders felt their hands were tied. So they threatened Peter and John and let them go – hoping they would perhaps ‘lighten up’ in their activities, but obviously fearing in their hearts that this movement was not going to be as easily squashed as they had hoped.
And they were right. Peter and John went back and reported to the other believers and they all prayed for power to continue with boldness what they had already been doing; and I think Acts 4.29-31 tells us a lot about the heart of the early believers and of the reason God was pleased to bless and use them so mightily – even if it was to their eventual personal cost of many of them.
We read there in those verses where they prayed, “ Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."
And what happened? “After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly. All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had. With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.
And they continued their activities. But of course the Jewish leaders were getting more and more angry, and in chapter 5 just prior to the passage we read this evening, we have this. “ Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail.”
The gates are securely locked, guards are put on duty outside and the high priest and his associates expect to have at least one quiet night (with the ringleaders of this movement securely locked up) – and here you almost feel sorry for them!
Because the following morning they call the Sanhedrin together and send to the jail for the apostles, and the guards find their fellow soldiers keeping guard over the prisoners, the doors securely locked – as they had been the night before – but when they went inside the cells were empty!
That was because, during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the doors and brought the apostles out – with the message, “Go, stand in the temple courts and tell the people the full message of this new life.”
So the temple guards and chief priests are scratching their heads wondering what on earth is happening when some people bring them the news, ‘Sure they’re down in the temple courts – preaching as usual!’
So the captain and his guards go and arrest the apostles again; but 8.26 records, “They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them”. Sounds like some parts of Belfast, doesn’t it!?
And the charges are put to them again by the High Priest and the Sanhedrin - same charges – just updated to take into account the warning they had already been given.
Verses 27 & 28
"We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name," he said. "Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man's blood."
The words, “You have filled Jerusalem with your teaching . . .” struck me here.
I wonder could we be charged today with that accusation, “You have filled Lisburn and Lambeg with the teaching of the Gospel. If we were, would there be enough evidence to convict us?
But not only are the elders clearly concerned now about people leaving traditional Judaism to join the new Church – but they are also worried about their own ‘skins’!
If they are deemed guilty of the unjust execution of Jesus of Nazareth by this swelling crowd of followers – there could be implications, not only for their popularity, but for their safety. They really must quash this thing once and for all.
But again, the apostles aren’t going by the Jewish leaders’ script. They have their own agenda, there own commission, their own passion – and they are not going to be deterred.
They replied, "We must obey God rather than men! The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead - whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him."
Don’t you admire the courage and single-minded determination of the apostles?
And you talk about clarity and conciseness – they summaries the Gospel message, their whole purpose, and the source of their power - in about four brief sentences! Don’t you wish I could do that – you’d be home by now!
Now if you read on in the Biblical text (in the Book of Acts) you will find that, once more, out of fear and a recognition that the apostles had a reality about them, the men are released; but this was only the beginning of a terrible period of persecution – yet, parallel with that there was rapid growth taking place in the new Church. There were now well over five thousand believers within the city itself.
Indeed, we should be inspired and motivated by the ex perience of the apostles – and by the nature of their defence – though it wasn’t really a defence at all – it was an attack!
But within their ‘statement’ shall we say, they –
Affirmed where their loyalties lay.
“We must obey God, rather than men!”
Affirmed the source of their message and the power behind the miraculous things that had been taking place.
“The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead . .”
Explained the present role of Jesus in all what was happening.
“God has exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Saviour that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel.”
And they bore witness to their own experience in all of this and to the fact that the Holy Spirit was actually within them at that moment.
“We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.”
And, really, that is no more or less than we should all be able to do today. Sometimes people say something like, “O I could never do that; I don’t know my Bible well enough!”
But if you had asked Peter, John or any of the other apostles about their knowledge of the Gospels, they would have asked, ‘What’s a Gospel?’ Nobody had even started to write the New Testament – which contains the bulk of Gospel principles and theology. They were speaking merely of their own experience and what had been taught them verbally.
They may have been strong on the Old Testament scriptures but they didn’t have the vital content of the New Testament which reveals the PURPOSE of the Old.
There would be those today who would accuse them of being strong on ‘experience’ but weak on the academic aspects of it all – the theory, the doctrine and the theology.
But you know, on reading and reflecting on this passage this weekend, I’ve come to the conclusion that the charge could be levelled at the Church today – that we are strong on theory, but weak on experience and practice.
We should pray for some of that passion Peter, John and the others had; some of their courage, their generosity, their real concern for those around them who were lost, their integrity, their conviction that Jesus was truly alive and living within them through his Holy Spirit.
We should pray for MORE OF THE REALITY - NOW THAT WE’VE GOT THE RECORD. Because the record itself will not bring us to eternal life or to the centre of God’s will for us. It merely reveals something of the nature of God and points us in the way of salvation.
But it’s still only theory, in a sense, until we allow the Holy Spirit to initiate new life from within us and to ignite the spark of passion that the Scriptures point us to and demonstrate through the experience of the early Church members.
God grant us such passion, such commitment – such l ove.