Acts - 9

Acts - 9

Acts 4:1-12

Introduction

The 2011 film We Bought a Zoo was based on the true story of a British man named Benjamin Mee. In 2006 Mee and his family purchased and moved into a 30-acre zoo. The zoo was dangerously rundown. Mee was faced with a series of challenges, including dealing with a rat infestation, and finding enough money to feed the animals. On the fourth day of their new lives, the jaguar escaped, endangering the neighborhood. Despite the difficulties, Mee and his family restored the zoo into a place of beauty and safety that provided healing for themselves and for their surrounding community.

So why did he buy a zoo? In the film version, Mee (played by Matt Damon), says, "Sometimes all you need is twenty seconds of insane courage. Just literally twenty seconds of embarrassing bravery. And I promise you, something great will come of it.”That's not just a great line from well-written screenplay. That attitude can change the plotline of your life. Twenty seconds of insane courage can change the world. That is certainly true in Acts 4.

In Acts 3 we are introduced to a man who has been lame from birth, sitting as a beggar at the temple for over forty years. The Apostles Peter and John walk by and lock eyes with him. Peter tells him in 3:6 - I have no silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you. In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk! And he does! This man leaps around praising God for such grace to change his life so dramatically. A crowd gathers, recognizing this man as the lame beggar, and are astounded. Peter takes advantage of the opportunity, turns to the crowd and preaches about Jesus.

TS - We saw a pattern in Acts 2…there is a miracle that draws a crowd, Peter preaches, and then the crowd responds. The same pattern happens here in Acts 3 and 4. This miracle draws a crowd. Peter preaches. And the crowd responds. But this time there is a major difference. While in Acts 2, the response seems to be all positive and 3,000 people place their faith in Jesus, here at the beginning of Acts 4, while we see the positive response, the text focuses in on the negative response from the crowd. For the first time, the Church will now face persecution for proclaiming the truth about Jesus.

Acts 4:1-12 - And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. 5 On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

TS - this account is presented to us in two distinct sections, both of which have enormous implications for us today as we navigate how to interact with our world.

CONFRONTATION (V. 1-7)

Notice how the account begins. Peter and John are still preaching. But they get interrupted. The powers that be in Jerusalem (priests, captain of the temple, Sadducees) “came upon them” in v. 1. The word implies a swift action on their part. They aren’t in the crowd deliberating the content of their sermon. They suddenly seize them to shut down their preaching.

The priests are the obvious leaders on the ground of ancient Judaism. The captain of the temple is a big deal…he oversees the 200-member temple guard, the general over the police force on the temple grounds. His role served as second-in-command next to the High Priest himself. The Sadducees were one of the two major religious parties in Israel. The other is the Pharisees. The Pharisees were known to be the more conservative party, running the local synagogues around the nation. The Sadducees were the upper-class, aristocracy of Israel who ruled the temple in Jerusalem. They were typically more liberal in their theology and did not believe in the resurrection of the dead.

So it makes sense that this group of thugs are “greatly annoyed” by their preaching. The word for greatly annoyed means they were irked, irritated, provoked. They hated what Peter and John were preaching. Why? Because it directly contradicted what they believed to be true. The true preaching of the Gospel by Peter and John confronted their previously held religious beliefs. Peter and John were, v. 2, “teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.”

Yup, people who don’t believe in the resurrection of the dead really don’t like it when you preach about Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. Those who believe Jesus to be a nobody, or to be a good moral teacher, or just another prophet, really don’t like when you proclaim Him to be Savior and Lord.

The authorities don’t discuss, they don’t debate. They arrest. And since it is already later in the day and these leaders have other religious obligations, such as the evening sacrifice and prayer time, they decide to hold them in custody overnight.

Why the harsh handling of these men? They could have easily told them to stop preaching, go home, and then they’d hold a hearing the next day. But they don’t do that. They arrest them and hold them unjustifiably. That’ll show this crowd what we do with people who talk about Jesus. That’ll show these guys that we mean business. Sitting in jail overnight will cool them down a bit and communicate everything we need to say…you are in trouble and this Jesus talk is unacceptable.

Please know that this is coming for us. It happens all around the world every single day. In countless countries, preaching about Jesus is a crime that can get you jailed, discredited, your church/house burned down, or killed. In our context, we have enjoyed a system of relative peace and lack of governmental interference with the Church. But as our culture continues to spiral into greater levels of darkness and depravity, more and more persecution will come.

It may or may not come from governmental sources, but it will absolutely come from personal sources. Your friends, family members, coworkers, and neighbors will see your beliefs as foolish, your convictions as backwards, and your stance on societal issues as dangerous. You will be labeled as racist, phobic of various groups of people, and on the wrong side of history.

The truth of Scripture, the foundation upon which we stand, is not readily accepted by people who believe themselves to be the standard for all morality. The personal holiness of a Christian is perceived to be offensive, oppressive, and dangerous to people who want to indulge in every pleasure the world has to offer. It happened to them and it will happen to us. Why? Because it happened to the one we follow.

John 15:18-20a - 18 “If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. 19 If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. 20 Remember the word that I said to you: ‘A servant is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.

Jesus opened His Sermon on the Mount in Matthew 5 with a series of eight ‘blessing’ statements known as the Beatitudes. Here is how he closed out that list:

Matthew 5:10-12 - 10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. 11 “Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. 12 Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you.

Do you know Jesus’ next words in the Sermon on the mount? Matthew 5:13 - You are the salt of the earth…why salt? Of the many uses of salt in the ancient world, as a preservative and a purifier, salt is also an irritant. When you put it in a wound it will cleanse it…but it also burns! Your very presence in the world as one who represents the Lord, irritates the world.

And just as we might lose heart at the reality of a negative reaction to us and the Gospel, Luke is helpful to us here to also report the positive response. v. 4 - But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand. That’s encouraging news. While the world in general may reject us and our message, not everyone is going to respond that way. Some are going to hear you and believe it. They are going to believe in the Jesus you represent. They are going to place saving faith in the Jesus you preach to them. The Church is going to grow. God has promised that the gates of Hell will not prevail against the Church. They may be able to jail the apostles, but they will never hinder the Gospel.

Quite a crowd of religious and governmental elites gather for this inquisition. We know already some who are there. Luke now adds a list of who is there. v. 5-6 - 5 On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.

Sadducees are there. The religious elite who literally run the Temple. They control the sacrifices. They determines who gets in and out. Priests. The local religious authorities. The captain of the temple guard is there, likely with some of his 200-member brigade. Annas the High Priest - he was not HP at this time, but he was the incumbent. He had 5 sons, all of whom became HP. Two are mentioned here…John/Alexander Caiaphas, the current HP, is the son-in-law of Annas. This is the most powerful man in the land, with his dynasty family beside him. Rulers - overarching term for all the leading people with power, wealth, influence Elders - the statesman among them, the ruling families of the land (think Kennedy and Vanderbilt) Scribes - experts in the OT law, lawyers, academic elite

This is like being summoned to the White House or to a Senate Committee hearing.

President, VP, CIA/FBI/Homeland Security/DOJ/Joint Chiefs/Supreme Court Academic elite like Ivy League Presidents, Neil deGrasse Tyson, Bill Nye Senior influencers like Elon Musk, Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos For good measure, the Pope.

This is the spot that Peter and John are placed into and interrogated. v. 7 - By what power or by what name did you do this? Who gave you this authority? Who do you think you are? We didn’t authorize you to teach. We don’t like what you are saying, so who is it that stands behind what you are saying? Now, before we get to Peter’s response here, let us remind ourselves of what is at stake.

When this group assembled to meet, they met in a circle, so Peter and John are literally surrounded. By all the leading men in the country. They have all the power. All the authority. All the influence. With a snap of their finger, Peter and John are dead men. How do we know that? This is the same group that interrogated Jesus. Same men. Jesus Himself had stood in this exact spot not 3 months ago. And it didn’t really work out well for Jesus. They pronounced their judgment, condemned him to death, and within hours He was hanging on a cross.

TS - Peter and John are put on the spot. The moment has come. The Lord called them to be witnesses for Him. This is their chance.

COURAGE (V. 8-12)

v. 8-12 - 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

When the door is opened for them to declare who Jesus is, and they crashed through it and delivered. Again, Peter takes no credit. He clearly points to Christ. And notice what he did not do…Peter could have said to them, “Guys, God did this.” And everyone would have celebrated with them and sent them on their merry way. The Jews knew there were only two options for the healing (which no one disputed)…God or Satan. This is why they accused Jesus of being demon-possessed. They didn’t want His miracles to prove that God had endorsed Him. So all Peter has to do is give credit to God and this all goes away.

He does give credit to God, but gets a bit more specific than that. God has made Himself known in the world. His name is Jesus Christ. He is responsible for this man’s healing. And He is the stone that has been rejected (a word that means ‘scorned’) but has become the cornerstone. For a builder, the cornerstone is the first and most important stone in the entire building. The cornerstone decides the shape, direction, and size of the building. Jesus is a stone that had been rejected by the Jewish leaders…not the right size, shape. He is not the direction we want to go. But it turns out that Jesus is actually the most important stone. He is the one who will decide the direction, the shape, and the size of a new building of God’s people. As the Jews reject Him, Jesus will now turn to the world and offers salvation to them all. And with all who trust in Him, He builds a new people in the world, called the Church.

v. 12 - 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

That is quite a controversial thing to say to this audience, don’t you think? Why risk this? Why put his own life on the line in front of the very ones who sentenced Jesus to death? Because v. 12 is true! He stands here ready to die precisely because 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.

Those words are the most offensive message in the history of the world. You cannot save yourself. You cannot even choose the method by which you are saved. There is only one way. It is Christ or nothing. It is Christ or condemnation. It is Christ or Hell. And that message is worth every risk.

ILL - one of our missions partners is Josh Howard in India. Those of you who have met him know he is an exceptional person. The things God uses him for in the world are mind-boggling. But you should meet his father-in-law, Ajai Lall. Ajai is known as the Billy Graham of India. He has preached to millions in India and the surrounding countries. Several years ago he was invited to preach to a panel of government leaders. Remember, it is a crime to preach about Jesus in India. So this could definitely be a trap. When he got there they informed him that he would be preaching with ten rifles aimed at him, and that if at any time they did not like what he said, they would fire.

He called his family and prayed together. They said their tearful possible goodbyes. The door was opened and Ajai was going to crash through it. He preached on what makes Jesus unique from all the false gods of the Hindus. God preserved his life that day and Ajai has since preached thousands of times about Jesus.

Quite a story, right? Inspiring. Motivating. But highly unlikely that will be something normal people like us will face. Maybe you will, but probably not. You likely won’t preach in front of rifles, but the moment is going to come for you when you are put on the spot. You will talk over a table at the coffee shop, across from a coworker in the break room, across the dining room table at your own house. The door will open for you to be a witness for Jesus…and what do witnesses do? They tell what they know. They tell what they have experienced. That is all you have to do. Tell them about Jesus. Tell them how good He has been to you. Tell them how He has saved you. Tell them He can do the same for them. 20 seconds of insane courage…that’s all you need. It will make an eternal difference.