Sermon Tone Analysis

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?