Healed and Saved
Opening Prayer
Sovereign Lord God, in all things You are God and Your will prevails. I trust You for this day.
Read Acts 4:1–12
The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. 2 They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. 3 They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. 4 But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.
5 The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. 6 Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. 7 They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! 9 If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, 10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. 11 Jesus is
“‘the stone you builders rejected,
which has become the cornerstone.’
12 Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
“Christians cannot obey orders to give up their most characteristic activity, witness to their risen Lord. However, they must be prepared to pay the price of its refusal to keep quiet” (I. H. Marshall, 1934–2015).
Midway through Peter’s address to the gathered crowd, a contingent of priests, Sadducees and Temple police arrived, in great consternation at what was happening on their sacred territory. So Peter and John were put into custody to await trial. The Sadducees had two concerns. They did not believe in any resurrection, let alone that of the recently crucified Jesus, nor did they want any breaches of public order which might arouse Roman retribution and threaten the tenuous relationship they had with their rulers.
The following day the apostles were questioned concerning the source of their power. Parallels with Jesus’ trial and questioning of his authority (Luke 20:2) would have been obvious to the apostles—and there was no guarantee that the outcome would be different! Peter, however, filled with the Spirit, boldly turned the tables on his powerful antagonists, respectfully asking them if they were being called to account for an act of kindness. Then, for the third time in these early chapters of Acts, Peter proceeded to announce that Jesus, although crucified by his hearers, had been raised by God. Quoting “the stone you builders rejected” (Psa. 118:22; Peter inserted “you” to emphasize their responsibility), Peter asserted that Jesus had become the key stone in the building (11).
Jesus was the source of the healing, but in a clever turn, using the same Greek word, Peter claimed Jesus as the one and only source of “salvation” for all humanity (12). He implicitly offered healing from sin and deliverance from judgment to all listeners who would believe in Jesus’ name. Although we love and respect followers of other pathways, there is no other Savior. Humanity can only be put right with God, through the death and resurrection of God’s chosen one.
Apply
Thank God for his gift of salvation through Jesus. How can you extend God’s offer of salvation to all?
Closing prayer
Merciful Father, show me ways that I can share Jesus with those to whom I am not naturally drawn.
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