THREAT OF RESURRECTION
Opening Prayer
Jesus, Lord of my salvation, thank you for the victory that is mine in you, because you came to die for me.
Read ACTS 4:1–12
Peter and John Before the Sanhedrin
4 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.’[a]
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.”
Footnotes
- Acts 4:11 Psalm 118:22
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Meditate
Ask God for wisdom to truly know the power of the risen Christ.
Think Further
The size of the disturbance at the entrance to the temple made it inevitable that there would be swift intervention by the authorities. Two things stand out in this text. First, following their arrest, the apostles are taken before the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem (v. 6). This group constituted the powerful religious elite in Israel and the Gospels make clear their corruption and compromise with the power of Rome of many in their ranks. When Jesus was on trial they revealed the depths of their apostasy by declaring before Pilate, ‘We have no king but Caesar.’1 This alerts us to the political context of the story of Jesus and the movement that sprang from Pentecost. Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of the high priests’ houses in Jerusalem, revealing their lavish lifestyle built on the backs of the poor. Little wonder that they should be concerned by the impact of the miracle and by Peter’s proclamation that Jesus, whose crucifixion they had condoned, had been ‘raised from the dead’ (v. 10). The resurrection is no mere doctrine to be believed but a reality which poses a threat to the privileges and corruption of the high-priestly class.
The second thing to note concerns the actions of Peter and John. They are described as ‘proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead’ (v. 2), but the evidence for this is demonstrated in ‘an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame’ (v. 9). The contrast between the greed and corruption of the high priests and the way of life now made possible by the risen Christ, bringing healing and dignity to the poor and oppressed, is striking. So much so that even their accusers realized that these ‘unschooled, ordinary men’ had been with Jesus (v. 13).
Apply
Think about why faith in the risen Jesus could be seen as threatening to society.
Closing prayer
Father, continue to shape me to be like Jesus—more in tune with your Word, filled with the Holy Spirit, and eager to do your will.
1 John 19:15
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