The Key to Apostolic Power
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a cripple, by what means has this man been healed, be it known to 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. This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, but which has become the head of the corner. 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." Acts 4:8-12, RSV.
Is this the same Peter who a few weeks before was shaking with fear and hiding lest he be identified as a follower of Jesus? Is this the same person who cursed and swore that he didn't know Jesus and that he was not His disciple?
Yes and no. Yes because he had the same body and name. But no because the cowardly Peter had been transformed, so much so that he now fearlessly addresses the powerful Sanhedrin, the governing body of the Jews, the very same group that had sentenced Jesus to death.
Acts 4 continues on to say that the Jewish rulers "when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men,...wondered; and they recognized that they had been with Jesus" (verse 13, RSV).
Not knowing what to do with the troublesome apostles, the Jewish leaders "charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, 'Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard' " (verses 18-20, RSV).
Later, after the authorities imprisoned them for their faith, the transformed Peter and his colleagues, having been released miraculously, were found "standing in the temple and teaching the people" openly (Acts 5:17-25, RSV). When brought again before the Sanhedrin, "Peter and the apostles answered, 'We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you killed by hanging on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel for forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things" (verses 29-32, RSV).
The preaching of Christ's resurrection provided the central certainty in the apostolic message. They no longer feared because they now served a risen Lord who had the keys of death and the grave. Not even powerful people could do anything to them. Having seen the risen One, they knew what they were talking about. And no one could shut them up.
Such is the transforming power of resurrection faith.
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, "Rulers of the people and elders, if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a cripple, by what means has this man been healed, be it known to 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. This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, but which has become the head of the corner. 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." Acts 4:8-12, RSV.
Is this the same Peter who a few weeks before was shaking with fear and hiding lest he be identified as a follower of Jesus? Is this the same person who cursed and swore that he didn't know Jesus and that he was not His disciple?
Yes and no. Yes because he had the same body and name. But no because the cowardly Peter had been transformed, so much so that he now fearlessly addresses the powerful Sanhedrin, the governing body of the Jews, the very same group that had sentenced Jesus to death.
Acts 4 continues on to say that the Jewish rulers "when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men,...wondered; and they recognized that they had been with Jesus" (verse 13, RSV).
Not knowing what to do with the troublesome apostles, the Jewish leaders "charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John answered them, 'Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard' " (verses 18-20, RSV).
Later, after the authorities imprisoned them for their faith, the transformed Peter and his colleagues, having been released miraculously, were found "standing in the temple and teaching the people" openly (Acts 5:17-25, RSV). When brought again before the Sanhedrin, "Peter and the apostles answered, 'We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus whom you killed by hanging on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel for forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things" (verses 29-32, RSV).
The preaching of Christ's resurrection provided the central certainty in the apostolic message. They no longer feared because they now served a risen Lord who had the keys of death and the grave. Not even powerful people could do anything to them. Having seen the risen One, they knew what they were talking about. And no one could shut them up.
Such is the transforming power of resurrection faith.
RSS Feed
