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Believing is Seeing (King’s Cross Church)

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INTRODUCTION

After touching Jesus’ hands and side and believing, Jesus said to Thomas, “because you have seen me, you have believed: blessed are they who have not seen, and yet have believed” (Jn. 20:29). There is a particular blessing in hearing the good news that Jesus is risen from the dead and believing. In fact, while sight has a good function, it is not the controlling or foundational faculty. What you believe colors what you can or will be able to see. Living by faith doesn’t mean living in an imaginary world; it means living with the certain knowledge that some things are true even though you can’t see them and with that knowledge seeing everything more clearly.

THE TEXT

“And behold, two of them went that same day to a village called Emmaus…” (Lk. 24:13-35)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Luke sets up this story by highlighting the uncertainty of the women and the disciples having found the tomb empty and hearing a message from angels (Lk. 24:1-12). With that uncertainty and unbelief lingering, two other disciples began walking from Jerusalem to Emmaus that same day, talking about everything that had happened, and Jesus joined them, but they didn’t recognize Him (Lk. 24:13-16). Jesus asked them what they were talking about and why they were sad, and they asked Him if He was the only pilgrim in town who didn’t know what had happened to Jesus of Nazareth (Lk. 24:17-24).

Jesus responds, chiding them for their unbelief, and proceeds to explain from Moses and all the prophets that the Messiah had to suffer before being glorified (Lk. 24:25-27). When the disciples drew near their destination, they urged Jesus to come with them, and when He sat down with them, and blessed and broke bread and gave it to them, their eyes were opened and they recognized Jesus, and He vanished (Lk. 24:28-31). Making sense of the glorious Bible study on the road, the two immediately returned to Jerusalem and told the others who had also heard that Peter had seen Jesus (Lk. 24:32-35).

THE BLIND ADAMSON FAMILY

Instead of grabbing the shoulders of Cleopas and the other disciple and looking them in the face and saying, “It’s me! It’s me!” or saying, “Oh fools and slow of heart to recognize that I’m standing right in front of you,” Jesus locates the foolishness and unbelief in their failure to remember and believe the Bible (Lk. 24:25). We have a hard time believing this, but one of the central messages of Scripture is that we cannot see or understand anything rightly apart from God and His Word. While the serpent promised a greater vision and wisdom, when the eyes of Adam and Eve were “opened,” they actually became blind and foolish (Gen. 3:5-7).

This doesn’t mean unbelievers can’t see or understand anything; nor does this mean that Christians magically see everything clearly. But it means that because of sin and separation from God everything is distorted, disoriented, and muddled. We desperately need the spectacles of Scripture and the Lasik surgery of the Spirit. Jesus says that having unconfessed sin is like having a log in your eye (Mt. 7:3-5). This is one of the reasons Jesus heals so many blind people during His ministry. He came to give sight to the blind Adamson family (Eph. 4:18).

MOSES, THE PROPHETS, AND RESURRECTION PROOF

So beginning with Moses, Jesus explains how the Scriptures teach that the Messiah had to suffer before coming into His glory. Jesus may have begun in the Garden with the Fall and promise of the seed of the woman and the skins that covered their shame: there needed to be blood shed by a substitute so that Adam and Eve could live. He may have talked about the covenant promises pictured in circumcision, barren wives conceiving, Isaac received back from the dead in a type, Joseph’s suffering and glory – all stories of human weakness and death turned to strength and life. He could have traced the same themes in the Exodus, the sacrifices, the bronze serpent, the story of Job, many of the Psalms (16, 22, 69, 116), and prophecies of the Messiah (e.g. Is. 53, Jer. 20, Zech. 3). The Old Testament is all about Jesus.

This story illustrates what Jesus taught in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus, which is about the rich man’s greed blinding him until it was too late and he died and found himself in torment in Hades (Lk. 16). When the rich man asks if someone might be sent back to warn his five living brothers, Abraham says that they have “Moses and the prophets.” And when the rich man argues that they would be more likely to repent if someone rose from the dead, Abraham says, “If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead” (Lk. 16:31). If you will not believe God’s Word, then you will not believe even if someone rises from the dead (cf. Jn. 11:43-53, Mt. 28:11-15). Believing is seeing.

APPLICATIONS

Cleopas might be the same as “Clopas,” the husband of another Mary (Jn. 19:25), and they may be the two disciples going to Emmaus. Early tradition said that the two disciples may have been Clopas and his son Simeon, who was the second leader of the church in Jerusalem (after James). Another early tradition suggests that this Clopas was the brother of Joseph (father of Jesus), which would make the lack of recognition even more striking: not recognizing his own nephew.

Regardless, there’s a striking echo and reversal of Genesis 3 in this story: whereas two people ate food sinfully and their eyes were “opened” and they became ashamed of their nakedness and afraid (Gen. 3:6-7). Here, in Luke, we have two disciples filled with fear and shame, not seeing clearly, but in the breaking and eating of the bread with Jesus, their eyes are truly opened. While they only see Jesus for a moment, they suddenly see everything very clearly.

This story is one reason why the Reformation tradition has argued for the Word and Sacrament to go together and in that order. Hearing and believing the Word is the prerequisite for seeing and communing with Jesus rightly. But even then, the breaking of bread has a way of revealing what the Word says. What is it about the breaking of the bread? It’s receiving the gifts of God, giving thanks, and sharing them, and so seeing them by faith for what they really are.

Eyes are powerful gifts, but they are not simple mechanisms. Our eyes are loaded with biases and blind spots, prejudices and presuppositions. You need Jesus to show Himself to You in the Word and breaking of bread so that you can see Him crucified and risen, and by seeing Him, see your spouse, your family, your roommate, your neighbors, your job, your everything rightly.

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Jesus Friend of Sinners

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“While he was still speaking, Judas came, one of the twelve, and with him a great crowd with swords and clubs, from the chief priests and the elders of the people. Now the betrayer had given them a sign, saying, ‘The one I will kiss is the man; seize him.’ And he came up to Jesus at once and said, ‘Greetings, Rabbi!’ And he kissed him. Jesus said to him, ‘Friend, do what you came to do.’ Then they came up and laid hands on Jesus and seized him” (Mt. 26:47-50).

“Friend, do what you came to do.” In the Garden of Gethsemane, surrounded by a crowd with swords and clubs, greeted with such insolence by His betrayer, Jesus addresses Judas, as “friend.” This isn’t the more common word for “friend” in the New Testament. The more common word is “philos,” from the word philia, which means love or affection. But this word, while less common in the New Testament, is from a root that refers to someone of your own clan or family. It means companion, friend, cousin, comrade, mate. This word is used only three times like this in the New Testament, and all three times it’s in Matthew’s gospel. And as we look at each passage, a clear and striking pattern emerges.

The word is used in Matthew 20 at the end of the parable of the workers in the vineyard. Remember the master of the vineyard hires workers for a denarius for working in the vineyard at the beginning of the day, and then he hires others in the middle of the day, and then again, toward the end of the day, all for the same pay. And then, beginning with those he hired last, he pays them all what he promised them. But by the time he gets to the workers he hired at the beginning of the day, paying them the exact same amount as those he hired at the end of the day, those first workers begin to grumble against him. And Jesus says that the master of the vineyard “replied to one of them, ‘Friend, I am doing you no wrong. Did you not agree with me for a denarius?’… Is it not lawful for me to do what I will with my own money? Is your eye evil, because I am good? So the last shall be first, and first last: for many are called but few chosen” (Mt. 20:13-16).

Again, in Matthew 22, Jesus puts this word “friend” in the mouth a king in the parable of the wedding feast for the marriage of his son. Having sent out invitations, none of the original guests would come, some of the guests even mistreating the king’s servants who invited them. So the king sent out his servants instructing them to invite anyone they could find from the highways and byways, both good and bad. But when the king came into the feast, now full of guests, he saw a man without a wedding garment, and he said to him, ‘Friend, how did you get in here without a wedding garment?’ And the guest was speechless. Then the king said to his servants, ‘Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness; there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth. For many are called, but few are chosen” (Mt. 22:12-14).

Notice the parallels and pattern that emerges: in both stories, the ones addressed as “friend” have been treated very well, even generously, but they are not responding to the generosity and kindness well. In the first parable, the worker is being greedy and envious, and in the second parable, the wedding guest has come without a wedding garment, apparently showing great disrespect for the occasion, not really there for the festivity. Perhaps he only came for the free food, or perhaps as one of the original guests, greedy and envious that others were invited to take his place – which would make both of the so-called ‘friends’ in the parables greedy and envious. In both stories, the master or king intend real blessing to the one they address as ‘friend,’ doing them real good as friends, but the one they are addressing is rejecting that blessing, demanding something else instead. In both stories Jesus summarizes the point as many are called, but few are chosen. The ones that come first often end up on the outside, and those on the outside at first often end up on the inside.

The story of the betrayal of Jesus continues the same pattern: Judas has just betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. And we know from elsewhere that Judas was a greedy and envious man. He objected to the extravagant generosity of the woman who anointed Jesus with costly oil, complaining that the perfume might have been sold to help the poor, but it later came out that Judas was not really so concerned about the poor as he was about skimming off the top of the poor fund that he was in charge of. Judas was a greedy and envious man. Judas was also in the inner circle of the apostles, one of the first disciples, with closest access to Jesus, and yet he betrayed Jesus and ended up on the outside, in the outer darkness, where there is only weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Applications

Greed and envy are closely related sins. Pilate knew it was out of envy that the chief priests had delivered Jesus to him (Mt. 27:18). Greed and envy are sins of betrayal. Jesus calls it having an evil eye or an eye full of darkness. Your eyes are so set on something, often something that someone else has, that it distorts your vision. Whether it is a possession, a house, a car, a job, a level of affluence, or a position of authority or respect or fame or influence or followers, or whether it is certain relationships: a husband, a wife, a kind of family, marriage, children, friendships.

Ironically, you can lie to yourself saying that you only want these things because they are good things. God says they are good gifts; why shouldn’t I want them? Just like Judas said that his desire was for the care of the poor. But greed and envy don’t really merely want good gifts, they idolize these good gifts, obsess over them, and calculate exactly how much those around you are getting and by implication what you are not getting. And greed and envy quietly (or not so quietly) resent and hate how God is dealing out His gifts. But notice the end of that road: you end up at a lavish wedding celebration refusing to celebrate. You’re so wound tight about what you don’t have, you end up pushing away the gifts He’s actually giving you. You become like the dwarves in The Last Battle who can’t see the New Narnia. You’re there, but all you can see is an old barn full of hay. Greed and envy betray you, and in the process of betraying you, they drive you to betray those around you, like Judas.

Yet the point remains that in every one of these stories, Jesus calls the one betraying Him, resenting Him, hating Him and His kindness, “Friend.” And the point I want to make is that the offer is true, the offer of friendship is genuine, and Jesus says exactly how far He’s willing to take this generous offer: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (Jn. 15:13). Elsewhere, Romans says what this entailed, “For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person—though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die—but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:6-8).

While it is true that some whom Christ calls “friend” reject the offer, and end up on the outside, in the outer darkness, the fact remains that all who come to Christ were once His sworn enemies and traitors. The only people Christ died for were sinners, traitors, insolent, ungodly, greedy, and envious. And so His death is a true offer of friendship: He laid His life down for His friends, and His friends were His enemies: the ungodly, sinners of every sort, greedy and envious, and He died because He loved them. He died to make them His friends. And when He makes you His friend like that, how can you not forgive one another? How can you not love your enemies and do good to those who have betrayed you?

And so the offer is still there. The offer is here, right now, for you and for the world. Whatever your circumstances, whatever you have complained about, whatever you have pushed away, whatever you have resented bitterly in your heart or in your words, Jesus still says to you, “Friend, I am doing you no wrong.” All that Jesus does is good and kind and generous. He is the Son of the Father, in whom there is no shadow of turning, from whom comes every good and perfect gift. He is the Father of all the prodigals and of all the self-righteous older brothers. He has thrown a great party, an extravagant feast, and you are invited. So lay down your grievances. Lay down all your claims, all your excuses, all your calculating. Lay down your bad attitude, your bitterness, your resentment. Lay down your envy and your greed. Christ was crucified for sinners. Jesus is the friend for sinners. So come to the Feast. But when you come into the feast, you must have a wedding garment, and the wedding garment He requires is the garment of praise. So ask Jesus to peel off your rags of resentment and envy. Ask Him to take them away. And ask Him to give you His royal robes of righteousness. He loves to give this gift. And He promises to give this gift to everyone who comes and asks. He will not turn you away, because He calls you His friend.

So come and welcome to Jesus Christ.

In the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Amen.

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The Great Covenant Kingdom (Palm Sunday 2023)

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INTRODUCTION

Augustine says that, “Pride is the beginning of sin.” Pride is a stiff-necked obsession with self, thinking higher of yourself, your looks, your abilities than you ought (Rom. 12:3). And pride is often highly religious and spiritual: “men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud… highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof…” (2 Tim. 3:2, 4-5).

This is Palm Sunday, the Sunday before Easter, when we remember the triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem as the greatest conquering King of all time, and precisely because He is the greatest, he came to defeat our greatest enemies: sin, death, and Satan, with pride at the heart of all of it. Our sermon text is after Palm Sunday, on the night of the Passover that week, but it summarizes the mission of Jesus well as He labors to teach His prideful disciples that He is establishing a Kingdom of Humble Servants, a Kingdom of Left-handed Power.

THE TEXT

“And there was also a strife among them, which of them should be accounted the greatest…” (Lk. 22:24-30)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

Immediately after Jesus had warned that His betrayer was there at the table with them, the disciples began to quarrel about which of them would be the greatest (Lk. 22:21-24). Jesus says that this is how the rulers of the Gentiles talk and act, and this is not how His disciples are to think and act (Lk. 22:25-26). They are to understand greatness and power as arising from the one who considers himself younger and serves (Lk. 22:26). Jesus asks who is greater: the one who sits at the table or the one who serves, and He answers His own question by pointing out that He has served them all (Lk. 22:27).

Jesus affirms that the disciples have been His servants by continuing with Him in His trials, and He says that He is “covenanting” them a Kingdom, as the Father has “covenanted” to Him, a Kingdom where Jesus will continue serving them at His table, and by which they will be authorized and trained to rule well (Lk. 22:28-30). Following this, Jesus warns Simon that Satan is gunning for him, but Jesus has prayed for him to be restored after he falls (Lk. 22:31-34).

PAGAN POWER VS. COVENANT POWER

This text is bookended by pride: the pride of Judas and the pride of Peter, and in the middle, we have all the disciples quarreling because of their pride. Pride is what drives the kings and elites of the nations, like Nebuchadnezzar, vaunting their great power and wealth, ruling with threats of violence and flattery and bribes (Lk. 22:25). And Jesus says, “you shall not be so.” This is both a warning and a promise: they must not act this way, and this is because His kingdom does not work that way. Jesus says that the kingdom He is giving them, He is “covenanting” to them, as His Father, “covenanted” it to Him (Lk. 22:29). In other words, this Kingdom comes by the power of God’s Word, by the power of God’s promises, faith in those promises.

We see this all through the Bible: God occasionally works directly (e.g. the flood, a great plague, or military victory), but the story is more often filled with barren wives conceiving, sacrifices, and ordinary obedience and faith. This is the difference between what Luther called “right-handed power” and “left-handed power.” Right-handed power is direct, material intervention, whereas left-handed power is indirect and looks like weakness: the exaltation of Joseph, the Exodus, and the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. The thing to underline is that while all that God does is powerful and miraculous, left-handed power highlights the power of God’s Word. It happens because God says so. Justification is the central doctrine in salvation that highlights this left-handed power, and this is why justification is the great Christian doctrine of humility.

THE PARABLE OF THE PHARISEE AND TAX COLLECTOR

Pride is so slick, so slippery. Pride can appear at our worst, but it often appears at our best. Pride shows up when we deny temptation or abstain from sin. If you pray, read your Bible, go to church, join the choir or a small group, pride is right there ready to pat you on the back. This is why Jesus tells the parable of the Pharisee and Tax Collector for those who “trusted in themselves that they were righteous and despised others” (Lk. 18:9): The Pharisee is not a complete hypocrite: he is pious and godly inside and out and he’s even full of gratitude and gives God all the glory: “I think you, God…” (Lk. 18:11). And then a corrupt IRS agent waltzes in, maybe after a night of hard partying, and in a moment of utter sobriety, staring at the floor, with a hand on his chest says, “God have mercy on me, a sinner.”

Robert Capon says that one of the ways you can test whether you really get this parable is to imagine the tax collector coming back to church the following week without having made any amends. “Now then. I trust you see that on that on the basis of the parable as told, God will not mend his divine ways… He will do this week exactly what he did last: God, in short, will send him down to his house justified.” Does that make you gag? Or turn it around, what if the publican comes back with some slight improvements in his life: no prostitutes this week and less stealing: Capon again: “Why are you so bent on destroying the story by sending the publican back for his second visit with the Pharisees’ speech in his pocket?” The glory of justification has nothing to do with our goodness or improvements, and it has everything to do with God’s sovereign grace. He declares sinners righteous for the sake of Christ alone (Eph. 2:8-9, 1 Cor. 4:7). This is where all human pride goes to die; this is the beginning of true humility.

CONCLUSIONS & APPLICATIONS

This is why Jesus says that His power and greatness comes from being young and humble. It’s because when you “get low” you see God’s greatness and power. He says the word, and the universe comes into existence. He speaks the word and Christ is born, your sins are paid on His cross, and Jesus is risen from the dead. He says the Word and you go home scot-free, justified.

Jesus does not say that Kingdom greatness is doing whatever anyone demands of you; Jesus says that Kingdom greatness is serving at His table in obedience to His Father (Lk. 22:27-30). Kingdom humility and greatness submits to the Word of the King. Kingdom humility is kingdom greatness because God is the greatest, and His Word directs us in greatness. And Jesus embodies this greatness in His obedience to His Father, presented at that very table, with His body broken and His blood shed, to destroy all our pride and make us truly great.

So greatness and leadership in the Kingdom of God first comes by being served by Christ in this way. Acknowledge His greatness and sit down and eat and drink: survey that wondrous cross on which the Prince of Glory died, “my richest gain, I count but loss, and pour contempt on all my pride.” And then as you eat and drink the greatness of Christ (which was His great humiliation in your place), you are being equipped to rule like Christ, judging the tribes of Israel in your place in the Kingdom, in your family, at your place of work, in your service in the church.

And maybe the greatest thing is simply to forgive as you have been forgiven.

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Great Fear (The Continuing Adventures of Jesus #8)

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INTRODUCTION

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. This is not a craven fear, but an honest, reverent, and clean fear. It acknowledges that God is perfectly holy, almighty, and the highest and greatest, and He knows all things, and all that we are is laid bare before Him in humility.

THE TEXT

“And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord…” (Acts 4:23-5:16)

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

When the apostles were released and returned to the company of Christians, they reported everything, and the response was worship (4:23-30). Specifically, they sing/pray Psalm 2 and apply it before God to what happened to Jesus (4:25-27). They acknowledge the sovereignty of God over all of it, and they ask for boldness to continue speaking, to disobey the priests, and for signs to accompany the Word (4:28-30). Their prayer is answered immediately with the house being shaken and the word of God proclaimed boldly (4:31).

As we noted previously, between the free generosity of the gospel, the immediate needs of thousands of new Christians, many from out of town, and the expectation of the destruction of Jerusalem in the near future, the people began selling lands and houses and the apostles initially oversaw the administration of the funds (4:32-37). Ananias and Sapphira conspired together to lie about giving the entire proceeds from a land sale to the church (5:1-2). Ananias initially brought the gift, and Peter confronted him for lying to the Holy Spirit, insisting that the land and money was his to use freely, and Ananias immediately fell down dead (5:3-6). Three hours later, Sapphira showed up and confirmed that she was part of the conspiracy, and she also fell down dead (5:7-10). Great fear came upon everyone, as God answered the prayers of the apostles through signs and wonders, and many more people believed (5:11-16).

THE SANCTUARY OF WISDOM

Where do you turn when you are threatened? Where do you turn when you run into trouble? Where do you turn when people say all kinds of false things, foolish things? The early church shows us the faithful response: lift up your voice to God (4:24). But it really isn’t an accident that they lift up their voice to God “with one accord.” This is what corporate worship is, the gathering together of the saints to tell the Lord what has happened, and to ask Him for strength and boldness to obey no matter what (4:25-30).

Many of the Psalms describe this: “Thou shalt hide them in the secret of thy presence from the pride of man: thou shalt keep them secretly in a pavilion from the strife of tongues” (Ps. 31:20). “For all the day long have I been plagued, and chastened every morning… When I thought to know this, it was too painful for me; until I went into the sanctuary of God; then I understood their end. Surly thou didst set them in slippery places: thou cast them down into destruction” (Ps. 73:14, 16-18). Worship is the central thing because worship is where we hide safely from the strife of tongues and where we learn to see and think clearly about everything.

WORSHIP IS THE ENGINE

Notice that the “one accord” of worship translates into the “one heart and one soul” and “one accord” of community (4:24, 4:32, 5:12). Worship is the engine for community and culture. Living in the rootlessness of postmodernity means that everyone is desperate for meaning, for identity, to belong, for community, for purpose. But we have to have it fixed in our hearts and minds that community is a byproduct of the gospel and worship. The Holy Spirit calls men and women out of the darkness by the gospel, and He gathers us together in worship. It is a result of those things that the Spirit forms community and Christian culture. But if the gospel and worship are not the central things, it’s not the Holy Spirit, and it’s not Christian community or culture. Notice that as soon as people start gathering together, counterfeits show up on the scene, like Ananias and Sapphira, trying to manipulate and lie their way into community. But Christian fellowship is built upon grace and truth, not manipulation and lies. We have grace and truth to share because we have received grace and truth in Jesus Christ.

APPLICATIONS: THE FEAR OF THE LORD

This passage describes multiple causes of fear: the apostles have just been released from custody and threatened and Ananias and Sapphira died for lying to the Holy Spirit. “And great fear came upon all the church, and upon as many as heard these things… And of the rest durst no man join himself to them: but the people magnified them. And believers were the more added to the Lord, multitudes both of men and women” (5:11, 13-14).

First, notice that fear came upon all the church. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and since worship is the center of our fellowship, we worship with reverence and godly fear (Heb. 12:28). Jesus taught this: “And fear not them which kill the body, but are not able to kill the soul: but rather fear him which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell” (Mt. 10:28). Ananias and Sapphire did not fear the Lord, and they thought they could get away with lying. This is the sin of hypocrisy. But the Lord sees all and knows all: “His eyes see, His eyelids test the children of men” (Ps. 11:4). The question is not whether there is any impurity in you, the question is what do you with it? “The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the Lord tests hearts” (Prov. 17:3). If you cling to your impurity, you will be consumed with it, but if you cling to the Cross of Jesus, your impurities will be burned away until you shine like gold.

Second, notice that this godly fear had two effects on those outside the church. Some kept their distance but “magnified” the church (thought highly of them) and multitudes believed and poured into the church. One of the central reasons the world does not fear God is because the church does not fear God. And this has had disastrous effects on our society. When professing Christians don’t fear God they become hypocrites and liars and do their evil in secret, but when pagans do not fear God, they do their evil deeds brazenly in the broad light of day (Gen. 20:11, Ps. 36, Rom. 3). You can also tell who the masses fear by who they give deference to, who they obey. Instead of the living God, our culture fears the tinpot deities of “Science” and “Health” and “the Economy” or just popular opinion, and so we are easily manipulated.

So, are you more concerned about fitting in, being “healthy,” and keeping your head down in the culture, or having a clean heart before God, staying in fellowship with God and your people? Whom do you fear?

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Bold Submission (The Continuing Adventures of Jesus #7)

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INTRODUCTION

We often think of boldness and courage as breaking the rules, but in a fallen world, it is often just the opposite. True boldness is submission to God’s rules when the world wants to rebel. Jesus was the courageous one who submitted to His Father in order to save the world.

THE TEXT

“And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead…” (Acts 4:1–22).

SUMMARY OF THE TEXT

We pick up our text in the middle of the commotion over the healing of the lame man at the gate of the temple (Acts 3:2-8). After Peter concludes his sermon, inviting everyone to receive the forgiveness of sins through repentance and faith in the resurrection of Jesus, the leaders of the Jews lay hold of Peter and John and put them in jail (Acts 4:1-3). By this point the number of believers had swelled to five thousand (Acts 4:4). The next day, the rulers conducted a hearing, and asked the apostles how they had performed the healing (Acts 4:5-7). Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, began preaching Jesus, crucified and risen, the Messiah, and the only name under Heaven given for salvation (Acts 4:8-12).

This boldness was remarkable and reminded them all of Jesus, and given the fact that the healed man was right there with them, they privately conferred, agreeing that they couldn’t deny the miracle but they needed to squelch the message (Acts 4:13-17). When they called Peter and John back before them, they threatened them and commanded them that they should not speak or teach in Jesus’ name anymore (Acts 4:17-18). After Peter and John politely declined, pointing out that it was more important to obey God than them, they threatened them again, finding no way to punish them because of their popularity with the people, and because everyone knew what had happened to the man (Acts 4:19-22).

THE GIFT OF CONTROVERSY

Part of the point of the book of Acts is that God grows His church through controversy. This is fundamentally the case because in a dark, fallen world, the Light of salvation offends the sensibilities of fallen sinners. We have already seen the Pentecost commotion and immediately following that, the Holy Spirit has created another controversy. Part of this continues to confirm that Jesus is alive, and it is His Spirit at work because wherever Jesus went, there were crowds and commotions. Of course, it is not enough to create trouble and blame the Holy Spirit. Achan was a “troubler of Israel” for his disobedience and sin (Josh. 7:25). But Jesus taught His disciples that all who follow Him should expect trouble (Mt. 5:10-12, Lk. 6:22, Jn. 15:18). Taking up “your cross” and following Jesus is taking up the scorn and hatred of the world (Mt. 16:24). A cross implies a public spectacle and controversy. And here, we see that in the midst of controversy, the gospel goes forth, and thousands more are added the church (Acts 4:2-4).

THE BOLDNESS OF THE HOLY SPIRIT

Because it is the plan for the gospel to go forth in the context of controversy, boldness and courage are necessary. The word here for “boldness” is PARESSIA, which means plainness, clarity, and boldness. The idea isn’t loud or bombastic. The idea is simple, straightforward, and plain. And notice that Peter is mostly repeating himself: Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, God raised from the dead (Acts 4:10, cf. 2:23-24, 3:13-15). But also notice that Peter does not shy away from the collision and confrontation, and he identifies Psalm 118:22 as referring to the Jewish leaders who oversaw the execution of Jesus: the stone which the builders rejected. So the boldness of the Holy Spirit centers on talking about Jesus and Scripture.

OBEDIENCE TO MAN OR GOD?

This text is important for rightly understanding obedience and disobedience to authorities. When Peter and John are threatened and commanded to stop preaching the resurrection of Jesus, they say, “Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye” (Acts 4:19). First, notice that the apostles appeal to the “sight of God,” which relativizes all human authority. All human authority is under God and answers to God. Second, the apostles clearly state that the greater authority must have the greater obedience. The basic principle would be that we may obey human authorities so long as they do not command what God prohibits or forbid what God commands. Another area which requires real wisdom would be in matters where authorities are being disobedient to God. The Bible teaches that we may obey authorities in those circumstances if it isn’t requiring us to sin and it is often good to do so, but we don’t have to (Mt. 17:24-27, 1 Pet. 2:18ff, Acts 9:23-25, Acts 12:17).

APPLICATIONS

Controversy is a gift but only if we know what spirit we are of. Remember the apostles at one point wanted to call fire down on the Samaritans, who really were confused theologically, but Jesus said that was not His Spirit (Lk. 9:51-56). Jesus came not to destroy men’s lives but to save them. This means we are not revolutionaries; we are reformers. We are in favor of true life-saving surgery, and we hate all demented life-deforming surgery.

Practice your boldness on yourself first. Deal with your own sin plainly, directly, without excuses or compromises. This is what had to happen with Peter. Remember it was only a 6 weeks earlier that Peter was cursing and swearing about being associated with Jesus, and now it’s a badge of honor (Acts 4:13). But he only got there because he repented and was completely restored. Never wield a sword on anyone else you haven’t first practiced on yourself. This isn’t a ban on boldness; it’s an exhortation to true boldness.

Practice submission to lawful authority. Understood rightly, submission to true godly authority is the only path to true authority. This begins with submission to the exclusive claims of Jesus: There is no other name given under Heaven whereby we must be saved. We live in a land in desperate need of real leaders, and this is what happens when everyone “does what is right his own eyes,” when everyone is their own god/savior. But Jesus is the cornerstone that holds everything together. Submission to Him establishes you in your place.

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