Acts 5:22-32

The high priest’s speaking: We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us. (v. 28) You know what’s strange here – two phrases: “this name” and “this man’s blood”. The high priest is not willing to speak Jesus’ Name!! I wonder why. Guilt? Fear? Pride? All the above? He has been told by Peter and John that there is power in that Name; maybe he fears a negative outcome if he is the one who is speaking the Name!! Curious! And frankly (maybe only to me), somewhat amusing…!

To me today’s scenario is also amusing. The Jewish leaders have gathered the entire Council together, “all the Senate of the people of Israel” (v. 21b), and asked that the prisoners be brought before them. Then the officers come to report that there are no prisoners!! Then someone else comes and says that the “prisoners” are teaching in the temple!! Imagine the high priest’s embarrassment…! I expect that he is furious!! His judgment would be immediate death to them all (in spite of his/their fear of being stoned by the people). But unfortunately for him, that murder would not be allowed by the Roman authorities. Only the Romans could condemn and execute. So here we see the beginning of the protection that is afforded the early Christians by the Roman rule of law. The Gospel spreads in large measure due to “Pax Romana”. The heathen protectors. GLORY!

We will see in tomorrow’s reading that the Jewish leaders are enraged at Peter’s response – which we are reading today. I just wanted to point out that their rage is based on what they deem blasphemous in Peter’s speech – “God exalted Him”; “Leader”; “Savior”; “Holy Spirit”. Peter is attributing Deity to Jesus – blasphemy to these Jewish leaders.

Slava Bohu!

Acts 5:17-21

So, yesterday I got ahead of myself – What does it take for the Jewish leaders to believe? All these signs and wonders and healings taking place – that’s a good thing, right? But the leaders have the apostles arrested. Why? Verse 17b tells us that they were “filled with jealousy”! JEALOUSY??!! What were they jealous of? The “power” that they perceived was coming from the apostles…? Not likely. They didn’t seem to like it when Jesus was performing miracles. Frankly, I’m not sure they liked seeing the people healed. Rather, I think they liked having the people beaten down and submissive. Were they jealous of the crowds that the apostles were gathering? Possibly. Recall that Jesus talked about those Pharisees who …love[d] the most important seats in the synagogues and respectful greetings in the marketplaces. (Luke 11:43, NIV) Maybe it was that, combined with their fear that they might lose their standing with the masses? Clearly the apostles’ “popularity” was exceeding their own!! So the Jewish leaders were jealous of the apostles and took action against them. I’m wondering where I might find jealousy within myself and what I’m doing about it…??

But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out… (v. 19) So here’s something that I’ve seen before, in pieces, but never put together. My Study Bible listed three other occasions in Acts where an angel of the Lord intervened: guiding Philip (Acts 8:26); releasing Peter from prison (Acts 12:7-10); and striking down Herod (Acts 12:23). I’m confident that we have angels around us, guiding and protecting us, but we don’t see them and mostly don’t acknowledge them. I guess it’s appropriate for us to thank the Lord for His guidance and protection, whether it’s the Holy Spirit doing the work or His angels. Bottom line – we need to recognize Jesus and His Holy Spirit in our lives and be thankful for – and submissive to – His work within us!!

Slava Bohu!

Acts 5:12-16

What does it take for the Jewish leaders to believe? All these signs and wonders and healings taking place – that’s a good thing, right? But I’m getting ahead of the readings – that’s for tomorrow!

None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. (v. 13). I was wondering who “the rest” were. My Study Bible suggested that the incident with Ananias and Sapphira caused the weak and faint-hearted to back away from the apostles, fearing that their weak faith might lead to the same outcome for them. I also wondered if “the rest” might be the Jewish authorities, possibly reflecting back to the fact that Barnabas was a Levite (vv. 4:36-37). Later, Acts 6:7 tells us that …a great many of the priests became obedient to the faith, but that may not be the case just yet.

Again we see the apostles gathering in the temple, in Solomon’s Portico (v. 12b), and multitudes gathering around them. Today’s reading speaks of healing miracles (vv. 12, 15, 16) accomplished at the hands of the apostles – no doubt the apostles were also sharing their faith. I’ve always admired the Catholic Church’s approach to evangelism, both locally and globally. Dr. Matlock spoke about this a few weeks ago. Their “evangelism” was to go out with a goal of “doing good” (think, Mother Theresa) – mostly building hospitals and schools – and would construct a chapel for their own use, but also invite the locals to join them. Sounds remarkably like the apostles’ healing ministry in Solomon’s Portico…! GLORY!

Acts 5:1-11

Ananias and Sapphira – a sad story… I’m sure a lot of money sermons could be preached on this incident – for example, how much of our “proceeds” are we keeping back? But it’s not the “keeping back” that got Ananias and Sapphira in trouble, it was their lying about it, presumably to make themselves look good. So the better sermon is, how much am I lying to God? I’ll stop there and leave that for reflection.

Slava Bohu!

Acts 4:32-37

Today’s reading is the second “transition section” that we have seen in Acts. The first was at the end of Chapter 2. In these transition sections time passes, but we don’t know how much. So it could have been that Peter and John appeared before the Council in the first few weeks after Jesus’ Ascension or it could have been months. (We don’t imagine it would have been years.) Likewise, the time passage in today’s reading could also be weeks or months, but this time also, possibly years. Our Chronological Bible has Jesus’ death in A.D. 30, with Stephen’s martyrdom in A.D. 32, so we have only Chapter 5 in our readings before we meet Stephen in Chapter 6.

And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus… (v. 33a). Time has passed since Jesus’ Resurrection and Ascension and the Holy Spirit’s anointing at Pentecost, but the one focus for the apostles is the Resurrection. The apostles are seeing miracles and signs and wonders taking place in Jesus’ name, but the preaching focus is the Resurrection. Later, in I Cor. 15:17, 19 the apostle Paul writes of the power of the Resurrection in our lives: And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is futile; you are still in your sins… If only for this life we have hope in Christ, we are of all people most to be pitied. Jesus’ Resurrection is the game-changer for us as Christians. Many people have died for their faith, but none have come back bodily from their death.

When I am sharing my faith with a non-believer, I ask a series of questions. Do you believe that Jesus lived? Do you believe that He died, that He was crucified? Do you believe that He rose from the dead. I typically get “yes” answers for #1 and #2a, with a “maybe” for #2b and either a “no” or an “I don’t know” for #3. Then it’s time to launch into evidence for Jesus’ Resurrection. If you’ve never read it, a short book by Josh McDowell, More Than a Carpenter, provides in simple terms a number of evidence items for the Resurrection.

Folks, we need to have Jesus’ Resurrection as the foundation of our faith and as the center of our witness. And with great power the apostles were giving their testimony to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus…

Slava Bohu!

Acts 4:23-31

…to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place. (v. 28) Every time I run into some “predestination” item I wonder about predestination and choice and free will. My Study Bible, not a fan of absolute predestination, argued against any notion that the Lord had put it into the leaders’ minds to do what they did, but that he allowed them to undertake their “freely chosen acts to accomplish His chosen purpose”. So I went to other translations. Here is the NIV, a better understanding, I think, of what the text actually means: They did what Your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. So the “predestined” notion in this verse first quoted above refers to the outcome, Jesus’ crucifixion, not to the means to that outcome. That is, God had preordained that His Son would die on our behalf, but that men acting on their own free will brought it about.

I’ll end on a happier note: …and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and continued to speak the word of God with boldness. (v. 31b)

Slava Bohu!

Acts 4:13-22

One of my favorite Scripture verses: …for we cannot help but speak of the things that we have seen and heard. (v. 20) That was my “go to” verse from my classroom days. I would irregularly quote Scripture in class whenever verses popped into my head (appropriately into my lecture!). And I never feared being challenged for those quotes by some radical student arguing about the separation of church and state. I knew that my faith was part of who I am, just like my farm background, my military service, my family, were part of who I am. That would have been my defense, but I never got called on it.

And they [the Council] recognized that they [Peter and John] had been with Jesus. (v. 13b) Wouldn’t it be great for us to be recognized for our having been with Jesus? That reality came to the Council members only after they had heard Peter’s witness from yesterday’s reading. So if we want to be recognized for having been with Jesus, it would probably be helpful if our conversation directed our listeners to wonder about that connection.

Slava Bohu!

Acts 4:5-12

I’ve long imagined Peter and John before this gathering, standing together in a large room facing the many rulers, elders and scribes – but I’ve never imagined the healed man standing there with them! Verse 3 says “they arrested them” – must have been all three. Verse 7 says they “set them in the midst” (correction to my “standing” above!). Verse 9 has Peter speaking about “by what means this man has been healed”. Finally, in verse 10 Peter, speaking about Jesus says “…by Him this man is standing before you well.” (Standing…!) So four references to “them” or “this man”, but I had never pictured the healed man alongside Peter and John.

So what? Let’s go a step further. This man was arrested with Peter and John and spent the night in jail with them. Scripture does not say they were beaten or anything else about them, just that they were held overnight. Can you imagine their conversations? Can you imagine Peter and John sharing with this man the entire evening about Jesus – all the time that they were with Him, all that they had seen Him do. And to talk about his life, death and Resurrection, then living among them another 40 days, then ascending to heaven… And I am now picturing this man taking it all in – I doubt they slept all night!! What a glorious conversation!! I suspect this man came away from this evening healed, born again, and committed to sharing Jesus with whomever would listen. What joy! GLORY!!

Slava Bohu!

Acts 4:1-4

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. (vv. 1-2) I’m intrigued by the phrase …greatly annoyed…, or “greatly disturbed” as I found in some translations. I can understand “disturbed” better, in that the Jewish leaders might be troubled at a new “religion” peeling off traditional Jewish adherents. Or with the Sadducees in control of the temple and the Sanhedrin, it could have been that they feared this new “movement” could create trouble with the Roman authorities – leaders with whom the Sadducees were quite friendly. Or the Sadducees could be remembering their own difficulties with Jesus when He proclaimed a resurrection from the dead. See Luke 20:27-40, especially verse 40: For they (the Sadducees) did not have courage to ask Him any longer about anything. Strong!

But, “annoyed”…?? People get annoyed at smaller things, items that are troublesome but not major. So if the Sadducees were “annoyed” at this new group, it seems to me that they were dismissing the Apostles as a fringe group that would soon die out, but who, at the moment were creating a disturbance in the temple at a major gathering area. So Peter and John were an annoyance that they would deal with tomorrow. Stay tuned…!!

Slava Bohu!

Acts 3:11-26

Read another four verses into chapter 4 if you want to see how this incident ends. My Study Bible again enlightened me, this time about Solomon’s Portico. This structure was a porch on the east side of the inner wall that enclosed the outer court. (You might want to find a picture of Herod’s Temple and Solomon’s Portico. Here’s a link with a number of pics: https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=solomon%27s+portico&fr=mcafee&imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdustoffthebible.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F02%2FHerods-Temple-and-Solomons-Portico.jpg#id=18&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.neverthirsty.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F01%2Fsolomons-portico.jpg&action=click). My Study Bible continues – there were rows of 27-foot-high stone columns and a roof of cedar. Here’s another reference: “Solomon’s Porch was a long, covered but open gallery created by two parallel rows of columns supporting a long wooden roof. Solomon’s Porch ran along the eastern edge of the temple area, overlooking the Kidron Valley and facing the Mount of Olives to the east.” (https://www.bibleversestudy.com/acts/acts5-solomons-porch.htm) All this information is noteworthy. This area could well have been the regular gathering place for the Apostles and their followers who “met daily in the temple” – an open, covered structure, a place to gather out of the hot sun, but still open to bystanders. It could have even been the place where the disciples were gathered when the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost, where Acts 2:1-2 describes the location as (gathered in) “one place” and (the Spirit filled the) “whole house”. I can now see dozens or even hundreds of Apostles and disciples gathered daily at this long, open-porch area, sharing with one another and preaching to bystanders. It is so much more vivid in my mind!! GLORY!!

Slava Bohu!