April 24 2022

Easter 2 April 24th 2022

First Reading: Acts 5:12-20 (21-32)

Psalm: Psalm 148

Epistle: Revelation 1:4-18

Gospel: John 20:19-31

Sermon Text: Acts 5:12-20, (21-32)

Sermon Title: “Obey God, Rather than Man”

Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Amen.

The events recorded in our Gospel reading occurred “on that evening”; mere hours after Jesus’ bodily resurrection, and then again “8 days later” on the Sunday after the resurrection. AS you just heard, when Jesus’ disciples gathered together they “locked the doors … for fear of the Jews”. (John 20:19a) They were all there with one notable exception, “Thomas was not with them when Jesus came”. (John 20:24)

A week later the doors were still locked for fear, but the other disciples had persuaded Thomas to gather with them, telling him, “We have seen the Lord”. (John 20:25a) Thomas was with them, even though he didn’t necessarily believe them. “He said to them, unless I see in His hands the mark of the nails, and place my finger into the mark of the nails, and place my hand into His side; I will never believe”. (John 20:25b)

In His great mercy, the Lord Jesus appeared to them again, showing Thomas (and all of the disciples) the marks of His crucifixion. Then Thomas believed saying, “My Lord and my God! Jesus said to him, “Have you believed because you have seen Me? Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed”. (John 20:29)

Jesus also established what we call the Office of the Keys in this text saying, “Receive the Holy Spirit. If you forgive the sins of any, they are forgiven ; if you withhold forgiveness from anyone, it is withheld”. (John 20:22b-23) As Luther wrote, “The office of the Keys is that special authority which Christ gives to the church on earth to forgive the sins of repentant sinners, but to withhold forgiveness from the unrepentant as long as they do not repent”. (Office of the Keys, page 224, Luther’s Small Catechism)

The Apostle John then records why he recorded these things saying “Jesus did many other signs … which are not written in this book. But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in His name”. (John 20:30-31) The purpose of Jesus sending out the disciples to preach the Gospel and the point of recoding these miraculous events was so that all might hear the Gospel of Christ crucified and raised from the dead for the forgiveness of sins and so believe in Jesus and be saved and have “eternal life in His name”. (John 20:31b)

After seeing the risen Christ numerous times over the next 40 days and receiving the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost, the once timid and fearful disciple were now bold in their preaching and witness to Christ Jesus; “the first born of the dead and the ruler of the kings of the earth”. (Revelation 1:5b) For a time, they were even granted the ability to do “signs and wonders … among the people”. (Acts 5:11a) “More than ever, believers were being added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women … the people also … brought the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed”. (Acts 14, 16b)

They did these things despite sometimes violent persecution from the authorities. “The high priest rose up, and all who were with him, that is the party of the Sadducees, and filled with jealousy, they arrested the Apostles and put them in the public prison”. (Acts 5:17-18) These authorities saw the multitudes of converts to faith in Christ and saw their own authority threatened. Therefore, the Jewish authorities did what most authorities do when shown to be wrong. They passed the buck. They blamed the ones who pointed out they were wrong and “doubled down” on their wrong views.

“But during the night, an angel of the Lord, (miraculously) opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life. And when they heard this, they (disciples) entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach”. (Acts 5:19-21a) Unafraid, they followed the instructions of the Angel of the Lord.

The authorities were not at all aware of what had happened, for Luke recorded; “Now when the chief priest came and those who were with him, they called together the council and all the senate of the people of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. But, when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison. So, they returned and reported; We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside”. (Acts 5:21b-23)

When the officials “heard these words, they were greatly perplexed, wondering what this would come to. Then someone came and told them; Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people”. (Acts 5:24-25) Now what could they do? They had been proven wrong in any number of ways, both in their understanding of God’s Word (the Sadducees did not even believe in “the resurrection of the body”) and in their opposition to the spreading of its message.

Here is what they did, “the captain with the officers, went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people”. (Acts 5:26) They feared the reaction of the people; they feared the truth. They knew that many of the people who had heard the Gospel proclaimed and received healing by the hand of the Apostles, also knew and believed it and that there might be trouble from them if they pushed it too far.

But instead of believing the truth of the Gospel, the authorities still tried to silence the Apostles preaching. “And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them saying; 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 on us’. (Acts 5:27-28) Notice, they cannot stand to even speak the name of Jesus out loud.

“But Peter and the Apostles (boldly) answered, We must obey God rather than man”. (Acts 5:29) This is exactly what they have been doing all along; obeying God by disobeying the Sanhedrin. (the authorities) Would any of them have been this bold without believing in the fact of the bodily resurrection of Christ (and their own resurrection)? Not likely.

But now, Peter opposes them to their face, declaring; “The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging Him on a tree. God exalted Him at His right hand, as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him”. (Acts 5:30-32)

So, were any of the members of the Sanhedrin persuaded to believe in Jesus, by Peter’s preaching of the resurrected Christ? This is what Luke records; “when they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them”. (Acts 5:33a) Gamaliel, one of the members of the Sanhedrin, persuaded them not to take such a drastic action; “so they took his advice”. (Acts 5:39)

Instead of killing them, “When they had called in the Apostles, they beat them and charged (ordered) them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go”. (Acts 5:40) Surely now that the Apostles found out who was boss, they would be so fearful of punishment that they wouldn’t say another word about Jesus? Right? Wrong! “Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” (Acts 5:41) of Jesus. They knew that Jesus “is alive forevermore”; (Revelation 1:18b) that He would be with them, just as He promised, “Behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age”. (Matthew 28:20b)

“And every day … they did not cease preaching and teaching Jesus as the Christ”. (Acts 5:42) And very soon the persecution would intensify. Stephen will be seized and stoned to death for calling his fellow Jews to repentance and faith in the resurrected Christ. Saul was there and “approved of his execution … Saul was entering house after house, dragging off men and women and committing them to prison”. (Acts 8:1a, 3)

But in the midst of the persecution and martyrdom, many were saved through the preaching of the Apostles; for being scattered by the persecution, caused the Word of God to spread. For example, Phillip proclaimed Jesus in Samaria and “there was much joy in that city”. (Acts 8:8) He also went to Gaza and there encountered an Ethiopian eunuch, “telling him the good news about Jesus”. (Acts 8:35b) And then the unbelievable happened; Saul the Pharisee, the persecutor of the church was converted and became Paul, preacher of the Gospel of Christ and writer of much of the New Testament Scriptures. Next week, we will hear the account of Saul/Paul’s conversion from Acts chapter 9.

Such is the power of the crucified and resurrected Christ, even today, to convert people to saving faith, by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the preaching of the Word and baptism; by hearing the word of Holy Absolution and by receiving His very body and blood in the Sacrament. He is with us here in this place, where He promised to be; forgiving our sins and strengthening our faith through these means.

Just as He did for the Apostles, Jesus also brings us through difficult trials and persecutions and even death, promising that Christ “is indeed interceding for us” and that “nothing in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord”. (Romans 8:34b, 39b) These are God’s promises to all who believe in Jesus Christ alone for salvation; therefore, we continue to confidently preach Christ crucified and raised bodily from the dead. Amen