April 16 2023
April 16th 2023 Easter 2
First Reading: Acts 5:(17-28) 29-42
Psalm: Psalm 148
Epistle: 1st Peter 1:3-9
Gospel: John 20:19-31
Sermon Text: Acts 5
Sermon Title: “We Must Obey God”
Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and our risen Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Christ is risen ….
Christ is risen bodily from the dead! Now what? In other words, why are we gathered here today? What is the purpose of Holy Scripture and of listening to preaching? The Apostle John records that in the forty days after His bodily resurrection, Jesus our Lord told the disciples, “As the Father has sent Me, even so, I am sending you … (and) He did many other signs in the presence of the disciples 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 one may have life in His name”. (John 20:21b, 30-31) “The sacred writings are able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus”. (2nd Timothy 3:15b)
So, the Scriptures are also there to teach and instruct us in the Christian faith, doctrine, and Christian living. Paul declared, “whatever was written down in former days was written for our instruction, that through endurance and the encouragement of the Scriptures, we might have hope”. (Romans 15:4) “All Scripture is breathed out by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be competent and equipped for every good work”. (2nd Timothy 3:16) “The Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword … discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart”. (Hebrews 4:12) Next week, we will hear from Luke’s Gospel, how Jesus revealed Himself to the disciples on the Emmaus road; using the Old Testament Scriptures.
As we heard last Sunday though, if the Holy Scriptures are not an accurate recording of what actually happened in history, our faith is worse than useless and we are fools to be pitied. So, when Peter and the other apostles began to preach, they made sure to speak the truth of God’s Word accurately, no matter what anyone told them to the contrary.
It is quite literally a matter of (spiritual) life and death to speak God’s Word rightly, and so they boldly proclaimed the cross and the resurrection; correcting and refuting errors (false teachings and teachers) along the way; which is what all of the Apostles did in their preaching and in the letters/Epistles that they wrote. Of course, this angered those who were promoting false teaching in the church, but the Apostles were correcting them for the purpose of bringing them to repentance.
In addition to their preaching by the power of the Holy Spirit, for a time after Pentecost, the disciples were also able to perform “many signs and wonders … and more than ever believers were being added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women”. (Acts 5:12a, 14) But the authorities of the Jews could not leave them alone; “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 public prison”. (Acts 5:17-18) In the same way today, those in authority often refuse to leave the church alone to proclaim Christ in peace; they demand that we censor/silence ourselves regarding certain sins and even that we publicly approve of things contrary to the Word of our Lord.
Notice that this time the authorities had all of the Apostles arrested, where as before, they only arrested the leaders, Peter and John. Of course, this persecution is what Jesus had told them would happen, “they will lay their hands on you persecute you, delivering you up to synagogues and prisons … for My name’s sake”. (Luke 21:12)
We should expect no less from the unbelieving world, for in the Epistle, Peter speaks of “being grieved by various trials”. (1st Peter 1:6b) But the Lord had also told them to make disciples and to preach the Gospel to the ends of the earth. He who overcame death and the grave for us was not going to let a few locked prison doors stop the spread of the Gospel.
“During the night, an angel of the Lord opened the prison door and let 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 entered the Temple at daybreak and began to teach”. (Acts 5:19-21a) All this was going on unbeknownst to the guards at the prison, and the Jewish authorities who had called a special meeting on how to deal with the situation.
“Now, when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council and all the senate of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. (to their great shock) When the officers came, they did not find them (the disciples) 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) While they were trying to figure out how this had happened, they get more startling news.
When they heard these words, “they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. And someone came and told them, Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Then the captain, with the officers, went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people”. (Acts 5:24-b-26) Again, for the moment the Apostles were quite popular among the people and the authorities feared a riot.
“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 (Jesus), yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us”. (Acts 5:27-28) Peter and all of the disciples had been bold in their preaching of Christ and calling those who had “killed (Jesus) the Author of life” (Acts 3:15a) to repentance.
On their previous arrest, Peter answered their charges saying; “we cannot speak of what we have seen and heard”. (Acts 4:20b) Again, this time, “Peter and the Apostles answered, (boldly) We must obey God rather than men”. (Acts 5:29) This is not blanket permission to disobey any law or authority that we do not happen to like; for the Augsburg Confession says “Christians are obliged to be subject to the civil authorities in all that can be done without sin”. (Article XVI, par. 6)
That last phrase is significant, for what God commands us, we must do, even when forbidden by human authorities. What God forbids us, we must not do, even when commanded by the human authorities. The church is not bound to obey any authorities when they try to usurp the authority of the church; telling them what they can and cannot say.
Here is Peter’s further explanation, “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) To “obey” God is to say “yes” to His Word and to the forgiveness He offers in the Gospel. To obey God is to go back again and again to His Holy Word, to see what He has commanded and promised.
Again, Peter’s preaching/teaching of the law was to show them their sin, that they might repent and believe the Gospel, and so receive the forgiveness of sins; but the message fell on deaf ears and hard hearts. “When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them”. (Acts 5:33) When they heard the Gospel of Christ, rather than receive it gladly, they wanted to silence its messengers forever.
“But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. And he said to them, men of Israel, take care what you are about to do to these men”. (Acts 5:34-35) By the way, this was the same Gamaliel that was Saul’s teacher in Judaism before he became a Christian and humanly speaking, he seems to be a voice of reason in the midst of a sea of hatred.
What he said shows that the council was more worried about political upheaval that religious; for he cites two failed political rebellions that had ultimately come to nothing; that of Theudas and of Judas the Galilean. “They both perished and all who followed them were scattered”. (Acts 5:37b) Rather than do violence to the Apostles now; Gamaliel said, “in the present case, I tell you, keep away from these men and leave them alone; for if this plan or undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God”. (Acts 5:38-39a)
There is no indication here or in history that Gamaliel ever came to believe in Jesus and we do not know his motivation in calling for at least a temporary peace; but “they took his advice. (This was no slap on the wrist though) They called in the Apostles and they beat them and they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus. Then they let them go”. (Acts 5:39b-40)
So, this is the end of the story right, the Apostles obeyed the authorities and out of fear never spoke publicly of Jesus again? Wrong! They kept on doing what Jesus had called them to do and they never stopped until the day they died as martyrs. Remember Peter’s words earlier; “We must obey God rather than man”? (Acts 5:29b) They trusted that the Lord would take care of them despite the persecution they were enduring.
Therefore, the Apostles “left the presence of the council; rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for Jesus’ name. And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ”. (Acts 5:41-42) We live in different, yet equally difficult times today.
The church is under constant attack from outside, as sometimes violent crimes against Christians, (most recently with the murder of six people in a Christian grade school) churches and ministries are on the increase and are frequently not prosecuted in our land. The livelihoods of countless Christians are threatened as they and their businesses are (repeatedly) taken to court simply because they are trying to live out their faith in this world.
It is also attacked from the inside through false teachers corrupting the Word of God, compromising with the corrupt philosophies of our current culture. We are frequently told to keep our so-called “hateful” opinions to ourselves regarding abortion, transgenderism, marriage, and many other moral issues of the day. We are (falsely) accused of preaching politics when we are simply proclaiming God’s law/Word on a particular matter. Yet the Lord says; “Woe to those who call evil good and good evil” (Isaiah 5:20a) and “Whenever you hear a Word from My mouth, you shall give them warning from Me”. (Ezekiel 33:7b)
In the midst of this wicked world, we too are called to live out our faith in Christ through our various vocations and to bear witness to the truth of God’s Holy Word; His Law and Gospel. We are to continue to preach Christ crucified and raised from the dead for the forgiveness of sins; despite the threats and persecutions we must endure; knowing that this world is not our home. We who trust in Christ Jesus alone as Lord and Savior, are citizens of heaven, who will raised bodily to eternal life on the Last Day.
Knowing that He has promised to take care of us in this life and the life to come; knowing that “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble; we will not fear, though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea” (Psalm 46:1-2), we will not “cease preaching and teaching Jesus as the Christ”. (Acts 5:42) Amen.
The peace of God …