Lechem Panim #133 "When Jesus Becomes Lord" (Acts 4:1-7) Pastor Cameron Ury

Hello, and welcome to Lechem Panim. In our study of Acts chapter 4, you will remember that Peter and John have just healed a crippled beggar outside of the temple and (seeing the crowds) used that as a launching point to declare the Gospel to them. Now you’d think that everyone would be thrilled to hear the message of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and what that means, but there was a group of people who were not happy about it. It says in…

Acts 4:1 (ESV)— 1 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, 

Burst Upon— You know, I have always been fascinated with nature shows; have been ever since I was a kid. And now I enjoy watching them with my kids. And this week I watched some particularly amazing footage of the Kingfisher bird. Now the Kingfisher bird is a bird of prey that dives into the water to catch fish. And in this footage the perspective of the camera was below the fish. The fish was going about its business and you could see the bird above the fish plummeting down towards the water. And suddenly the bird broke through the water and the beak of the bird was wrapped around the fish. And it plucked that fish out of the water and flew away. Well, that imagery is similar to that which is behind this phrase “came upon them” here in verse 1. These religious leaders [Burst upon them suddenly or stood by them in a hostile attitude].

The Afterlife-less Pastor— I remember back when I was ordained, the leaders of our denomination put me through quite a thorough doctrinal examination. They wanted to make sure that I held to the essential teachings of the Christian faith and that what I would preach and teach had its anchor in scripture. Now this is not what happened, but let’s say that in the course of the follow-up interview, one member of the board, looking over my answers, says, “Hey Cameron, I notice that all you put in the section on your beliefs concerning the resurrection and afterlife was ‘not applicable’. What do you mean by that? And I say, “Well, I put that because (simply put) I don’t believe in resurrection or an afterlife. There’s a long silence. “Ummmm, what?” “I don’t believe in either a resurrection or an afterlife. Is that going to be a problem?” Another long silence. What do you think? Would it be a problem for you to have a pastor who doesn’t believe in a resurrection or an afterlife? Let me put it in a slightly more focused context. I have done many funerals over the years. And funerals (for anybody) are difficult. The grief of being separated from a loved one (even when we know it is only temporary) can be excruciatingly painful. But what would it be like to have a preacher for your loved one’s funeral who doesn’t believe in or preach a resurrection or an afterlife? Would you be okay with that?

The Afterlife-less Leaders— Now I want you to think about that because (as you know) the Sadducees of Jesus day rejected the concept of a resurrection and an afterlife. But did you know that the High Priest and his family were all Sadducees? The spiritual shepherds of Israel during the time of Christ and the Early Church did not even believe in an afterlife. Pretty astounding to think about, isn’t it? And so you can begin to understand then why so much of their focus was on the here and now; why the focus of their concern was on their danger from Rome (losing their position, their place); how their perspective was always temporal. Because that is all they believed in.

He’s Moving!!!— Once a Pharisee, a Scribe, and a Sadducee were once discussing what they would like people to say after they die and their bodies are on display in open caskets. Pharisee: “I would like someone to say, ‘He was a righteous man, an honest man, and very generous.’” Scribe: “I would like someone to say, ‘He was very kind and fair, and he was very good to his parishioners.’” Sadducee: “I want someone to say ‘LOOK! HE’S MOVING!!’”] When you’re a Sadducee, that’s how it is. There’s nothing else you’d wish for because (for you) there’s no afterlife!

Beliefs of the Sadducees— Contrary to the Pharisees (a rival faction) […the Sadducees denied the resurrection of the dead (Mt 22:23 – 33; Ac 4:1 – 2 ; 23:6 – 8 ), the immortality of the soul, the doctrine of reward and punishment and the validity of the oral law (regulations passed down by rabbinic tradition). They accepted as binding only those laws based directly upon the written text of the Pentateuch {(Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy)}. It is for this reason that Jesus defended the doctrine of the resurrection to them from the standpoint of Exodus 3:6 rather than from the prophets (Mt 22:32).], who were much clearer on the resurrection. Now, as we see in the Gospels (and we see here and in and later in the book of Acts as well), the Sadducees vehemently defended their beliefs, which is why they seize Peter and John. It says they were…

Acts 4:2-4 (ESV)— 2 greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

Reading Them Their Rights— So they arrest Peter and John, and not doubt read them their rights in typical Sadducee fashion: [You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say will be misquoted then used against you.] Unfortunately that seems so often to be the case in and throughout the book of Acts (not to mention the ministry of Jesus). And it says…

Acts 4:5-6 (ESV)— 5 On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 

Why Annas and not Caiaphas?— Now you may be wondering why (instead of Caiaphas) this guy [Annas is designated as high priest. {Well} (Much like U.S. presidents, high priests seem to have retained their title for life.) He had served in that role earlier (A.D. 6–15) and was the controlling figure in the high-priestly circle, which may also explain why he is given the title here. His son-in-law Caiaphas was the official high priest at this time (serving A.D. 18–36), and Annas’s son John would serve in the role later (36–37).] Now this was not how things ought to be, because essentially what this meant was that [The court was essentially composed of the high priest’s family. The Jewish religious system had become so corrupt that the offices were {simply} passed from one relative to another.…In fact, five of Annas’s sons held the office of High Priest at one time or another. Somebody has defined a “nepotist” as “a man who, being evil, knows how to give good gifts to his children.” Annas certainly qualified.] Now it says in…

Acts 4:7 (ESV)— 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 

A Right to Investigate— Now what is going on here is not unusual. [This was an official meeting of the Sanhedrin (Acts 4:15).… {And} The Sanhedrin {was the Jewish court of the land that} was charged with the responsibility of protecting the Jewish faith, and this meant that they had to examine every new teacher and teaching that appeared in the land (see Deut. 13).] And that is not in and of itself a bad thing. A lot of times when John the Baptist or Jesus was questioned, it wasn’t always malicious. Sometimes they were just being tested to see if what they were teaching matched what the scriptures teach. And the Sadducees certainly had the right to investigate this new movement and to enquire as to what this new teaching was and on what authority Peter and John (not to mention Jesus) were preaching. The problem is that they weren’t do so honestly. They arrested innocent men and ignored the evidence presented in their favor. And they had done the same with Jesus. Keep in mind, this was [the same council that a few months before had condemned Jesus to die. In fact, these officials recognized Peter and John as the associates of Jesus (Acts 4:13).] And they had done everything wrong at that trial. You will notice here that (because it was evening) they postponed the meeting until the morning. That was how things were always supposed to be done. But remember that Jesus had been tried at night, which was actually against Jewish law. They were law-breakers. And their willingness to subvert justice is seen here as well, as (despite the miracle) they [did everything they could to avoid admitting that a miracle had taken place (Acts 4:14).] Note that in verse 7 they say “By what power or by what name did you do this?” It’s interesting that (publicly) [They were evasive and merely referred to the miracle as “this.”] It is only later in v. 16 that (in private amongst themselves) they acknowledge it is as a notable sign.

Avoiding Christ’s Lordship— And so here are a group of guys who are trying to avoid the full reality of what has taken place; they are trying to deny that it truly is God who is at work through Peter and John. And as we will see next week, Peter has no problem telling them exactly whose name is the source of this healing. But of course they will not want to accept that because if God is at work through them, then their message is validated; and therefore their indictment against them would stand. Remember the same thing had happened to Jesus. The religious authorities always seemed to avoid what the signs Jesus was performing actually pointed to; that He truly was the Son of God. Because if Jesus is more than just a man speaking on His own behalf; if He is the Son of God speaking with all of the authority of God, then His indictment against of their sin would stand. And you know, the same is true today. People don’t want to look too closely at the person and works of Jesus or the evidence that supports His divine claims because if He truly is who He claimed to be, then He has authority over my life. And we don’t like that. We want to be in authority over our own lives. Even us Christians can often fall into (as we begin the New Year) this mentality of “This year I’m going to take the bull by the horns and achieve all the things I want to accomplish.” Now it’s not wrong to want to become a better person. That is what Christianity is all about. But it is amazing how quickly we can go from the manger (to a celebration of Christ being born into our existence to bring the very presence and authority of God into our flesh) to thinking that we are going to take better control of our own lives. There is something missing in the lives of many Christians; and that is the sincere belief that Jesus truly is Lord of your life and mine. But if we make Him Lord this coming year, His favor will abide on us and He will see fit to grant us success in those things we purse that are in keeping with His Lordship. And so let us this year seek to (in every way) honor Jesus Christ as the Lord of our lives. Let’s do so. Amen.