EPISODE 49 ACTS Chapter 3 "The Lull Before The Storm"

Thank you for joining us for this edition of Share the Word, the podcast that explains the big ideas in the New Testament chapter by chapter. In chapter 3, the apostle Peter publicly challenges the people and leaders of Jerusalem to rethink their attitude towards Jesus. Let's get started. Acts chapter 3: Lull Before the Storm. Hi, and welcome back to Share the Word, the best way to learn the big ideas in the New Testament one chapter at a time. Right now, we're learning about the birth and earliest years of Christianity.

If you're joining us for the first time, welcome. If you'd like to catch up to this moving train, all our prior podcasts are available, by the way, in an archive you can find at www.sharetheword.org. It almost always helps, I've found, to see the beginning of a movie. In the same way, if you start at the beginning of Share the Word, you'll get the whole story of the New Testament. Currently, we're working our way through the Book of Acts, which is a history of the first three decades of Christianity, from approximately 33 A.D. to the early 60s A.D. This was a remarkable period of growth and powerful experiences, but also one of growing opposition, as we'll see.

We just saw in chapter 2 that on the birthday of the church, the Jewish holiday called Pentecost in 33 A.D., around 3,000 people responded to a powerful speech by the apostle Peter made in Jerusalem. And just like that, the number of Christians in Judea jumped from about 120 at the time of Jesus' ascension to well over 3,000 in a matter of a couple weeks. And remember, that explosive growth happened right there in Jerusalem, where his physical resurrection, after a very public execution, was witnessed by many, many people. It was pretty impossible to explain these things away. On that point, a couple Easters ago, I watched a documentary about all of this that's claimed to be factually based. I was curious how it would describe and explain the birth of Christianity.

It was based on a best-selling book titled Killing Jesus. At first, I was liking the approach and accurate development of the story as I saw it, but by the end, I was really annoyed. I actually had to let my frustrations out somehow, and since no one was around but my dog, and I like my dog, I went to Facebook and let out my frustrations there on whoever might come across my post. And here's what I wrote that night. I just watched Killing Jesus based on the best-selling book by Bill O'Reilly and Jason Dugard. I generally liked its portrayal of Jesus, and I liked the fact that in the epilogue, it told about what happened to the main characters who played a role in the death of Jesus, as well as detailing how his disciples took the good news to Rome, India, North Africa, etc., several of them ultimately giving up their lives as martyrs spreading the gospel.

But the documentary never once explained what the gospel is. And even more disappointing, head-scratching really, it showed no resurrection of Jesus or scenes portraying any of the resurrection appearances of Jesus, only a mysterious depiction of an empty tomb. The writers, I think, missed the biggest point: the gospel, that is, that those who put their faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior will be forgiven of their sins and made right with God based on his substitutionary atonement on the cross. That's the good news, because his resurrection proved he was who he claimed to be. It's good news because Jesus, the Son of God and man, defeated death for all of us.

The reason the disciples were willing to lay down their lives spreading that good news over a period of forty days they had seen and handled and interacted with the risen Lord many times, convincing them beyond any shadow of a doubt that he really had conquered the grave. The nascent Christian faith didn't grow from a handful of peasants in an obscure outpost in the Roman Empire into the largest religion on the planet based on a mysterious empty tomb and good imaginations. It exploded onto the world scene because those who had believed in him, and even some who hadn't, encountered a very alive Jesus with crucifixion scars still fresh in his body that first Easter Sunday, and for forty more days after that until he ascended.

Nothing less than that incontrovertible proof can account for the changed lives of those who founded Christianity, nor for its sudden, uncontainable impact on the world. That's what I posted. Hope Bill O'Reilly read it. I hope it crossed his Facebook feed. Chapter three, where we find ourselves today, I think of as the lull before the storm. Are you familiar with that expression, the lull before the storm is when it's all quiet, too quiet, too calm maybe, and you sense a big storm is building and is about to break out at any time.

The opponents of Jesus, the powerful leaders of the temple and on the Sanhedrin council, are very aware of what has just happened. Thousands of people had responded to the apostles' testimony about Jesus being the Savior based on his resurrection. Publicly, thousands of people had been baptized in Jerusalem. I'm sure the opponents of Jesus were meeting feverishly discussing how they should react to this. The storm clouds were gathering. But in chapter 3, we're still in the lull before the storm, before the opposition breaks out.

The apostles were still openly and boldly carrying on their ministry of preaching and teaching about Jesus right in the temple precinct, which you know had to make the Jewish leaders just crazy. They'd assumed killing Jesus would stop this movement, but many new converts were accepting him and joining the Christian movement every day. Chapter 3 tells how Peter and John, two of Jesus' most prominent apostles, were heading up to the temple one afternoon around 3 p.m. Remember, apostle in the New Testament is this unique foundational office Jesus bestowed on those he chose to be his special representatives, and he gave them a measure of his power and authority in order to establish the Christian church. As these two made their way to the temple, Luke tells how they came across a crippled man who was being carried along by some others.

They were taking him to his usual station inside the temple courtyard. He was a fixture at one of the gates there where he begged for alms from arriving worshipers. What better location and what better time for a disabled person to ask for help than when people were coming up to the temple area to pray and worship? As Peter and John passed by him, he asked the apostles if they would give him some money. Peter stopped and looked at him and said, Friend, I don't have any silver or gold, but what I do have, I will give to you. And he reached out his hand and he grasped this crippled beggar's hand and he said, In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, walk.

And he helped him to his feet. And immediately the man's twisted ankles and lifeless feet were made completely whole. He began jumping, Luke says, and running around praising God. Not exactly typical normal temple behavior, I don't think. And it drew a lot of attention. Many people there quickly realized that this was the crippled fellow who always sat there begging.

So you can imagine what a reaction this caused. People were amazed, wondering how he was able to now be jumping around. What happened? Peter and John continued into the temple area to one of the porticos, a covered pavilion there where they could teach. If you can picture this, once inside the temple's outer gates, there were different courtyards where specific groups were allowed to go. There was an open court of the Gentiles where anyone could come to learn about Israel's faith.

Then there was a court of women where Jewish women could come for worship and prayer. And then there was, closer to the temple, a courtyard for Jewish men that they could enter. Then a much smaller one, only the priests could enter, where the sacrifices were made. Peter and John chose the area anyone could enter, the open courtyard of the Gentiles. We saw in the Gospels Jesus also taught in this same place, and the healed man followed them in there, no doubt smiling from ear to ear and still jumping around, praising God for what had happened with him. People who recognized him gathered around as word spread about this amazing miracle.

So Peter again seized the opportunity as this crowd gathered to put the spotlight where it belonged, on Jesus. He told the gathering curious crowd, Don't imagine that John and I can heal anyone, or that we are holier than you and so have some special power given to us because of our piety. No, it was on the basis of faith in Jesus and the power in his name that this man now stands before you in perfect health. It's clear that Peter correctly did not want the focus to be on him as a healer, or even on the healing miracle itself, but on the one whose power made it possible. He wanted to direct his audience's attention to Jesus, who he is, and their need to accept him as their Messiah and Savior. Here's what Peter said on that occasion: The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has glorified his servant Jesus.

You handed him over to be killed. You disowned him before Pilate, though he had decided to let him go. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked that a murderer be released to you instead, Barabbas, remember? You killed the author of life. Nevertheless, God raised him from the dead, and we are witnesses of this. It was by faith in that man, Jesus, in his name, that the man you see before us now was made strong again.

It is in Jesus' name and the faith that comes through him that has completely healed him, as you can all see, as you can all see. What Peter wanted them not to miss was that this healing miracle was another sign pointing directly to Jesus' real identity. I believe, although there was quite a crowd gathered now, Peter was speaking directly to those who had been Jesus' most determined opponents, the religious elites who ran the temple. They are the ones who dragged him to the Roman governor Pilate. They are the ones who incited a mob to demand the criminal Barabbas be released. Right in their space, Peter boldly declares, You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead, and we are witnesses of it.

He insisted the healing miracle that just occurred moments before was a testimony to Jesus' real identity, power, and authority. By the way, Peter used the term name for the totality of Jesus' true identity, all he really is. So when he said it was by faith in Jesus' name, he meant, It's because of my faith in all that Jesus really is that this man you see before you has been miraculously healed. The terms Peter used here to describe Jesus were each full of meaning to his intended audience, the temple leaders and religious Jews there that day. When he said that it was the God of their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who glorified his servant Jesus, that is all terminology directly drawn from the Old Testament.

The Messiah is referred to repeatedly in the Old Testament as the servant of the Lord, Isaiah chapter 52 and 53 in particular describe in detail the suffering of the servant of the Lord. Remember, this was prophetic scripture written 700 years before Jesus' time. So Peter is explaining that this one they had killed was in fact the promised Messiah, the suffering servant of the Lord Isaiah had written about, who had come and given his life as an atonement for sins, and whose sacrifice was accepted by God, proved by his resurrection from the dead. Peter also calls Jesus the Holy and Righteous One. This was another direct appeal to Old Testament prophecy being fulfilled. David had written in the 16th Psalm that the early Christians understood to be messianic.

By that I mean something in the Old Testament that looked forward to the time of the Messiah's life and ministry. David wrote, You will not abandon my soul to Sheol, the place of dead. You will not allow your Holy One to undergo decay. We saw in the Gospels of John and Luke that the demons recognized Jesus as the Holy One of God. And the disciples came to know that that was his true identity too. But the temple leaders disowned and rejected him, even preferring to release a violent criminal over him, the Holy and Righteous One.

That's an apt and necessary description of Jesus. It's only because, in fact, he was perfectly holy and righteous that he is qualified to be our Savior. The great transaction that occurred at the cross was that our sins were laid on this perfectly holy and righteous One, so that we could be set free from the penalty of our sins through his substitutionary death for us. This is exactly what the apostles were claiming here, that Jesus' death was a substitutionary atonement wherein God sacrificed the only ever truly holy and righteous One for all of us. As the apostle Paul states in 2 Corinthians 5:21, God made Christ, who never sinned, to become the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with him. And the third thing Peter calls Jesus here is the Author of life.

You killed the Author of life, he charged. Again, this is who the early Christians came to understand Jesus to be, as outlandish as that sounds. He was the actual Author of life, the Originator of life, the Creator. Isn't that exactly what John wrote at the beginning of his Gospels when he said, All things were made by him, and apart from him nothing has been made that was made? So how absurd was it when you think about it, the reality of what happened. The temple leaders were determined to try and destroy Jesus, the very Author of life.

Death couldn't hold him. The grave could never keep him in its grip. Jesus was life itself, and it was that same power, in the name of Jesus, who he essentially is, the one who had overcome death in the grave that had just restored this crippled man's limbs they now saw before them. This is the connection Peter was drawing and directing them to see and to make, and urging them to admit that it was true and to accept it. Starting in verse 17, Luke tells us that Peter's sermon then turned more conciliatory. He said, Friends, I realize that what you and your leaders did to Jesus was done in ignorance, that God was fulfilling what all the prophets had foretold about the Messiah, that he must suffer these things.

But now repent of your sins and turn to God so that your sins may be wiped away. Then the times of refreshment will come from the presence of the Lord, and he will again send Jesus, your appointed Messiah, for he must remain in heaven until the time for the final restoration of all things, as God promised long ago through his holy prophets. This was actually a pretty generous take, don't you think? Peter wasn't looking to further antagonize Israel's leaders. He was actually appealing to them to rethink all that had happened. He said, in effect, Yes, you didn't recognize Jesus as the promised Messiah, and when you killed him, you may have been acting out of ignorance.

But now, in view of all that's happened and the facts I'm laying out, that is, that Jesus fulfilled so many promises of the prophets, that his death was actually a part of God's plan to make a sacrifice for sin, and especially in view of his resurrection, which many of us have witnessed, which nobody can refute, don't you think it would be wise to repent and return to God? Don't you think the wise course at this point, with all you know now, would be to turn around and accept Jesus, the one God has sent? If you'll do that, your sins will be wiped away.

It's clear from the things Peter goes on to say that he fully believed that, even after all that had happened, if Israel's leaders would turn around that day and accept Jesus as their Messiah, not only would they be forgiven by God, but that their turnaround, he thought, could possibly trigger Jesus' return to establish his messianic kingdom, which is what they all wanted to see. That's exactly what he's referring to in verses 20 and 21 when he uses terms like the times of refreshment and the final restoration of all things. Those were terms the Jews used for the messianic kingdom that they were looking for. But Peter didn't fully yet understand God's plans for building his church in the meantime, a people for himself, not just Jews in Jerusalem or even in Israel, but a people for himself of all nations and language groups.

But we'll see the understanding of that grew in Peter's head as Acts develops. This chapter closes with him trying to explain what he and the other early Christians came to understand from the events surrounding Jesus' life, death, and resurrection, from their digging into the Old Testament to see how it all fulfilled what the prophets had written. As for Israel's leaders, though, they, for the most part, remained unmoved by Peter's appeals, even maybe hardening in their position against Jesus, as his followers will soon see, beginning in chapter 4. Please join us next time as the storm begins to break and opposition to the early Christians begins in earnest. What effect will persecution have on them? How will the followers of Jesus react?

We're about to find out. If you're enjoying learning Christianity's beginnings, we hope you will share this podcast with some of your friends who may be interested to understand the Bible better too. You can help us share the Word and fulfill Jesus' Great Commission. Just take a moment to do that and forward this podcast to your friends and family. Tell them the interesting story of Christianity as you've heard it so far, and ask them to join us going forward. This has been Paul for Share the Word.

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