Peter has been presenting the gospel of Jesus Christ to those who have gathered around him at the temple after he healed a lame man. When the religious leaders find out he is preaching in the name of Jesus, they have him arrested along with John.
Peter reminds the crowd that Moses predicted a prophet who would arise from among the people, and he presents this prophet to them as the Messiah who is Jesus Christ. "For Moses said, 'The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything He tells you. Anyone who does not listen to Him will be completely cut off from their people.'" (Acts 3:22-23) Peter quotes from Deuteronomy 18:15-19, a passage his listeners know well. They have not likely equated the prophet with the Messiah, but there are a large number of similarities between the life of Jesus Christ and the life of Moses. Both were from the nation of Israel, both gave up positions of prominence for the sake of Israel, both were sent to lead and deliver the nation of Israel, both performed great miracles, and both made intercession between God and man. There are far more similarities than these, and Bible scholar James Coffman provides a wonderful example of them in his commentary on Hebrews 3 if you would like to Google it. It's quite lengthy so we won't include it here, but it is available for your further reading if you'd like to look it up.
Peter is telling the people that this prophet foretold by Moses is the Messiah, the man known as Jesus of Nazareth, and that through Him they can find salvation. He continues, "Indeed, beginning with Samuel, all the prophets who have spoken have foretold these days. And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, 'Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.' When God raised up His servant, He sent Him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways." (Acts 3:24-26) He urges the people to search the Scriptures; everything they need to know about the promised Messiah is there. If they study them now, in the light of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, they can see that these prophecies were fulfilled in the One who once chastised the religious leaders for failing to accept what was written about Him, "You study the Scriptures diligently because you think that in them you have eternal life. These are the very Scriptures that testify about Me, yet you refuse to come to Me to have life." (John 5:39-40) Peter invites his listeners, "Check all this out for yourselves! Read the prophecies about the Messiah and see if they don't line up with the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. You don't have to just take my word for it; take the word of men like Moses and Samuel and Isaiah and King David. They will tell you what to look for in a Messiah. Does anyone other than Jesus of Nazareth meet all the requirements?"
It's at this point that Peter's sermon is interrupted by the enemies of Jesus who thought that with the death of Jesus this new "movement" in Israel would come to a halt. Instead it appears to be gathering speed. "The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead." (Acts 4:1-2)
In our world today, there are still those who become "greatly disturbed" when we proclaim in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. We can mention God without stirring up too much resistance. After all, most cultures throughout history have had a "god" or "gods", and unbelievers aren't very troubled by the notion that many of their fellow citizens on earth believe in some type of higher power. But when we begin to proclaim Jesus Christ as the Son of God, and when we present the facts of His life and death and resurrection, and when we tell a lost world that Jesus is the only way to salvation---we need to be prepared for some opposition. A message like that is going to disturb some people. A message like that is going to stir up anger and even, in some cases, an irrational and unreasonable and rabid hatred. Why is the name of Jesus so contentious? Because, "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved." (Acts 4:1-2)
We can talk about a "god" or "gods" all day long and unbelievers will be able to shrug their shoulders and agree to disagree. But mention the specific name of Jesus Christ, and tell the world that He is the only way to heaven, and Satan is going to do everything he can to keep unbelievers from coming to faith. He is going to play on their every prejudice and insecurity so that they not only look down on those of us who believe in Christ, but so they feel an active hatred toward us. If you don't believe me, go on any of the major news network websites and read the comments that some people post under anything that has to do with the Christian religion. It will scare you. There are those who believe all Christians should be wiped from the earth. They no longer simply view us as being a little bit off in the head, but they now view us as dangerous, which is the attitude the religious leaders have toward the apostles in the book of Acts.
"They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day." (Acts 4:3) These two apostles are seized and arrested without any charges being brought against them. The only "crime" they've committed is to heal a man who has been crippled his whole life and to preach that his healing came through Jesus Christ who has been raised from the dead. The religious leaders want to put a stop to this message as quickly as possible. They have no idea what happened to the body of Jesus of Nazareth. They don't know why His followers claim He is alive. They don't know how Peter managed to heal a crippled man in the name of Jesus. But one thing they do know: they need to nip this movement in the bud before it grows any larger.
It's too late though. "But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand." (Acts 4:4) Amen! On the day of Pentecost there were three thousand saved and in our passage today two thousand more come to faith. In addition to the men who believed I think we can safely conclude that many of their family members came to faith through their testimonies, so this means the men went home and told the gospel of Jesus Christ to their wives and children and extended family members. Satan is unable to stop the formation of the church in the days of the apostles. He's been unable to stop it ever since. He's always going to be unable to prevent people from coming to faith in the Lord Jesus. Jesus Christ is still saving souls and no power on earth or in hell can stand against Him.
Our worship song link for today is below. It's one of my favorite current Christian songs and I hope you enjoy it. It talks about the beautiful and powerful name of Jesus.
What A Beautiful Name
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