Acts 4:1-22 Challenge to human authority Fintry, 5/1/2003, am ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Take me to your leader! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Famous SF catch-phrase! - "Take me to your leader!" - I think its Daleks, Dr Who, line whenever they wanted to conquer somewhere... - For we know that who's in charge, who has the power, who has authority - it matters - The passage we are looking at this morning is all about power: - indeed, all about a contest between two powers! - On the one hand, human and religious power, and on the other hand God's power working through the disciples Human & Religious Power ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Remind ourselves of the human and religious power first: - Romans in real charge in Palestine; - much resented by populace, but accommodated to some degree; - Jewish leadership really rests in the religious leaders, the Temple priests, the Sadducees and the Pharisees - in particular, the Sanhedrin, the ruling council, was where decisions were taken - within the Sanhedrin there would be priests, Sadducees, Pharisees, hard-liners and moderates, fanatics and pragmatists... - religious leaders accommodated Romans, tolerated them to retain the limited autonomy they did enjoy - Palestine volatile; revolt never far away: - ancient Jewish faith tolerated by the Romans, but any sects, any breakaways stamped on hard!! - interpreted as a more explicit threat to the authority of Rome, the name of the Emperor Sensitive time!! ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - People in power wanting to cling on to it, to control other people! - this is the worst side of human, and even religious power - power that is rooted in fallen human hearts - power that issues in essentially selfish ways Power to Heal ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Its into this cauldron that the healing of the lame man in chapter 3, through Peter and John's ministry, comes: - and comes as a challenge! - for the healing was in the name of Jesus Christ, one who the human powers had sought to stamp out, annihilate - but whose disciples hadn't rolled over and given up when the leader was executed! - in fact, they claimed he was alive! - These disciples come saying, "You're power is a false power - real authority does not belong to you, but to Jesus!" - Demonstrably the name of Jesus has power to heal: - v.10 - "stands before you healed" - v.16 - "Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it" - v.22 - "For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old." (ie, past it and even harder to heal!) - A power that the religious and human authorities did not possess Power to Save ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - Peter goes on to make the obvious connection: - if Jesus' Name is able to heal, it is able to save too! - He is no mere wonder worker, now departed - He is alive and his power is still at work! - Before Jesus died he healed, not to draw attention to himself but: - (a) out of compassion for those in need - (b) as a sign of the kingdom's arrival, a kingdom of wholeness, of compassion - If he is still healing, that Kingdom is still present... and he is its King, the Saviour, the Messiah! - So the one who these self-same religious authorities rejected in the most final manner, having him crucified, is the one who now bridges the gap between God and man: - Roman viaducts - arches - capstone holds the weight of the stone, makes the connection - Jesus is that capstone, that connection between God and man - In him alone is the power to defeat sin, conquer death: - and there is no question that his power is up to the task! Power to Speak ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - The power that was at work in Peter and John was not simply the spectacular (healing), or the fundamental, under the surface power to save them: - it was also a power that transformed the disciples; - they were markedly different because of their contact with Jesus - what stood out for the well educated religious authorities was their courage to stand before the council and speak out - they were unschooled, ordinary men - possibly unable to read, with very little access to anything outside their own direct experience - and yet "stumping" the Sanhedrin!! Conclusion ----------------------------------------------------------------------- - At the end of this incident, the debate is still raging: - we'll meet more of it in future weeks... - the power of the Sanhedrin, or the power of Jesus? - who will you trust? - Some decided one way (v.4, many who heard the message believed), others another (v.2 "they were greatly disturbed") - but the challenge is on the table, decision time is coming, which way will we go? - will we be those who put our trust in the power of institutions, government, networking, grant awarding bodies, even the power of the people who make up a community? - the power of human effort... - or will we be those who put our trust in the power of God, the power of God to heal, to work in the reality of a person's life, the power of God to save, to free from sin and restore relationship with God, and the power of God to transform us, here to empower to speak? - Take me to your leader.... - (v.13) "they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus"...