The Acts of the Apostles 11

Subtitle: Peter Preaches Again

Acts 3:11-16.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on July 31, 2022.

The healing of the lame man at Gate Beautiful creates quite a stir on the temple mount as news of the healing spreads throughout the crowds.  Peter and John end up under what is variously called Solomon’s Porch, or Colonnade, or even Portico.  This puts them on the east side of the Temple mount under a roofed series of columns that was open towards the Temple.

The lame man is clinging to them.  It appears that he is excited and no doubt there are levels of hugging and not wanting to be separated from them.  Let’s say that he is most likely in a level of shock.

It is not clear how long this takes place after the Day of Pentecost excitement, but it seems to be a matter of days to weeks.  Acts chapter 2 ended with several general statements about that first group of believers that sets up this healing and preaching.  First, we are told that “many wonders and signs were done through the apostles,” and that they were meeting daily with each other in the temple.

Let’s look at Peter’s words to the crowd.

Peter contrasts their actions with God’s

Peter walks through the events with Jesus, but you will notice there is a sense that follows this pattern.  You did this and yet, God did that.  Or, we could state it as, God did this, and yet, you did that.  This will lead up to the reality that they need to repent and believe upon Jesus, but more on that next week.

The first focus is on the action of the crowd.  We are told that they are “greatly amazed” and “marveled” while looking intently at Peter and John.  They are giving more attention to Peter and John than they should be because they don’t understand the connection to Jesus.  Peter is going to be very careful to turn their eyes back to Jesus by verse 16.

This is a classic error whenever God does something either miraculous, or simply changing the order of things within a group.  We can become overly focused on the person or people through whom God is operating.  In this case, God is using a righteous man to do a good thing.  However, God can also use wicked people for discipline and to draw people to repentance.

We must not think that Jesus is inactive in heaven today.  All authority and power on earth has been given to him.  Just as we saw that it is he who was, and still is, pouring out the Holy Spirit upon believers, so too when history changes, it is by the authority of Jesus that it occurs.  We must never forget this aspect.  Whether great good, or great judgment, we must always humble ourselves and seek what the Lord Jesus is saying through the events, rather than obsessing on those through whom the events come.  When good happens, he gets all the glory.  When bad things happen (according to our perspective), we must humble ourselves before him in order to understand what he is saying, what his plan is through this.

Verse 13 points to the fact that God the Father had glorified Jesus before them.  I believe that Peter is making a similar point as he did in chapter 2 when he said that God had attested Jesus to them through miracles, wonders, and signs.  In this case, he uses the verb glorified.  We can also add to this the angelic visitations that occurred around his birth.  However, most of this was during the 3 ½ years of the ministry of Jesus.  Notice that this is what God had done.

He reminds them that this is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.  The same God who spoke with them and did amazing things before them, was speaking to them now.  Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are commended because they believed God and followed Him in faith. 

Jesus is also described as “His Servant.”  All of the righteous of any age are in simplest terms, servants of God.  Jesus had come to serve God’s purposes, and that purpose involved serving Israel, and then the Gentile nations.  Jesus had come from God to powerfully serve them, and God the Father had been faithful to make it clear to them that Jesus was approved by Him.  Yet, how did they respond to that?

They had delivered Jesus up and denied him before Pilate.  God had given Jesus to them, and they in turn, handed him over to the Gentiles for execution.  God had testified to them that Jesus was from Him, but they testified that he was not.  The word “denied” has the sense of speaking against someone.  They did these things over the top of Pilate deciding that Jesus should be released.  This is not to say that Pilate is a righteous man. 

Peter makes this point even more pointed by calling Jesus the Holy and Righteous One.  Jesus had done no sin among them, was set apart by God for His purposes for them.  Jesus was The Holy and Righteous One, but they refused to stand with him, as the Father was doing.  This was not the actions of the Patriarchs!

Even worse, they had asked for a murderer to live and for Jesus to be killed.  They would rather a wicked person live than the righteous Jesus.  Peter gives Jesus the title Prince of Life to hammer home the horrifying nature of what they had done.  The word “Prince” here is not a word that refers to a king’s son who has no power yet.  It refers to the principal leader, and has connotations that go back to Daniel 9:25, which speaks of Messiah, the Prince (or “Leading One”).  Jesus is the source of life due to the fact that he was the principal agent of creation.  However, he has now become the principal agent of salvation, which offers life to those who have become entangled in sin and its resultant death, both in this life and the next.  Jesus is not just dispensing life.  He is both the source, and the only one who can lead us into true life!

Imagine having the One who is life and leads to life being killed while asking for a murderer who is his opposite.  Also, imagine doing all this while claiming to be the righteous ones of this world.  This is not a Jewish problem either.  The irony is particularly heavy in the events Peter describes, and yet every generation that has ever faced the man Jesus must answer as well.  Who are you really?  What will you do with Jesus, his message, and his people?  No matter how many moral cloaks the nations of this world put on, they one by one fall into the same pattern as Israel in the first century.  However, we have the added guilt of having an example clearly set before us.

They had killed Jesus, but God raised Jesus from the dead.  Peter and the other disciples were witnesses to this reality.  Jesus is not dead.  He is still alive!  Their plan didn’t work then, and it won’t work today.  God was overturning their decision.  However, it is better put in this way.  They had been trying to overturn God’s decision to send them Jesus the Prince of Life.  You can’t kill the source of life.  You will only end up destroying yourself.

The decision that this world is making, to ignore Jesus and make a better world without him, cannot overcome the decision of God the Father.  He has installed Jesus as King over heaven and earth.  Not only do we fight against this at our own peril, but ironically, we reject the only one who can lead us into life, and a better world.  Rather, we build upon a foundation of murder and death.  This cannot end well.

Are we not putting Holiness and Righteousness to death in our society?  In fact, are not many religious leaders and people today joining in this through redefining what is holy and righteous?  Can we not see ourselves in this mirror that the Lord Jesus has given to the world through Israel?  Yet, the true question for all of us is this.  What am I doing in my heart and in my mind?  God help my heart to humble down and follow Jesus so that I might know true holiness, true righteousness, and the true life that only he can give.

This brings us full circle.  In verse 16, Peter ties back to the crowd looking at him and John as if they had done this.  This healing of the lame man can only be credited to this same Jesus they had crucified.  What amazing grace.  They had crucified him, but Jesus was now still performing miracles in their midst.  Jesus had given this man the ability to walk, and to leap, and to praise God! 

This sentence comes across into English a bit clumsily.  However, Peter points to Jesus in three ways.  First, the name of Jesus has healed this man.  Peter does not mean this as if saying the name works like a mantra.  This is the pagan concept of “words of power.”  Jesus did not come to reveal some kind of hidden word of power that now heals people. 

In Hebrew thought, a man’s name had the sense of his reputation, which Western culture has picked up through the Bible.  We speak of a man having a good name in the community.  However, it also included the power and authority of the person.  Thus, Peter is saying that it is the power and authority of Jesus that has done this miracle.  Let us never forget that any powerful work of God is completely by the power and authority of Jesus.  This is foundational.  Without Jesus authorizing it and empowering it, nothing can be done, even by a person who has been powerfully used by God in the past.  No man should ever be given credit, or gazed at in amazement as if they had done it.  This is a huge problem within any group.  Pentecostals can be overly enamored with those whom they believe God is working powerful miracles through.  However, even other groups can be enamored with leaders that they believe God is powerfully using in more natural things. 

Let me repeat, no person should ever be given the credit.  They cannot do anything without Jesus authorizing and empowering it.  Also, let us dispense with the idea that Jesus gave a blank check authorization and empowerment to his people to do anything that they can have faith for.  There are seasons in which God is doing different things.  Even the most righteous must learn to walk in humility before God and cooperate with what He is doing.  The Church has continued to fail in this whole category.  We can blame it on the leaders, but the source of the problem is in the hearts of the people, which tends to elevate the wrong kind of leaders in their midst.

The second thing Peter says in verse 16 is that this healing was done through faith in the power and authority of Jesus.  Yes, Peter was used by Christ to be an ambassador of the healing power of Jesus.  But, more importantly, Peter represents those who still had faith in the power and authority of Jesus, even though he had been executed.  Of course, the death of Jesus precipitated a crisis of faith for Peter.  However, the resurrected Lord not only forgave Peter, but cured him of ever thinking that he could tell Jesus what needed to happen next.  Jesus knew what he was doing.  This group of believers were marked by their faith in the person and power of Jesus, not just what he did in the past, but also in what he is doing right now!

The third thing Peter says in verse 16 is that the faith that comes through Jesus had healed this man.  In a sense, Peter is saying that even his faith in Jesus had come to him through Jesus.  Peter is taking no credit for this.  He knew himself.  He knew that he would have not done anything if Jesus had given up on him, and hadn’t faithfully taught him.  Without the grace of Jesus, Peter would still be on the Sea of Galilee fishing.

May we be a people who are letting Jesus teach us and give us faith in him, so that we might be a conduit of the power and authority of Jesus.  Whether that is displayed in healings and powerful works is not our worry.  Our only focus is faithfulness, courage, and keeping our eyes upon him.

Today, we might accuse Peter of not being sensitive to people.  Yet, truth must risk offense, especially when eternity is on the line.  Notice this contrast between what God is doing and what they were doing.  This is the point today.  Always the challenge is keeping in step with what God is doing, rather than following the figment of our imaginations in the wrong direction.

Peter Preaches Again I audio

The Acts of the Apostles 6

Subtitle: Peter Preaches to the Crowd II

Acts 2:22-24.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on June 26, 2022.

Today, we continue with Peter’s address to the crowd following the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on the disciples of Jesus almost 2,000 years ago.

As a quick reminder, Peter is essentially answering the question that the crowd has.  “What does this mean?”  He starts by countering the mockers who were saying that they were just drunk.  After this, he points them to the Promise of God in Joel 2:28-32.  There God promises to pour out His Holy Spirit upon all people in the last days.

Let’s look at our passage and continue Peter’s message.

The Holy Spirit Speaks through Peter (22-24)

In these verses, Peter explains how this outpouring of the Holy Spirit is connected to what happened with Jesus, especially the events concluding 50 days prior to Pentecost.

The religious authorities felt that they had dealt with the “Jesus-Problem” once and for all.  Of course, Jesus isn’t actually a problem.  Jesus is a solution, salvation.  Their true problem was that his activity and words kept highlighting how unrighteous they had become.  It is only a problem for the proud who refuse to admit that they need to repent.

Of course, within a matter of three days rumors began circulating in Jerusalem that Jesus had risen from the dead.  The tomb was empty and the guards had no helpful explanation of how Jesus escaped their watch.

During these 50 days, the disciples basically kept a low profile due to the fact that they were fearful of the authorities, and Jesus had been appearing to them.  Ultimately, he had told them to wait until this event of the outpouring of the Holy Spirit before they proceeded to spread the Gospel.

Now, we have this strange event on the Day of Pentecost.  What gives?  Peter gives the crowd understanding of how all of these events are connected and what God is doing through them.  They are not just random strange events that make no sense, if you understand what God is doing.  So what was God doing through Jesus?

In verse 22, Peter reminds the crowd that Jesus of Nazareth was no ordinary man.  He had been “attested by God” to Israel.  The word “attested” has the sense of proving something through demonstration.  God had publicly demonstrated to Israel that Jesus was an exceptional prophet, and that they should listen to him.  These public attestations, or proofs, were not done in a corner and hidden from anyone, and they were not mere tricks that could pull the wool over the eyes of simpletons.

Peter mentions that God used miracles to prove Jesus.  Miracles are acts of supernatural power.  He also mentions wonders and signs.  These are essentially the same thing, but seen from a different purpose.  A wonder is that which leaves your jaw dropped.  It is an amazing thing that gets your attention.  However, God is not in the business of merely trying to impress humans with what He can do.  These wonders have purpose and meaning.  They are signs that are intended to point us in the right direction, and even explain God’s purpose to some degree.

Peter also makes it clear that these miracles, wonders, and signs were done through Jesus.  This is not just saying Jesus was only a conduit.  Jesus is the effective agent on the ground by whom these things are being done.  Jesus had done many spectacular healings of people who had been blind and lame since birth, and these healings were immediately upon command.  He powerfully cast out demons that plagued individuals who could not be handled by others.  He fed 1,000’s in the wilderness with only a handful of food.  Probably the most amazing was his resurrection of Lazarus.  A man who had died, was buried for 4 days, and was brought back to life by Jesus on command, and in front of a crowd.

I could add on top of this that many of the things Jesus did parallel what God did through Moses and the children of Israel.  For the sake of time, I will just mention that there is a contrast to the 10 plagues of Egypt.  The waters were turned to blood in judgment of Egypt, but Jesus turns water into wine as a blessing.  The flies, lice, and gnats seem to be symbolic of demonic hordes that Jesus dismisses.  The death of the firstborn in Egypt is countered by the death of the Son of God who becomes the Lamb of God protecting us from the destroying angel.  He fed the people miraculous bread in the wilderness.  All of these things are signs that tell Israel that Jesus is the prophet that Moses had told them would come.  He was publicly proved by God.

How could the religious leaders reject such proofs?  We should issue a caution that even the apostles highlight in the New Testament.  Satan does have supernatural power though it pales in comparison to God.  2 Thessalonians 2:8-11 makes it clear that people who reject the love of the truth that God is trying to give them will become deluded by lying signs and wonders.  Thus, it is important to note that the only “sin” the religious leaders could pin on Jesus was that he put himself on a level with God that they felt was heretical.  Of course, Jesus points them back to the Scriptures they claimed to follow and neutralized their accusation (see Psalm 82 and John 10:33 and following).  Jesus was pointing people back to proper worship of God the Father in spirit and in truth, not superficial actions that covered lives that were anything but godly.

Peter in verse 22 says that Jesus was “delivered” over to them.  He was handed into their power.  From a standpoint of authority, Jesus is essentially their higher authority, so they would have no authority to do what they did.  From a standpoint of power, Jesus could not be seized by them and held without his cooperation.  He who created the universe can only be arrested, tried, and crucified if he allows it to happen.  In this sense, Judas is immaterial.  Yes, he opens the door for Jesus to be arrested in secret, but it is the purpose and plan of God the Father that puts Jesus under their power.  This is why Peter mentions God’s foreknowledge (He knows what people will choose to do before they do it), and His determined purpose.

Of course, the test of putting Jesus in their power is to prove publicly what they would do with the God they claim to worship if He came down to their level.  It is easy to say that you love and worship and invisible being, but if He comes down and becomes visible in a way that we can’t control, we may find that we don’t love Him nearly as much as we put on, if at all.  The shocking reality that they had executed a man whom God had publicly proved to them is being highlighted.

We should notice that, even though they made it look like they were merely following the Law, their hands were “lawless” (vs 23).  No number of judges, prosecutors, police, lawyers, military, politicians, etc. can make something righteous that God has defined as unrighteous.  In the name of law, we can become a lawless people.  Whether these are actions that are done under the color of law, i.e., we make it look like we are only following the law, or we make up laws that are contrary to God’s Law, i.e., the laws we follow themselves are lawless against God’s law, God will always bring such actions to account.

They had put Jesus to death, a public execution.  However, Peter declares that God raised up Jesus from the dead.  Essentially, God had overruled their decision and Pilate’s decision.  Jesus was raised up and freed from the “pains of death.”  This is not talking about the physical pain of dying.  Jesus experienced that to the hilt.  It could be translated the sorrows of death.  There is a sorrow of being separated from loved ones, and the fact that even righteous souls were held in the grave, unable to directly enter the presence of God.

Peter even states that it is not possible that He should be held by death (i.e., death and the resultant residence in the grave-Hades/She’ol).  Jesus is not just able to give life.  He is the source of all life and by definition could not be held by death, or Hades.  We might say that it would be impossible for God to truly die, and yet through the incarnation, it became possible for God to die a physical death.  Jesus took on the nature of a man so that he could truly die.  Thus, God could truly die and enter Hades, but Hades had no power to hold Him.  The Lord of Life could not stay among the dead.  Those righteous souls who had been held in the grave could now enter into God’s presence because Jesus had paid the price for their sins, for the atoning of their sins.  Jesus is quite unique among the righteous because he was the only one to enter into Hades who had never sinned.

We are going to press pause on Peter’s discourse for now.  Peter is going to point forward from the resurrection to the fact that Jesus is now seated at the right hand of the Father, and he is the one who is responsible for this outpouring of the Holy Spirit that they are witnessing.

Today, it may seem like this has no connection to our world, having happened so long ago.  However, we must ask what Jesus is doing now?  He is still pouring out the Holy Spirit upon those who believe upon him and want to serve him.  It is important for us as Christians to be focused upon the purpose and will of God, and to be empowered by the Holy Spirit he is giving.  However, if we are not expectant, repentant, and waiting upon the Lord, we can cruise through our life with a thin veneer of religiosity and not empowered by God’s Spirit.  Friend, don’t settle for being religious in your flesh.  Ask God each day to fill you with His Holy Spirit, and then share the good news of Jesus with a lost world that is in danger of judgment every day.

Peter Preaches II audio

The Lord of Life

Mark 16:1-14.  This sermon was preached on Resurrection Sunday by Pastor Marty Bonner on April 4, 2021.

There are those in the Church who only value Jesus as an inspiring tale of love and hope.  Similarly, they value the Bible as a text that can inspire us to great good, but which does not place any truth claims upon us.  To them, it is not important what the Bible claims to be true, but only what it inspires us to do.

If you have never run into such a person then be thankful.  The problem with this view is that it somehow thinks the greatest problem of mankind is that we are without a good vision, or are simply short-sighted.  However, the claim of the Bible is that our true problem lies deep within our soul, and it is sin.  We are all bent away from that which is good and towards satisfying the selfish desires of our flesh.  If Jesus was not resurrected from the grave then we are still stuck without an answer to this “sin problem.”  If Jesus was only showing us a supreme example of love, and not the power of One who was saving us by it, then we are still stuck in our sins, and the world is without hope.

It is sad to see the world continually doubling down upon the idea that we can save ourselves.  Whether through science and technology, or the progress of our great wisdom, we continue to think that we can fix every problem, if we only gave more power to the right people.  Such solutions are destined to fail in the same dust bin of all that have gone on before because in the end all men, women, boys, and girls fall short of that which is right and good.  We need a savior, and Jesus is God’s answer for the sin problem that we all have.

They discover that the tomb is empty

Our passage starts on Sunday morning at dawn, when it will be found that Jesus is no longer in the tomb.  Mark clearly emphasizes the female followers of Jesus in these last two chapters.  In chapter 15, he remarks that it was they who stood at a distance when Jesus died, and followed to see where he would be buried.  Where are the men?  They are hiding.  Yes, John was at the cross for a time, but it appears he leaves with Mary the mother of Jesus at some point.  This opening scene of chapter 16 has these women going to the tomb early on Sunday morning. 

So, who are these women?  The women listed are Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James the lesser, and Salome (we know from Matthew that she is the mother of James and John the sons of Zebedee).  All of them, were deeply impacted by the healing and teaching of Jesus.

Of course, technically the Sabbath would be over on Saturday evening.  However, these women needed light to do the work that they intend, which is to put spices upon and around the body of Jesus.  Why?  This was done to cut down on the smell of decomposition while family members visited and grieved their loved one.  It was not an attempt at mummification at all.  This type of tomb would have a place where the dead body would be laid.  It would be left in this location until decomposition had left only bones.  The bones would then be put into an ossuary, or bone box, and stored in the tomb.  Thus, a whole family could be buried within the same tomb.

Notice that there is no indication that these women are thinking that Jesus might be resurrected.  They are not coming on the third day to check if Jesus had risen from the dead like he said he would.  They are simply coming to do for their master teacher what they could in such a bad situation.  Jesus was dead and they believe that he will remain dead, decompose, and be buried in a bone box.  It is one of the worse days of their lives.  However, Resurrection Sunday teaches us that sometimes the worst day of our lives turns out to be the best.  Christians are called to be a people of hope in the most dire of situations because we know that even in death things are not over for us!

The main problem on their mind as they approach the tomb is the stone.  How are they going to get the stone moved from the mouth of the tomb so that they can get in?  Perhaps they intend to ask the guards, but are not sure the guards will help them.  The Gospel of Matthew tells us that there was an earthquake that morning and that an angel came down and moved the stone aside.  It is unclear whether this happens as the women arrive or that it has happened just before they arrived.  I like to think that the resurrection happened at that earthquake.  The stone is not being moved so that the risen Lord can get out, but so that the women can get in and witness that Jesus is no longer there.  The guards are scared to death by the earthquake and the angel and take off.

Thus, the women find the tomb open and they go in, only to find “a young man clothed in a long white robe sitting on the right side.”  This has them in a state of alarm, unsure of what is going on.  From the other Gospels, we know that this young man is a heavenly messenger, an angel.  Why would Mark call him a young man when other accounts call him an angel?  Is this a contradiction?  No, it is not.  Rather, this follows a typical Old Testament pattern.  Most angels appeared to look like men and are often initially called such until they are identified as heavenly by their activity. 

An example of this is in Judges 13.  There the story of Samson’s parents is found when they encounter the Angel of the LORD.  The narrator lets us know up front that Samson’s parents are interacting with an angel, but the woman and the man think he is a “man of God.”  It is not until the “man of God” ascended in the flame of an offering to God that they were burning that they realized they had seen the Angel of the LORD.  We see the same thing in Genesis 18 and 19, when Abraham is visited by “three men.”  By the end of the story, we find out that two of the “men” were angels who went down to Sodom to deliver Lot, and the third “man” was the LORD Himself.  The only heavenly beings described as having wings are the throne guardians referred to as Cherubim and Seraphim.

I take the time to go through this because there is a lot of confusion in this area of understanding angels and heavenly beings.  Angels who were sent to be messengers for God appeared to be men and were typically called such until their activity made it clear that they were heavenly messengers (not just a man of God, but an actual heavenly being).

So, what does the angel in the tomb tell them?  First, he tells them that they are looking for Jesus, but he is risen and not there.  The tomb is empty and Jesus has risen from the dead.  It is amazing how Jesus has a tendency not to stay in the boxes that we try to put him in.  They tried to get rid of the problem of Jesus by putting him in the grave, but that didn’t work.  People are still trying to put Jesus in boxes today, whether unbelievers or believers.  Be careful of thinking that you have Jesus all figured out.  He is the Lord of Life and we would all do well to be very humble in how we think about him.

The angel then tells them to go tell the disciples, and Peter, that Jesus is planning to meet them in Galilee.  I think the angel purposefully adds Peter’s name separate to the disciples.  It both emphasizes the reality of what Peter has done, and the reality of what Peter feels like, separated from what he was a part of.  Jesus had told them before his death that he would rise again and meet them on a certain mountain in Galilee.  However, their unbelief regarding what would happen got in the way of their understanding.

The descriptions of these women are understandable: trembled, amazed, and afraid.  Oh, that moment when your natural mind is assailed by the supernatural power of Jesus.  It is enough to make you quite afraid, but that is not where Jesus intended to leave them, or us.  A new relationship with the risen Lord has begun, and they don’t even know the half of it yet.

Jesus appears to his disciples

Mark does not give a timeline with details of the post-resurrection visitations of Jesus, but he does note a least three of them.  Each time, the unbelieving response of the disciples is highlighted.  These were not bold tomb-robbers trying to invent a new religion, as some try to accuse, nor were they giants of faith, ready to receive the good word.  They were just like we would be in the moment, freaked out and unbelieving at first.

Jesus first appears to Mary Magdalene.  I believe the first appearance has nothing to do with conspiracy ideas that circulate today.  Contrary to the conspiracy theories, Mary Magdalene was not a romantic interest of Jesus.  Even the gnostic text that is used as proof that she was, does not say this, and it is clearly not from the first century and from eye-witnesses.  I believe that God is here rebuking their society and his disciples by appearing to a woman first.  She was not only a woman, but was a woman who had been possessed by 7 demons.  Jesus purposefully picks one who they would not look up to, nor believe.  God is the God of the lowly and humble, those whom society often has little time for.  He did not appear to Herod, Pilate, Caiaphas, or Caesar for that matter.  He appeared to someone who may have been possessed by demons, but was now set free.  She had used her income to help support the ministry of Jesus, and was faithful even in his death.  This is the testimony of the risen Lord to you today.  It matters not how bad your history is, or how low you are viewed in this society.  What matters is that Jesus wants to reveal his power over death, his power over your sin, and his love for you, to you.

Mark does not describe the interaction, but focuses on Mary’s attempt to tell the disciples that she had seen Jesus alive.  She enters the place where the disciples are weeping and mourning, and tells them that Jesus is alive, that she has seen him!  However, they did not believe her.  Why not?  Maybe it seemed preposterous that he would be alive at all, or maybe it was preposterous that he would appear to her before them?  Whatever the reason, they did not believe her.

Mark then relates that Jesus secondly appeared to two disciples on the road outside of Jerusalem.  This is clearly the two men on the road to Emmaus that are mentioned in Luke 24:13-35.  Emmaus is described as a village that is about 7 miles from Jerusalem.  Jesus walks up to them and talks with them, has a meal with them when they reach Emmaus, and vanishes from the table after blessing the bread.  They hadn’t recognized him at first, but they did when he blessed the bread and handed it to them.  It was close to evening, but they ran back to Jerusalem and told the disciples what they had seen.  However, again, Mark emphasizes that the disciples did not believe these men either.  

The unbelief of The Eleven at this point can help us to understand why Jesus purposefully does not appear to them first.  Even we can complain that Jesus didn’t appear to us personally.  Why must I only believe upon the witness of others?  Many today proudly state that if God did something spectacular for them then they would believe, but these guys had seen Jesus do all manner of spectacular things, and yet they didn’t believe.  Are we lying to ourselves, and to God, when we make such bold statements?  Most likely, we are.  Our pride needs to be humbled before we are ready to meet the risen Lord!

Lastly, Jesus finally appears to The Eleven (verse 14).  He rebukes their unbelief and their hardness of heart.  This is the hallmark of the Gospel to this very day.  Jesus is always being introduced by those who have encountered him to those who have not yet.

If you find yourself wrestling with unbelief then know that you are not alone.  However, that is not a place to stay and hang out.  Unbelief in the face of so much evidence is not just being careful.  It often is more than that; it is having a hard heart.  May God help us by softening our hearts this morning to see just who Jesus is.  He is the Lord of Life.  He has the command of life and power over death.

This generation is chomping at the bit of moving past Jesus as an answer to this world’s problems, but he is the only answer.  Revolutions and new laws will not fix this world because the real problem is inside each and every one of us.  It has nothing to do with your gender, skin color, sexual preference, economic station, or political party.  It is the fact that each and everyone of us has a sin problem that cannot be solved through justice.  It can only be solved through letting go of justice and embracing the grace of Jesus Christ, who alone gives eternal life!

Lord of Life audio

The Great Commission

John 20:21-22; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:46-49; Acts 1:8; Matthew 28:18-20.  This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty on January 24, 2021.

Last week, we talked about the importance of making the good confession to the world around us.  In short, it is a declaration of our faith in Jesus and his teachings.  We stand with him.

Today, we are going to recognize that this confession and testimony that we should give about Jesus is part of a larger task, or commission, that Christ has given us.

Let’s look at our passage.

John’s Gospel

We will look at each of the Gospel’s version of the Great Commission.  They all highlight various things.  Ultimately, Jesus had been crucified and resurrected.  Over the course of 40 days, he appeared to them in order to prove the reality of the resurrection before he ascended into heaven, and to leave the apostles and his Church, that they would help build, with a task, a mission.  Thus, we speak of Christ commissioning his Church and call it the Great Commission.

John emphasizes sending.  We have been sent by Jesus as he was sent by God the Father.  We are sent for a purpose, to do what he tells us to do.  This is not a cultural thing.  Jesus is not trying to spread first century AD Israelite culture all around the world, much less white culture.  It is beyond culture.  In fact, if we must use the term, it is the spread of heaven’s culture.  All cultures are found wanting in the face of the Gospel and its obligation upon us all.  Christians must never confuse the Gospel with their own native culture.  Yes, some cultures have been impacted by Christianity more than others, but still, we are not representing our country, but rather Jesus and The Father.

John also shows Jesus breathing on his disciples and telling them to receive the Holy Spirit.  The receiving is emphasized, but it is not explained why.  We will save this for later.

Jesus also says that they, and we, will be a conduit to the forgiveness of sins for others.  This statement sounds like the apostles can keep some people from being forgiven, but that is a misreading.  Only Jesus can forgive sins, and thereby also refuse to forgive sins.  However, we are sent by Jesus as his ambassadors with his words.  We will be the representative of Jesus to those that we meet.  We don’t create forgiveness or deny it to those who desire it.  Rather, we announce it according to God’s Word, and the Holy Spirit’s wisdom.  Like the prophets of old, we can speak to people because of the authority of the Word of Jesus.  We can confidently tell people how to be forgiven of their sins, and how they cannot be forgiven.  The emphasis is not on their inherent ability, but in the function, they serve in being sent by Christ.

Mark’s Gospel

Mark focuses on our proclaiming the Gospel, or good news.  The NKJV uses the word “preach,” but the connotations of this word would be better translated as proclaim.  It is not about standing behind a pulpit in a church, but about sharing the Good News with anyone anywhere.  Mark’s gospel also emphasizes the scope of this mission, “all the world.”

A second aspect that we see here is the fact that powerful signs would follow Christ’s representatives.  Jesus doesn’t command them to do powerful signs.  Rather, the signs would follow them, and the signs listed are not an exhaustive list.  As God’s people commit themselves to this task of proclaiming the Gospel, signs would follow them.  Signs are not the focus, nor our job to make happen.  Our job is to be faithful to the task of sharing the Good News with people.

I will take a moment to clear up the passage about taking up serpents, due to the fact that some Christians believe they should prove their faith in Jesus by handling poisonous snakes.  Jesus is not talking about a means of proving your faith to onlookers, and neither is he talking about a test that all believers must do.  The best example of what Jesus is talking about happened to the Apostle Paul on the Island of Malta in Acts 28.  He was a prisoner on a ship going to Rome.  The ship was wrecked by a storm and they all jumped ship and swam to nearby Malta.  The natives met them on the shore and people began foraging for wood along the shore to build a fire and warm up the soaked men.  While gathering a bundle of sticks to throw on the fire, the apostle Paul was bitten by a viper on the hand and he shook it off into the fire.  The Bible tells us that the natives saw the viper hanging from Paul’s hand and figured that he would die, and that it was a punishment for some evil that he had done.  Over time, it became clear that Paul was not harmed by the poison.  This opened the people up greatly to hearing the Gospel.  The point is not invulnerability of believers to poison, but that these kinds of signs would follow them as a whole as they took the Gospel to the nations.  We too should expect that amazing things will happen from time to time as we are faithful to share the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

Luke’s Gospel

In Luke, we have some of the content of the Gospel described.  First, Jesus had to do all of the things that he did.  They had been prophesied in Scripture, and they were functionally important for the saving of people.  Jesus lived a perfect life, and perfectly revealed the Father’s love by dying in our place, and being resurrected as proof that his sacrifice on our behalf was accepted.  It is also proof that he has the power to resurrect us at the last day.

For those who believe the message about who Jesus is and what he has done for us, repentance from sin is in order.  Those who believe and repent of their sins will have their sins remitted from them.  Luke also records that this is for all nations, not just one people group.

Lastly, Luke also records that they were to wait for the Promise from the Father to come upon them and empower them before going out to accomplish this commission.  The Promise from the Father is talking about the pouring out of the Holy Spirit upon all of God’s people, instead of just a select few.  This is a task that is not intended to be done only by our power, strength, and abilities.  God Himself will work through us and assist us by His Holy Spirit.  Thus, we are not to hang back in fear, nor are we to rush forward in self-confidence.  We are to be a people who are led by the Holy Spirit, and empowered by Him.

This should remind us of Acts chapter 1 verse 8.  The book of Acts is technically Luke’s second volume.  It is not a second Gospel, but rather describes the apostles doing what Jesus told them to do.  We could think of Luke’s Gospel as the good news of what Jesus did, and his second volume as the good news that the apostles faithfully walked in his footsteps.  Another way to look at these to books is to see Luke as the acts of Jesus and the book of Acts as the acts of his apostles. 

Regardless, verse 8 emphasizes why we are to wait for the Holy Spirit and what the Holy Spirit would help us do.  The Holy Spirit would fill their whole being and enable them to be witnesses of Christ everywhere.  They would be empowered by God Himself.  A person cannot believe the Gospel without the influence of the Holy Spirit in their life.  He is the one who convicts us of the judgment that hangs over our head.  The Bible tells us that the Holy Spirit takes up residence or dwells inside of those who believe on Jesus and repent of their sins.  However, we are to also open up our hearts and minds to Him through prayer so that He can fill our whole inner being.  This is not a one-time thing, but a daily empowering experience that we can have to help us in our battle against sin, and our task to proclaim the Gospel.

Matthew’s Gospel

John emphasized our being sent, but in Matthew we are shown why that is so important.  Jesus has authorized us to go to all nations and call them to repentance and faith in him.  What gives Christians the right to tell Romans that the idols they serve are lies and they need to repent?  We could ask the same question today.  Multiculturalism has some good to it.  It reminds us that we should not look down upon styles of life simply because they are different from our own.  However, Christianity is not supposed to be a cultural oppression. 

The Spirit of God started with Israel and challenged the sin in their culture.  It then moved to all other cultures.  We are authorized by the God who made and loves all people.  All of our cultures were, and still are, full of sin and ignorance.  Satan wants to make people feel that they are doing something wrong when they tell people that God commands all people everywhere to repent of their sins and believe on Jesus.  We must not give into this persuasion.

Next, we are to disciple those who believe by teaching them the commands of Jesus.  The disciple is a student who is learning to become like their master teacher.  Another image that is used in the Bible is that we are children of God.  God’s people are a family that baby Christians are born into.  We help the spiritually young to grow up and become more like our heavenly Father, which has been perfectly imaged to us by Jesus.

Lastly, Jesus tells us that he will be with us even to the end of the age.  How important it is to know that Jesus is still with us through the Spirit of God that is within us.  He hasn’t forgotten us no matter how difficult it may get at times.  We must hold onto this promise.

The Conclusion

When we put all of these things together, we end up with a lot of powerful concepts, so I have broken this up into two statements.

First, we have been authorized and sent by Jesus to proclaim the Gospel to all nations that only He can forgive and remove their sins because of his life, death, and resurrection.

Second, we are to be empowered by the Holy Spirit, which will have powerful signs as we teach people the commands of Jesus.

All of this emphasizes the task and purpose that Jesus has given us, and so it is missing an important component found elsewhere.  God so loved the world that He sent His One and Only Son that whoever believes on him shall not perish, but have eternal life.  God’s love for you, for me, and for those lost in this world, could not sit by as we destroyed ourselves through sin.  The love of God and the demonstration of its depth by Jesus on the cross are the foundation of a relationship that we can have with our Lord and invite others to join.  This is the Great Commission.

Great Comm audio