Whose Commands Will We Obey? (Acts 4:1-22)

The scene: Peter and John before the Sanhedrin, the ruling authorities for the Jewish people. The back story: Peter and John had just healed a lame man, followed by Peter giving a speech about Jesus to an astonished crowd.

The conversation continued for a few hours there in Solomon’s porch. Suddenly, the head of the temple police and some members of the Sadducean party interrupted Peter and John. They were indignant and angry because Peter and John were enthusiastically teaching that in Jesus, resurrection of the dead is possible—an idea the Sadducees completely rejected.

So they arrested Peter, John, and the man who was healed and kept them in jail overnight.  But Peter and John had now convinced about 5,000 people to believe their message about Jesus (nearly two thousand converts since the day of Pentecost).

The next morning, the Jewish leaders—their officials, elders, and scholars—called a meeting in Jerusalem presided over by Annas (the patriarch of the ruling priestly clan), along with Caiaphas (his son-in-law), John,[1] Alexander,[2] and other members of their clan. They made their prisoners stand in the middle of the assembly and questioned them.

Jewish Leaders: “By what kind of power or what kind of name (whose authority) did you do this?”

Peter[3] (filled with the Spirit):  “Rulers and elders of the people, yesterday a good deed was done. Someone who was sick was healed. If you’re asking us how this happened, I want all of you and all of the people of Israel to know this man standing in front of you—who has been made whole[4] —was healed by the authority of Jesus of Nazareth, the Anointed One.

This is the same Jesus whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead. He is “the stone that you builders rejected who has become the very stone that holds together the entire foundation”[5] on which a new temple is being built. There is no one else who can rescue/save us, and there is no other name under heaven given to any human by whom we may be rescued/saved.”[6]

Now the leaders were surprised and confused. They looked at Peter and John and realized they were typical peasants— they “did not know the scrolls” and were untrained (idios).  The leaders recognized them as companions of Jesus.  But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together.

Jewish Leaders: “What do we do with these fellows? Anyone who lives in Jerusalem will know an unexplainable sign has been performed through these two preachers. We can’t deny their story. The best we can do is try to keep it from spreading. So let’s warn them to stop speaking to anybody in this name.”

The leaders brought the prisoners back in and prohibited them from doing any more speaking or teaching in the name of Jesus. Peter and John listened quietly and then replied,

Peter and John: “You are the judges here, so we’ll leave it up to you to judge whether it is right in the sight of God to obey your commands or God’s. But one thing we can tell you: we cannot possibly restrain ourselves from speaking about what we have seen and heard with our own eyes and ears.”

The council threatened them again, but finally let them go because public opinion strongly supported Peter and John and this man who had received this miraculous sign. He was over 40 years old, so his situation was known to many people, and they couldn’t help but glorify God for his healing.

* * * * *

The Trouble With Truth (it might be different than we think it is)

Jesus said, 

“If you hold to my teaching, you are really my disciples. Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31-32)

“IF you hold to my teaching.” The Sanhedrin already had a theological framework about what they assumed God must be like, and it wasn’t Jesus. Peter’s eyewitness accounts of Jesus (and the healed man standing right there) destabilized them. They had to choose: cling to their certainty in something that they were wrong about, or be open to God doing something new in Jesus.[7] This is the way truth works. It isn’t neutral; it always takes a side. It either affirms us or challenges us. When God does work in our lives, whatever is false is going to have to go and get replaced with whatever is true. Don’t be surprised if this hits all areas of our lives.

• Considering 2000 years of different traditions and denominations, could we have misunderstood God’s nature due to distorted teachings or traditions?

• Are we too tied to just one view of the cross, like Penal Substitution, when church history offers other perspectives that also offer beautiful insight?

• What do we do when we find out that a leader we admire is actually drawing us away from Jesus rather than closer either through their words or through the model of their life?

• What if we find out that the way we are representing Jesus is pushing people way instead of drawing them closer?  Could we recognize that our end goal is noble but that our means of getting there is not great?

In all these situations, we have the opportunity to respond to or resist the nudging of the Holy Spirit. Will it bring out humility or a hardness of heart? Will it make us inquisitive or defensive? Will we be excited about learning more, or will we be dismayed that we might have been wrong?

Truth is that it might be different than we thought it was, and we have to make choices about what to do when we find this out.

The Sanhedrin: The Problem of Power and Privilege

This is the problem the Sanhedrin is facing. The Sanhedrin’s resistance to truth was both theological and personal.

First, they had an idea of what the Messiah must look like, and it wasn’t an itinerant carpenter from Galilee who was going to challenge them rather than applaud them.

Second, the religious leaders listed in Acts were very cozy with Rome. The Sadducees blended the leadership of God’s people with the power of Rome.[8] The leader named John apparently “found favor in the eyes of Ceasar,” and Alexander was “highly esteemed by Agrippa.”[9] Rome wasn’t impressed by their witness; Rome was pleased at their subservience. For the Sadducees, embracing Jesus meant risking Rome’s wrath.

The people were offered Jesus, and they chose Barabbas, a Zealot, in hopes of crushing Rome with a more violent Messiah. The Sanhedrin were offered Jesus and they chose Rome, in hopes of keep their status quo comfortable.

When truth challenges our status, comfort, or plans,  we face the same choice. Are we acting in Jesus’ name -embodying His character – or are we acting in the name of someone or something else?

Filled With The Spirit (that he already had)

Unlike the Sanhedrin (who clung to cultural power) or the people (who kept joining Zealot revolutions), Peter and John leaned on the power of the Holy Spirit in their stand for truth.

Peter had received the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost. Yet in Ephesians 5:18, Paul wrote to Christians in Ephesus who already had the Holy Spirit, “Cram yourself full with the Spirit.”[10]

Somehow, we have it – and there’s more! Maybe think of the Holy Spirit as a great lake we have been given. For you Great Lakes fans, there are special types of water movements, called storm surges and seiches, that happen when a storm moves across the lake. There isn’t less water; it just sometimes surges.

There are moments when the Spirit surges in power for witness, courage, and clarity. When this happens, ordinary people represent Jesus well and spread the good news of the gospel in ways they never thought possible. And when we cooperate with the work of the Holy Spirit, the Kingdom of God takes back some ground from the enemy of our souls.

No Other Name Will Save Us

Empowered by the Spirit, Peter boldly told the Sanhedrin that only Jesus saves. That exclusive claim still shapes our witness today. No one but Jesus can take our sins upon Himself and trade it for His righteousness. No one but Jesus conquered the power of death. No one but Jesus has both the power and the love to redeem any soul. John tells us God did this for the world[11] -  whosoever will may come.[12]

This makes Christianity an inclusive faith in that all are invited to the spiritual banquet Jesus provides, but we make the exclusive claim that salvation is found only in Jesus.

“I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” (John 14:6)

"For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus." (1 Timothy 2:5)

It is the unique sufficiency of Christ who alone bears our sin, conquers death, and gives life, and gifts the Holy Spirit of God to fill and guide us. And that will lead to situations where the work God does is impossible to miss.

He Was Standing Right There

Speaking of work God does that is impossible to miss, the healed man was standing right there before the Sanhedrin. After 40 years, he was walking in front of the whole community. People can push back against doctrine – and they do - but it’s much harder to argue with a changed life. When we think of different kinds of “apologetics” for this faith,  a changed life remains powerful.

• The greedy person who is now the most generous in the church

• the addict who is free

• the gossiper who now speaks words of life

• the sexual sinner who chooses a life of purity

• the angry dude who is now the gentlest in the group

• the one who lets go of years of bitterness and rage and forgives the one who hurt them

These stories are all around us to remind us that Jesus does good work in the world. They are standing right there – or sitting right next to you this morning.

Whose Commands Will We Obey?

The story starts with a question: “By what name…?” It ends with, “Whose commands will we obey?” [13] Jesus asks us the same thing: Who will we obey? Who will we cooperate with when we do work in the world?

Peter and John’s witness forced the Sanhedrin to either embrace God’s truth in Jesus and enter the Kingdom, or cling to their old beliefs and miss out. What will we do? Will we let Jesus’ truth reshape our lives? Here’s what that might look like.

• When the world says to hate our enemies, Jesus says the way of the Kingdom is to love them (Matthew 5:43–44; Luke 6:27–28).

• When the world says that “lording it over others” shows who is important, Jesus tells us the way of the Kingdom is to wash each other’s feet in humble service (Mark 10:42–45; John 13:12–15).

• Where the world loves boasting, Jesus values humility (Luke 14:11; Philippians 2:5–8).

• When the world tramples on “the least of these,” Jesus says that those in His kingdom should care for them (Matthew 25:40).

• When the world equates our value with productivity and usefulness to others, Jesus says, “Come to me…in my Kingdom I will give you rest”(Matthew 11:28–30).

• When the world says gentleness and kindness are weak, God gives them as fruits of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22–23), proof that the Holy Spirit is moving in us with power.

• When the world loves mockery and name-calling, Jesus insists that his Kingdom should be full of words of life (Matthew 5:22; Colossians 4:6; James 3).

• When the world says “It’s your life; do what you want,” Jesus says, “Deny yourself, take up your cross, and follow me” (Luke 9:23–24) as we look out for “one another” (94 verses in the New Testament).

So we are going to have make choices as God’s truth calls us out from the value systems of empires and into the righteous calling of the Kingdom.

But in Acts 4, Peter and John weren’t yet challenging Rome. They were challenging the Sanhedrin. They were challenging religious leaders who claimed to speak for God but did not and were steering God’s people in the wrong direction. With that in mind, let’s look inside the American church to see where, even today, we must be wise in discerning if we are listening to God’s truth or a distortion of it.

When today’s Christian leaders…

• …tell us that wealth and luxury are markers of faith, Jesus challenges us to give generously, store up treasure in heaven, and identify with the poor (Luke 12:15–21; Matthew 25:35–40), warning how hard it is for the wealthy to enter into the Kingdom of God (Mark 10).

• …tell us that the church’s reputation must be protected at all costs by covering up sin and silencing victims, Jesus calls us to expose unfruitful works of darkness, confess our sins, bring hidden things into the light and seek restoration (Ephesians 5:11; James 5:19; Luke 12:2–3; 1 John 1:7).

• …stoke panic over the newest area of cultural decline (“It’s us against them!”), Jesus calls us to trust in His sovereignty and love fearlessly, building bridges across divides (1 John 4:18; Matthew 5:44–45)” (It’s us for them!”) as we go to the highways and byways to let everyone know the King is inviting them the banquet table of His love. (Luke 14).

• …insist that getting every little detail of theology perfectly right is the way to please God, Jesus reminds us that loving God and loving others with justice, mercy and humility pleases God (Micah 6:8; John 13:34-35; Colossians 1:10; Hebrews 13:16)

• …that it’s okay to fight culture wars with culture’s weapons (the ends justify the means), Jesus reminds us not to forget the Jesus way: blessing enemies, and overcoming evil with good (Matthew 5:43–48; Romans 12:20–21), so that the means don’t ruin us in the end (Leviticus 10:1-2; 2 Timothy 2:5).

• …that a proud exclusion of outsiders (people whose sin offends us more than our own sin does) is being faithful to God, Jesus shows us the way of agape love: inviting the outsider in, eating with sinners, and practicing repentance together (John 4; Luke 15:1–2; James 5:16).

Check out the list of what we just covered. If you look at all the wonderful things Jesus calls us to, if this characterizes us consistently, is this not a vision that is life-giving in so many ways?

We would be freed from the pressure to prove ourselves, perform for others, or conform to passing cultural trends. Instead, we could rest in the love of Christ and be filled with the fullness of God. (Ephesians 3:17–19)

Our church communities would be marked not by scandal, division, or pride, but by cruciform love— lifting up the name of Jesus by bearing each other’s burdens, practicing honesty and repentance, and welcoming whosoever will come (Galatians 6:2; Romans 15:7; Revelation 22:17). The church would be a living witness to God’s kingdom breaking into this world.

Our local community would not look at Christians and see they hypocrisy, greed or unrighteous judgment that headlines love to point out. They would see humility, generosity, and sacrificial love. As Jesus Himself promised: 

“By this everyone will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another” (John 13:35).

_____________________________________________________________________________________

[1] “This was  [likely] Jochanan ben Zaccai, who was very famous at that time in the Jewish nation. Of him it is said in the Talmud, Jucas. fol. 60: "Rabbin Jochanan ben Zaccai the priest lived 120 years. He found favour in the eyes of Caesar.” (Adam Clarke)

[2] “This was probably Alexander Lysimachus, one of the richest Jews of his time, who made great presents to the temple, and was highly esteemed by King Agrippa.” (Adam Clarke)

[3] “Now was fulfilled the promise of Christ, Matthew 10:18-20; And ye shall be brought before governors and kings for my sake; but take no thought how or what ye shall speak; for it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father that speaketh in you.” (Adam Clarke)

[4] “The verb, as in our Lord’s words, “Thy faith hath made thee whole” (Mark 10:52; Luke 7:50), has a pregnant, underlying meaning, suggesting the thought of a spiritual as well as bodily restoration.” (Ellicott’s Commentary)

[5] (Psalm 118:22)

[6] “St Peter thus intimates that the cure of the lame man is only a sign of the power of salvation for the soul which was in Jesus. The people were to draw from the effect produced by “Arise and walk,” the conclusion that the same power could as surely give the greater blessing, “thy sins be forgiven thee” (Matthew 9:5).” (Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges)

[7] Gamaliel’s is soon going to comment that “If this is of God, you will not be able to stop it.” (Acts 5:38-39). And of course, they didn’t stop it. What would the Sanhedrin do with that?

[8] We covered this in a fair amount of detail in our Gospel Harmony series.

[9] According to Adam Clarke

[10] Okay, it is “be filled” with the Holy Spirit in most translations, but the verb tense suggests it’s an ongoing process of being filled to the brim.

[11] John 3

[12] Romans 22:17

[13] The Old Testament prophets had already called the people of God to choose wisely (Joshua 24:15: “Choose this day whom you will serve.”) In Revelation 13 vs. Revelation 14, John uses the image of a beast vs. a Lamb and asks whose mark we will take.

Inaugurating a Righteous Generation (Acts 2)

Last week, we read a large section from Acts 2 about Pentecost, the speech that Peter gave, and his concluding line:

“Let God rescue you from this wicked[1] generation!”

Last week we focused on how God called the geographical nation of His people to be holy, to be separated, from the wickedness found in the nations around them. We then applied it to the church, which Peter describes as a “holy nation” that is intended to “proclaim the praises of Him who called you.”

In addition, Paul had something to say about generations,

“Do everything without grumbling or arguing, so that you may become blameless and pure, children of God without fault in a warped and crooked generation. Then you will shine among them like stars in the sky as you hold firmly to the word of life.” (Philippians 2)

We are going to keep talking this morning about how we proclaim the praises of God (“shine like stars”) through the community we create as a church. Of course, the church is made up of individuals, so have a church that proclaims the praises of God with our lives means having churches that are filled with individuals who proclaim the praises of God with their lives.

To do this, I want to offer a contrast we see in Scripture. Let’s look first at Matthew 23, the infamous chapter of “woes” Jesus proclaims to the Pharisees. The religious leaders were doing things that made them part of a warped and crooked generation. In doing so, Jesus sounds a lot like an OT prophet.

Harshness: “They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads (of the Law) and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them.” This echoes the OT theme of oppressing the vulnerable through religious or legal systems (see Micah 6:8; Zech. 7:9-10).

Pride: “Everything they do is done for people to see.” This matches OT critiques of arrogant rulers and false piety (see Isaiah 58, where the people fasted to be seen, not to seek justice).

Gatekeeping: “You do not enter [the Kingdom], nor will you let those enter who are trying to.” This parallels the OT call against arrogance and national elitism but not it’s religious elitism, drawing the boundaries for who was allowed in to the community of God’s people (see Jonah, Isaiah 56).

Corruption: “You make [converts] twice as much a child of hell as you are.” Another place Jesus said they were children of their father, the devil, meaning they were like him. (John 8) They didn’t disciple people into the kingdom; they either push them away or turn them into disciples of the devil. This echoes Malachi 2:8, “You have caused many to stumble…”

Oath-breaking. “You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but anyone who swears by the gold of the temple is bound by that oath.’ You blind fools!” In other words, they are finding ways to break their word. This links with OT themes of corrupt courts and false covenants (Amos 2; Isaiah 1:23). The Law had become a tool for lies.

Confused Priorities. “You give a tenth of your spices…you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness.” This is the justice neglect theme again (Hosea 6:6; Micah 6:6-8). Do both, of course, but never ignore the weightier matters, the ones that involve people.

Hypocrisy: “You clean the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence…on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” God sees the heart (1 Samuel 16:7), not the outward appearance.

Violence: “You build tombs for the prophets… (but)… complete what your ancestors started!” They prove Jesus to be true when they get him crucified.

Jesus seems to be echoing the Old Testament prophets. In other places we see the Old Testament warning emerge in line with what we talked about last week. Meanwhile, a new vision of what it looks like to be a holy and righteous generation emerges.

Idolatry & Detestable Practices vs True Worship[2]

- Idolatry (Gal. 5:20; Col. 3:5) 
- Trusting in created things (Rom. 1) 
- Sorcery and occult (Gal. 5:20)

- Worship God alone (Rom. 12:1) 
- Serve the Creator, not creation (Rom. 1:25)

Religious Hypocrisy vs. Religious Integrity[3]

- “Having a form of godliness but denying its power” (2 Tim. 3:5) 
- Saying but not doing (Matt. 23) 
- Pretending righteousness (Matt. 23)

- Genuine faith/obedience (James 1:22) 
- Pure religion: caring for the vulnerable (James 1:27)

Oppression of the Vulnerable vs Care and Generosity[4]

- Exploiting the weak (James 5:4) 
- Favoritism (James 2:1–9) 
- Greed (Eph. 5:3; 1 Tim. 6:10)

- Care for the poor (Rom. 12:13) 
- Generosity and justice (1 Tim. 6:18; 2 Cor. 8:13–15)

Violence and Bloodshed vs Peacemaking[5]

- Murder, rage (Matt. 15:19) 
- Hatred, fits of rage (Gal. 5:20)

- Peacemaking (Rom. 12:18) 
- Kindness and forgiveness (Eph. 4:32)

Greed and Materialism vs Contentment and Generosity[6]

- Covetousness (Col. 3:5) 
- Greed (Eph. 5:3) 
- Love of money (1 Tim. 6:10)

- Contentment (Heb. 13:5) 
- Generosity (1 Tim. 6:18)

Pride and Arrogance vs Humble Service[7]

- Pride (Mark 7:22; 2 Tim. 3:2) 
- Boastfulness, selfish ambition, slander (Phil. 2:3; Gal. 5:20)

- Humility (Phil. 2:3; 1 Pet. 5:5)

- servanthood (Gal. 5:13)

Injustice vs Justice (Righteousness) [8]

- Deceit (Mark 7:22; Col. 3:9) 
- Partiality in courts (James 2:6) 
- Slander and lying (Eph. 4:25; James 4:11)

- Honesty and fairness (Eph. 4:25; James 5:12) 
- Advocacy for justice (Matt. 23:23; James 5:1–6)

Sexual Immorality vs Purity and Honor[9]

- Sexual immorality, impurity, lust (Matt. 15:19; Gal. 5:19; Eph. 5:3) 
- Fornication, adultery (Mark 7:21)

- Holiness, self-control (1 Thess. 4:3–5) 
- Honoring God with the body (1 Cor. 6:18–20)

Breaking Covenants vs. Keeping Covenants[10]

- Swearing deceitfully (James 5:12) 
- Lying and theft (Col. 3:9; Gal 5:20) 

- Truthfulness (Eph. 4:25) 
- Integrity even when it costs (Psalm 15:4; echoed in Matt. 5:37)

Trust in our own Strength vs Trusting in God[11]

- Trusting in riches (1 Tim. 6:17) 
- Boasting in power or wealth (James 4:13–16)

- Trust in God’s provision (Phil. 4:19; Matt. 6:33) 
- Strength in weakness (2 Cor. 12:9–10)

Other Sins of the Heart vs Inward Holiness

- Evil thoughts (Matt. 15:19) 
- Envy (Gal. 5:21; Mark 7:22) 
- Bitterness (Heb. 12:15) 
- Foolishness (Mark 7:22; Eph. 5:15–17)

- Renewed mind (Rom. 12:2) 
- Spiritual wisdom (Col. 1:9–10) 
- Joy and peace in the Spirit (Rom. 14:17; Gal. 5:22)

We are called out of that wickedness and into a Path of Life as a witness to the glory of God not just in what God can do in us, but what God can do in whole communities of people transformed by the cruciform love of Jesus. God, through His love, has shown us the path to life for our good and His glory.

Where the world is marked by cruelty, the church practices compassion.

We don’t burden others with shame or legalism; we gently lift the fallen and bear each other’s burdens. We embrace truth and boldness but we reject harshness in favor of mercy, reflecting the heart of the Shepherd who searches for His lost sheep until he finds it, and then carries it home.

Where the world celebrates image and performance, we embrace authenticity.

Our worship is not a show. Our prayers are not for attention. Our music is not for fame. My sermons are not to impress you. All of these things are a faithful response to the love of God. In God’s Kingdom, we don’t need to pretend to be more righteous than we are. In confession, accountability and vulnerability, we become well acquainted with the grace and love of God as we extend it and receive it from God’s people.

Where the world excludes, we open doors.

This church refuses to be gatekeepers of God’s grace, determining just how many of the “whosoever will” may come. (Revelation 22:17) We welcome the weary, the outsider, the sick, the sinner, the seeker. We welcome our neighbors – which the Parable of the Good Samaritan hints is everybody. We are not tribal or partial for any reason. We embody the radical hospitality of the Kingdom, where all who are weary and heavy laden, and need the rest that Jesus gives, are welcome.

Where the world is full of corruption, we are truthful and trustworthy.

We keep our word, even when it hurts. Our “yes” means “yes”. We don’t manipulate with spiritual language or power games. We don’t take advantage of anyone around us. We never use position, power or proximity to use people. We speak truth in love; we prove we are trustworthy by simply being worthy of trust over and over again. That kind of integrity is a light that chases away the darkness of deceit and duplicity.

Where the world neglects justice(righteousness), we champion it.

We don’t tithe scrupulously while ignoring the cries of the oppressed. We do both the little things and the big things because we know that God has called us to do so, and in His way is the Path of Abundant Life. (John 10:10) We speak for those who have no voice, or whose voices are being drowned out by injustice and corruption whether that is outside the church or inside the church. We advocate for those who are overlooked or left behind. We ask for true justice – for things to be made right - when people are hurt by others. We ask for a wise application of mercy be part of the process.

God willing, the church will be the loudest voice defending the cause of the sick, the exploited, the poor, the powerless and voiceless in our community, our nation, and around the world.

Where the world focuses on appearance, we tend to the heart.

We know that holiness is not a façade or a costume. We examine our motives, not just our actions. We repent sincerely when needed, because we want to live in the blessing of righteous community (one where we are right with God and each other); we forgive freely, even when it’s hard – and it probably will be, because there is something to forgive that hurt us. We don’t want to just look righteous; we want to be righteous. We know that God judges the thoughts and intents of the heart, and we surrender our heart to Him for his purification.

Where the world is shaped by violence, anger, and revenge, we are peacemakers.

We refuse to repay evil for evil, but insist on overcoming evil with good. (Romans 12:21) We love our enemies; we bless those who curse us; pray for those who mistreat us. (Luke 6:27-28) We don’t avenge ourselves; we trust that God will take care of it. (Romans 12:19) We “give thought to do what is honorable in the sight of all. If possible, so far as it depends on you, live peaceably with all.” (Romans 12:17-18) Lamech was going to avenge 70 times (Genesis 4:24); we follow Jesus and forgive 70x7.

Where the world flaunts wealth and conspicuous consumption, we practice generosity and simplicity.

We are not lazy or irresponsible, but we are content because we are free from the love of money, which is the root of all kinds of evil. (1 Timothy 6:10) We find financial peace by trusting God. (Hebrews 13:5) We are not driven by consumerism or competition. We know that life is not about an abundance of possessions. (Luke 12:15) We look forward to “giving as we are able, according to the blessing of the Lord your God which He has given you." (Deuteronomy 16:17) We see our possessions as tools of blessing rather than markers of status. We take care of our neighbors in the church and the community as God provides us the means.

Where the world is full of pride, we are clothed in humility.

We don’t seek titles or positions; we serve joyfully in hidden places. Applause is nice – and we ought to find excuses to give it freely to others! – but we don’t need it. It is enough when God is pleased. We celebrate others’ gifts without jealousy and delight in their success. We don’t brag; we are content to simply be ourselves and let that speak for itself. Once again, we repent when we have hurt others, because we aren’t too proud to do that. We know we aren’t perfect, and that doesn’t fill us with shame. It just makes us aware that there might be times we will have make things right when we have done something wrong, and we do it.

Where the world is ruled by lust and selfish desire, we honor bodies, boundaries, and covenants.

Our love is patient and kind, never coercive or exploitative. It always protects. (1 Corinthians 13) Our relationships are marked by faithfulness, self-control, and deep respect. In a world where desire is often detached from dignity, where “consent” is the only ethic, and commitment is optional, the Church offers a better story. We proclaim that every body is sacred, every person made in the image of God. Sex is not just a transaction—it’s a covenantal act meant to reflect divine faithfulness. Our love sees others not as objects of gratification but as treasures to be protected. We are called to the kind of love that takes responsibility for the emotional, spiritual, and even physical well-being of others. The Church must be a place where the bodies of others are never tools for gratification because they are temples of the Holy Spirit.

Responsive Reading: A People Set Apart

(based on Acts 2, Matthew 23, Galatians 5, and the teachings of Jesus)

Leader: In a world darkened by cruelty and power,
People: We will walk in compassion, clothed with mercy and kindness.
Leader: Where hearts grow cold and violence reigns,
People: We will be peacemakers, bringing hope in the midst of strife.[12]

Leader: In an age obsessed with image and outward appearances,
People: We will value righteousness and purity of heart.
Leader: Where hypocrisy and performance deceive,
People: We will live with authenticity and grace.[13]

Leader: In a culture that rejects with unrighteous judgement,
People: We will move toward others in the name of Christ.
Leader: When others say, “We don’t want you here,”
People: We say, “Come to God’s table, there is room at the feast for all.”[14]

Leader: In a generation that calls evil good and good evil,
People: We will hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Leader: Where injustice is ignored and the weak are crushed,
People: We will act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with our God.[15]

Leader: When the world chases wealth and self-exaltation,
People: We will pursue contentment, generosity, and humility.
Leader: Where pride builds thrones and hoards treasure,
People: We will follow the crucified King who gave himself for all.[16]

Leader: When people trade love for lust and covenant for convenience,
People: We will honor one another with boundaries and sacred trust.
Leader: Where others use and discard,
People: We will protect, cherish, and remain faithful.[17]

Leader: When others stir up hatred and division,
People: We will walk by the Spirit with love, peace, and self-control.
Leader: In the face of a crooked generation,
People: We will shine like stars by following in the footsteps of Jesus.[18]

________________________________________________________________________

[1] Or crooked, bent, or warped.

[2] Other passages: Rom 1:18–25; Gal. 5:20; Col. 3:5

[3] Other passages: Matt. 23; Mark 7:6; 2 Tim. 3:5; James 1:22, 27

[4] Other passages: James 2:1–9; 5:4; Rom. 12:13; 1 Tim. 6:18

[5] Other passages: Gal. 5:20; Matt. 15:19; Eph. 4:32; Rom. 12:18

[6] Other passages: Col. 3:5; Eph. 5:3; 1 Tim. 6:10, 18; Heb. 13:5

[7] Other passages: Mark 7:22; 2 Tim. 3:2; Phil. 2:3; 1 Pet. 5:5

[8] Other passages: Mark 7:22; Eph. 4:25; James 2:6; Col. 3:9

[9] Other passages: Matt. 15:19; Mark 7:21; Gal. 5:19; 1 Thess. 4:3–5; 1 Cor. 6:18–20

[10] Other passages: James 5:12; Col. 3:9; Eph. 4:25; Psalm 15; Matt. 5:37

[11] Other passages: 1 Tim. 6:17; James 4:13–16; Phil. 4:19; 2 Cor. 12:9–10

[12] "Put on then, as God’s chosen ones, holy and beloved, compassionate hearts, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience."  (Colossians 3:12)

[13] "These people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." (Matthew 15:8)

[14] "Therefore welcome one another as Christ has welcomed you, for the glory of God." (Romans 15:7)

[15] "But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream." (Amos 5:24)

[16] "Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves."
(Philippians 2:3)

[17] "For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you abstain from sexual immorality… that each one know how to control his own body in holiness and honor." (1 Thessalonians 4:3-4)

[18] "The fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control." ( Galatians 5:22-23)

The Acts of the Apostles: Implementing the Kingdom of God (Acts 1)

Acts was written between 60 and 90 AD. It was written after all of Paul’s letters and after Luke wrote the gospel of Luke. It recounts the early history of the church.

To a lover of God, Theophilus: In my first book, I recounted the events of Jesus’ life—His actions, His teachings—  from the beginning of His life until He was taken up into heaven. After His great suffering and vindication, He showed His apostles that He was alive—appearing to them repeatedly over a period of 40 days, giving them many convincing proofs of His resurrection. 

As before, He spoke constantly of the kingdom of God. During these appearances, He had instructed His chosen messengers through the Holy Spirit, prohibiting them from leaving Jerusalem, but rather requiring them to wait there until they received what He called “the promise of the Father.”

 “This is what you heard Me teach— that just as John ritually cleansed people with water through baptism, so you will be washed with the Holy Spirit very soon.” When they had gathered just outside Jerusalem at the Mount of Olives, they asked Jesus, “Is now the time, Lord—the time when You will reestablish Your kingdom in our land of Israel?

Jesus replied,” The Father, on His own authority, has determined the ages and epochs of history, but you have not been given this knowledge.  Here’s the knowledge you need: you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. And you will be My witnesses, first here in Jerusalem, then beyond to Judea and Samaria, and finally to the farthest places on earth.” (Acts 1:1-8)

If you were here for our series in the Gospels, you may remember that Jesus taught a lot about the Kingdom of God. He also spent a lot of time correcting the misconceptions of what the Kingdom of God was going to look like.

• It wasn’t going to be characterized by legalism, which is how the Pharisees were trying to coax the Messiah to come.

• It wasn’t going to be ushered in with a violent sword, like the Zealots were trying to make happen.

• And it certainly wasn’t going to happen by blending with the Empire, like the Sadducees were doing.

Here is Jesus, raised from the dead, and his disciples are still confused about what is going to happen. But Jesus is patient and kind, so he teaches some more. I love his short explanation: “This is all you need – you will get the Holy Spirit, and then go witness.” I really wish I could have seen the expression on the disciple’s faces. This doesn’t sound like the way to establish a kingdom. And go to the Samaritans and Romans? Really? They are going to be in the Kingdom?

I was downstate doing some teaching for an organization called LEAD, which trains high schoolers on how to be faithfully present as followers of Jesus in business, entertainment, journalism, and government. I got there Wednesday and checked into my room on the campus of Spring Arbor University. I organized all my stuff and went to teach my first class. When I got back, my key would not unlock my door. So I texted Joe, the head honcho, and explained that my key didn’t work.

He sent a Spring Arbor security guy to help me, but that guy couldn’t find me. You know why? I was in the wrong dorm. Fortunately, the security guy found me and we figured it out. I texted Joe:

“It’s so weird how the little things like being in the right building can make such a big difference!”

He texted back,

“On no. Did I give bad directions?”

I said,

“You gave me great directions. I followed them poorly.”

Jesus gave his disciples great directions on how to act. As we get into the book Acts, they will indeed take Jesus’ directions seriously.

Two things stand out to me as important to know in a broad overview: the many speeches introducing the kingdom of God, and the way in which their lives embodied the Kingdom of God.

SPEECHES/SERMONS

There are a ton of speeches primarily from Peter, Stephen and Paul. The primary focus is:

·  Jesus as a Resurrected Lord (Acts 2:24, 3:15, 4:10, 13:30) In his epistles, Paul insists that the bodily resurrection of Jesus must be true, or the whole thing collapses.

·  Jesus as Righteous Judge (Acts 10:42, Acts 17:31: “He has set a day when he will judge the world with justice…” [1] The judging carries the idea of sorting or sifting – Jesus will separate that is righteous from what is unrighteous.[2]

·  The importance of Repentance and Forgiveness (Acts 2:38, 3:19, 10:43, 13:38)

·  The Kingdom of God (Acts 8:12, 28:23, 28:31) They have had a loooooot of teaching about this. There’s not a lot of detail. The text just notes they talked about it a lot, as if the Good News was about far more than life in the world to come; it’s about a Kingdom of Heaven that is here, now.

As they pass on the teaching they received, we will see an interesting variety in how they present the Good News of the Kingdom to Gentiles vs. Jews. I think it’s worth looking at this because it is a good reminder that the first evangelists took different approaches to different audiences.

Speaking to Jews or God-fearers (e.g., Acts 2, 3, 13)

• Jesus as fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy, because this audience gave weight to the Old Testament books. Lots of Scriptural proofs from the Law, Prophets, Psalms.

• Emphasis on Abraham, Moses, David, three of their national heroes.

• Israel’s covenant history with God to focus on a shared historical and national identity. Paul in Acts 13 recounts Israel’s history from Egypt to David to Jesus. “What God promised our ancestors  he has fulfilled for us.”

• Messianic expectations. Jesus’ resurrection is confirmation of Jesus’ messianic identity, even if people were expecting a different kind of Messiah.

• Call to repentance (“turning around”) for having rejected Jesus. This is often an appeal to them as a group: "You crucified the Messiah," even though likely nobody in their audience physically did that. This makes sense in a shame/honor culture where identity was established in community. It’s not that individuals don’t repent – that happens all the time. It’s just that there is another layer, a call to a community repentance from a shared responsibility that the community failed to carry out.

Let’s say I’m Peter from a moment. You are the audience of Jewish people and God-fearing Gentiles. A typical speech is going to sound something like this.

"Fellow believers, you know the Scriptures and the prophets. You believe in the God who called Abraham, who led our ancestors through the sea, who spoke through Moses and David and Isaiah and who entered into a covenant with us.

God has fulfilled His covenant promise through Jesus. God revealed himself fully in Jesus by healing the broken, forgiving sinners, welcoming outsiders, speaking truth with authority. Everything the prophets said the Messiah would do—he did.

But we wanted a Messiah who would affirm our religiosity, not challenge it. We wanted a Messiah who reject those Samaritans and pagans and pat the righteous - us -  on the back. We wanted a king with a sword, not a crown of thorns.

So we killed him. But God raised him from the dead as the firstborn from the dead, proof that death itself has been defeated. And now he is exalted—seated at the right hand of God. He has poured out the Holy Spirit of God This isn’t the end of the story—it’s the beginning of the restoration of all things.

Repent. The cornerstone we rejected? God has made him the foundation of new covenant. Turn to him, and you’ll find your sins forgiven, your heart renewed, and your place in the kingdom secured by the free grace of God.

You were baptized with John’s baptism. Now, be baptized as a way of dying and rising with Christ. Enter into new life, and receive the Holy Spirit of God to dwell in you. This is the time the prophets and Jesus spoke of—the time of God’s favor, of restoration, when God is beginning to make all things new.

When Speaking to Gentiles (e.g., Acts 14, 17), the goal doesn’t change, but the approach does.

• They start with the Creation of the cosmos, God as universal Lord of all things, and the brotherhood of mankind. Paul at Athens (Acts 17) quotes Greek poets to note that, “We are his offspring.”

•  They don’t quote Jewish scripture, because the Gentiles didn’t trust or care about that source. It’s more philosophical or natural-theology approach to start.

• There is often a discussion of idolatry and its futility. At this point in Greco-Roman history, they were having their own theological crises as they were developing this growing realization that their pantheon of gods couldn’t actually be gods because they were so bad. Paul doesn’t pile on to their mistake. He acknowledges the religious urge in people, and claims that it is misplaced. He invited them to turn from idols to the true God.

• Jesus’ Resurrection was a sign of coming justice/righteousness. The language implies a sorting and revealing of what is righteous and what is not. Justice/righteousness prevailed in the end for all. Jesus, not Zeus is Caesar, is the appointed Judge to oversee this.

Let’s say I’m Paul for a moment. You are an audience of Greeks and Romans without the background knowledge that Jewish people had. A typical speech is going to sound something like this.

People of this city, listen to me for a moment. I come not to condemn you, but to proclaim something that will change your life. I’m here to tell you about Unknown God to whom you have built alters. This God you’re reaching for is not far from any of you.

He is the one who made everything—the earth beneath your feet and the sky above your head. From one blood, He made all the nations of the earth. As your poets note, we are all his offspring. He gives life and breath and meaning to every one of us. He doesn’t need anything from us; instead, he provides for us.

You believe the gods step into the world at times. The Creator God I am telling you about stepped into our world with healing and mercy and love. Many of you heard at least rumors of him. His name is Jesus.

He walked among us doing righteousness and justice while loving mercy —feeding the hungry, forgiving sinners, confronting the hypocrite, insisting that we love each other well. He told the truth about the Kingdom of God that he offered to all. And for that, he was executed—hung on a cross like a criminal.

But hear me: God raised him from the dead. The risen Jesus appeared to hundreds, and he also revealed himself to me. Though I persecuted his followers, God did not destroy me. He forgave me and filled me with His righteousness.

This risen Jesus is not just a prophet. He is the King of all kings, the Judge of all nations, the Restorer of all things. He is coming again to bring ultimate justice for the oppressed, peace for the weary, and restoration for all who long for it.

God is calling every person, everywhere to change direction—to turn from false gods, whether idols made of stone or ones built in our hearts. So what must you do? Turn from your idols. Trust in Jesus. There is a kingdom breaking in, and its King is Jesus.

When we get to the individual speeches, we will dive into them. For now, let these two different approaches remind us that there is wisdom in knowing your audience. From the beginning of the church, we have a tradition of not requiring that everyone use the same approach or say the same thing all the time. We don’t even need to have the same target audience. It’s okay to follow the leading of the Holy Spirit as we consider whom we are talking to. It’s also okay not to demand others seek out the same audience and use the same approach as we do. We are on the same team 

I get worried when I see followers of Jesus insisting that their way of spreading the gospel is THE way of spreading the gospel. Their way of being building Kingdom outposts in culture is THE way. Their way of building the church is THE way. Can we let each other respond to how the Holy Spirit moves us to represent Jesus?

The second thing we will see in Acts in the lifestyle of the early church, the practical implementation of the Kingdom of God. It is, after all, about the acts of the apostles. They were committed to saying and doing things that revealed the kingdom. You can count the public speakers in Acts on one hand. They were important, but history shows us that the early church grew because their lives spoke even more loudly than their words.

They developed communal habits in which everybody took care of each other, sharing money and resources freely. They took care of everyone’s poor, sick, orphaned and widowed. They accepted those rejected by Roman society. In their setting, it was slaves, women, the poor, and the oppressed. When the Holy Spirit descends, God blesses all people and nations into one community, a “new humanity”, so that social barriers or judgments of all kinds fell away. (The people groups in Acts on whom ‘tongues of fire” descend are the same ones separated after the Tower of Babel.)

The church will expand not because Paul was eloquent, but because Billy the butcher treated customers fairly, and Sally the seamstress quietly cared for her customers, and the farmers Fred and Frieda shared their crops with the hungry, and the nurses Nancy and Nathan cared for the babies of Jews and Gentiles alike, and tentmakers Tricia and Terry made some free tents for the poor because the rich in their church gave money to make that happen.

They supported widows, orphans, the sick and disabled. They ransomed people from slavery. Churches helped each other out when they were in trouble. Loving actions toward all saturated the church in the first three centuries.

 Tertullian (160-240) reported that the Romans would exclaim, “See how they love one another!”

 Justin Martyr (100-165) sketched Christian love this way:

“We who used to value the acquisition of wealth and possessions more than anything else now bring what we have into a common fund and share it with anyone who needs it. We used to hate and destroy one another and refused to associate with people of another race or country. Now, because of Christ, we live together with such people and pray for our enemies.”

Clement (150-215), describing a follower of Jesus, wrote,

“He impoverishes himself out of love, so that he is certain he may never overlook a brother in need, especially if he knows he can bear poverty better than his brother. He likewise considers the pain of another as his own pain. And if he suffers any hardship because of having given out of his own poverty, he does not complain.”

The Emperor Julian complained that,

“it is disgraceful when no Jew ever has to beg and the impious Christians support both their own poor and ours as well.”

During a third century plague, while their Roman neighbors were throwing sick family members into the street, Christians cared for the them, and sometimes gave their lives for them. Christians eventually began to formally provide medical care for all. The Council of Nicea in 325 declared that medical care should be provided everywhere churches were opened.

The story is told that when an actor became a Christian, but he realized he had to quit because most plays had a lot of immorality and idolatry. Cyprian (210-258) told the local church that they should support him until he could figure out what to do.  Furthermore, “If your church is financially unable to support him, he may move over to us and here receive whatever he needs for food and clothing.”

Jesus had said, “Love your enemies … and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” (Matt. 5:44), and they were determine to do that. Lactantius (250-325) wrote,

“If we all derive our origin from one man, whom God created, we are plainly all of one family. Therefore it must be considered an abomination to hate another human, no matter how guilty he may be. For this reason, God has decreed that we should hate no one, but that we should eliminate hatred.

So we can comfort our enemies by reminding them of our mutual relationship. For if we have all been given life from the same God, what else are we but brothers? … Because we are all brothers, God teaches us to never do evil to one another, but only good, giving aid to those who are oppressed and experiencing hardship, and giving food to the hungry.”

To those the Empire insisted didn’t matter, those who were denied justice, provision, and care, God’s people always stepped in and said, “Hey! You matter!” [3]

If the good news of the Kingdom of God does not cause poor, the sick, the outcast, the powerless and oppressed to say, “Thank God the Christians are here!” then it’s not the kingdom of God that has come to a community.

These two things – the speeches and the lifestyle – and going to come up again and again in the book of Acts. What we say and what we do matters. Who we are as followers of Jesus has profound consequences.

How we are present in the world is witness to something. May it be a witness to Jesus.

Shepherd of tender youth, guiding in love and truth
Through devious ways; Christ our triumphant King,
We come Thy name to sing, and here our children bring
To join Thy praise.

Thou art our holy Lord, O all subduing Word,
Healer of strife. Thou didst Thyself abase
That from sin’s deep disgrace Thou might save our race
And give us life.

Shepherd of Tender Youth (Clement of Alexandria in about 200 A.D.)

_____________________________________________________________________________

[1] The judgment in these sermons seems to have a different than what we call Hell, as Gehenna is never mentioned, and Hades only twice, and that when the writer quotes Psalm 16 in Acts 2 about how Jesus was not abandoned there. That topic comes up other places in the New Testament, of course, but the Acts speeches do not include it.

[2] Think of the Parable of the  Wheat and the Tares in Matthew 13.

[3] There are a lot of places on line to find lists of what was said about the early Christians. I got this list from “A Love Without Condition.” Earlychurch.com

Harmony #94: Do You Know Jesus? (John 18:13-24; Matthew 26-27; Mark 14-15; Luke 22)

Head’s up: the ‘harmony of the gospel’ approach is going to make it look like there are 6 times Peter denied Jesus. Some thinks that’s what happened (3 before the rooster crowed, 3 times after); others think that the listing of individuals in one account and crowds in a different account just meant the individual asked the question for the groups. I just don’t want you to be confused when we read six denials of Jesus.

They brought Jesus first to Annas, for he was the father-in-law of Caiaphas, who was high priest that year. (Now it was Caiaphas who had advised the Jewish leaders that it was to their advantage that one man die for the people.) Simon Peter and another disciple followed.

(Now the other disciple was acquainted with the high priest, and he went with Jesus into the high priest’s courtyard.)[1]But Simon Peter was left standing outside by the door. So the other disciple who was acquainted with the high priest came out and spoke to the slave girl who watched the door, and brought Peter inside.

The girl who was the doorkeeper said to Peter, “You’re not one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” He replied, “I am not.” (Now the slaves and the guards were standing around a charcoal fire they had made in the middle of the courtyard, warming themselves because it was cold.) JnThe high priest questioned Jesus about his disciples and about his teaching.

 Jesus replied, “I have spoken publicly to the world. I always taught in the synagogues and in the temple courts, where all the Jewish people assemble together. I have said nothing in secret. Why do you ask me? Ask those who heard what I said. They know what I said.”

When Jesus had said this, one of the high priest’s officers who stood nearby struck him on the face and said, “Is that the way you answer the high priest?”  Jesus replied, “If I have said something wrong, confirm what is wrong. But if I spoke correctly, why strike me?” Then Annas sent Jesus, still tied up, to Caiaphas the high priest.

Now the ones who had arrested Jesus led him to Caiaphas, in whose house all the chief priests and elders and experts in the law had come together. And Peter had followed him from a distance, all the way to the high priest’s courtyard. After going in, Peter sat down with the guards warming himself by the fire, waiting to see the outcome.

The guards said to Peter, “You aren’t one of his disciples too, are you?” Peter denied it: “I am not!” [Meanwhile] the chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were looking for evidence against Jesus so that they could put him to death, but they did not find anything. Many gave false testimony against him, but their testimony did not agree.

Finally two came forward, stood up and gave this false testimony against Jesus: “We heard this man say, ‘I will destroy this temple of God made with hands and in three days build another not made with hands.’ ”Yet even on this point their testimony did not agree.

Then the high priest stood up before them and asked Jesus, “Have you no answer? What is this that they are testifying against you?” But Jesus was silent and did not answer. Again the high priest questioned Jesus and said to him, “I charge you under oath by the living God, tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God, the Blessed One.” [2]

But Jesus said to them, “If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I ask you, you will not answer.” So they all said, “Are you the Son of God, then? Jesus said, “You have said it yourself, I am. But I tell you, from now on you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the power of God and coming on the clouds of heaven.”[3]

Then the high priest tore his clothes and declared, “He has blasphemed! Why do we still need further witnesses? Now you have heard the blasphemy. What is your verdict?” They all condemned him, and answered, “He is guilty and deserves death.”

Now the men who were holding Jesus under guard began to mock him and beat him. Some began to spit on him, and to blindfold him, and to strike him with their fists. And some slapped him, saying repeatedly, “Prophesy for us, you Christ! Who hit you?” They also said many other things against him, reviling him.

While Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the high priest’s slave girls came by. Seeing Peter as he sat in the firelight warming himself, she stared at him and said, “This man was with him too! You also were with that Nazarene, Jesus of Galilee.”

But Peter denied it in front of them all: ”Woman I don’t know him!” Then he went out to the gateway, and a rooster crowed. When Peter went out to the gateway, another slave girl saw him and said to the bystandersc there, “This man was with Jesus the Nazarene. He is one of them too.” But Peter denied it again with an oath, “I do not know the man!”

Then a little later, one of the high priest’s slaves, a relative of the man whose ear Peter had cut off, said, “Did I not see you in the orchard with him? You are one of them too.” Then Peter denied it again and said, “Man, I am not!”

After about an hour, the bystanders again came up to Peter and said, “You must be one of them, because you are also a Galilean—even your accent gives you away!” Then Peter began to curse, and he swore with an oath, “I do not know this man you are talking about!”

At that moment, while Peter was still speaking, a rooster crowed a second time. Then the Lord turned and looked straight at Peter, and Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before a rooster crows twice today, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down, went outside and wept bitterly.

When day came, the council of the elders of the people gathered together, both the chief priests and the experts in the law. Then they led Jesus away to their council, the whole Sanhedrin, [where] they plotted against Jesus to execute him. After forming a plan, the whole group of them rose up, tied Jesus up, led him away, and handed him over to Pilate the governor.

* * * * * 

I’m going to do a shapshot approach today. Four snapshots in this story that I hope coalesce into a unified picture. We will start with the Sanhedrin, and end with Jesus.

SNAPSHOT 1: THE SANHEDRIN

Though they were the ruling body for the Jewish people, they did not seem to care about following the law. They didn’t like Jesus. They wanted him gone. They would do what it took to get what they wanted. 

• Trials were supposed to be conducted during daylight, not at night.

• ·Unless they met in the Hall of Hewn Stone, in the temple area, their verdicts were not binding.

• ·They allowed of false/contradictory witnesses. By their own law, the case should have been thrown out.

• ·A death verdict was not to be carried out until a night had ended.

Multiple sources from the period (the gospels, Josephus, the Dead Sea Scrolls, writings from the Pharisees) agree that a corrupt priesthood controlled Jerusalem in collusion with Rome and abused its power against others. Their treatment of Jesus fits their usual behavior toward those who challenged their authority.[4]

A commentator named Poole noted,

“Nothing is more common than for persons overzealous about rituals to be remiss about morals.”[5]

I have a less fancy way of saying it: the Sanhedrin had a very human problem: it’s too easy to let the ends justify the means. It’s too easy to think that if our cause is righteous, we can baptize anything in the service of that cause and call it righteous as well. And that’s just not the way it works.

Even if Jesus had been an imposter and blasphemer, they would not have been justified in the approach they took. Why not? Because not only does the means impact what we achieve in the end, the means determines who we are in the end. Both the means and the ends reveal us for who we really are.

The Sanhedrin can’t be taken seriously as the lawkeeping body of leaders and break the law themselves, because they automatically become a law-breaking body of law-keeping leaders. The Sanhedrin can’t claim a righteous ruling after using unrighteous means like false witnesses and improper means. That kind of leaven spoils the whole loaf.

If the Sanhedrin wanted to truly lead God’s people in God’s ways to fulfill God’s plans, they needed to lead by example in words and actions. If they didn’t commit to that, they would get confused about God’s ways and God’s plan, and just like that they would be leading God’s people somewhere that God did not intend, following a God that is increasingly created in their image.

Our reminder: we must live with integrity. We must stay in the path of Jesus; aligned with the heart, mind, and footsteps of Jesus; so that we can be God’s people leading others in God’s way to fulfill God’s plans.

SNAPSHOT 2: THE SERVANT GIRLS

In Matthew, the first servant girl said, “You also were with Jesus of Galilee.” The second girl said to other people who were standing around, “This fellow was with Jesus of Nazareth.” John writes that one asked a question to Peter: “You aren’t one of this man’s disciples too, are you?” The Gospel writers did not give unimportant detail. There is something we are supposed to learn about that fact that it was servant girls identifying the followers of Jesus.

The text isn’t clear if they were curious, or accusatory, or even hopeful. Maybe they wanted more information about Jesus and saw somebody who could answer their questions. Maybe they were Sanhedrin spies, looking out for people who might fight for Jesus (like Peter did). Maybe they though Jesus was going to fight, and were wondering where the army was. We don’t know. We just know they asked, and Peter was not about to give away his relationship with Jesus.

But the servant girls are important. So, here’s what I wonder. How would they know who had been with Jesus? They didn’t have Instagram posts or wanted posters or polaroids. How would they have found out?

I’m going to suggest that they had spent time around Jesus. Maybe they were part of the 5,000. Maybe they heard the Sermon on the Mount. Maybe they were occasionally part of the large crowed of disciples that consistently followed him. I don’t know, and the text doesn’t say.

I just suspect they had seen Jesus before, because they recognized His disciples. And this leads me to an interesting thing about the life of Jesus as recorded by the Gospel writers.

Virtually every time the writers record Jesus encountering women, Jesus validates and values women. In a time when both Jewish and Greco-Roman culture did not generally value women, Jesus did. For example, in Jewish culture, women could not testify in religious court because they were considered unreliable narrators, untrustworthy in their perspective.

But here are several servant girls who a) had apparently spent time with Jesus, b) who might not have been as embarrassed as Peter about having been around Jesus, and c) whom readers would have to seek out to ask if this story was true, thus treating them as reliable narrators of the truth. 

Our reminder: over and over, Jesus elevated those in the culture around him that were often overlooked, dismissed, or even despised: tax collectors, Samaritans, the sick and crippled, servants, women and children, those caught in sin, the list goes on. 

Isaiah pointed toward Jesus when he wrote, “A bruised reed he will not break" (Isaiah 42:3). This just means that God will not crush those who are weak or vulnerable; rather, he will gently care for them. Jesus was full of compassion for the weak, the outcast, the powerless, and the hurting. 

May we follow in that path of Jesus on our way to fulfilling the plan of Jesus.

SNAPSHOT 3: PETER

Since we focused on Judas last week to talk about Jesus’ love remaining steadfast throughout the worst things we can do even against Jesus himself, let’s look instead on what it looks like for followers of Jesus to deny that they know Jesus.

How can we communicate that we don’t know Jesus? Through our words and actions. Peter obviously used words. We often say that actions speak louder than words. Peter’s words were plenty loud; Peter’s action in the Garden might have been louder. Using a sword to defend Jesus, thinking His kingdom was an earthly kingdom that wanted us to kill others as a way to usher it in? Yeah, Peter really didn’t know Jesus.

If we use our words to deny our relationship with Jesus, we have betrayed Jesus. But we do this with our actions as well.

• If we refuse to help the needy – the hungry, thirsty, sick, naked, imprisoned, to quote Jesus - we communicate with our actions that we really don’t know Jesus.

• If we use our words to gossip, slander and wound instead of speak life and truth, we communicate with our actions that we really don’t know Jesus.

• If we take advantage of our employees, we communicate with every paycheck and belittling experience that we really don’t know Jesus.

• If we use people sexually, financially, relationally, we communicate with our actions that we really don’t know Jesus.

• If we refuse to love our neighbors as Christ loved us, we communicate with our actions that we really don’t know Jesus.

• If we refuse to commit to honoring, serving and loving our spouse, we communicate with our actions that we really don’t know Jesus.

Our reminder: being truthful and faithful to Jesus – showing people that we know him – includes our words and our lives. We want it to be obvious to those around us that we are following the path of Jesus to fulfill the plan of Jesus.

JESUS

When Jesus ‘turned and looked’ at Peter, the words the writers chose are so great.

“It implies more than a casual glance, suggesting a deeper level of observation or contemplation. In the New Testament, it is often used to describe moments of significant insight or recognition, where the observer perceives something profound or meaningful. The act of looking intently was not merely a physical action but was also linked to mental and spiritual insight.” (Strong’s Lexicon)

Oof. Jesus looked deep into Peter’s soul in the moment of Peter’s greatest betrayal. What will Jesus do? He will forgive and restore Peter, of course. And Peter will love Jesus because Jesus first loved him.

A year or two later, John and Peter healed a lame beggar outside the temple in the name of Jesus. They were arrested and brought before Annas and Caiaphas. By this time Peter was a changed man. He had been teaching and preaching, and bringing in followers of the "Way" of Jesus. Here’s what happens in Acts 4 following the healing of the lame man.

“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. They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day….[6]

The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest’s family. They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: “By what power or what name did you do this?”

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people!  If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel:

It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.  Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the cornerstone.’  Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.

So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it… They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened.

Jesus loved Peter until the end. Jesus did not give up on the one who betrayed him so deeply. When Jesus rose from the dead, the angel said to make sure Peter knew. Jesus gave his life so that greatest moments of failure in people like Peter can become their greatest platform for ministry. Don’t ever believe that Jesus has given up for you. He is here to make broken things whole and dead things come to life.

He loves you until the end.

_______________________________________________________________________________

[1] This un-named disciple is likely John. James and John were Jesus' cousins, related to Zacharias, one of the priests who served in the temple, and possibly had been introduced to Caiaphas…John had to intercede with the servant girl and vouch for him. (“Did the High Priest know John the Apostle?” http://rolinbrunoauthor.blogspot.com)

[2] According to Old Testament law, a Jew must testify when put under oath by the high priest (Lev. 5:1).

[3] Jesus likely alluded to a Messianic prophecy from Daniel: “I was watching in the night visions, and behold, One like the Son of Man, coming with the clouds of heaven! He came to the Ancient of Days, and they brought Him near before Him.” 

[4] HT NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

[5] Believer’s Bible Commentary

[6] Hey! They are following their own law!

Harmony #89: Being Loved and Hated (John 15:17-16:10)

 This is My command to you: love one another. If you find that the world [order] despises you, remember that before it despised you, it first despised Me.  If you were a product of the world order, then it would love you. But you are not a product of the world order because I have taken you out of it, and it despises you for that very reason. 

 Don’t forget what I have spoken to you: “a servant is not greater than the master.” If I was mistreated, you should expect nothing less. If they accepted what I have spoken, they will also hear you. Everything they do to you they will do on My account because they do not know the One who has sent Me.

If I had not spoken to them and done among them the works no on else has done, they would not be guilty of [this] sin [of despising me]; but now they have no excuse for ignoring My voice.[1] If someone despises Me, he also despises My Father. If I had not demonstrated things for them that have never been done, they would not be guilty of [this] sin. 

But the reality is they have stared Me in the face, and they have despised Me and the Father nonetheless. Yet their law, which says, “They despised Me without any cause,”[2] has again been proven true.

Notice how this portion is for people who “stared Jesus in the face.” I believe this is specifically an indictment on the Sadducees and Pharisees, religious leaders who a) knew their Scripture and b) knew first-hand what Jesus was doing, and they rejected him. Their dismissal of him was not because of ignorance of his words or to lack of miraculous evidence revealing who he was; they willingly and blatantly refused to believe what was made clear to them.

I will send a great Helper to you from the Father, one known as the Spirit of truth. He comes from the Father and will point to the truth as it concerns Me. But you will also point others to the truth about My identity, because you have journeyed with Me since this all began….

16:1 “I have told you all these things so that you will not fall away. They will put you out of the synagogue[3], yet a time is coming when the one who kills you will think he is offering service to God. They will do these things because they have not known the Father or me.[4] But I have told you these things so that when their time comes, you will remember that I told you about them.

…But I tell you the truth, it is to your advantage that I am going away. For if I do not go away, the Advocate [Holy Spirit] will not come to you, but if I go, I will send him to you. When he comes, he will prove the world order wrong[5]concerning sin and righteousness and judgment…

—concerning sin, because they do not believe in me; concerning righteousness, because I am going to the Father and you will see me no longer; and concerning judgment, because the archon of this world has been condemned.

When the Holy Spirit arrives (most people assume this is a reference to Pentecost on the book of Acts), Jesus will be vindicated. The original word carries with it the idea of a defense attorney making an argument that will show a client’s innocence.

In all that our Lord says here, there seems to be an allusion to the office of an advocate in a cause, in a court of justice who, by producing witnesses, and pleading upon the proof, convicts the opposite party of sin, demonstrates the righteousness of his client, and shows the necessity of passing judgment upon the accuser. (Adam Clarke)

Concerning sin: This could be a reference to the general conviction of humanity that exposes our sin in order to lead us to repentance and salvation. I think it might be more specific than that in this immediate context because of that “face to face” comment. “They” – the Sadducees and Pharisees – did not believe in Jesus in spite of seeing him in person, hearing his teaching which they could not refute, and seeing his Messianic miracles. Meanwhile, they accused Jesus of blasphemy (a definite sin) because he claimed to be God. But he was correct. He did not sin as they supposed.

Concerning Righteousness: Righteousness is being in right relationship with God and others. Think of “rightness” as a synonym.  It’s internal and external alignment with God and God’s plan demonstrated in life. Jesus rising from the dead showed that He and the Father were one, as he so often claimed. The pouring out of God’s Spirit for the reunification of humanity (all the separated people from the Tower of Babel in Genesis 11) reveals the plan of which Jesus was a part.

Concerning Judgment: the ‘archon’ of the world stood condemned. A couple weeks ago, we talked about a previous use of that word in this same speech in the gospel of John where it seemed to point toward the flesh and blood rulers of the world order (the Sanhedrin and Rome). This could be restating that, or it could be referring more broadly to Satan as a leader of the world order. Either way, they and their ‘world order’ stand condemned. As Jesus will say later in this same speech, “Be of good cheer. I have overcome this world order.”

* * * * *

Re: The world loving and hating Jesus and followers of Jesus

I like the translation of “world order” over just “world.” The latter makes it sounds like everybody who is not a Christian is going to hate Christians. But that’s not true. As history shows, a whole lot of people who weren’t Christians have become Christians because they found Christ compelling, often because of the compelling nature of the Christians around them. “World Order” captures the idea of the cultural power structures the run earthly empires, not every individual.[6]

The World Order reacted differently to Jesus than the masses of the people did. The ones with power, prestige and comfort on the line reacted differently to Jesus than the poor and powerless.

• Rome, the Sadducees/Herodians, Pharisees and Zealots responded differently than did the Essenes – the one group not seeking earthly power positions. 

• The outcasts in Jewish society – tax collectors, prostitutes, the physically sick, the Samaritans, the – they seemed to get along with Jesus really well.

• ·The overlooked and underappreciated – women, children, slaves, the poor – they find Jesus and his path of life really compelling (the early church filled up with them!).

People with a lot of earthly clout, those with a lot to lose by following the Messiah who taught love over coercion, servanthood over power flexing, humility over pride, generosity over materialism – well, they tended to push back against Jesus pretty hard. They have bought in to what Ephesians 2 calls “the course of this world.”

• The world order values coercive power; Jesus values a servanthood that invites.

• The world order thrives on identifying and hating enemies ; Jesus values loving even our enemies and doing good to those who hate us.

• The world order tramples on people to get things; Jesus used things to care for people.

• The world order insists that “greed is good”[7] and plays favorites with the rich; Jesus insisted that the love of money was a trap for our souls, and there should be no favorites in the Kingdom of God.

• The world order admires the Alpha with arrogant pride; Jesus values humility and honest self-reflection.

• The world order controls through fear and manipulation; Jesus compels with hope and invitation.

• The world order values luxury and indulgence; Jesus values generosity and self-control.

• The world order admires those who take what they want; Jesus values those who give to others who are in need, and who look out for others who are in want.

• The world order exploits and belittles others to get to the top; Jesus said it would be the meek who inherit the kingdom of God.

• The world order dismisses “the least of these”; Jesus placed a premium on their worth.

Jesus was here to save the world, but not the world order. He was there for the people in the Empire, not to prop up the Empire’s culture. He was there to upend the order of the world (in Rome and the Romanized Sadducees) and redeem both the sin of the people of the world and the sinful ideals embedded in the systems of the world.

How did He go about doing this?  By changing individuals who then permeated their communities and their cities. It was not a top-down authoritarian coercion; it was a grass roots spread of the Kingdom of God sabotaging the Empire of Rome, one individual at a time, one changed heart at a time, one soul transformation at a time. If we go back to the previous list, that means the church was intended to be a community characterized by:

• Displaying servanthood

• Loving everyone, even our enemies.

• Using the things we have to care for people.

• Not playing favorites based on, well, anything.

• Valuing humility, generosity and self-control

• Offering hope

• Looking out for those who are in want.

• ·Living with meekness (controlled strength) and kindness

• Placing a premium on everyone’s – everyone’s! - worth

The Empire agenda is threatened by that kind of counter-cultural community; I don’t think our average neighbor hates that. Thousands of people were drawn to Jesus. The Jewish communities most vilified sinners were drawn to Jesus. When the early church formed this kind of community, it grew like crazy, but I will get to that in a moment.

I am pointing this out because I worry that we can start to think that being hated is a sign that we are following Jesus correctly. In this view, the more people around us dislike us, the more holy we are. If people outside the church actually like us, well, clearly compromise has crept into our witness.

But that just doesn’t match the ministry of Jesus or the early church. Jesus’ detractors called him a “friend of sinners” because the outcast sinners in their communities were drawn to Him. This trend continued when the Holy Spirit filled his followers. Within 70 years, there were around 25,000 in the church. By 300 AD, it was probably around 20 million.[8] Even in the midst of persecution by the Roman government, even Roman and Greek people filled the church. And why not? So many had grown weary of the exploitation, violence, and debasement the Roman World Order had imposed on them. A Jesus-based vision of community looked pretty compelling.

{Hot historical tip, painting with a very broad brush: church history shows us that when those entrenched in the halls of power – the world order - hate us and our neighbors find us compelling, we are probably representing Jesus well. When those entrenched in the halls of power – the world order – love us and our neighbors hate us, we are probably not representing Jesus well.}

I read a book called The Patient Ferment Of The Early Church. I would like to offer some of the great insights from this book about how the early church changed the world.

People who study shifts in religious adherence pay attention to the “push” and the “pull” that are at play in every conversion. What in the existing religious options so dissatisfied some people that it pushed their adherents to explore new options? And then what was it in Christianity that so attracted people, that it pulled them to explore something that might be very costly? 

The early Christians proliferated… because faith embodied was attractive to people who were dissatisfied with their old cultural and religious habits, who felt pushed to explore new possibilities, and who then encountered Christians who embodied a new manner of life that pulled them toward what the Christians called “rebirth” into a new life. 

Christians, said Cyprian (210 - 258), are to be visibly distinctive. They are to live their faith and communicate it in deeds [to] demonstrate the character of God to the world. “No occasion should be given to the pagans to censure us deservedly and justly… It profits nothing to show forth virtue in words and destroy truth in deeds.” 

According to Clement (35-100), ‘When the Christians talked about loving your enemies, their neighbors had been interested. But when they found that the Christians didn’t do what they said, they dismissed Christianity as “a myth and a delusion.’ From Clement’s perspective, Christians had to embody the message if the churches were to grow.

Justin the Martyr (100-165) noted that his community doesn’t consider people true Christians if they simply quote Christ’s teachings but don’t live them. Jesus himself had insisted on this (Matthew 7:21). Further, Justin believes that the effectiveness of Christian witness depends on the integrity of the believers’ lifestyles.

As an example, Justin points to the area of business. “Many who were once on [Rome’s] side . . . have turned from the ways of violence and tyranny, overcome by observing the consistent lives of their [Christian] neighbors, or noting the strange patience of their injured acquaintances, or experiencing the way they did business with them.”

Christians behaved in ways that their pagan contemporaries found intriguing. In fact, some pagans found the Christians’ behavior unsettling enough to convert to Christianity.

Tertullian (155-220) admonished his readers: “If one tries to provoke you to a fight, there is at hand the admonition of the Lord:  ‘If someone strike [you] . . . on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.’ [And if someone] burst out in cursing or wrangling, recall the saying: ‘When men reproach you, rejoice.’

 Let wrong-doing grow weary from your patience. It attracts the heathen, recommends the slave to his master, the master to God. It adorns a woman, perfects a man. It is loved in a child, praised in a youth, esteemed in the aged. In both man and woman, at every age of life, it is exceedingly attractive.”

Tertullian indicates that…the Christian family was not defined by the vertical values of the wider society; it was horizontal in its solidarity, making all its members brother and sisters…The community’s worship was designed to empower all members and to give them a sense of their worth that expressed itself in courageous living and bold testimony.

But what the outsiders saw was not their worship. It was their [habits]. And they said, “Look! How they love one another.” They did not say, “Listen to the Christians’ message”; they did not say, “Read what they write.”

Hearing and reading were important, and some early Christians worked to communicate in these ways too. But we must not miss the reality: the pagans said look! Christianity’s truth was visible; it was embodied and enacted by its members. It was made tangible, sacramental.

The Christians were socially active: they had intensive, embodied forms of care for members and others. The believers, whose dress was often simple and unostentatious, did not immediately reveal their identity to passersby, but their identity could emerge as relationships developed. Sometimes this came as a surprise: “‘A good man,’ they say, ‘only that he is a Christian.’

Scholars have seen the church’s growth as coming about through something modest: “casual contact.” In all relationships, “affective bonds” were formed. The most reliable means of communicating the attractiveness of the faith to others and enticing them to investigate things further was the Christians’ character, bearing, and behavior.

Writing in the 180s, the Roman Celsus noted with distaste that Christians formed groups to which they attracted… “the most illiterate and bucolic yokels.” To him these were people of no account, who in a hierarchical world knew that they were the dregs of society and that they had no views worth expressing or being listened to.

But care for these very people, especially the poor, was another area in which the Christian communities had habits... Outsiders looked at this and were impressed. According to Henry Chadwick, “The practical application of charity was probably the most potent single cause of Christian success.”

In 305 during the Great Persecution, in Cirta in North Africa, imperial officials raided a house church and (conveniently for our purposes) compiled a list of its possessions. On this list the examiners found, along with chalices, candleholders, and other liturgical equipment, a stock of clothing.

The church had what was evidently a clothes store, to which members contributed clothing that other members could claim when they needed it. The clothing included “eighty-two women’s tunics . . . , sixteen men’s tunics, thirteen pairs of men’s shoes, forty-seven pairs of women’s shoes.”

The Didache[9] notes, “bless those who curse you, and pray for your enemies,” and goes on to present other ways that the Christian habits differs from “the way the heathen act.”  “Do not hesitate to give and do not give with a bad grace. . . .

Do not turn your back on the needy, but share everything with your brother and call nothing your own. For if you have what is eternal in common, how much more should you have what is transient!” More surprisingly, they loved their enemies: “They comfort such as wrong them, and make friends of them; they labor to do good to their enemies.”

The Didache did not discuss how the life of the community impacted the world or attracted new members, possibly because such discussion seemed unnecessary; the habits of the community were attracting as many people to its life as the community’s catechetical formation could cope with.

Then, there is a sobering turn.

In the 240s in Caesarea in Palestine, as Origen prepared catechumens for baptism he struggled against the unfaithful behavior of the faithful. ‘The Christians’ public behavior belied their convictions: they “agitate the forum with lawsuits and weary [their] neighbors with altercations. They are completely disgusting in their actions and habit of life, wrapped up with vices and not wholly ‘putting away the old self with its actions.

[The people] come to church and bow their head to the priests, exhibit courtesy, honor the servants of God, even bring something for the decoration of the altar or church—yet they exhibit no inclination to also improve their habits, correct impulses, lay aside faults, cultivate purity, soften the violence of wrath, restrain avarice, curb greed.”

According to Clement, when the Christians talked about loving your enemies, their neighbors had been interested. But when they found that the Christians didn’t do what they said, they dismissed Christianity as “a myth and a delusion.” From Clement’s perspective, Christians had to embody the message if the churches were to grow.

By the early fifth century the problem had become so acute that some theologians updated the church’s theology of witness so that they no longer emphasized the Christians’ exemplary behavior.”

* * * * *

There came a point in church history – after Constantine legalized Christianity and intertwined it with the Roman agenda – theologians in the Western church specifically changed the discussion about what it mean to be a faithful follower of Jesus by moving the focus of what it meant to be a good witness away from the witness of an integrated, holy life and moved it into the realm of thoughts and beliefs as the most important marker. In other words, for 350 years, orthodoxy (right belief) was being clarified, but orthopraxy (right action) was the exhibition of faith and the witness to the world – until Christian leaders began moving the orthopraxy markers so Hellenized Christians could more comfortably support Rome’s agenda and fit into Roman culture. 

When we live like Jesus and his first followers, we will feel dangerous to those who control Empire culture. Peace, love, humility, servanthood, generosity, patience, kindness, self-control, repentance, forgiveness – this is not the fuel of Empires. Valuing every person as an image bearer of God worthy of dignity, justice and mercy – that’s not a value of Empires. We ought to expect as Christians to always live in an uneasy tension with the halls of power in our nations.

But our neighbors? It ought to be good news to all those beat up by the values of the Empire’s world order when Christians move into the neighborhood. “Finally! Someone who loves us!” And it is from these good deeds, Jesus said, that they will glorify our Father in heaven. (Matthew 5:16)

__________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Jewish teachers recognized that knowing the truth increased one’s moral responsibility.

[2] Psalms 35:19; 69:4

[3] Without the protection of being recognized as part of the Jewish community, believers could lose their Roman worship exemption and be charged with disloyalty to the state. (Rev 2:13; 13:15).

[4] “Because they have not known the Father — John 15:25; John 15:25. Ignorance of the benevolence of GOD, and of the philanthropy of CHRIST, is the grand fountain whence all religious persecution and intolerance proceed.” Adam Clarke

[5] “Vindicate me, my God, and plead my cause against an unfaithful nation. Rescue me from those who are deceitful and wicked.” (Psalm 43:1)

[6] I don’t mean like a deep state New World Order. This is more like “the course of the world” in Ephesians 2.

[7] To quote Michael Douglas’s infamous line from Wall Street.

[8] I have seen very different statistics on this. Hopefully this represents the middle ground.

[9] An early church document compiled over years that reveals church teaching and practice.

Harmony #36: Sending Out the Twelve (Matthew 9:35-38; 10:1, 5-15; 11:1; Mark 6:7-13; Luke 9:1-6)

 Then Jesus went throughout all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom, and healing every kind of disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them because they were bewildered and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd.[1]

Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few.[2]  Therefore ask the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.” Jesus called his twelve disciples[3] and gave them authority over unclean spirits so they could cast them out and heal every kind of disease and sickness.

Jesus sent out these twelve two by two[4] to proclaim that the kingdom of heaven is near and to heal the sick.[5]He instructed them as follows: “Do not go to Gentile regions and do not enter any Samaritan town.[6] Go instead to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, preach this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven is near!’

Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, cast out demons. Freely you received, freely give. Take nothing[7] for the journey except a staff,[8] and put on sandals. Do not take gold, silver, or copper in your belts[9] – no bread, no bag for the journey, or an extra tunic, or sandals or staff,[10] for the worker deserves his provisions.

“Whenever you enter a town or village, find out who is worthy there and stay with them until you leave the area.[11]As you enter the house, give it greetings. And if the house is worthy, let your peace come on it, but if it is not worthy, let your peace return to you.[12]

And if anyone will not welcome you or listen to your message, as you leave that house or town, shake the dust off your feet[13] as a testimony against them. I tell you the truth, it will be more bearable for the region of Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town![14]

When Jesus had finished instructing his twelve disciples, he went on from there to teach and preach in their towns. Then the disciples departed and went throughout the villages, proclaiming the good news and preaching that all should repent. They cast out many demons and anointed sick people everywhere with oil and healed them.

A few comments on some dynamics at work here.

• The disciples would do the things that Jesus had been doing to prove their power and message were from him. They were given Christ-like credentials to confirm their message.

• They were to stay in the first house that welcomed them —no rejecting poor accommodations or working toward getting to a nicer place. The value of their host and their relationship with their host was more important than the comfort of their bed. 

• They were not to pressure those who refused to be hospitable to them or their message, but were to shake off the dust from their feet (hospitable hosts would have cleaned their feet for them) and move on.[15]

• This was not to be a means to accumulate wealth. Jerome (347-420) wrote, “Spiritual gifts are defiled if connected with rewards.” He was very concerned that it would look like “they were preaching not for the sake of humanity’s salvation but for the sake of their own financial gain.”[16] They had received their blessings without cost and were to pay it forward on the same basis.[17] Neither the miracles of the Kingdom nor the good news of the free gift of grace in the Kingdom were intended to make one wealthy by earthly standards.

This passage could be mined pretty deeply. There is a lot of treasure here below the surface. I am going to offer six points to ponder in hopes that at least one will challenge or encourage you.

1. The transformative reality that “the kingdom is near” needs to take root here before we take it there.  Jesus wasn’t telling them to only go the Jewish people because he disliked the Gentiles and Samaritans. He had already spoken to the woman at the well  in Samaria (who brought the whole village to see him), so the Kingdom tree was growing in Samaria. He had been healing Gentiles (we read last week that an entire household was converted), and the former demoniac was telling people about Jesus in the largely Gentile side of the Sea of Galilee, so it’s not as if the Gentiles had been ignored.

I suspect he steered the 12 toward the Jewish people for two reasons.

First, the “lost sheep of the house of Israel” are his children, his family. His sheep are wandering around like sheep without a Shepherd because they don’t know who the shepherd is. The Father loves his children, and he begins with them. He has not given up on them. His ministry will not end with his family, but it will begin with His family.

I’ll just note: if God has given you the gifts and talents to do ministry for the Kingdom on his behalf, begin with your family. It probably won’t end there, but it should start there. Trust me, as one for whom it took a long time for this to sink in. This is important.

Second, I wonder if it has something to do with the development of truth and character in those who will spread the message before they spread the message. There was some work that needed to be done so the ambassadors could represent the King well. For example, his disciples will soon ask him to call down fire on a Samaritan town.[18] Yeah, you might not want to send those guys to the Samaritans just yet. They might have known the message of Jesus, but they didn’t understand the heart of Jesus.

There is a lesson here :) It is important that we not neglect our spiritual formation as we build the reach and impact of the Kingdom. We don’t have to be perfect, obviously. We can a mess, in fact, as God is working to heal all the many ways we are broken. But we need to understand the heart of God for people, and we need to be committed to the ongoing serious discipleship that, with the help of the Holy Spirit, increases our likeness to Jesus. If we are planning to head out and beg God to call down fire on those who are lost, we aren't ready. When we see them as lost and confused sheep who need to meet the Shepherd, we are.

2. The crowds were like sheep without a shepherd, a ripe harvest with no one gathering. Is that how we view the lost or wandering crowds around us? It’s worth noting that it’s likely at least some of these people eventually clamored for Jesus’ crucifixion. Perhaps being able to view even hostile enemies this way is how, Jesus, while on the cross,  could say, “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.”

When we see news coverage of THAT group marching for THAT issue, how do we see them?  Do we see sheep without a shepherd? When we walk downtown during Cherry Festival, do we see a field ripe for harvest, needing to have someone who an ambassador for Jesus enter into their lives with the good news of salvation? And what does your response motivate you to do: retreat in fear, lash out in anger, take an eye for eye, get a hostile bumper sticker that’s sure to trigger somebody? Or are we moved to prayerfully seek them out to share the message - and show with our lives-  that the good news that the Kingdom of heaven is here?

3. What does it look like to live prophetically? “Biblical prophets had to live simply in times of widespread apostasy, not dependent on decadent society (1Kings 17:4 – 6; 18:13; 2Kings 4:38; 5:15 – 16,26; 6:1).”[19]

Do we live in times of widespread apostasy (followers of Jesus falling away from the faith)? Yes, at a record pace for the United States. Is our culture decadent?  Almost 50 years ago, Francis Schaeffer argued vigorously that it is, and I don’t know of anyone who disagreed then or now.

We often talk about speaking prophetically, which 80+ percent of the time in the Bible meant proclaiming God’s word and plan boldly in what called forthtelling as opposed to foretelling about future events (that’s the other percentage points).

We talk about speaking prophetically in both of those ways (as we should), but we don’t so often talk about living prophetically. Why? It’s a lot easier to say some words than it is to change a lifestyle.

I wonder what it looks like for us to live prophetically? I’m not sure where to go with this: maybe… it’s this?  Or that? These are just ideas. I’m spitballing. There is something important here, and I feel like I’m nibbling at the edges. Maybe in Message+ we can get to the core. These are things I thought of this week.

• We refuse to support the destructive nature of greedy consumerism by reigning in our consumption and from our savings, practicing generosity.

• In an age of indulgence - often at the expense others - we practice self-restraint so that we are better able to serve others.

• We refuse to live in luxury when those around us live in squalor. Where is that line? I have no idea. But it’s somewhere.

• We fight the culture’s objectification and exploitation of people sexually and financially by determining to honor the intrinsic value of people with our thoughts, our words, and our actions.

• We refuse to go about our daily life as if everything is okay when it’s not okay. We commit to holy disturbances in the rhythm of our lives to spread the Kingdom.

I’m sure there’ more here. I hope this inspires us to think about it.

4. It is just as important to receive hospitality as to give it. In Jesus’ time, people honored others by showing hospitality. But it works both ways. Hosts were honored when people received their generosity, as simple as it may be. Imagine if a disciple had stayed one night at a house and the next day said, “Hey that was really nice, but I’m going to THAT house.” (Points toward the mansion up the block). Imagine how the poorer host would feel. I love that Jesus’ instructions required his disciples to appreciate people rather than the things that they had.

Also, there is something very, very important about receiving hospitality that affirms the value of the person giving. From a reddit post:

"I heard my mother asking our neighbor for some salt. I asked her why she was asking them as we had salt at home. She replied: 'It's because they're always asking us for things; they're poor. So I thought I'd ask something small from them so as not to burden them but at the same time make them feel as if we need them too.'"

5. The messenger of the Kingdom are purposeful, but not pushy. Notice that the disciples did not hound, berate, yell, march, picket, boycott those who were inhospitable to them or their ideas. They tried, and then moved on to those who were hospitable. I suspect, given enough time, they would have tried again or at least encouraged others to give it a shot. It’s not that they didn’t care. But they had a message of good seeds that needed to be sown in good soil, and there was only so much time.

There’s something here about discerning the moment. Of all the points, this might be the one that most obviously requires a sensitivity to whether the Holy Spirit is pushing you toward or pulling you from someone. The best explanation I have in my life is that there have been times when I’ve been talking to both Christians and non-Christians and it was clear they had heart soil ready for truth about all kinds of things, from who Jesus is to how to love others well or be honest about themselves…you name it, they were ready to have truth planted in their hearts.

In other conversations I’ve had, it became clear after a while that they were only in this to show me how smart they were, or to try to humiliate me, or to defend themselves from any and all attempts to help them see themselves as God and others saw them.

I don’t have a template or a scientific explanation about how you know the difference, but when you know, you know.

I don’t believe for a minute God was done with those villages when the disciples moved on. The Holy Spirit, the Hound of Heaven, will pursue them through someone else. When we feel nudged to move on, remember that just because we aren’t the messenger doesn’t mean there will be no messenger. I suspect God will send other people into their lives who will be far more effective than you or I ever would have been.

6. I wonder what signs are ‘credentials’ in our culture? What things would lay out our credentials as ambassadors of the Kingdom of God? For the disciples it was those specifically miraculous things, many of which directly pointed back to Old Testament prophecy concerning what the awaited Messiah would do. In many times and places throughout history, that kind of miraculous work has been like planting a flag in the ground and saying, “This is Kingdom territory,” and everybody got it.  

In increasingly secular cultures, where all miracles are explained away as unknown science, I wonder if the signs and wonders are sometimes something different. It’s not like God can’t be creative with how He displays His power and goodness to the world.

• In the book of Acts, miracles were the primary credentials. That continues today in many parts of the world, especially in countries where the supernatural world clashes very publically.

• In the first few centuries of the early church, miracles didn’t stop, but it was their love for everybody that awed the Gentiles more than anything else.

• Throughout history, faithful martyrdom has caught the attention of those far from Jesus.

• In the Middle Ages (when things went well) it was hospitable communities and the preservation of schools and libraries that shone like a city on a hill.

• In the Great Awakenings, it was repentant, transformed individuals, who often led the charge to address social issues (poverty, racism, alcoholism, orphans).

• In the Asuza revivals, it was the gifts of the Holy Spirit being used in power and love for the building of the church.

• The 2000s began with a proliferation of apologetics, philosophical, historical and theological arguments in defense of the faith that for many skeptics removed the hurdle of feeling like faith was not for the intellectual or scientific.

• Now, I think the most powerful credentials in the United States is increasingly returning to 1) the testimony of transformed lives, and 2) the witness of church communities characterized by embodied truth, love and grace displayed in the family, church and broader community. As has often been noted, people don’t care what we know until they know that we care.

 None of these are never not important. What is important is “understanding the times,” and entering into what God is doing at a particular time in a particular place for a particular people.

_______________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Ezekiel 34:5

[2] “The state of things suggested two pictures to His mind: a neglected flock of sheep, and a harvest going to waste for lack of reapers. Both imply, not only a pitiful plight of the people, but a blameworthy neglect of duty on the part of their religious guides—the shepherds by profession without the shepherd heart, the spiritual husbandmen without an eye for the whitening fields and skill to handle the sickle.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary) 

[3] “The Twelve were evidently not together all the time (some had homes and families).”

(ESV Reformation Study Bible)

[4] “[This] satisfies the requirement of two or three witnesses and provides them a measure of protection.” (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds of the New Testament)

[5] “[This] is not appointment to a permanent office but commissioning for an immediate task.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

[6] Jesus had already been to Samaria. Also, “That Jesus felt it necessary to mention the Samaritans at all presupposes John 4. The disciples, happy in the exercise of their ability to perform miracles, might have been tempted to evangelize the Samaritans when they remembered Jesus' success there. Judging by Lk 9:52-56, however, the Twelve were still tempermentally ill-equipped to minister to Samaritans.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary) 

[7] He will send out others where the instructions are different (Luke 22). Don’t think of the specifics as a timeless command. The specifics are for this group of people, at this time.

[8] “According to Mark 6:8, the disciples were allowed to take a staff. Here in Luke’s account, Jesus is probably not prohibiting a staff altogether but prohibiting taking an extra one, as Luke 10:4 prohibits extra sandals.” (ESV Global Study Bible)

[9] “Biblical prophets had to live simply in times of widespread apostasy not dependent on decadent society (cf., e.g., 3:1,4; 1Ki 17:4 – 6; 18:13; 2Ki 4:38; 5:15 – 16,26; 6:1).” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[10] Remember how John the Baptist was likely an Essene, or at least heavily influenced by the Essene community? “When Essenes (members of a strict Jewish sect) traveled, they traveled light, depending on hospitality from other Essenes.” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible) Then, consider how all of Jesus disciples either followed John or were influenced by him. In other words, these instructions would not have felt unusual.

[11] “Rather than moving from house to house, perhaps in a quest for better housing, the apostles were to establish their ministry headquarters in one home. (ESV Global Study Bible) “They would rely on hospitality, but staying in one house limited the time they spent in any one place.” (ESV Reformation Study Bible) “The disciples should receive hospitality graciously. Hospitality was important as well as necessary in days of difficult travel conditions and poor accommodations at inns. The disciples were not to move about from house to house, a practice that might gain them more support but would insult their hosts.” (Expositor’s Bible Commentary)

[12] “The conventional Jewish greeting was shalom, “May it be well with you.” This was a blessing, i.e., an implicit prayer to God.” (NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible)

[13] “Proper hospitality included offering water for guests to wash their feet; here the travelers’ feet remain conspicuously unwashed. Jewish people sometimes shook profane dust from their feet when entering a more holy place (Ex 3:5) [or] leaving pagan territory to enter the Holy Land.” (NIV Cultural Background Study Bible)

[14] Note that this is not a judgment on Gentiles. This is a referendum on God’s people, those who have the Law and are not practicing hospitality. The prophets said that one of the prominent sins of Sodom was inhospitality (Ezekiel 16:49). The people of Sodom were (in a sense) Gentiles who didn’t know any better. What they did was bad, but God’s people knew better. It’s worse.

[15] Believer’s Bible Commentary

[16] As found in Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture: Matthew 1-13

[17] Believer’s Bible Commentary

[18] Luke 9

[19] NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

7 Trumpets (Revelation 8-11)

 Now when the Lamb opened the seventh seal there was silence in heaven for about half an hour[1].  Then I saw the seven angels who stand before God, and seven trumpets were given to them. Another angel holding a golden censer came and was stationed at the altar. A large amount of incense was given to him to offer up, with the prayers of all the saints, on the golden altar that is before the throne.  

 The Old Testament associates silence with divine judgment.[2] This seems to be a response to the death of and the prayers of saints that bring about the judgment on those through whom evil and suffering have been unleashed in the world. 

The smoke coming from the incense, along with the prayers of the saints, ascended before God from the angel’s hand. Then the angel took the censer, filled it with fire from the altar, and threw it on the earth[3], and there were crashes of thunder, roaring, flashes of lightning, and an earthquake.[4]

The prayers go up; fire, a common biblical metaphor for a judgment that either refines or destroys, comes down. Now, the trumpets show how God’s judgment of evil impacts the earth as we groan our way toward the end.   

 Now the seven angels[5] holding the seven trumpets prepared to blow them.[6]

Remember we talked about the "birth pangs" Jesus warned would start in the generation of his listeners? The birthing process is a lot of pain, a lot of unpleasantness, but a good result at the end. There will be life on the other side, but the process is going to be hard. 

We are going to see the removal of peace; the destruction of the things that prop up the idolatry and empires of the world; deprivation; suffering; loss; despair.  This is reaping what was sown.  Consumer cultures consume themselves. Violent cultures ruin themselves. Indulgent cultures soften themselves. God sends the whirlwind. 

[Babylon’s] sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Pour her a double portion from her own cup... God has judged her with the judgment she imposed on you.” (Revelation 18:5-6; 20)”[7]

A third will be impacted,[8] meaning it’s not total judgment. There is time for people to see what is going on and repent. In that sense, while this judgment is certainly about retribution for the evil done, it also holds the potential to be rehabilitative and restorative. It’s a good reminder of how to pray for justice/judgment: may it not only stop the evil, but may it be the means by which the evildoers come to their senses.

The images are apocalyptic: flaming mountains that are nations; stars that are angels; a speaking eagle. I think we are meant to see “through” them, weighing them like we do numbers.[9] There is room for the famine to be deprivations of all kinds, or the bitterness of the water to be a contrast to “the living water,” which speaks to spiritual realities. We are going to see everything shake. The people have placed their trust in idols, in false gods, in what is unstable and chaotic, and it’s not going to end well.[10] 

 The first angel[11] blew his trumpet, and there was hail and fire mixed with blood, and it was thrown at the earth so that a third of the earth (soil) was burned up, a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up.

The fire and blood are symbols of the wrath of God.[12] They can’t be literal: the blood and hail would put out the fire; a fire that destroyed 1/3 of the dirt and trees and all the grass would destroy the globe.

The first 4 trumpets are modeled after the plagues on Egypt (Exodus 7-11). Revelation 15:3 compares the return of Jesus to the first exodus;[13] it would make sense that the second exodus is ushered in in similar fashion.[14]  

Since the plagues of Egypt directly challenged the gods of the Egyptians, I am inclined to see this trumpet as a spiritual warfare broadside against the gods of this world, judging the world systems behind the evil and corruption of the world (which we will say more about at the 7th trumpet).[15]However, just like the first Exodus, it’s not too late repent and join those about to head to the Promised Land.[16]   

 Then the second angel blew his trumpet, and something like a great mountain of burning fire was thrown into the sea.[17]A third[18] of the sea became blood, and a third of the creatures living in the sea died, and a third of the ships were completely destroyed.

In the Bible, mountains often stand in for kingdoms[19] or nations, many subject to God's judgment.[20] Jeremiah speaks of Babylon as a destroying mountain which would be burned by fire (Jeremiah 51:25) that will sink into the waters never to rise again.[21] We will see this again with the destruction of Babylon’s global maritime commerce in chapter 18.[22] Rome depended on the sea for food and commerce; the sea captains lament Babylon’s ruin.[23]

Once again, see ‘through’ this: it’s an indictment on nation(s) plural. All nations. God’s judgment will rock the gods of this world, and then hit the issue most talked about in the Bible: money, the idol of wealth, commerce, power and security. Look how rocked we have been by the shipping issues in the last few months (“We can’t have Christmas!”). There is nothing new under the sun.  

Then the third angel blew his trumpet, and a huge star burning like a torch fell from the sky; it landed on a third of the rivers and on the springs of water. (Now the name of the star is Wormwood.) So a third of the waters became wormwood, and many people died from these waters because they were poisoned.

In Jewish apocalypses, stars sometimes appeared like burning mountains; one fell into the sea and burned both the sea and Israel’s oppressors.[24]  1 Enoch 18:13 and 21:3[25] describes the preliminary judgment of the fallen angels as “stars like great burning mountains.”[26] Stars represent angelic beings in Revelation (see on 1:19). OT angels often represent earthly peoples and kingdoms.

In fact, the rabbis interpreted the Exodus 7:16–18 plague on the waters as a judgment on the Nile god, who represented the people. They would quote Isaiah 24:21 - “the Lord will punish the host of heaven on high and the kings of the earth on earth.” Here Babylon’s ‘angel’ appears to be judged along with the nation. It was prophesied. Not only are the nations shaken, but any spiritual powers behind them have been toppled from their place of authority as well. 

O shining one, son of the dawn! You have been cut down to the ground, O conqueror of the nations…  But you were brought down to Sheol, to the remote slopes of the Pit. (Isaiah 14:12-15) 

Wormwood recalls the bitter water at Marah - still on an Exodus theme (Exodus 15:23). If the “living waters” of chapters 7 and 21 represent the reward of eternal, spiritual life for faithfulness through suffering (7:17; 21:6; 22:1), then the waters of death in Chapter 8 represent a punishment of suffering associated with eternal, spiritual death. 

Then the fourth angel blew his trumpet, and a third of the sun was struck, and a third of the moon, and a third of the stars, so that a third of them were darkened.[27] And there was no light for a third of the day and for a third of the night likewise.[28] 

Our earth is too finely tuned to not be destroyed by literal celestial events like that. It’s a known image of judgment to John’s audience: at God’s judgment of Edom, “all the starry host will fall” (Isaiah 34:4).  The Dictionary Of Bible Themes notes the many ways in which celestial bodies played multiple roles in the Bible, but here’s what’s relevant to us today. Under the category of “Worship of the Stars,” we find: 

·      Prohibited by God Deuteronomy 4:19; 17:3 2 Kings 23:4-5

·      Judgment of star worshippers Jer 8:2: 19:12-13; Amos 5:25-27; Acts 7:42-43

·      Examples of star worship 2 Ki 17:16; 2 Ki 21:3-5; 2 Chronicles 33:5; Acts 28:11

·      Idolatrous worship of the moon Deut. 4:19; 17:3; 2 Ki 23:5; Job 31:26

·      Sun Worship Forbidden to God’s people Deut 4:19;17:2-5; Job 31:26-28

·      Practiced in Israel and Egypt Ez 8:16; 2 Ki 23:5,11; Jer 8:1-2; 43:13

 Judaism has long interpreted The Exodus plague of darkness as a spiritual, cultural, or mental darkness. It's the darkness of despair when people realize the futility of their idolatry and the disaster that is coming up on them (Jeremiah 15:19, Amos 8:9, Joel 2).[29] 

 Then I looked, and I heard an eagle flying directly overhead[30], proclaiming with a loud voice, “Woe! Woe! Woe[31]to the earth dwellers because of the remaining sounds of the trumpets of the three angels who are about to blow them!”

 God’s people are spared the following plagues, as happened with the later Egyptian plagues.[32]Since God’s people are spared, this is good reason to think that what follows has to do with spiritual judgment that will ‘pass over’ God’s faithful people sealed by the Lamb’s blood.   

Then the fifth angel blew his trumpet, and I saw a star that had fallen from the sky to the earth, and he was given the key to the shaft of the abyss. He opened the shaft of the abyss and smoke rose out of it like smoke from a giant furnace[33]. The sun and the air were darkened with smoke from the shaft.  Then out of the smoke came locusts onto the earth, and they were given power like that of the scorpions of the earth.[34] 

The “star” that John sees is an angel (20:1) with the key (3:7) to open the Abyss. The Abyss was believed by John’s audience to be the underworld prison of evil spirits.[35] 

 They were told not to damage the grass of the earth, or any green plant or tree,[36] but only those people who did not have the seal of God on their forehead. The locusts were not given permission to kill them, but only to torment them for five months, and their torture was like that of a scorpion when it stings a person. In those days people will seek death, but will not be able to find it; they will long to die, but death will flee from them. Now the locusts[37] looked like horses equipped for battle.[38] On their heads were something like crowns similar to gold, and their faces looked like men’s faces.  They had hair like women’s hair, and their teeth were like lions’ teeth. They had breastplates like iron breastplates, and the sound of their wings was like the noise of many horse-drawn chariots charging into battle. They have tails and stingers like scorpions, and their ability to injure people for five months is in their tails. They have as king over them the angel of the abyss, whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek, Apollyon.

Notice that the locusts don't do what no locusts normally do. They can't touch any green thing - or those who have the Seal of God upon their forehead. One assumes the threat is non-physical: for example, the devastation and famine of the soul (Amos 8:11-14).[39]  I favor the view that this describes demonic activity on earth.  

• “Now the Spirit expressly says that in latter times some will depart from the faith, giving heed to deceiving spirits and doctrines of demons…” (1 Timothy 4:1). 

•  “‘Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great!’ She has become a dwelling for demons and a haunt for every impure spirit.” (Revelation 18:2)

• “The horses are men, and the riders are evil spirits.” (Primasius and Andrew of Caesarea, 500s)

• “A terrifying picture of demonic oppression.” (Orthodox Study Bible)

• “These locusts probably represent demons.” (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

• Demonic forces out of the abyss… [John uses] frogs to represent demonic powers in the recapitulation in Revelation 16:13. (Expositor’s Bible Commentary: New Testament)

 This aligns with Christianity’s view of an active supernatural world that tries to influence, oppress, and even seek to take control of humanity to bend them away from God. John’s view of this is sobering. It sounds like he is showing a practical application of what Paul wrote: when you offer yourself as a slave, you are a slave of the one you obey. (Romans 6:16)

 The first woe has passed, but two woes are still coming after these things! Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet, and I heard a single voice coming from the horns on the golden altar that is before God, saying to the sixth angel, the one holding the trumpet, “Set free the four angels who are bound at the great river Euphrates!” Then the four angels[40] who had been prepared for this hour, day, month, and year were set free to kill a third of humanity. The number of soldiers on horseback was 200,000,000; I heard their number.

The Euphrates was the boundary behind which enemies lurked. [41] It’s a physical image for a spiritual reality. The numerical background for this huge number is Daniel 7:10. It just means there’s a lot. A lot a lot.

 Now this is what the horses and their riders looked like in my vision: The riders had breastplates that were fiery red, dark blue, and sulfurous yellow in color. The heads of the horses looked like lions’ heads, and fire, smoke, and sulfur came out of their mouths. A third of humanity was killed by these three plagues, that is, by the fire, the smoke, and the sulfur that came out of their mouths. For the power of the horses resides in their mouths and in their tails, because their tails are like snakes/scorpions[42], having heads that inflict injuries. 

This invasion is often compared to the daunting Parthian army. See ‘through’ it. You think they are scary? The spiritual battle is worse.  

The rest of humanity, who had not been killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands, so that they did not stop worshiping demons and idols made of gold, silver, bronze, stone, and wood—idols that cannot see or hear or walk about. Furthermore, they did not repent of their murders, of their magic spells, of their sexual immorality, or of their stealing.

INTERLUDE

An angel measures the temple, John eats a scroll that tastes good going down (this story ends well!) and then does not sit well at all (#birthpangs). Then two witnesses show up in a city for 3 ½ years, breathe fire on anyone who challenges them, get killed, then come back to life. 

MEASURING THE TEMPLE

Measuring the temple is best understood against the background of Ezekiel 40 – 48 in which measuring is associated with establishment and protection. Measuring suggests God's presence, which is guaranteed to be with the temple community living on Earth before the Lord's return.[43] But the angel didn’t measure the outer court of the temple. Short version: your soul will be safe, even if your skin is not.

THE TWO WITNESSES

• 2 lampstands, which are identified as churches in chapters 1 & 2,[44] have the powers of both Moses (law) and Elijah (prophet) and establish the truthfulness of the gospel message. (Numbers 35:30; Deuteronomy 17:6; Matthew 18:16, Luke 10:1-24). 

• The three and a half years (Daniel’s “time, times, and half a time”) is from Christ's resurrection until His final coming.[45]

• The fire is God's judgment on the world’s sin through the spoken word of Scripture.[46] In Luke 9, the disciples wanted to copy Elijah by calling down fire upon some Samaritan villagers. Jesus rebuked them, but then sent out groups (of two) to declare the danger of judgment (and the good news of mercy) through the proclamation of the Gospel. 

• The great city where the bodies lie is the world: Rome is Sodom, Egypt, Babylon. It’s all the troublesome nations that have plagued God’s people in different ways. 

• The restoration to life is taken directly from the “dry bones” resurrection of Ezekiel 37:5 -10.[47] God’s church will not stay down.

• The people repent – or at least acknowledge the power of God, which might not be the same thing…[48]

The Seal Interlude: “You are sealed. Endure.” 

The Trumpet Interlude: “You are secure. Witness.” 

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices in heaven saying: “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign for ever and ever.” Then the twenty-four elders who are seated on their thrones before God threw themselves down with their faces to the ground and worshiped God  with these words: “We give you thanks, Lord God, the All-Powerful, the one who is and who was[49], because you have taken your great power and begun to reign. The nations were enraged, but your wrath has come, and the time has come for the dead to be judged, and the time has come to give to your servants, the prophets, their reward, as well as to the saints and to those who revere your name, both small and great, and the time has come to destroy[50] those who destroy the earth.” Then the temple of God in heaven was opened and the ark of his covenant was visible within his temple.[51] And there were flashes of lightning, roaring, crashes of thunder, an earthquake, and a great hailstorm.

 This is still a “woe,” because the ‘woes’ are from the perspective of the world.  God’s reign means evil’s judgment. It’s not good news for everybody. 

However, The picture of God’s judgment here in Revelation shows a God who has been restraining the full, devastating consequence of the sin we have sown. It also shows a God who, when “our iniquities are full,” will no longer hold back the chaos from the abyss. He will give us the full experience of our masters. 

If paradise is being fully in the presence of the one we serve with all the blessings that follow, perhaps hell may be thought of as fully experiencing the presence of the one we have been serving (the dragon and his servants) with all its cursings.

Meanwhile, God sends warnings. There are not only little oasis or outposts of heaven that function as signposts for eternity with the Lamb; we find the same kind of signposts for an eternity with the Dragon. 

·      What we think will never fail, fails.

·      What we think will always provides, stops providing.

·      What once measured our success begins to measure our failure. 

·      What we thought filled us was actually consuming us.

·      What we thought was refreshing us becomes bitter and sickening.

·      What we thought brought flourishing brought destruction.

·      What we thought made life matter made life meaningless.

No matter who you think the witnesses are, their purpose is clear: with holiness, grace, and hope, faithfully preach and model the message of the Slain Lamb to all inside and outside church walls so that as many as possible may be delivered from the judgment to come. 

The witnesses are never promised a time of prosperity of wealth or independence or popularity or even freedom to practice our faith. What they are promised is that God’s grace will be sufficient (2 Corinthians 12:9), and that the true church will rise from the ashes.

No matter what happens, I know this: We are called to be faithful witnesses to God in a sin-captured world.[52] Yes, this is daunting, but if you are committed Jesus, you are sealed. You have been claimed. 

For the true church, Revelation is sobering but also exciting: the cost may be high, but the end will be glorious. Revelation is supposed to bring hope. The king is returning. Evil will be undone. God’s originally good Earth will be renewed. Bear holy and faithful witness to it. [53]

___________________________________________________________________________

[1] Don’t sweat the time frame. It’s just a literary device that means it happened :)

[2] Habakkuk 2:20 -3:15; Zechariah 2:13 -3:2; Zephaniah 1:8 7-18

[3] “The smoke of the incense…shows that the petition of chapter 6:9 -10 is now being presented before God. Their petition for judgment has been found acceptable.” (Beale)

[4] “Peals of thunder, flashes of lightning and an earthquake” is almost identical to the description of the last judgment in 11:19 and 16:18 as well as 4:5. (Beale) 

[5] Jewish tradition identifies seven angels who offer up the prayers of the saints as they enter before the glory of the Holy One (Tobit 12:15). (Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary Of The New Testament)

[6] “The primary perspective of the first five seals was on the trials to which believers must pass; now, the focus in the first six trumpet are on the judgment which unbelievers both inside and outside the church must endure.” (Greg Beale, Revelation: A Shorter Commentary)  “In the first round, we were looking at the tribulation through the lens of the church. In round two, we see it from the vantage point of the world.” (Mark Moore, How To Dodge A Dragon: An Uncommentary On Revelation) 

[7] “Sometimes, God’s judgment in Revelation takes the form of imperial practices themselves, or the consequences of such practices. War, famine, pestilence, death, injustice in the marketplace, and rebellion are all…human evils rather than cosmic events… We would  be misguided not to see these also as divine punishment, similar to the snowball effect of sin unleashed in the world according to Paul in Rom 1:18-32. The question “human sin or divine punishment?” presupposes a false dichotomy and asks for an unnecessary choice; the answer is of course, ‘both’”. Michael Gorman, Reading Revelation Responsibly

[8] “Third part is a rabbinism, expressing a considerable number. "When Rabbi Akiba prayed, wept, rent his garments, put of his shoes, and sat in the dust, the world was struck with a curse; and then the third part of the olives, the third part of the wheat, and the third part of the barley, was smitten.” (Adam Clarke)

[9] “Cosmic signs [are]symbols of the distress and disease generated by human evil. [This is] indirect divine judgment.” Michael Gorman, Reading Revelation Responsibly

[10] Greg Beale notes that while we are told serious things about the ‘world’ collapsing under God’s judgment, physical symbols are meant to point us toward spiritual realities.

[11] Heisser points to Moyise’s Old Testament in Revelation to note the trumpet judgments in Revelation 8, 9, and a bit of 10 follow the themes of Joel 2-3 and Amos 1-2.

[12] Tyconius (370), Oecumenius (500s), Andrew of Caeserea (563) thought it might come through warfare. “The land was wasted; the trees-the chiefs of the nation, were destroyed; and the grass-the common people, slain, or carried into captivity.” (Adam Clarke)

[13] The redeemed sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb

[14] From Mark Moore, How To Dodge A Dragon: An Uncommentary On Revelation:

 Israelites in Egypt - Christians in Asia Minor/All of us   The people of God suffer oppression; God sends plagues to demonstrate his power/provoke repentance; repentance does not follow; God defeats the oppressor; God’s people praise the God who will reign forever; the ark of the covenant is present with God’s people

[15]  Michael Heisser notes, “Where do we get the nations and their gods to begin with? Genesis 11. Babylon.” And that’s the mountain that is about to be thrown into the sea…. 

[16] When Israel left Egypt, “a mixed multitude went up with them.” (Exodus 12:38) 

[17] “Mountain, in prophetic language, signifies a kingdom; Jeremiah 51:25; Jeremiah 51:27; Jeremiah 51:30; Jeremiah 51:58. Great disorders… are represented by mountains being cast into the midst of the sea, Psalms 46:2. Seas and collections of waters mean peoples, as is shown in this book, Revelation 17:15. “(Adam Clarke) 

[18] A fourth of the earth was affected by the seal judgments; a third is now devastated by the trumpet judgments. There is a progression in intensity.

[19] Revelation14:1; 17:9; 21:10

[20] Isaiah 41:15, 42:15; Ezekiel 35; Zechariah 4:7

[21] Babylon’s judgment is as a stone thrown into the sea in Revelation 18:21 

[22] Greg Beale, Revelation: A Shorter Commentary

[23] “Every shipmaster and all who sail anywhere and every sailor and as many as work on the sea... cried out when they saw the smoke of her burning... and they were weeping and mourning, saying ‘woe, woe, is the great city, through which all those who have ships in the sea became wealthy because of her wealth.’ ” (18:17–19) 

[24] NIV Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible

[25] Revered Jewish literature from around 200 BC. While not Scripture, it functioned as a commentary that was highly influential in shaping Jewish thought. 

[26] Heisser, from an episode on the Naked Bible podcast

[27] Parallel to Exodus 10:21–23.

[28] Early church fathers were inclined to see the celestial bodies as the church, and the darkness as the result of heretics dimming the light of Scripture.

[29] Greg Beale, Revelation: A Shorter Commentary

[30] This eagle is in the “middle heaven,” the home of the sun, moon, planets, and stars (Revelation 14:6; 19:17).  It’s a place where all the world will see/hear.

[31] “Look! An eagle is swooping down, spreading its wings over Moab ... Woe to you, O Moab! The people of Chemosh are destroyed.” (Jeremiah 48:40, 46).

[32] How do they do this? “‘Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues.” (Revelation 18:4)

[33] The abyss in the Old Testament represents chaos. Here, the abyss seems to represent part of the spiritual world that is the home of evil that will be judged. That’s why it can be referred to as watery (chaos) and also fiery (judgment). 

[34] Many of the early church fathers were convinced this was about heretics, though a few chalked it up to demons… that were inspiring heretics. (All my notes on Early Church Fathers come from Ancient Christian Commentary On Scripture.)

[35] Demons pleaded with Jesus to spare them the Abyss. (Luke 8:30–31)

[36] Once again a reminder this is imagery, as all the grass was already gone.

[37] Like horses prepared for battle: a conquering host. Gold-like crowns: authorized to rule in people’s lives. Human-appearing faces: creatures of intelligence. Hair like women’s: hair was considered seductive. Lion-like teeth: ferocious and cruel. Armor-like iron breastplates: difficult to attack and destroy, etc. (Believer’s Bible Commentary)

[38] OT imagery. “They have the appearance of horses; they gallop along like cavalry” (Joel 2:4). An army of locusts “has the teeth of a lion” (Joel 1:6) and make a noise “like that of chariots” (2:5). Zondervan Illustrated Bible Backgrounds Commentary of the New Testament

[39] Greg Beale, Revelation: A Shorter Commentary

[40] This seems to be a recapitulation of the 4 Horsemen.

[41] Heisser notes that beyond the Euphrates was the domain of Baal. The language of the Old Testament relates not just to the invading armies that Israel had to put up with, but also the idea that there are cosmic powers itching to invade.

[42] Jewish tradition held that in Sheol and Abaddon there were “angels of destruction,” who were in authority over thousands of scorpions (Heisser). Scorpions and serpents were associated in Old Testament and extra-biblical Jewish writings as metaphorical images for false teaching. (Greg Beale, Revelation: A Shorter Commentary)

[43] Greg Beale, Revelation: A Shorter Commentary

[44] Only two of the seven churches/lampstands remained faithful in Revelation 2-3: Smyrna and Philadelphia. Perhaps these two churches represent the faithful church. The whole world will see the two witnesses, which is understandable if they're a global church. That the witnesses are called trees comes from the vision of Zechariah in chapter 4. 

[45] Funny but true story: the Babylonian kings tried to predict what Daniel prophesied by doing the math of the 70 weeks. When nothing would happen in a literal 70 weeks, they would recount and try again…because the numbers were meant to be weighed, not counted.

[46] “I and making my words in your mouth fire and this people wood, and it will consume them.” (Jeremiah 5:14).  

[47] Greg Beale, Revelation: A Shorter Commentary

[48] Compare to Egypt: “And the Egyptians will know that I am Yehovah when I stretch out my hand against Egypt and bring the Israelites out of it.” They knew and acknowledged, but that’s not the same as salvation.

[49] Ooh. No more “and is to come.” He has arrived! 

[50] Here’s another reason I tend to see most of God’s judgment in Revelation as God giving people over to themselves. The word here for ‘destroy’ is the same word ‘destroy’ at the end of the verse that they did to the earth! “’Diaphtheírō (from diá, ‘thoroughly,’ which intensifies phtheírō, ‘defile, corrupt) properly, thoroughly corrupt, totally degenerate (disintegrate); waste away by the decaying influence of moral (spiritual) impurity; ‘utterly corrupt’; becoming thoroughly disabled (morally depraved), ‘all the way through’ (‘utterly decayed’).” #windandwhirlwind (HELPS Word Studies)

[51] In the Old Testament, the ark was a sign of God’s presence. It was usually behind a veil, but here it is fully revealed and accessible to all. 

[52] Thanks to http://newlisbon.church/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Revelation-Workbook.pdf for some really helpful insights.

[53] How do we do this? Faith/trust/belief based on the person and work of Jesus; commitment that orients/prioritizes our life; lifestyle committed to holiness (set apart for God); words that speak truth righteously; consistent, conscientious witness.