Some Ordinary People – Acts 4:5-12

A text – Acts 4:5-12

4:5 The next day their rulers, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem,
4:6 with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.
4:7 When they had made the prisoners stand in their midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”
4:8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders,
4:9 if we are questioned today because of a good deed done to someone who was sick and are asked how this man has been healed,
4:10 let it be known to all of you, and to all the people of Israel, that this man is standing before you in good health by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead.
4:11 This Jesus is ‘the stone that was rejected by you, the builders; it has become the cornerstone.’
4:12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among mortals by which we must be saved.”

A reflection:

After the disciples healed a man, they were arrested and brought before the highest church court in the land, the very leaders who had sought evidence against Jesus, who found Jesus guilty of blasphemy, who turned Jesus over to Pilate for sentencing, and when Pilate refused to find him guilty, who riled up the crowd to cry out “Crucify him!” Yeah. Those leaders. Now the disciples were arrested for acting like Jesus, and they found themselves standing before this same high priestly family.

Were the disciples afraid? I’m sure they were. But Peter must have done the extraordinary thing of emptying himself of fear and allowing the Holy Spirit in. The result: our Triune God spoke directly through Peter’s mouth and said these five sentences, which must have shocked the church leaders. The verses that follow this passage describe these high church court members wondering how these ordinary men could not only heal a 40 year old man but also speak to them so eloquently. After much give-and-take the disciples were released and told never to heal or even speak in Jesus’s name. History tells us they did not obey.

Jesus had quite a time with his followers, keeping them on track, lamenting their slowness to learn and their frequent lack of faith, but Jesus had certainly chosen the right people to learn from him and to spread the good news that God was not bound by laws – that God was love incarnate, and our job as believers is to love everyone, heal anyone, and spread the good news even farther abroad. Good thing they did that, isn’t it? And now, that is our job, even if we too are just ordinary people: love everyone, heal anyone, and spread the good news.

A prayer:

Lord God, Thank you for loving us. Thank you for choosing your disciples, people that were very ordinary and who had plenty of lapses of attention and faith. Thank you for entrusting the ministry to them, and even to us. Thank you for the stories of how they amazed the authorities who had power over them. Thank you for the Holy Spirit you pour out upon us all, if we empty ourselves and ask.    Amen.