Living Like Jesus!
This story comes on the heals on the healing of a lame beggar, who was lame since birth. The man had begging the disciples and Peter looks him in the eye and says, "Gold or silver I cannot give you, but I give you what I can. In the name of Jesus Christ, get up and walk." When the people saw what happened they came to faith in Jesus, so that the numbers of followers increased to 5,000. This concerned the Jewish leaders, as they saw the number of people following the disciples growing. Not to mention the fact that part of their message was that those He came to save, the Jews, rejected him. You can imagine how nervous this made these leaders, as they were the ones who were supposed to be teaching and leading. And they were seeing their influence slipping away.
These verses capture what was going through the minds as they brought them before them after putting them in jail for the night.
13 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. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.
Notice there were two things they couldn't explain away. One, how these ordinary, unschooled men healed this man. After all, they were fishermen. So the only thing they all had in common was that they had spent time with Jesus. Second, the man they had healed was standing right there. They could not refute the evidence of the power that had healed this man in the name of Jesus. So in lieu of these two realities they could not explain, they had no other option but to let them go.
So then below we see how these proceedings fuel the fervor and result in praises to God, using Psalm 2 as a reference. Note their familiarity with the Old Testament and how its fulfillment in Jesus was a key piece among the Jewish believers. Finally, it says as this all transpired the place was shaken and all were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Wow! Can you imagine being in their midst? Do you long for that kind of passion and boldness, as we gather as the body of Christ? Certainly it was not because of how much education these guys had. It wasn't that they were anything extraordinary by human standards. I believe it was two things. One, they had spent time with Jesus. They were his disciples. They learned from him by walking with him and seeing his own reliance on the Father. And secondly, they believed in him just enough to think they could do just about anything in His name and power, including healing this man who was blind from birth.
So if want to have a similar kind of life, it would seem to me we have to be honest about two questions.
1. Do we spend time with Jesus? How can we expect to be his disciple without spending time with him and learning to live like he lived from him.
2. Do we have any expectation to do the things he did? Jesus himself said, "You will do even greater things than I have done", to his disciples. Do we have just enough faith, like his first disciples, to step out in faith trusting in what Jesus has already promised.
I don't think it gets much more complicated than this!
The Believers Pray
23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:
“‘Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord
and against his anointed one.[b]’[c]
27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
These verses capture what was going through the minds as they brought them before them after putting them in jail for the night.
13 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. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say.
Notice there were two things they couldn't explain away. One, how these ordinary, unschooled men healed this man. After all, they were fishermen. So the only thing they all had in common was that they had spent time with Jesus. Second, the man they had healed was standing right there. They could not refute the evidence of the power that had healed this man in the name of Jesus. So in lieu of these two realities they could not explain, they had no other option but to let them go.
So then below we see how these proceedings fuel the fervor and result in praises to God, using Psalm 2 as a reference. Note their familiarity with the Old Testament and how its fulfillment in Jesus was a key piece among the Jewish believers. Finally, it says as this all transpired the place was shaken and all were filled with the Holy Spirit.
Wow! Can you imagine being in their midst? Do you long for that kind of passion and boldness, as we gather as the body of Christ? Certainly it was not because of how much education these guys had. It wasn't that they were anything extraordinary by human standards. I believe it was two things. One, they had spent time with Jesus. They were his disciples. They learned from him by walking with him and seeing his own reliance on the Father. And secondly, they believed in him just enough to think they could do just about anything in His name and power, including healing this man who was blind from birth.
So if want to have a similar kind of life, it would seem to me we have to be honest about two questions.
1. Do we spend time with Jesus? How can we expect to be his disciple without spending time with him and learning to live like he lived from him.
2. Do we have any expectation to do the things he did? Jesus himself said, "You will do even greater things than I have done", to his disciples. Do we have just enough faith, like his first disciples, to step out in faith trusting in what Jesus has already promised.
I don't think it gets much more complicated than this!
The Believers Pray
23 On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them. 25 You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David:
“‘Why do the nations rage
and the peoples plot in vain?
26 The kings of the earth rise up
and the rulers band together
against the Lord
and against his anointed one.[b]’[c]
27 Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed. 28 They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. 29 Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30 Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”
31 After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
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