Because He Lives…

Acts 4 is one of my favorite stories in the Bible.

It is also one of the most convicting.

The Book of Acts, as you might know, was written by Luke and gives an account of the early church. The events show the boldness of the apostles as they, buoyed by the Holy Spirit, fulfill the Great Commission spoken by Jesus in Acts 1 to go out and “be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth” (Acts 1:8).

The story laid out in Acts 4 really begins in Acts 3. In it, we find Peter and John in Jerusalem encountering a man outside the temple gate. Acts 3:2 describes him as “a man who was lame from birth” who was carried to the gate each day “so that he could beg from those entering the temple.” Upon seeing Peter and John, he did what he usually did: he asked for money.

But Peter had something different in mind.

“But Peter said, ‘I don’t have silver or gold, but what I do have, I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!” (Acts 3:6)

“At once,” the Scripture says, “his feet and ankles became strong” (Acts 3:7), and he immediately went around, praising God. Peter, of course, uses this opportunity to preach the gospel, an act that doesn’t sit right with the temple priests. They seized Peter and John, took them into custody, and brought them before the Jewish leadership to answer for their “crimes.”

Keep in mind: Peter and John were now standing before the same men who they had seen, just months before, whip, torture, maim, and crucify Jesus. They understood very well that the same fate could easily be waiting for them.

But….

They had also seen that same Jesus rise again.

And, because of this, Peter, when asked by what power he had healed the man at the temple gate, was bold in declaring:

“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” (Acts 4: 8b-12).

Talk about audacious! Peter not only called the rulers out for what they had done to Jesus, but he also did not shy away from telling the men exactly who Jesus is. Faced with the possibility of death the same Peter who had fearfully denied his Savior on the night of His crucifixion confidently stood before those same executioners and spoke Truth.

Scripture goes on to say that “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…after further threats they let them go” (Acts 4: 13-14, 21a).

I absolutely love this. What redemption for Peter. Gone was the fearful, cowering, Jesus-denier. Instead, we see a bold, brave man unafraid of what lay ahead. He was determined to walk in obedience, whatever the consequence.

How was this possible?

I think a major clue lies in the prayer they and other believers lifted up upon their release.

“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. 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. 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? The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one.’ 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. They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen. Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus” (Acts 4: 23-30, emphasis mine).

Did you catch that? The believers were looking back over the events of Jesus’s life and they realized something: everything that had happened to Him came about because it was “what [God’s] power and will had decided beforehand should happen.”

This was true of the good stuff.

And the bad.

A few months ago, as they watched Jesus die a painful death upon the cross, they believed God had failed. They believed it was the end. And yet now, looking back, they were able to see that the crucifixion had purpose. It had meaning. It was a horrible event designed and used for our good.

And, because of this, they trusted Him.

Completely.

Jesus’s resurrection is the ultimate “trust fall.” Because of it, they–and we–can know with 100% certainty that God is for us. That He loves us. And that we are not alone. We can know that God can take horrible, awful, unfair, and misunderstood moments and use them for good.

We can trust Him because He is trustworthy.

He proved it once and for all on the cross.

So what are we so afraid of? What is keeping us from living like Peter? From being bold in our faith, from speaking truth even when it’s scary, from obeying the Holy Spirit in all His promptings, no matter the cost? Pretty sure none of us, at least here in the US, are in danger of being crucified.

Is it because things might get uncomfortable? Is it because someone might get offended? Are we afraid we might lose friends, popularity, status, or our platform?

Friends, even if one or more of these things does happen, do we not trust that God can redeem it? If God can take the worst, most painful injustice that ever occurred and use it to save all of humanity, do you not think He can take our fleeting inconveniences and use them for good?

Let’s choose to trust God today. In the good, in the bad, in the ugly. When I acknowledge that all outcomes rest in His hands, it releases the anxiety I have when He calls me to obedience outside my comfort zone.

We do not have to fear.

We have the resurrected Jesus.