80 Year Old Man Tears It Up on a Skateboard and What This Might Teach Us

I just watched an 80 year old man with a crutch borrow a skateboard from a young man, shred around a concrete wave and do a flip out of a half-pipe, sticking a perfect landing. The video of this feat has been going around Facebook. Maybe you’ve seen it. If you have, then you know the secret of the video: it’s not really an 80 year old man. It’s a professional-level skateboarder in some very serious makeup. It was fun gag and the looks on the faces of the observers as the “old man” did progressively harder and harder moves was very entertaining. I don’t know for sure, but I bet the longer one watched the skateboarding the more suspicious one became that this skateboarder wasn’t really 80 years old and didn’t really need a crutch. His true identity was revealed in his actions.

You might already suspect where I’m going with this. It’s not very subtle. Jesus didn’t say that people would know his followers by the way they dressed or the way walked or the color of their skin or the style of worship they preferred or how well they knew the Bible or if they were good at arguing theology or even whether they worshipped in a purpose-built church building or a rented grade-school cafeteria.

Jesus was very specific and clear about how people will recognize his followers: “By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” (John 13:35, ESV)

So if you are looking at someone and wondering if they are a follower of Christ in disguise, perhaps you could look for love, just like you could watch an apparently old man skate board and realize it is a young man in disguise.

But what is this thing called “love”? People have done absolutely horrendous things because of their “love.” Parents beat children out of love. People blow up buildings out of love. Clearly we need guidance.

You can thank the apostle Paul for some further clarity on love: “Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonor others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.” Ah, that’s a little more concrete.

So, follower of Christ… would someone identify you as a follower of Christ in disguise if they followed you around for a while? If that question bothers you, the answer is not just to try harder. You can’t do this on your own strength. The answer lies in the cross and the empty tomb.

On the cross we see God demonstrating love for humanity in the most profound and moving way: one dying for another. Sometimes we act unloving because we feel unloved. Look at the cross and see the depth of God’s love for you. Sometimes we act unloving because we do not acknowledge the value of the other person and the essential equality we share with all humanity. Look at the cross and see that the person you are having trouble being kind to is a) a person who shares the same set of difficulties that all humans face and b) a person for whom Christ went to the cross.

In the tomb we see the power of God at work over the most apparently final of all things we experience: death itself. The power that resurrected Christ from the grave is the same power available to you to raise up your spirit and change your heart, enabling you to grow in love.

Try praying something like this every morning:
Father, in Jesus’ death on the cross, you showed me just how much you love me. And in Jesus’ death on the cross you showed me just how much you love every person I will ever meet. Thank you that I don’t have to be perfect in love to be a follower of Jesus, but let the power you displayed in the resurrection work renewal in me so that today I may grow in love toward every person I meet in real and concrete ways. In Jesus’ name, amen.

God bless!
Pastor John

Our faith is in Jesus not in the Bible... and why this is important.

I preached a sermon yesterday that left me wondering if I was clear. I am writing this to attempt to clarify what may not have been clear yesterday. Unfortunately, it may not be clear today either. You be the judge.

The message was based in an encounter between Peter and and a Gentile named Cornelius recorded in Acts 10. Peter had a vision in which God told him not to call unclean that God calls clean. Then, when preaching to Cornelius (along with his friends and family), the Holy Spirit came on all those Gentiles. To me, the most surprising thing is what happened next: Peter and the Jewish Christians are, apparently, surprised that the Holy Spirit has been given to the Gentiles. Based on what God had just done in Peter's vision and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, the Jewish Christians decided it was ok to baptize the Gentile believers.

Though it may not have been apparent, this was a very personal sermon. It was born out of my own painful journey.

It has always been important to me to believe the right things. I gravitated toward systematic theology -- the branch of theology in which our doctrines are defined -- because I desire clarity. Unfortunately, peace was not coming. I was haunted by the worry that I might be believing the wrong thing. After all, there have been many people of great intellect, energy and passion who, having devoted themselves to the study of the Bible, arrived at different conclusions. They are all smarter and more learned than me, so who is right? Whose assertions about truth do I trust? What if I "get it wrong"? How wrong can you be and still go to heaven?

This way of living and growing in my faith was leaving me with fear. Yet the scriptures tell us that "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear." (1 John 4:18 (ESV))

This is where the Acts 10 comes in to bring me peace. Peter didn't understand Jesus' full mission and intent. PETER, for cryin' out loud! He walked with and listened to Jesus personally for three years. He saw Jesus transfigured and resurrected. Jesus is, to that very day, doing miracles through Peter. And yet Peter was surprised by what God did by pouring out the Holy Spirit on the Gentiles.

This is where the peace comes. Peter didn't understand everything and that was ok because Peter's faith wasn't in a book, it was in a person: Jesus of Nazareth. I don't have to understand everything because my faith isn't in a book, either. My trust is in God as he has revealed himself in Jesus Christ.

The book -- the Bible -- is still of extraordinary importance and worthy of our deepest study. But if we are trusting the Bible to save us, then we'd better get it just right or we're goners. If we are studying the Bible from this pinched perspective of fear, we will either ignore difficult verses or try to artificially squish them into what we think has to be right. But if we are trusting Jesus the real live person to save us, then the exploration of scripture becomes an exciting journey rather than fearful ride. We are free to come across difficult passages and say, "I wonder what in the world that means!" or "Holy cats! How does that fit into my faith? How does that affect my view of the way God works in the world?" (For instance, did you know that people were getting healed by touching handkerchiefs that had touched Paul's skin. Don't believe me? Check it out in Acts 19:28) We are free, based on new experiences, new knowledge, or even just rereading, to understand the scriptures a little differently than we used to... or a great deal differently. We are free to do this because our salvation is in the hands of Jesus Christ, not in our understanding of the Bible.

Let me try to sum it up. If the Bible were the "salvation formula," then we would never have peace because we can never be sure we've got it right. But the Bible doesn't save us, Jesus does. Trust Jesus — the living, breathing, hugging, compassionate, resurrected, image-of-the-invisible-Father Jesus — to save you as a lifeguard drags a drowning man from the water and then learn about and grow close to him through the Bible.

Looking back on what I just wrote, it occurs to me that this may simply be my struggle and no one else's. Sometimes the biggest deal for one person isn't even a blip on the radar for another person. And I'm still not sure I adequately expressed what I am trying to communicate. But, there it is. Good night and God bless.

— PJ

The Highs and Lows of Spiritual Life... Have You Done It to Yourself?

What do you do when you are lacking inspiration or motivation? I sat down to write this newsletter article and nothing came to me. I started three different articles and each fizzled out after the first paragraph. I feel as though my mind has caught the summer doldrums. I even googled “Free Newsletter Articles” to see what I would find!

Just like my writing inspiration, our Christian life is a series of mountains and valleys. Sometimes our spiritual lives feel like a hike through a lush forest and other times it feels like trudging through a sandy desert hoping… praying… to find water soon.

Sometimes we bear some responsibility for these highs and lows. Many of us know the thrill of stepping out in faith in some way and seeing the hand of God move in our lives. These moments don’t happen without us making a decision to exercise our faith. Sometimes we make our own desert by not watering our faith. Our habits of prayer or Bible study or devotion or worship attendance or Christian conversation slip and we are the poorer for it.

But sometimes the mountain or valley is not due to something we have done or not done. God is purposely taking us through either a season of thrilling wonder and faith or a season of desert wandering according to His good will for our lives.

If God has takes us into the desert, some fine things happen during these dry times. Spiritual hardiness is not built only in the sublime and powerful spiritual experiences many of us have had. Hardiness is built when things get hard! Muscles get strong by lifting heavy things. Paul tells us to rejoice in our sufferings because produces perseverance perseverance, character; and character, hope. This hope does not disappoint us because it is in God himself who loves us. (Romans 5). When God leads you to it, God will lead you through it. Rest assured that God is doing something good.

“But what if I have done it to myself?” you ask. What if my habits or decisions have led me to this place? God loves you no less! You might look at your desertification a little differently. God may be letting you feel spiritually parched as a form of discipline. The book of Hebrews has words for those undergoing discipline: “No discipline seems pleasant at the time, but painful. Later on, however, it produces a harvest of righteousness and peace for those who have been trained by it.” (Hebrews 12:11). In this case, you need to let yourself be trained by the way you are feeling as a result of not praying or not going to church or not reading the Bible or in some other way letting the spiritual habits and focus of your life slip. God lets us feel the dryness, the emptiness that comes from moving away from him, because he loves us. He wants us to notice the distance and turn around.

If you are in a spiritual high place, fantastic! It’s a wonderful place to be. If you are in a spiritual low place, turn toward God instead of away from him. Examine your life for ways you might have walked away. And continue the road of faith. You, like a runner in training, are growing stronger through this difficult time.

Peace be with you,
Pastor John

A Few Thoughts for Christians Regarding Homosexual Marriage

Our country is changing rapidly. Change is disconcerting and causes anxiety, whether for the better or worse. I would not presume to tell you what to think about the decision of the Supreme Court legalizing marriage between two people of the same gender. But I will venture to offer you a few observations from the standpoint of the Christian faith and scripture. I offer these in the spirit of open dialogue, not as the final word. In fact, I’m going to purposely make this annoyingly brief so that you have to do the chewing instead of me indulging in pastoral spoon feeding. 

1. The first desire of the Christian is that people come to know Jesus and look to him as Savior and Lord. No law can ever do more than attempt to compel or restrict outward behavior. Laws may more or less embody Judeo-Christian morals, but they do not make a single Christian because they do not change hearts.

2. People make claims about “the entire history of marriage” being one man and one woman. This is clearly not the case, even in our own Bible. Even a couple of the biggies – Abraham & Jacob – didn’t conform to the one man, one woman standard.

3. Arguing for or against laws based on the Bible leads into a dangerous territory, politically speaking. Imagine a USA in the future where people of another religion have become the majority. If you don’t want their religion legally governing your life at that time, then you ought to think twice about wanting your religion to govern their life now. If one wants to argue against marriage for homosexuals in a way that is safe for the future of our republic, the argument had better not be some variation of “God says so” because ISIS is using the same type of argument except that it’s from a different book.

4. Personal liberty is a biblical principle. If there was anyone who ever had good grounds and reasons for forcing his will on others, it is God with respect to mankind. But God offers us freedom of choice. We can turn away from God’s call. We can resist the Holy Spirit.

5. All this being said, Jesus did indicate that God’s design is that marriage be monogamous and heterosexual (see Mark 10).

So, what is a Christian to do? And how is a church to respond? My answer is to continue in love and compassion, not judging other people (Who am I to judge someone else’s servant? Romans 14:4), speaking in love what I believe to be the truth. That’s how we will all grow instead of grouping into enemy camps. According to the Bible, homosexuality is really a symptom of the brokenness of humanity. I have within myself plenty of symptoms of the brokenness of humanity!

Each of us must think through this as a Christian and a citizen of our republic. With regard to my Christian faith as a citizen in a country that values freedom (thank God!), here is the question I feel compelled to ask: I don’t believe homosexuality is of God’s design but why should what I believe be the law of the land any more than what someone else believes?

In addition, I must think through this as a pastor who officiates marriage ceremonies. Here is what I think today. Being a sinner is not near as big a problem as calling sin, “righteous.” Homosexual behavior certainly isn’t the “unforgivable sin” but neither is it, according to the scriptures, something God has blessed. Therefore, I cannot perform a blessing ceremony on a homosexual marriage any more than I could perform a blessing ceremony on a divorce. Both happen. Neither is according to God’s design. But neither makes those involved terrible people. And neither cause me to reject or move away from the people involved because every person is deeply loved by the one I serve and follow, Jesus Christ. My not blessing homosexual marriage is just me following Christ to the best of my ability.

Is there more to say? Of course, tons! It was a split decision by the Supreme Court, 5-4. The dissenting judges offered some compelling arguments against the ruling. As a pastor, I restricted this article to Christian thinking, but there are many other ways to explore this issue as citizens and what this decision might mean in the long-run for our society. Let’s have a beer sometime and talk about it.

Observations & Commentary on Acts Acts 5:12–42

These are some pretty quick notes from my study of this portion of the book of Acts.

v. 12 - Signs and wonders accompany the advance of the Gospel.
Solomon’s portico was a columned covered area around the perimeter of Herod’s Temple.
v. 13 - Perhaps the Jesus followers were incredibly generous but a little too intense for most people?
v. 14 - The growth continues
v. 15 - What do we do with the statement about Peter’s shadow falling on them? Perhaps it is a colloquialism that simply means, “so close Peter could not walk by them.” However, we have other instances of people being healed “indirectly” (for lack of a better word).
In the first instance, there was the woman who touched Jesus’ robe and was healed, as recorded in Luke 8:43-48. Jesus clarified that it wasn’t actually this blessed garment that had cured the lady. Luke 8:48 (ESV)”And he said to her, “Daughter, your faith has made you well; go in peace.””

Then there is the curious incident of Paul’s clothes even bringing with them the power to heal:

Acts 19:11–12 (ESV)
11 And God was doing extraordinary miracles by the hands of Paul, 12 so that even handkerchiefs or aprons that had touched his skin were carried away to the sick, and their diseases left them and the evil spirits came out of them.

What do we make of this? It seems like magic. I think the best we can do is that God sometimes honors our limping, halting, misdirected reaching out in faith because it is still faith looking ultimately to God through his servants and, in some cases, through the shadow of his servants or the handkerchiefs. As with so much we will read in Acts, this is descriptive, not prescriptive. God is gracious. Isaiah 32:3 - “A bruised reed he will not break and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.”

v. 16 - Word of the Apostles’ power to heal is spreading.

vv. 17-18 - The same cast of characters, including the aristocratic Sadducee party utilized their power to attempt to put a stop to this Jesus movement.

Jesus predicted this. “But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake.” (Luke 21:12 (ESV))

What is this “public prison” and why does Luke specify this?

The previous imprisonment was recorded this way:
Acts 4:3 (ESV) And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.

The word for “custody” or “prison” is the same word in both 4:3 and the text in question, but Luke adds the adjective, “public” or “common.”

Perhaps they were kept under guard in a room in the Temple during their first imprisonment owing to the fact that they weren’t really criminals but just men teaching something they might be threatened out of teaching. But, since they clearly did not listen to the orders of the High Priest the first time, they were thrown in the much nastier public prison, with all the types of prisoners you would expect to find.

vv. 19-21a

vv. 21b-23

vv. 24 - What would you do?

vv. 25

vv. 26 - They brought them back in, but not y force. Again, fear of the people. A riot meant trouble for the religious leaders. They wanted to keep their nice position, their life, their power, so now there is a balancing act.

vv. 27-29 - The set up is the same as the previous time they are questioned. By the statement of the High Priest questioning Peter and John, it seems that Peter’s preaching was not pulling punches but laying Jesus’ orchestrated crucifixion at the feet of the religious leaders.

vv. 29-32 - In their reply to the religious leaders, they still are not pulling punches: “…whom you killed by hanging him on a tree.”

God made him leader and Savior, say the Apostles to the leaders! :)

Further, the Apostles claim that the Holy Spirit, the Wind of God from before the beginning of the world, has been a witness to this and, indeed, this Spirit has been given to those who follow Jesus. Understand that the Apostles were not only accusing these leaders of having Jesus crucified, they are also denying their legitimacy before God, their years of training, piety and devotion (such as it was… let’s not be too hard on those below the highest levels and outside the family of the High Priest.)

v. 33 - Righteous indignation! Ananias and his cronies had different reasons that the lower priests for their outrage, but they could all agree on one thing: these men must be stopped!

vv. 34-39 - A Pharisees stands up to offer some wisdom. Remember that while the Pharisees were against Jesus, they seem to be more truth-seeking. Nicodemus came to Jesus at night representing a group of Pharisees who were trying to figure Jesus out. (see John 3) The Sadducees rejected life after death and the whole spiritual realm while the Pharisees believed in angels, demons, life after death and judgment by God.

This Pharisee is a teacher who held enough respect to command the attention of the council when he stood up and ordered that the prisoners be taken from the room before he offer his counsel. This wise man, Gamaliel, recounted the history of several so-called messiahs and how their movement dissipated after their death. Based on this history, Gamaliel’s advice is to leave this movement alone. Either it will die of its own accord. Or this is of God, in which case a) you can’t win and b) you will be fighting against God.
The council took his advice, at least for a little while. One of his students did not see eye-to-eye with him. Saul of Tarsus would expend considerable effort trying to stamp out the Jesus movement before Jesus himself appeared to Saul who would later become Paul.

v. 40 Evidently the others didn’t completely buy into Gamaliel’s view.

v. 41 This just makes me think. What does it make you think?

v. 42 Evidently, for a while, the council took Gamaliel’s advice and left them alone.

A Model for Prayer from Acts 4:23-31

The believer’s prayer for Peter and John in Acts 4:23-31 gives us a good model for prayer.

While analyzing the structure of a prayer may seem like a mundane exercise for linguaphiles, it is anything but. Just as Linus reminded Charley Brown that good theology has a way of comforting, the structure of prayer we see in this passage can help to bring God’s Word powerfully into your life through prayer. Let’s take a look.

To understand why this prayer can form a good general outline for prayer, we must first remind ourselves of the context. Peter and John have just been interrogated, threatened and released by the same people that had Jesus crucified. This is a prayer for boldness in the face of legitimate threat. So this model can be a good model when something specific is on your mind.

Step 1: Say something about who God is in relation to what you are praying about.

In this instance, the prayer begins by addressing God as “Sovereign Lord, who made the heavens and the earth and the sea and everything in them.” Immediately when these words are said, the people praying are reminded that the religious rulers are not, in the grand scale, in charge of anything. There is a God who created everything and that is the God to whom we pray.

So in your own prayer, think of something about God that interfaces with the situation that is on your mind. If your prayer is for healing, you might start out with a phrase like, “Father, you are the great physician. You created us and know our bodies better than we know ourselves.” If your prayer is for something having to do with sustenance in your life, you might start by saying, “Father, you created this world and everything in it. It is all yours to do with as you please.” You get the idea. 

Step 2: Bring the Word of God into the prayer.

The next thing the praying believers did was bring God’s Word into their prayer. In this instance, they quoted Psalm 2. This is a messianic psalm which talks about how people think they can fight God and he just laughs. His purposes and his anointed one cannot be overthrown (You should read it. It’s a good one!)

In this step, you think about the Word of God and how various scriptures might interact with the situation about which you are praying. In the case of healing, you might say, “Your Son displayed your healing power on earth as he healed people throughout his ministry.” If you are struggling, you might say something like this, “You have said that a bruised reed he will not break, and a smoldering wick he will not snuff out.” (Isaiah 42:3)

The Word of God is powerful and active. It brings comfort, guidance, power and peace to those who hear it and speak it with faith. 

Step 3: Present the current situations.

Notice that we are far into the prayer before we even get to what is on our mind specifically. By beginning with God’s nature and God’s Word, we draw ourselves toward the right frame of mind for a prayer grounded in faith. But now the prayer gets very specific. The people who threatened and killed Jesus (albeit by God’s plan of salvation) are now threatening Peter and John.

In this step you tell God what’s going on. Be specific and clear. Do you feel threatened and if so, by what? Do you feel overwhelmed and if so, by what? What, specifically, is the current situation and what, specifically, are your concerns? 

Step 4: Ask.

Finally the believers pray. By calling to mind God’s nature and his Word along with presenting a specific situation, the believers pray for what a follower of Jesus would want to do in this situation: speak boldly while continuing to heal in Jesus’ name.

By the time your thoughts go through God’s nature, God’s Word and the specific situation, you will likely be ready to pray a prayer that connects you to God’s will. The disciples did not pray for deliverance, they prayed for courage. If a relationship is broken, by the time a believer gets through God’s nature, God’s Word and a clear description of the situation, the believer’s heart is ready to pray for reconciliation instead of vengeance, for healing instead of pain. If a serious illness is at hand, by the by the time a believer gets through God’s nature, God’s Word and a clear description of the situation, the believer’s heart is ready to pray for peace and the opportunity to glorify God along with, of course, healing. 

I am not asserting that this model is prescriptive — it doesn’t direct us to pray this way. Jesus did that with the Lord’s Prayer. In this prayer, though, we have a good model for how to pray in response to specific situations. Try it for yourself. (And don't worry about not knowing the references for the scriptures that you find meaningful. New Testament authors often did not cite references.)

1. Who God is.
2. What God’s Word says. 
3. What the situations is. 
4. What you are praying for.

Observations & Commentary on Acts 4:1-14

Acts 4...

Vv. 1-2 The group of people who show up to see what’s going on are all leaders in the temple, people with authority. Understanding who they were and what they were about will help you see how diverse a group of people were united in their opposition to Jesus.

PRIESTS — Priests are from the tribe of Levi. They live all over the nationa of Israel and serve rotational duty in the Temple, receiving offerings, performing sacrifices, and all the other activities that were part of life in the Temple. There is no indication that the priests who approached Peter were anything more than ordinary priests. There is good reason to assume that, while the priestly leadership might be universally corrupt, the rank and file priests were of the variety of integrity and piety that we might expect to find in any vocation.

CAPTAIN OF THE TEMPLE — The Captain of the Temple was the second in authority in the Temple, only behind the High Priest. Luke is the only New Testament writer to use this term. It appears that this person was the person in charge of maintaining order in the Temple. Bear in mind that unlike churches today, the Temple staff included the Temple Guard. The New Bible Dictionary tells us, “The Temple had its own police department known as the Temple Guard, who were mostly Levites and whose task, among other things, was to keep out the forbidden Gentiles.” (©1996, Intervarsity Press)

SADDUCEES — There are some things we know about the Sadducees. They denied the resurrection of the dead, the continuation of the soul beyond death and judgment after death. Unlike the Pharisees, who relied greatly on oral tradtion to guide their interpretation of the Old Testament, the Sadducees rejected strongly rejected this oral tradition and rooted themselves firmly and solely in the Torah, the books of Moses, the first five books of the Bible. The current scholarly consensus is that the Sadducees were an aristocratic party among the priesthood, wealthy, well-connected, and willing to work with whatever political leadership was in power. Acts 5:17 tells us that the party of the Sadducees were aligned with the High Priest, who was most certainly wealthy, corrupt and self-serving, since the high priest put in place by the Romans, likely at great cost in money and loyalty. The sadducees appear to be well-educated and cynical, denying any non-material world, from human spirits surviving death to angels and demons.

The beliefs of the Sadducees explain why verse 2 tells us that they were greatly annoyed because Peter was “proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.” To clarify this annoyance, it is painfully disturbed as opposed to how one might be annoyed by something minor like a squeeky hinge. They are driven to put a stop to Peter’s public speach.


v. 3 In this verse we get a little hint of how different things were back then. The priests didn’t like what Peter and John were saying, so they arrested them.


v. 4 Too late. The people have heard and believed. The church that was 120 a short time ago and had swelled to about 3,000 people on the day of Pentecost has now reached about 5,000 people.


V. 5-6 Some new characters appear in our narrative, gathered to interrogate Peter and John.

RULERS — This is a general word for those with authority or power in the situation. Satan is called the “ruler of demons” (Matt. 12:24) and the ruler of this world (John 12:31).

ELDERS — As the name implies, these are not young men. But it was more than simply the old guys. This is a title that designates those who are looked upon as leaders because they have attaind and displayed the wisdom that can be acquired with age. It may also be a title or office into which these people are placed.

SCRIBES — Scribes were specially trained in reading and writing. The word would be used of town clerks, lawyers and other who work specifically with words. In the Temple context, the scribes are experts in the law of Moses (as opposed to the priests who performed the Temple rituals).

ANNAS THE HIGH PRIEST — Annas is not, at the time of these proceedings, officially the High Priest. He was deposed by the Romans in 15AD. Five of his sons and his son-in-law, Caiaphas, also served as High Priest. In the trial of Jesus, Annas conducted a pretrial questioning prior to the official trial before Caiaphas. That Annas continued to have great influence long after being removed from office is shown by his being called “High Priest” and by how many of his relatives served as High Priest after him. The authority of Annas was so clear that in John 3:2, the apostle tells us that John the Baptist’s ministry began during the high priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas even thought Annas had been officially out of office for 12 years.

It should also be noted that the High Priest, in Jewish thought, is a lifetime office. It was only under Roman rule that the High Priest was put in place and deposed (by the Romans).

CAIAPHAS — Caiaphas, at this time, holds the officially designated office of High Priest, serving from 18AD - 36AD. Caiaphas interrogated Jesus and handed him over to Pilate.

JOHN — John appears to have served as High Priest from 36AD - 37AD. He was deposed and the office was given to his brother, Theophilus. He was briefly restored to office in 44AD.

ALEXANDER — We don’t know anythingn about Alexander except that he was part of the high priestly family. There is no indication that Alexander ever ascended to the office of High Priest.

THE HIGH PRIESTLY FAMILY — Can you say, “nepotism”?


v. 7 The gathered leadership would sit in a semicircle on a raised platform.

The first big thing to notice is that the miracle is not denied. This miracle cannot be denied because a well-known crippled beggar can now walk.

There were many itinerant rabbis, healers and exorcists. In Acts 19:13 we hear of some of these trying to co-opt the name of Jesus for their work: “Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, “I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims.” (It doesn’t go so well for those folks because the name “Jesus” is not a magical power word. You’ll have to look it up if you want to find out what happened.)

The question of the Temple leaders insinuates that the power that healed was not the power of God because God’s name does not get spoken. Jesus was accused of casting out demons by the prince of demons (see Luke 11:14-26).


v. 8 The Holy Spirit resides in all believers. We are told that no one can say that Jesus is Lord except by the Holy Spirit (see 1 Corinthians 12:3). The filling of the Holy Spirit is a repeatable experience whereby the Holy Spirit gives boldness and wisdom. Remember that this is Peter who only recently swore with curses on himself that he didn’t know Jesus. We will also hear in a few verses (v. 13) that the educated leaders of the Temple were amazed because Peter and John were “uneducated, common men.”

Notice that Peter begins to speak politely and with respect. He will not pull punches, but neither will be be needlessly disrespectful or inflammatory.


vv. 9-10 Instead of resenting the insuation of their question, Peter uses it to bring in the name of Jesus, connecting his resurrection (which one might deny) to the healed cripple, whom they cannot deny.

Also, Peter frames his answer around having to respond to doing a good deed. Who can question a good deed? Crimes should be investigated, not good deeds.


v. 11 In this verse, Peter connects Jesus to Old Testament prophecy by directly quoting Psalm 118:22, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.” (ESV)


v. 12 This is the boldly restrictive sentence. Based in Jesus being the stone, salvation is found through him.


v. 13 Jewish boys in Jesus’ day would go to school at the local synagogue for 1/2 day six days per week from age 5 to 11 after which their schooling would be finished unless they shows special special promise. If they were to continue their education, they would go to a rabbinical school. Peter and John, as would be apparent from the way they spoke, were not educated beyond the minimum for Jewish boys. Typically, one would not expect a lower class fisherman to speak boldly and eloquently before the educated and wealthy Temple leadership gathered to examine them. In trying to figure out their boldness, they recognized that these men who were now healing in Jesus’ name had been with Jesus.


v. 14 What can they say? Remember that most of these leaders are of the Sadducees, so they don’t believe in a spiritual reality. But there is the cripple healed and standing right there in front of them.