This morning we continue to bask in the afterglow of Easter. Last week we came and saw the effect of what happened when Peter and John went up to the temple to pray, as was their custom, and while they were there they healed the lame man. We saw the lame man follow with Peter and John, leaping and jumping and praising God. We also heard Peter’s second sermon in which he declared that it was in the name of Jesus that the beggar was healed and he went on to preach a beautiful law and gospel sermon. Today we continue the account as we see Peter and John being arrested and being put into prison for their acts of healing in Jesus’ name. We hear how more than five thousand people were given faith by the Holy Spirit working through the means of the Word of God which Peter spoke. And we see them as they stand before the Jewish high counsel ready to give testimony to the faith that is in their hearts.
We pick with Peter and John before the Sanhedrin and Peter is speaking beginning at verse eight, “8Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders, 9if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well’” (v.8-10).
Peter and John are brought before the Sanhedrin, the Jewish legal counsel and asked, “By what power or what name did you do this?” or as we hear it said today, “who gave you the authority to do this?” There was no concern about if what they did was good or not, just a question of authority. Just as an aside, Jesus’ authority came, not from His power, but from His service, from His being a servant. When Peter answers it is almost like you can hear the sarcasm in his voice when he says, “are we on trial for an act of kindness?” “Are we on trial for healing a cripple?” “We did not break any law, we did not do it on the Sabbath day.”
Peter was known for saying what was on his mind. Peter says, “If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are 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 . . . , that this man stands before you healed.” Notice how he does not beat around the bush, but he cuts to the chase. It is by the name of Jesus, whom you crucified. Again, Peter begins with words of the Law, words of conviction. He points to the Sanhedrin, “whom you crucified.”
Peter also speaks the words of the Gospel. The Gospel is that this Jesus did not remain dead but God raised Him from the dead. We do not worship a dead God, but a living God. Jesus is true man, born of the human woman, and He is true God, conceived by the Holy Spirit. He was put to death on the cross, but death and the grave have no power over Him. He rose from the dead and because He rose and lives, we know that we too shall live.
Peter continues with a reminder that Jesus is the corner stone. We pick up at verse eleven, “11This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (v. 11-12).
Peter here quotes from Psalm 118. The word our text translates as “capstone” can be either the top stone in an archway, the stone that holds the arch up, or it can be the cornerstone, the main foundation stone upon which the building is erected. Either way, it is the most important stone.
Peter’s words are meant to help the Sanhedrin, that is the Jewish counsel, to understand that God does not work by human standards. The stone that is unimportant to the human world, the stone the builders rejected, has become the most important in God’s plan. The stone, Jesus, whom they crucified, whom they tried to throw away, has become and now is the main stone, the capstone, the cornerstone to our salvation.
Salvation can be obtained in no other way except in the name of Jesus. Jesus is the only name under heaven, given to men, whereby we must be saved. This exclusive claim is why we Christians are so hated by the rest of the world. The world would have you believe that there are many ways to heaven or enlightenment, or nirvana, or whatever. The world would like to get to heaven by their own imagination, by their own good deeds or obedience. To make Jesus the exclusive way to heaven goes against the sinful nature of the permissive world in which we live. Thus, Christians are hated.
The trial of Peter and John was very much like the trials we face in our world today. Yes, even in America, we Christians are on trial. As Christians we show acts of kindness, worked in us by the power of the Holy Spirit as fruits of faith. We show acts of kindness and people wonder why? Why would we do the kind things we do? Of course, we realize that we cannot help but do acts of kindness, because our Lord works these acts of kindness through us.
At the same time that we do acts of kindness, we realize that we are also a part of the mob that crucified Jesus. We still have that sinner, saint thing going on inside of us. We are saints, by the blood of Jesus, and yet, we are still sinners, sinners from our conception. So, we continue to struggle with sin and doing acts of kindness.
The Law reminds us that we are sinners and that it was because of our sin that Jesus died on the cross. The Gospel is that Jesus lived for us, the perfect life demanded of us, for us, in our place. The Gospel continues reminding us that Jesus did not remain dead, but that God raised Him from the dead for us. And because Jesus rose, defeating sin, death and the devil, we know that these have no power over us and we too will rise again to eternal life in heaven with Him.
Yet, our trial today is even more serious than for just showing acts of kindness. For you see, we, as Christians are on trial because we claim that there is only one way to heaven. We live in a very pluralistic society. We live in a society in which our law recognizes no heresy and therefore there is no basis for distinguishing between any religious groups. In our society, all religious groups, sects or cults, have equal validity.
There was an article in a newspaper a few years back in which the author was accusing the large, mainstream Christian denominations for the downfall of people like those that followed the Heaven’s Gate cult. He suggested that it was because we have backed off on the truth of God’s Law that people have strayed. I must say, I was glad he did not mention Lutherans in his article, but I believe that he is close to right. Many of the Christian or so called Christian churches in the United States have become more and more secularized, have begun to look more and more like the society, which is what happens when you do theology by majority vote instead of letting God’s Word be God’s Word. When the Bible contains God’s Word instead of is God’s Word, then you lose the Bible. When the Bible begins to be seen as containing errors, then we have lost our Bible. When we have lost our Bible’s we have lost the means through which our Lord comes to us to give us His good gifts and blessings, including faith and strengthening of faith.
Our church and our denomination are a minority in our country and in the world today. And it is not getting any easier as we continue to be on trial for declaring that we have the truth and others do not, but what does God’s Word say? We are on trial like Peter and John. Like Peter and John we declare, “Jesus is ‘the stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.’ Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” Jesus is the one that people reject when they say there is another way, or that there are many ways to heaven. Jesus is the one that people reject when they say that the Bible contains God’s Word or has errors. Jesus is the one they reject when they suggest that we are closed minded to think that there is only one way to heaven. Yes, we are on trial because we do believe what the Bible teaches, “there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved,” and that name is the name of Jesus.
So where do we stand as Christians? What do we do? First and foremost we stand with Peter and John and make regular and diligent use of the means of grace. There is no greater good work that we can do than to find time, make time, and take every opportunity to make use of the means of grace, to be given and filled with God’s Word and gifts, to be in Divine Service and Bible Class. And with the Holy Spirit working through these means of grace, we respond.
We respond as we stand with Peter and John and we witness boldly. We witness boldly as God gives us the opportunity to witness. And believe me, if you pray for the opportunity, God will give it to you. Often, even without praying, God will give you the opportunity. How often have you had the Mormons or the Jehovah’s Witnesses come to your door? How many times in a day do you have the opportunity to live as a Christian where you work or play? The Lord is constantly giving you opportunities to proclaim His name to the lost through your very life, as you live your life as a priest in the priesthood of all believers, as you live your life as a living sacrifice for the Lord.
We witness boldly as God gives us the opportunity not only to witness with our actions, but also to witness with our words and He gives us the words to say. Peter did not speak on his own, but he boldly professed the faith that was put in his heart by the power of the Holy Spirit speaking through Him. God gives us the same promise. When He gives us the opportunity to speak in His name, He will also give us the words to say.
We witness boldly as God gives us, the opportunity to live as a witness and the opportunity to speak words and even the words to speak, but even more as He gives us the courage to speak. Remember, we do not witness by ourselves. God is with us. He is with us to guide us, to give us the opportunity, to give us the words and to give us the courage to speak the words which He gives us to speak. We witness boldly as God gives us the courage to stick to the truth of His Word which professes that there is only one way to heaven, that there is no other name whereby we must be saved and that name is the name of Jesus.
So, are only Missouri Synod Lutherans going to heaven. I have been accused of believing that, but I doubt it. As a matter of fact there are probably some Missouri Synod Lutherans who are not going to heaven. What I do know is this, only those people who are given faith by the Holy Spirit working through the means of grace, those who believe in the name of Jesus alone will go to heaven. As Missouri Synod Lutherans I believe we have a great task before us. The task we have before us is to stick to God’s word as God’s Word; to proclaim God’s Word in all its truth and purity; to bear witness of the faith that God has put in our hearts and to never compromise our stance on the truth. This is our task, this is our trial, and this is what we can do only with the help of God giving us the opportunity, the Words, and the courage to do. And God does give us the opportunity, the words and the courage to do so through the means of Grace, His Word and Sacraments. To God be the glory, for Jesus’ sake. Amen.
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