Acts 4:1-12
The apostles, faithful to their calling, have healed a lame man from birth and they preach Jesus! After all, Jesus did what He said He would do! He suffered, died and rose bodily from the dead on the third day. That means that Jesus truly is the Son-of-God-Savior-Messiah. It means that His Good Friday dying did indeed answer for all sin and every sinner. It means that He is the first fruits of them that sleep, i.e., that all the dead will be raised on the Last Day – believers to eternal life – unbelievers to eternal death and damnation (which is, to say it bluntly, it seems to me, a waste of a bodily resurrection!).
Such apostolic preaching of the Good Friday-ly crucified but Easter Sunday-ly resurrected Jesus is quite dicey. After all, it annoys, irritates and angers the deep state priestly aristocracy – deep pockets – deep seated religious authorities of the Jerusalem temple: the Sadducees. Why? Well, the Sadducees categorically taught that there was no such thing as the bodily resurrection (Acts 23:8)! And if Jesus really rose from the dead … no wonder they’re threatened. If Jesus really rose like these apostles are preaching, then the Sadducees would be shown to be frauds and liars – and religious ones at that!
Can’t have that happen. So the Sadducees send in their deep state-goon-like FBI agents. They arrest the apostles and put them under police-state-supervision. They will impose their will on the church of Jesus Christ and His preachers. They will nip the apostolic preaching of Jesus risen from the dead in the bud! Put a stop to such dis-information or mal-information ASAP! By force, if necessary. They will not tolerate the preaching of Jesus risen from the dead by anyone. It’s a threat, to use the language of our day – a hazard — to democracy!
But, the more they drive the nail, the deeper it goes. That is to say, the more the enemies and haters discriminate and persecute the church, her ministers, and faithful preaching the more the church grows. Listen again to the text: “But many of those who heard the word [of Jesus risen from the dead] believed.” Indeed! “Faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of Christ,” (Rom 10:17)! “And the number of men [who believed] came to about five thousand.” Incredible! You’ve got to love it. Persecution and … BOOM … 5,000, that’s just counting the men, added to the church!
The Lord Jesus grows His church even, and one could argue, especially in the midst of suffering, bullying and intimidation. The more the church’s foes try to destroy her, the more the church spreads and increases! So, this teaches us a valuable lesson. When the church of the 21st century faces more and more persecution (soft or hard), she need not despair, compromise, try to be relevant, and never give up on Jesus and His Good Shepherd care of His sheep! Jesus will use it for the church’s good. She will trust in Him all the more!
Now, let’s not forget what I mentioned at the beginning. The apostles healed a crippled man from birth. They are brought before the most powerful, aristocratic, influential deep state authorities in Jerusalem: “Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high priestly family.” The interrogation goes like this: “By what power or by what name did you do this?”
Here is their chance. They can compromise, try to be liked, try to shape their message to massage the felt needs of those in power and be relevant. Nope! Nada! Not a chance! They are bolder than ever! Faithful than ever!
Peter, “filled with the Holy Spirit,” (remember John 20 when Jesus breathed on the Eleven and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit”?) – steps right up to the plate and fearlessly proclaims to the deep state power players who hold all the cards, “Rulers of the people and elders … let 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.”
By what power or name did the apostles heal the crippled man? In the Name of Jesus! And when things are done in Jesus’ Name, Jesus is the One doing it. When things are given in Jesus’ Name, Jesus is the One giving it. It’s why Jesus commanded that repentance and forgiveness be proclaimed IN HIS NAME (Lk 24:47). In addition, Jesus Himself promised, “Where two or three are gathered in my name, there I am in the midst of them,” (Mt 18:20).
The apostles are not ashamed of Jesus! Peter doesn’t deny Jesus any more. He confidently confesses Jesus! To anyone! Anytime! Bring it on! Peter is all in when it comes to proclaiming Jesus crucified and risen! The Jesus who was from Nazareth. The Virgin Mary’s Son. The carpenter. Crucified by the very people to whom he’s answering! They were the ones that put Jesus on trial, brought in false witnesses to ruin His reputation, whisked Him off to Pontius Pilate the Roman governor, and then unjustly convicted Him of treason and blasphemy in order to be cruelly and barbarically crucified like some kind of insurrectionist.
Yes, the leaders to whom Peter answers in Acts 4, had rejected this Jesus. They rejected Jesus just like when builders reject or throw out what they consider to be a substandard or flawed stone. However, God the Father raised Jesus, His Son, from the grave. And now Jesus is THE CAPSTONE – THE CORNERSTONE – the one that holds the entire structure together.
Consequently, in Jesus Christ of Nazareth, and only in Him, God the Father gives full and total salvation to poor miserable sinners! Peter preaches it this way: “And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” The angel preached it this way to Joseph regarding Mary’s virgin pregnancy: “She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins,” (Mt 1:21).
The one named Jesus is the one and only Savior! No other name has the power to deliver you from sin, death and hellish damnation. Oh, I know. I know. There are plenty of other names that can inspire you. There are names that can provide you with good role models and examples to follow. There are lots of names that can teach you morality. There are all sorts of names that can advise you how to be healthy, wealthy, and prosperous. BUT THERE IS ONLY ONE NAME that can save you from your sin, that can raise you from the grave, and give you eternal life and peace with God. That’s the Name of Jesus!
The one named Jesus died and rose FOR YOU! Only the Name of Jesus holds the devil’s-head-crushing power of His Good Friday death and Easter resurrection. The nails, the spear, the water, the blood, the cross, the death, the tomb, the resurrection “peace be with you-forgiveness,” – are all contained and bestowed in the Name of Jesus. It’s why Jesus puts His Name on you in holy baptism. It’s why the absolution and every other official act in the church, like preaching, is done in Jesus’ name.
The Buddha didn’t die and rise. Joseph Smith didn’t die and rise. Mohammed and Confucius didn’t either. Only Christianity makes the audacious and categorical claim that the one named Jesus died and rose from the dead! And that through His death on the cross and through His resurrection on the Third Day salvation has been won for all people. Including you!
There is no other saving name under heaven except the Name of Jesus. Only Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Jesus alone is the Door for the sheep. He is the only gate to heaven. “No one comes to the Father except through Me,” (Jn 14:6).
The Name of Jesus is an exclusively inclusive Name. I.E. He died for all and He singlehandedly died for all and that means FOR YOU too. He achieved salvation for all and only in Him is there salvation for anyone, or anybody and that includes you. In no other name is there forgiveness. In no other name is there life. In no other name is there salvation. Why? Because no one except Jesus has ever died and risen from the dead never to die again.
Like Peter and the other apostles, it is our joy and glory to bear the Name of Jesus as His baptized sheep. To proclaim repentance and forgiveness of sins in His Name (Lk 24 – remember last week’s sermon). To call upon His Name in the day of trouble. To cling to His Name through every suffering, trial or temptation that may come our way.
Suffering for Jesus’ Name is sure to come to us in this country just like it did for the apostles in the 1st century. In 2 Timothy 3:12, Paul tells us that, “all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted, while evil people will go on from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived.” As it was in Paul’s day, so it is in our day. Powerful and influential people in our nation are working day and night to make sure that the church stops preaching Jesus who died and rose. They will stop at nothing. They will put it this way: “Christianity and confessing Jesus is a threat to democracy and the American way of life.”
I know that because that is what they have been stressing for years and continue to assert in books, day time talk shows like The View, the mainstream media, and the rotundras and courts of our nation. I mentioned one book on Palm Sunday. Remember? White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy. Here’s another one for good measure. The author is David Gushee. The title says it all. Defending Democracy from Its Christian Enemies.
We really should start taking these people seriously and take them at their word. They mean what they say. They will do what they say. Even if it goes against the United States Constitution and the First Amendment. Most of them are lawless pretend divinities. They “infallibly” say what it good and what is evil. They maintain that Christianity, especially the white, rural kind is grossly immoral and heinously criminal. Why? Because they say so!
But, the harder they pound the nail, the deeper it goes. I.E. just like in the early church, they more they persecute the church, the more it will grow. And we will learn all the more to trust in Jesus who promises, “not even the gates of hell will prevail against my church,” (Mt. 16:18)and that “those who call upon the name of the Lord” (Jesus the Christ, the Nazarene) “will be saved,” (Rom 10:13). In addition, we know, like St. Paul who while bound with chains as a criminal in a Roman prison waiting to be executed by the Roman authorities for preaching Jesus risen from the dead, that “the Word of God is not bound,” (2 Tim 2:9)!
So, brothers and sisters, like Peter, no matter what, proclaim Jesus’ saving Name. Cling to His Name. Call upon His Name. Trust His Name – no other name. Why? Well, there is no other name “under heaven given among men” that can save you, that can heal you, and that can raise you from the dead!
Thanks be to God!
In the Name of Jesus. Amen.
Luke 24:36-49
There He is again! The crucified but risen from the dead Jesus! Speaking the language of His Easter morning resurrection to His little church of disciples: “Peace to you!” Yes, His-Good-Friday-all-atoning-for-sin-peace is bestowed, given or applied through this “peace-to-you”-blessing. As He speaks He does and gives. His absolution-peace-to-you-blessing does and gives what it says.
And as you believe so you have! His Good-Friday-won-Easter-forgiveness creates and sustains His church. The time after Easter is the time of the Lord Jesus is having for Himself a church! I can’t emphasize this enough. And as Jesus gathers His hangers-on or faith-ers around Himself, like you and me, He’s always speaking the good-news-gospel-verbiage of Easter: “Peace to you.” From which the church receives her life and sustenance for life in this wilderness world on the way to the Promised Land of heaven.
Upon seeing the resurrected Jesus here on that first Easter afternoon, the members of this Christian church in Jerusalem are “startled and frightened.” In fact, they “thought they saw a spirit,” a ghost, an apparition. Could this really be Jesus? Is this really the resurrected Jesus? They’re not sure.
Faith lives on what is most certainly true. So Jesus speaks what is most certainly true. “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See my hands and my feet, that it is I myself. Touch me and see. For a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”
Incredibly, Jesus shows them His Good Friday wounds, for the healing of their wounded hearts, because they were, “still disbelieving for joy and marveling.” It all still seems too good to be true! Again, is He really the resurrected-in-the-flesh-Jesus? Really? Yes! Absolutely! The crucified Jesus is now the risen Jesus. In the flesh! So, to clinch it He chews and swallows a piece of broiled fish. Not that He’s hungry, mind you. It’s to seal the deal. To prove that He has risen. He is not a spirit. He is indeed Christ Jesus, the Lord in the flesh!
Typical Teacher and Preacher that Jesus is, He has more to say. It’s as if He’s a Lutheran preacher before there were Lutheran preachers! There’s always more with Jesus. He wants to make sure His little church here at Jerusalem and this little church at Murdock, NE will always trust in Him for salvation. Will always hang on to Him for eternal life not only in soul but also in body too!
For His having a church that believes in Him, He teaches that the entire OT is fulfilled by His suffering, death and resurrection. The OT is Jesus Christ centered from beginning to end. “That everything written about me in the Law of Moses and the Prophets and the Psalm must be fulfilled … Thus it is written, that the Christ should suffer and on the third day rise from the dead.”
Incredible! The Lord Jesus “opens their minds” to fully understand the OT! The OT, strictly speaking, bears witness to Jesus Himself! It always promised Jesus who would suffer and rise to atone for the sin of the world. To crush Satan’s head. And Jesus did it. He is the salvational fulfilment of all God’s OT promises! This too is most certainly true! To which faith says: “Amen! Thanks be to you Jesus!”
Next time you read the OT keep this in mind. Keep your eyes and ears open to the prophecies and promises of Good Friday and Easter Jesus FOR YOU and for your salvation whether you’re reading Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel or any of the Psalms.
Then resurrected Lord Jesus gives His church a task. It is essential. If she doesn’t do this, she is on the ragged edge of ceasing to be the church. Check it out. “And that repentance and forgiveness of sins should be proclaimed in His name to all nations.” Did you catch that? The church’s task is twofold: calling sinners to repentance and then speaking the forgiveness of sins to repentant sinners!
And this task was to begin “in Jerusalem.” After all, you remember how Jesus prayed in Luke 23:34 for those who crucified Him? Yes, that’s right, “Father, forgive them, they don’t know what they are doing.” He forgives sinners because He’s the only FORGIVER! It begins in Jerusalem. And it continues as you read the Book of Acts. The “promise of” the Father, namely, the Holy Spirit poured out from “on high” on Pentecost, that Jesus Himself promised, results in Peter and the other apostles 24-7-365 calling sinners to repentance in order to forgive them their sins as Jesus mandated here in Luke 24.
Here is where the church is losing her nerve. After all, the 21st century church desperately wants to be relevant and to be a power player in the world. She wants to be recognized and congratulated. That’s what the Jesus Gets Us commercials are all about. The message is: Do anything that floats your boat. Jesus gets you. He’s OK with whatever. And so the church is tempted to stop preaching the “R” verb. Never calling sinners to repentance. And when the church does that, she will not and cannot preach Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. Jesus, then, the One who died for sinners is piously, purposely and yet tragically and devilishly divorced from sinners and all their sin. Keep sinners from hearing the message that all their sin is forgiven because of Jesus’ Good Friday death and Easter resurrection, the gospel is lost and the church ceases to be the church.
So it bears repeating, for the church to be the church, she is to not only to be repented and receive Jesus’ forgiveness, but also that the church preach repentance for forgiveness to all sinners for whom Jesus died. So, when you’re dealing with a sinner, no matter what the sin, you don’t say, “You’re OK. Jesus understands. He gets you.” No, you say, “You’re not OK. Repent. And I’m here to forgive you in Jesus’ Name.” And as the church does this in Jesus’ Name, Jesus Himself is the one doing the repenting and forgiving. To be repented and faith-ed in Jesus Name is to be repented and faith-ed by Jesus Himself.
So, if you’re picking up what I’m throwing down, the church doesn’t need to be relevant. The church needs to be faithful! Yes, that’s right faithful!
And so, I will preach what Jesus expects and blesses. Here goes. It’s time for all of us to be repented. That we all tell the truth about ourselves and not lie. We truly are sinners. Not just today but every day. And then, it’s time for all of us to trust only in Jesus for the forgiveness of sins. And every Sunday give a hearty “Amen!” to these words spoken in Jesus’ Name: “As a called and ordained servant of Christ, and by His authority, I therefore forgive you all your sins in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,” (LSB p. 151).
After all, resurrection forgiveness spoken and given in Jesus’ Name is resurrection forgiveness spoken and given by Jesus Himself! No matter if He spoke it on that first Easter afternoon or this morning, the 3rd Sunday of Easter here at Trinity. And, as you believe, so you have. What joy! What a church! What a Jesus!
In the Name of Jesus.
Mark 15:27-32
Jesus IS the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior. He IS the promised 2 Samuel 7 descendent or Son of King David. He IS the promised 2 Samuel 7 Salvational King of Israel. He preached it and taught it. He was a truth-teller. Many believed. They were His hangers-on / faith-ers. They confessed and worshiped Jesus as such. They looked to Him and Him alone for their salvation.
Others, however, hated and despised Him. Jesus was their enemy. “Who does this Jesus think He is?” “How dare He claim to be the Messiah! To be Israel’s King!” “That’s so outrageous!” “Crucify Him! Crucify Him!” They’ve had their way. And now, as Jesus suffers the humiliating torture of crucifixion with a crown of thorns on His head, they mock Him. Rub His Messianic and Royal claims in His face. They take immense delight in His suffering. Because if He truly is who He claims to be – He wouldn’t be hanging from a cross as some kind of insurrectionist. So the pile on. The acidic and toxic dis- or mal-information spewing from their lips is meant to hurt Jesus to the core until He breathes no more.
“Save yourself, and come down from the cross!”
“He saved others; he cannot save himself.”
“Let the Christ, the King of Israel, come down from the cross that we may see and believe.”
Hidden in these derisive taunts, are also Satanic temptations. Using the bystanders and His enemies below the cross, Satan tries one last time to tempt Jesus to not be your Savior and to put your salvation in serious jeopardy! It is an incredible temptation in the midst of such horrific suffering, contemptuous mockery and acidic scorn. “Save yourself! Come down from the cross!”
Jesus, not matter how delicious the temptation, will not save Himself! Savior King Jesus doesn’t save himself. Savior King Jesus saves others. He came to do one thing and one thing only: to save you. To rescue you from eternal damnation and Satan’s hellish kingdom. To forgive you of all your sin. And He will do it only through His bitter suffering and death on the cross. No other way. If He gets off the cross, you’re sins remain on you and you’ll be damned with them by God’s wrath.
That’s precisely what Satan wants. So, the mockers and revilers, as Satan’s agents go all in! “So Jesus, you claim to be the Christ. Really? You claim to be the King of Israel. Prove it. Hop off that cross if you truly are the Christ-Jesus-King-of-Israel! If we see you do that, then we will believe that you really are the Christ-Son-of David-King-of-Israel! Well Jesus. We’re waiting!”
Didn’t Jesus want people to believe in Him? Of course. But He will have faith-ers in Him only as He stays put on the cross bearing the sin of the world and atoning for it totally by His sacrificial Blood! He wants sinners to believe in Him as Christ-crucified!
And stay-ed put He did! FOR YOU. For your salvation! Forgiveness won and achieved in His Good Friday dying. And today, you thirteen, for the first time in your baptized lives, will receive with your mouths the very Body and Blood of Jesus that accomplished your salvation on the cross. Ponder that for just a moment! Seriously! Oh the enormity of His salvific service! Oh the hugeness of His salvational giving! On the cross and now in the Supper!
In addition, (there’s always more with Jesus), He speaks this specific salvational promise: “In the Supper today my Body and Blood are given and shed for you for the forgiveness of your sins.” Good Friday forgiveness delivered to you today and every Sunday in the Lord’s Supper! And where there is forgiveness of sins, there is life and salvation! What joy!
St. Paul tells us in 1 Corinthians 11:26 that every time you eat the bread that is Jesus’ Body and drink the wine that is Jesus’ Blood, “You proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.” I.E. you preach a mighty sermon when you eat and drink the Lord’s Supper! You confess with your eating and drinking that Jesus alone made satisfaction for all your sins in His Good Friday dying. I.E. at the Lord’s Supper you preach publicly that you confess Jesus as Lord! Lord FOR YOU! Savior FOR YOU! And that you are His hanger-on. A faith-er in Him!
Such a confession of Jesus as Lord will cause you trouble. It will! As it was in Jesus’ day so it is in the 21st century. Many hated Jesus then. Many hate Him now. The haters are elected politicians, deep state bureaucrats, Hollywood entertainers, Billboard Top 40 singers, gangster/prison culture rappers, Social Media giants, Tik Tok-ers, major league athletes, and yes, even members of the church as well as many “pastors”. The enemies of Jesus, you will discover, if you haven’t already, are classmates, teammates, people in our community, and yes, even members of your own family.
What’s my point. I’ll let Jesus make it. Jesus says in John 15:20 that, “A servant [a faith-er / a hanger-on] is not greater than His master [or Lord, Jesus]. If they persecuted me,” Jesus goes on to say, “they will also persecute you.” Faither-ers and hangers-on have been suffering for their faith in Jesus from the beginning. In Acts 5 the authorities beat the apostles and “charged them not to speak in Jesus’ name [i.e. not to preach].” Remember Saul? He supervised the stoning of Stephen (Acts 8). In Acts 12 King Herod violently attacked Christians. He murdered John’s brother James with a sword and he had Peter arrested and jailed.
Let me give you another example from the fourth century. I do it for two reasons. First, because I fear that what happened then is going to happen to us very soon, and second, so that you’ll learn to confess Jesus as Lord no matter what you face.
On February 24, 303 AD the Emperor Diocletian published his first edict against Christians. He ordered the elimination of the Christian Scriptures, the demolition of places of worship across the empire and he prohibited Christians from assembling for worship. A year later, the Christians of Abitinae (in northern Africa) were found guilty of having illegally gathered to worship Jesus and receive the Lord’s Supper. These Christians said, and I quote, ““Sine Dominico non possumus,” roughly translated, “It is not possible for us to do without the Lord / Lord’s Supper.” You can guess what happened. That’s right. The Roman authorities stormed the church and murdered them all, including the infants.
Could Christianity be outlawed in our country? Could you be forbidden by the government from going to church and receiving the Lord’s Supper? Could you be put in jail or murdered for confessing Jesus? Of course. It’s happened over and over again in the history of the world and it is still taking place today. The French Revolution. The Soviet Union. Communist China. Militant Jihadi Islam murdering Christians by the thousands in Nigeria. The table is being set in our country when one of the most popular books right now is entitled, White Rural Rage: The Threat to American Democracy. What’s the point the authors’ make in the book? You white rural Christians like at Trinity, Murdock are the enemy of the divine and infallible state. Because you worship Jesus and not the state you are a threat to DEMOCRACY! They really believe that! And they’re not the only ones. Many of the most powerful people in the country do too! So, don’t be surprised if some kind of persecution (soft or hard) happens to you for your confession of Jesus as Lord.
And when it comes, don’t despair. And by all means, don’t compromise. Never deny Jesus when the persecution comes. Boldy confess Him as Lord. Tell those who persecute you that you are a disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ! And then ask them if they would like to believe in Jesus too.
You have the freedom to speak like this because Jesus has given you the wonderful promise: “Whoever confesses Me before men, I will also confess before My Father who is heaven.”
That’s exactly why you audaciously promised today to, “suffer all, even death, rather than fall away” from confessing Jesus as Lord. He’s got you! He’ll never let you go! He holds you in His crucified and risen HANDS!
Happy Confirmation Day you thirteen! Happy confessing Jesus not only today but the rest of your earthly lives!
In the Name of Jesus.
Brent Kuhlman's Blog 