The Presence of Power

01.28.12

Acts 4.16-18 16 ...saying, “What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name.” 18 And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. NASB

This passage of Acts is rich with all kinds of historical evidence of the reality of Jesus, the perception of the Sadducees, the mindset of the times, and the presence of the power of God in a miracle that took place in the life of a lame beggar.

As to the reality of Jesus Christ, we don’t walk by historical evidence, we walk by faith. But it is interesting to note that the Sadducees recognized Peter and John as being followers (disciples) of Christ. They said that! There are historical facts surrounding the earthly life of Jesus that are undeniable. Whether or not they are believed is another story. There is the evidence of the power of God in a miracle that is undeniable. Whether it is believed or not is another story.

The mindset of the times was that people believed in the presence (or possibility) of miracles; the unexplainable. We have those things in our day, that when they take place, are written off as unexplainable events, and categorized as miracles. There are those among us today who would simply affirm these events as the presence of God – like the Sadducees did. What is interesting is the Sadducees didn’t believe in the power of God; they believed in the power of politics. So for them to affirm something as a miracle was in itself, a miracle. Their only other choice was to deny the cripple had ever been crippled and the whole thing was staged. There was simply too much evidence to the contrary, he was standing right in front of them!

So, the Sadducees ordered Peter and John to shut-up about Jesus. (That in itself is lame!) They recognized the presence of a Power and though they couldn’t explain it, they realized that even talking about Jesus did something to people, and they demanded the disciples to cease speaking about the Lord. Peter’s response is classic: “Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4.19b-20a NASB) Way to go Peter! All the Sadducees had was their political threats… compare those to the power and presence of God!

So we are faced with the same thing today: there are those people who will acknowledge a miracle and yet won’t believe. There are those who believe in the power of politics. And there are those who think by political threats they can squelch faith in Christ. These tactics are centuries old and yet seem to have failed time after time.

What doesn’t fail today however, is watered-down faith. That’s why there is such a move to explain the unexplainable, and to paint Believers as just normal folks with quirky beliefs who like to meet together once a week or so to make themselves feel better. Church in America is not a threat as long as it stays in its kennel and out of the marketplace. The world today needs people like Peter and John to upset the societal apple cart and display the obvious: that they have been with Jesus, and noteworthy miracles happen when they publicly talk about Jesus. Whatcha say guys, are we in?