Recap

So far in Acts we've read through the introduction and started the disciples' time in Jerusalem. We looked at how Acts is a sequel to Luke's gospel, written by the same author. In this book Luke intends to unpack the birth and growth of the early church. We read as Jesus commissioned his disciples to preach the good news to “Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” (Acts 1:8). He also encouraged them to wait for the Holy Spirit, who would empower them to do all he was calling them to do.

As Jesus ascended back to heaven, the disciples decided to nominate someone to replace Judas, who had betrayed Jesus. A new member of the twelve was appointed, and they all waited on God to send the Holy Spirit.

A little later, the Spirit did come in a gush of wind, and in tongues of fire. We noted how this was a reflection of God’s presence entering the temple in the Old Testament (2 Chronicles 7:1-3). God is making his people his new temples. The Spirit then empowered them to speak in different languages, a symbolic act that God was reclaiming the reign that he’d divided back in Genesis 11. The people around them were amazed and Peter led over 3,000 people to salvation.

The church was born, and they began to live in community together, doing life together and sharing all that they had.

Acts 3-4

We next get a section that shows how Jesus’ kingdom is at odds with the established religious order. Peter and John go up to the temple to pray.

This might seem strange, considering that they are God’s temples, carrying his presence in them. But this would have been part of their tradition, and these two clearly saw no reason to stop praying to God in the temple. Luke’s going to use this as an opportunity to contrast the difference between God’s old temple and his new ones.

There they see a man who has been lame since birth. We know what Jesus would do in this situation. He would heal the lame man. But what are the disciples going to do? Peter looks at the man and tells him, “In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise up and walk!” (Acts 3:6). The man immediately jumps up, completely healed.

In the Old Testament, we saw people speak and act in God’s name (see Exodus 5:23; Deuteronomy 18:19-21). This is important. The name of Jesus used by the disciples is just as powerful as the name of God in the Old Testament.

Standing in the temple, Peter turns to those around and explains to them that it is Jesus that has healed this man. It would be expected that God’s power would be found in his temple, but the reality is his power is found in his people, his new temples. The very Jesus that they had killed has been raised from the dead by God, and his name carries God’s power to do incredible things.

This is what the prophets were talking about. When they described a suffering servant, they were talking about the promised king, the one the people had been waiting for. And so Peter encourages those listening to repent and turn to Jesus.

But then the priest and the captain of the temple approach. These guys represent the temple, and they resent this demonstration made by God’s new temples. They have Peter and John arrested, and begin to question them the next day. How did they heal the lame man?

Peter stands up and is filled with the Holy Spirit. The Spirit empowers Peter to speak, but it also affirms him as one of God’s new temples. The temple is meant to be the place where God’s presence dwells, and right now Peter is filled with God’s presence while speaking to those who represent the old temple.

Peter explains to them that the lame man was healed in the name of Jesus. Yes, these religious leaders killed him, but God raised him from the dead. Peter points out that this is just like when in Psalm 118:22 the writer declares, “The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.”

The religious leaders are stunned. Peter and John aren’t educated men, but they speak with such authority. In contrast, the religious leaders don’t know what to do because they can’t deny the man was actually healed. They threaten the disciples and let them go.

Released, Peter and John return to the other believers and we get to see what a Christian community should look like. Peter and John share what had happened to them, and then the believers began to pray. But they don’t pray the kinds of prayers we’d expect.

In many modern prayer meetings, we would be praying things like, “God deal with the religious leaders getting in our way. Remove all oppression. Stop those who would try to stop us.” But the believers don’t pray for any of that. Instead, they quote Psalm 2:1-2, acknowledging how great God and Jesus, his anointed one, are and how foolish the religious leaders are for opposing them.

Then they ask God to equip them to be bolder and to continue doing miraculous work in the midst. As an example to us, when things get difficult instead of praying that things get easier, we should be praying that God better equips us to do what he is calling us to do.

Their prayers were clearly good ones, because God immediately answers them, filling them all with the Holy Spirit and giving them the boldness they asked for.

And Luke continues to show us what a great example this early community is. All the believers were of “one heart and soul,” (Acts 4:32). Some versions say ‘of one heart and mind’. They were united in everything they did, and they cared for one another. So much so that many sold possession and even property to make sure that everyone had enough.

The language that Luke uses intentionally mirrors Deuteronomy 15:4. What these believers are doing isn’t something new. They are being the community that God was always calling his people to be. They’d never lived up to it before, but now, filled with the Holy Spirit, God’s people are finally being who they were meant to be.

Psalm 119:129-152

We are continuing on with Psalm 119. This psalm isn’t attributed to anyone in particular and falls into the category of wisdom psalm. Each stanza has eight verses each, and each verse within a stanza starts with the same letter of the Hebrew alphabet. With twenty-two stanzas, we have a different stanza for each letter of the Hebrew alphabet. In many ways, this psalm can be seen as the A-B-Cs of Biblical wisdom.

Psalm 119:129-136 - Pe (פ): Your testimonies are wonderful; therefore, my soul keeps them

Psalm 119:137-144 - Tsadhe (צ): Righteous are you, O Lord, and right are your rules

Psalm 119:145-152 - Qoph (ק): With my whole heart I cry; answer me, O Lord

Stanza seventeen (Psalm 119:129-136) praises God for his decrees and has the psalmist once again committing themself to them. The decrees of the Lord are wonderful. They give light and impart understanding. Because of this, the psalmist thirsts for more of the Lord’s decreed and to understand them better. The psalmist appeals to the Lord to be gracious, as is his custom. To guide the psalmist’s steps and redeem them when others seek to oppress them. May the Lord help them understand his commands, because it grieves the psalmist when they’re not kept.

In stanza eighteen (Psalm 119:137-144) the Lord’s teachings are a reflection of his righteousness. As a God of righteousness and justice, the Lord has made decrees that promote righteousness and justice. The psalmist is then zealous for the Lord’s decrees to be upheld because the alternative is injustice. The psalmist holds onto them because they know that living according to them will promote righteousness forever.

Then, in stanza nineteen (Psalm 119:145-152) again the psalmist is struggling. The psalmist holds tightly to the Lord’s decrees, but their enemies do not. They are far from God’s law and intend evil. They persecute the psalmist. But despite all that, the psalmist holds even tighter to the Lord’s decrees, and the Lord draws near to the psalmist.