Text: Acts 3:12-20
Date: April 11, 2021
Event: The Second Sunday of Easter, Year B
Acts 3:12–20 (EHV)
12When Peter saw this, he addressed the people: “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this? Why are you staring at us, as if by our own power or godliness we have made this man walk? 13The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and disowned in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. 14You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you. 15You killed the Author of Life, whom God raised from the dead. We are witnesses of this. 16And on the basis of faith in his name, it is the name of Jesus that has strengthened this man, whom you see and know. This faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.
17“Now brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, just like your leaders. 18But in this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through the mouth of all the prophets: that his Christ would suffer. 19Therefore repent and return to have your sins wiped out, 20so that refreshing times may come from the presence of the Lord and that he may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you.”
Jesus’ Resurrection Brings True Healing
At our council meeting on Thursday evening, we were talking about various campus improvement projects the Building Committee has been hashing through and even dreaming a little bit of what could be. But as we talked the subject of the sewer lines on campus came up (I know… a great subject to start a Sunday morning sermon with, but bear with me). We got to be reminded that yes, the church lines had been totally redone so that they’re no longer the broken clay pipe from long ago but pipe that will endure for a long time.
But that brought to mind all the trouble we had had years ago, at times with almost weekly calls to the plumber to get us by until we could get things fixed the right way. And a wave of gratitude washed over me that we haven’t had to do that for years. But that wasn’t something I had thought about for a long time. Sometimes the results of blessings aren’t clear until you stop to think about them, and it’s good to be reminded of how God works especially in those things that we can sometimes take for granted.
Our First Lessons during the Easter season will largely be taken from the book of Acts, the history of the early Christian church. And our lesson for this morning takes us to one of the earliest accounts in that book, just after the first Christian Pentecost day. In this lesson, Peter clearly reminds about the work God has done for us and blessings he has given to us, things that perhaps are easy to take for granted even just days after our Easter celebrations. Because Jesus’ resurrection is not a one-time celebration. Jesus’ resurrection is an enduring, constant blessing, one that brings true, eternal healing and comfort.
Sometime after Pentecost, Peter and John were in the temple. A man who had been born lame, never able to walk, called to Peter and John and asked for money. Peter looked at him and said, “Silver and gold I do not have, but what I have I will give you. In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene get up and walk!” (Acts 3:6). And as happened so often when Jesus addressed someone with a physical need during his ministry, Jesus empowered Peter to heal this man to not only hobble around, but even to jump while praising God!
The people at the temple knew this man and knew his condition. So to say they were shocked at this change of situation in his life would be an understatement. The people rushed to gather around the healed man, Peter, and John to try to find some answers. And the beginning of those answers that Peter gave is what serves as our sermon text for this morning.
From the very beginning, Peter deflects any praise or credit for this healing. “Men of Israel, why are you amazed at this? Why are you staring at us, as if by our own power or godliness we have made this man walk?” Peter knew he had nothing in this. It was not his pious life nor his strong faith that made this man able to walk. This was God’s work. But Peter makes a very important point for the Jewish believers there at the temple: “The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus…” This is not a new God or a new religion. Everything that Peter is going to tell the crowd is going to be directly connected to the promises God had made for generations to and through the Israelites.
In a similar theme to what he preached about not long prior to this on Pentecost, Peter fills in the details of what happened to this glorified Jesus, what perhaps some gathered there had participated in. “[God] glorified his servant Jesus, whom you handed over and disowned in the presence of Pilate, though he had decided to release him. You disowned the Holy and Righteous One and asked to have a murderer given to you. You killed the Author of Life.” Peter is not trying to win many friends in this crowd, is he? He comes out swinging. “You condemned an innocent man and demanded the release of a murderer! You disowned the fulfillment of your entire faith and religion. You killed the Author of Life.” Oof…
But Peter has to start there. He not only has to address their sin, but he has to put forward Jesus’ death because everything—eternal life itself—hinges on that crucifixion. There’s law here—condemnation of their sin and rejection of Jesus—but it leads to gospel, right? Because how were those sins paid for? His crucifixion.
And Peter doesn’t lose any time getting to that point: “You killed the Author of Life, whom God raised from the dead. We are witnesses of this. And on the basis of faith in his name, it is the name of Jesus that has strengthened this man, whom you see and know. This faith that comes through Jesus has given him this perfect health in the presence of all of you.” Jesus is the source of every spiritual blessing (and in this case, a physical blessing as well).
But the resurrection is so key to Peter’s message that he has to proclaim it immediately! How important it was for the disciples to know the certain reality of Jesus’ physical resurrection from the dead! The whole gospel message hangs on this truth. It is the reason that we can have any confidence in God’s promises. It is the reason this man was healed. Is it any wonder that Jesus took the special time to meet Thomas’ confusion and doubts and address them head-on? Jesus being raised from the dead is key to everything.
The crowd gathered around, struck by the law, didn't need to apologize to Peter and John. They didn't need to make things right with the rest of the apostles. They needed to be concerned not with human relationships, but with their relationship with God. The resurrection is what makes a proper relationship with God possible. And Peter points the crowd to the resolution of everything bad: “Now brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, just like your leaders. But in this way God fulfilled what he had foretold through the mouth of all the prophets: that his Christ would suffer. Therefore repent and return to have your sins wiped out, so that refreshing times may come from the presence of the Lord and that he may send Jesus, the Christ appointed for you.” This was God’s plan all along. The Christ, the Messiah, would suffer and die so that sins would be wiped out, like an eraser on a chalk board. They need not wallow in guilt and hopelessness. This happened that they would be eternally refreshed and healed in Jesus’ death and resurrection.
We saw all-too-clearly on Good Friday how it was really not the Jewish leaders, Pilate, or even the crowd of people Peter is addressing in our lesson who were responsible for Jesus’ death. It was your fault and mine. Our sins led him to the cross. He suffered in our place, suffered our punishment, endured our hell for our sins of ignorance and for sins of which we were well aware.
What does that mean? Well, as we said last Sunday on Easter, that gives us a life worth living. That means that our lives look and sound different. It means that sin should have no place of honor in our lives. We will never be rid of our sinful natures on this side of eternity and thus we will continue to fall into sin. Temptations will come from inside of us and outside of us, and we will fail. But because Jesus has wiped that sin away, we are not damned. Because Jesus wiped that sin away, we do not wallow in that sin or rejoice in that sin or seek out that sin. Instead, we come repent of that sin and, just like those listening to Peter in the temple that day, find that in Jesus’ death we have forgiveness, forgiveness that is proven by his resurrection from the dead.
For as remarkable as the lame man’s strong legs were, the miracle that God worked through Peter and John was just a foretaste, a glimpse, a sliver of the real healing that he wanted to provide and in fact has provided through Jesus’ resurrection. In him we are healed not from an inability to walk but from true spiritual death. We are rescued from sin and given a life of thanksgiving to lead here and an eternal life of perfection to look forward to in heaven. That is the healing that God provides. That is the healing that he’s given to you. That is our Easter joy which is for now and for eternity. Don’t take this for granted, but rejoice freshly in this Easter joy: Christ is risen! He is risen indeed! Alleluia! Amen.
