Day 8

Readings and Thoughts for Sunday, February 10, 2008

Acts 4:1-22 Peter and John before the Council

This passage begins with “While Peter and John were speaking to the people…” so maybe John wasn’t entirely passive before the crowds at the temple, after all (see Day 7's post). Is it any wonder, given Peter’s tone, that the Jewish leaders aren’t thrilled with him and want to quiet him down as soon as possible? There are several problems here. First, Peter is stirring up the crowd and causing an excited frenzy. Mob excitement is always a threat to those in leadership. Second, Peter is making very accusing statements against Jews. His rhetorical technique is especially interesting given that Peter is a practicing Jew himself – the Christian church was not yet separate from the Jewish temple; followers of Jesus were initially a group within Judaism. With the tone of his speech, is it any wonder they would split under great strain within a few years?

In many places throughout the Gospels and Acts we see evidence of the strain between traditional Jews and Jews who become followers of Jesus. (Only later will the followers of Jesus begin to share their message with non-Jews from other parts of the world.) Matthew refers often to Jesus’ arguments with the Pharisees, for example. And John frequently refers to “the Jews” and their plots against Jesus, when in reality only a small minority of Jewish leaders sought to curtail Jesus’ ministry.

Here in Acts, Peter worries only about making the point of his argument and not at all about maintaining civil relationships with others who disagree with him. It is important to realize that there are no arguments that are more difficult or painful than those we have with our family members, and the same is true within religious groups. Because of our closeness, because of our shared history, our disagreements rub more painfully. By the time the various texts of the New Testament begin to come together, Jews and Christians alike are recovering from a bitter divide that ended with Christians leaving (being thrown out of) the synagogues and forming their own, separate faith. Contemporary Christians need to remember the context of deep pain and controversy that accompanied the writing of these documents in ancient times, and not adopt their anti-Jewish language as appropriate for our time.

A third reason the authorities are so upset with Peter’s speech is his argument that Jesus has been resurrected from the dead. Within Judaism at this time there was a great deal of disagreement about resurrection, with some sects believing it was possible and others, including the Sadducees, denying it. While the resurrection language that Peter uses seems completely normal and uncontroversial to us, it was a hot-button issue at that time.

On a different topic, Luke reminds us again in 4:13 that the leadership of the church is lay leadership empowered by the Holy Spirit: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men….” Our new staff member, Terri, said to me the other day “God doesn’t call the equipped, he equips the called.” That’s how the church still works today.

Have you ever been asked to do a task for which you felt inadequately prepared or trained? Did you do it? What happened?