David Bahn – Reflections

Acts 4:1-12

And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, ² greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. ³ And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening.⁴ But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

⁵ On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, ⁶ with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. ⁷ And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” ⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, ⁹ if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, ¹⁰ 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. ¹¹ This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. ¹² 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.”

A Coptic Christian pastor was beaten and tortured to death not long ago in Libya. There is wholesale Christian persecution – including whole families being shot in North Korea. This is chronicled in the book Persecuted, the Global Assault on Christians, by Paul Marshall, Nena Shea, Lila Gilbert. This is happening much in the Islamic and Communist countries. Sadly, this is nothing new. While we face a more subtle challenge in the United States, it is nothing like what our brothers and sisters in Christ.

Still, it is neither politically correct nor often welcomed even to pray publicly in Jesus’ name. A fellow pastor was told that he could not use Jesus’ name in a prayer for a Boy Scout program. Schools and governments regularly limit any explicit reference to Jesus in their programs or assemblies. At work, one can be charged with hate speech in certain religious conversations.

Sadly, this is nothing new. Peter and the apostles faced such challenges from the earliest times. But they met it head on. In the end Peter used this encounter with the authorities to proclaim, “…there is no other name [than Jesus]…by which we must be saved.” He and John had just been released from prison for their witness to Jesus. They would face continued persecution and imprisonment because they would not keep quiet. And the Christian Church would continue to grow.

Sometimes clarity has negative consequences. Sometimes those are harsh. But in the end, the greatest consequence of clarity in our witness to Jesus is that people are brought to faith. People are saved. A Christian woman is consistently witnessing to her faith at work. She recently told me that if it comes to being thrown in prison for her witness, that would be OK. That’s because if “John” (the man to whom she is regularly witnessing about Jesus, life, and salvation) is in heaven it will be worth it. I wonder whether we could make that same statement. Peter did. I certainly hope we would too.