David Bahn – Reflections

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Acts 4:23-37

As soon as they were freed, Peter and John returned to the other believers and told them what the leading priests and elders had said. ²⁴ When they heard the report, all the believers lifted their voices together in prayer to God: “O Sovereign Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, the sea, and everything in them— ²⁵ you spoke long ago by the Holy Spirit through our ancestor David, your servant, saying,

‘Why were the nations so angry?
    Why did they waste their time with futile plans?
²⁶ The kings of the earth prepared for battle;
    the rulers gathered together
against the Lord
    and against his Messiah.’

²⁷ “In fact, this has happened here in this very city! For Herod Antipas, Pontius Pilate the governor, the Gentiles, and the people of Israel were all united against Jesus, your holy servant, whom you anointed. ²⁸ But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will. ²⁹ And now, O Lord, hear their threats, and give us, your servants, great boldness in preaching your word. ³⁰ Stretch out your hand with healing power; may miraculous signs and wonders be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

³¹ After this prayer, the meeting place shook, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. Then they preached the word of God with boldness.

³² All the believers were united in heart and mind. And they felt that what they owned was not their own, so they shared everything they had. ³³ The apostles testified powerfully to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and God’s great blessing was upon them all. ³⁴ There were no needy people among them, because those who owned land or houses would sell them ³⁵ and bring the money to the apostles to give to those in need.

³⁶ For instance, there was Joseph, the one the apostles nicknamed Barnabas (which means “Son of Encouragement”). He was from the tribe of Levi and came from the island of Cyprus. ³⁷ He sold a field he owned and brought the money to the apostles.

There is one explicit imperative command (sorry for the redundancy) to make disciples. It is recorded in Matthew 28 and Mark 16. “Go make disciples,” Jesus commands. And it’s literally, “In your going [or as you are going], make disciples.” The command is to make disciples. In Luke 24:46-47, John 20:21, and Acts 1:8, Jesus speaks in the indicative. The gospel will be preached to the ends of the earth. As the Father sent Jesus, he was sending his disciples. The disciples will be witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. It’s gonna happen.

The earliest recorded words of God are, “Let there be light.” Moses tells us that there was light. When God speaks, things happen. And he has spoken about his mission to save people through the preaching of the gospel locally, regionally, across cultural boundaries, and throughout the international world. When God speaks a word, it’s gonna happen.

Jesus also said some other things that have proven to be true here. “As they have persecuted me, so they will persecute you” (John 15:20). Now it was happening. They were being challenged, threatened, warned, and abused by the religious leaders of their day. The very ones God had set over the Jewish people were standing in the way of Jesus’ message of grace and truth. They who had done nothing more than speak about what they had seen and heard were treated like criminals.

Their response to all this? They prayed for boldness to see the rest of what Jesus said would happen, to preach the gospel, and bring the message of the Kingdom of God to all people. There is an edge to their prayers; an implied desire for God to judge these enemies of the gospel; perhaps even to bring their plans down around their own heads.

But the main point of their prayer is that they would be bold messengers of Jesus’ death and resurrection. When it comes time for God to stretch out his hand, they pray that it would be stretched out in grace, performing miracles of healings, signs and wonders. All this to the glory of Jesus. All this so that Jesus would be more and more famous.

The message of the kingdom of God is still being spread. God’s word is being proclaimed. People are facing persecution for being followers of Jesus. It’s gonna be that way until the very end. And Jesus will be with his people all the way to the end as well. That’s his promise, “Surely I will be with you always, to the very end of the age.”