Intro:
Things are looking good for this growing group of Jesus followers. And then something happens. A good thing. But a thing that brings them into conflict with the men who crucified Jesus. And they discover - as if Jesus’s death wasn’t clear enough - that following the man who died and was raised isn’t always easy, and isn’t guaranteed to make you popular with everyone.
Peter knows this as well as anyone. It was his fear of what the religious leaders might do to him that led him to deny Jesus. So how will he respond now?
Peter and John have just healed a man who could not walk - a forty year old man who was lame from the day he was born. They have gone into the temple, the man leaping and praising God for what happened. And now they are standing in a place called Solomon’s Porch. A great crowd has gathered in front of them, still amazed that the beggar they saw each day on their way into the temple is now walking. He’s up there, on the porch, with Peter and John - hanging on to them, for all to see. And from there, between the tall stone columns, Peter speaks to the crowd.
“I know you are amazed by what has just happened,” says Peter. “But don’t think for a moment that we have made this man well through our own power. No! The truth is that the God of our ancestors, Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, sent Jesus, His long-promised saviour. You killed him. God raised him from the dead. We saw him, alive! And it is through our faith in the power of Jesus that this man has been healed.
You need to admit that you were wrong about Jesus and accept that he was, indeed, the One God promised to send us.”
While Peter is still speaking, some priests and other religious leaders join the crowd. They are not happy. Not happy, at all. And they are particularly annoyed that Peter is talking about the resurrection of Jesus. So they arrest Peter and John and put them in jail for the night.
This does little to discourage the crowd or cancel the effect of Peter’s message, though, for two thousand more people decide to follow Jesus, that day!
The next morning, Peter and John are brought before Annas, the High Priest, and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, other members of his High Priest family. This is serious business, indeed. Peter and John are Jews, and now they are standing before the top Jewish leaders - the very same men who asked the Romans to crucify Jesus.
“By whose power or in whose name did you heal this man?” They ask Peter and John.
And just as Jesus had promised, the Holy Spirit gives Peter exactly the right words to say, in reply.
“So we are being questioned because a good deed has been done and a man has been healed?” Peter begins, “Well then, let me make it clear to you and to everyone in Israel. He was healed by the power of Jesus - the one you crucified and the one God raised from the dead! And it’s only through Jesus that we can be saved.”
The Jewish leaders are surprised. It’s obvious that Peter and John are not educated men, yet they speak with confidence, with boldness. What’s more, they recognise them as men who had been with Jesus. But then, there is the man who has been healed, standing with them, too. They don’t know what to do, so they send Peter and John and the no-longer-lame man out of the room and chat amongst themselves.
“What do we do? It’s obvious that this man has been healed. Everyone has seen it. But we don’t like what these men are saying. So why don’t we let them go and tell them that they must stop talking about Jesus.”
That’s what they do, and Peter has an answer for that, too.
“Do we listen to you? Or do we listen to God? You decide. But our minds are made up. We we will not stop talking about Jesus - about what we have seen and heard!”
The leaders are not happy about this, and they threaten Peter and John. But they do not punish them, for the man has been healed. The people can see it. And they are still praising God because of it!
Intro:
Things are looking good for this growing group of Jesus followers. And then something happens. A good thing. But a thing that brings them into conflict with the men who crucified Jesus. And they discover - as if Jesus’s death wasn’t clear enough - that following the man who died and was raised isn’t always easy, and isn’t guaranteed to make you popular with everyone.
Peter knows this as well as anyone. It was his fear of what the religious leaders might do to him that led him to deny Jesus. So how will he respond now?
Outro:
Why do you think Peter’s response to the Jewish leaders was different from the way he responded the night before Jesus’ crucifixion?
What questions wound you ask those leaders?
Think of an example - from history, maybe- where a person or a group of people were threatened for doing what they believed God told them was right, but that the people in charge did not want them to do? What happened to them? Were they let off, like Peter and John, or were they punished for their actions? Where do you think people find that kind of courage and boldness? And have you, personally, ever been in that situation?
