Wednesday 26 April 2023

Psalm 32

Background

Today's passage follows on almost immediately from Monday’s reading, apart from the final six verses (Acts 3:20-26) of Peter’s address to the astonished crowd following the healing of a crippled beggar outside the Temple. The omitted verses continue Peter’s theme that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah, prophesied about by Moses and all the prophets, further adding that those who do not listen to him "will be utterly rooted out from the people" (3:23).

It is no surprise, therefore, that before Peter's sermon is over, a group of priests, the captain of the Temple and the Sadducees makes its way through the crowd to where Peter and John are speaking. They objected to Peter’s message, particularly, in the case of the Sadducees, to the mention of the resurrection of the dead, a belief to which they did not subscribe (see also Luke 20:27). Their response was to arrest and imprison the apostles overnight, but we are told the sermon has already had a great impact, creating around 5000 new converts to Christianity.

The next day Peter and John found themselves before the Council, headed by the most important leader of the Jewish religion, the High Priest. Along with them are John and Alexander two men about whom we know little apart from their names. Their question was simple ("By what power did you do this?") and was simply answered: it is by the power of Jesus that the man has been healed.  We note how Peter, taking a leaf out of Jesus’ own book perhaps (Mark 3:4) pointed out to these religious leaders that what they have done in healing the man is a good deed (v. 9) – surely they were not to be condemned for that? 

Peter took a further opportunity to point out the responsibility of the Jewish leaders and people for the death of Jesus and the power of God to raise him back from death, quoting words from Psalm 118 (v. 22) in describing Jesus as the cornerstone or keystone (scholars debate which is meant here). Both are crucial to a building; the cornerstone is foundational, the keystone holds all the others in place. The comparison of Jesus to either would be seen as offensive by those who considered themselves the guardians of God’s primary building, the Temple. Peter is making it very clear that nothing and no-one else matches the significance of Jesus in the story of salvation. 

To Ponder:

• How important to your faith is belief in the resurrection of the dead?
• Reflect on the things in your life of which you are most proud; where has the power come from to enable those things?
• How do you understand the claim of Peter in verse 12 for today’s plural society?

Prayer:

Save us, Jesus, from apathy, from unbelief, and from ourselves, and show your power in our lives today. Amen.