Second Sunday of Easter
Preaching
Preaching and Reading the Old Testament Lessons
With an Eye to the New
Object:
Three important religious festivals are prescribed for Israel in the Old Testament -- Tabernacles in the fall, Passover in the spring, and fifty weeks later the Feast of Weeks, or what the New Testament calls Pentecost. It is during this latter religious celebration of Pentecost that the story in our text takes place.
According to the law of Deuteronomy, all Israelites journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate their religious festivals, and so in our story, the apostles and followers of Jesus and many other devout Jews are gathered together in Jerusalem. Suddenly the Holy Spirit descends upon the disciples in tongues of fire, and they begin to speak in other tongues, so that travelers from every nation hear the disciples speaking to them in their own language, proclaiming the mighty works that God has done. It is such an astounding phenomenon that many in the crowd think that the disciples are drunk. But Peter refutes that charge and declares to the crowd that the ancient prophecy of Joel is coming true. Before the coming of the Kingdom of God, Joel had promised, God would pour out his Spirit on the faithful in Israel, enabling them to prophesy. That, Peter declares, is what is happening there in Jerusalem. The "last days" are upon them. The Kingdom of God is breaking into history. Therefore all persons should repent and call on the name of the Lord and be saved in his judgment.
Such is the account in Acts up to the beginning of our stated reading for the morning. Having explained what is happening, the Apostle Peter then proceeds to preach a sermon that connects the event with Jesus Christ, for it is with the appearance of Jesus that the new age of the kingdom has begun (cf. Luke 11:20; Mark 1:15).
Who is Jesus Christ? That is what Peter wants to explain to the crowd of Jews in his sermon. The listening Jews are familiar with the stories circulating about Jesus' works and healings and miracles, but there are lots of miracle-workers and magicians and sages in first century Jerusalem. What makes Jesus so different? The answer is clear -- the resurrection. This man, who was "crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men," God raised from the dead. Death could not hold him, because God is more powerful that all the forces of death.
To support his point, Peter therefore quotes verses 8-11 from Psalm 16, which tradition assigns to David. The Psalm states that God would not abandon his Holy One to death. But David died, and all the Jews present know where he is buried. The Psalm therefore is speaking not of David, but rather it is prophesying the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Christ alone, God has fulfilled his promise that there will never be lacking a davidic heir, a Messiah, to sit upon the throne (cf. 2 Samuel 7). Christ has been raised (Acts 2:25-32). Moreover he has ascended to the position of power, to the right hand of God, and he is the one who has poured out his Spirit there on the disciples on the day of Pentecost. God has made Jesus Christ therefore both Lord and Messiah, "this Jesus whom you crucified" (vv. 33-36; the lesson really should include these verses).
It is notable in this sermon by Peter that he connects the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ with the Old Testament, not only because Peter is speaking to Jews, but because the identity of our Lord cannot fully be understood except in connection with that Book of the Old Covenant. Jesus is not some new figure suddenly dropped from the blue. Rather, his life, death, and resurrection form the final and full interpretation of all that has gone before in Israel's history. Jesus is the one who fulfills the plan and promises of God given in the past history of Israel. His death on the cross was not an accident perpetrated by sinful human beings. Rather it was foreknown, foretold in the Old Testament (cf. Isaiah 52:13--53:12), and fore-planned by God as the way to atone for the sins of the world. And the fact that he was raised by God from the dead was not a myth dreamed up by those who felt the spirit of a dead Jesus was somehow still with them. Rather it was an historical event that was foretold by "David" and witnessed to by those who met the risen Christ alive.
If we preserve that historical connection of Jesus with the Old Testament history and listen to the witness of the apostles in the New Testament, we are prevented from distorting the figure of our Lord. He cannot be seen as a myth, as an imaginary ideal, or as nothing more than a peasant revolutionary or traveling sage or mystic visionary, as some would like to make him. No. He is the flesh and blood descendant of Abraham and David, who walked the dusty roads of Palestine in the first century A.D., who healed the sick and raised the dead and announced the arrival of the Kingdom of God, who was crucified on a Roman cross, and who on the first day of the week was raised from the dead by the power of God.
The content of the Christian faith is finally made up of a story, of a real history. And it is part of that history that Peter recounts to his listeners in Jerusalem. Our faith is not based simply on propositions -- on statements such as "God is love," or "Christ died for our sins," or "The Bible is the Word of God." We believe all of those things, but the content of them is spelled out in a history. What manner of love does God have for us? We find out if we read the story! What are our sins and how and why did Christ die for them? Only the story can tell us! Why is the Bible the word of God? God speaks to us through its pages only when we read in faith! Our Christian faith rests on knowing the story, and so Peter tells some of that history in his sermon to convert his listeners. And we, when we say, "I believe," have to tell the story: "I believe in Jesus Christ, the only Son of the Father, who was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead." Only on the basis of that account can we say, "I believe."
If we want to spread the Christian faith, to join those "witnesses" of whom Peter speaks in his sermon (v. 32), then we must know and tell, as did those disciples at Pentecost, "the mighty works of God" (v. 11) -- the events, the history, the story of what God did through 2,000 years of history, in Israel and the early church, and what he is still doing today. He pours out the Spirit of Christ upon us, good Christians. Let us use it to proclaim his glorious deeds.
According to the law of Deuteronomy, all Israelites journeyed to Jerusalem to celebrate their religious festivals, and so in our story, the apostles and followers of Jesus and many other devout Jews are gathered together in Jerusalem. Suddenly the Holy Spirit descends upon the disciples in tongues of fire, and they begin to speak in other tongues, so that travelers from every nation hear the disciples speaking to them in their own language, proclaiming the mighty works that God has done. It is such an astounding phenomenon that many in the crowd think that the disciples are drunk. But Peter refutes that charge and declares to the crowd that the ancient prophecy of Joel is coming true. Before the coming of the Kingdom of God, Joel had promised, God would pour out his Spirit on the faithful in Israel, enabling them to prophesy. That, Peter declares, is what is happening there in Jerusalem. The "last days" are upon them. The Kingdom of God is breaking into history. Therefore all persons should repent and call on the name of the Lord and be saved in his judgment.
Such is the account in Acts up to the beginning of our stated reading for the morning. Having explained what is happening, the Apostle Peter then proceeds to preach a sermon that connects the event with Jesus Christ, for it is with the appearance of Jesus that the new age of the kingdom has begun (cf. Luke 11:20; Mark 1:15).
Who is Jesus Christ? That is what Peter wants to explain to the crowd of Jews in his sermon. The listening Jews are familiar with the stories circulating about Jesus' works and healings and miracles, but there are lots of miracle-workers and magicians and sages in first century Jerusalem. What makes Jesus so different? The answer is clear -- the resurrection. This man, who was "crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men," God raised from the dead. Death could not hold him, because God is more powerful that all the forces of death.
To support his point, Peter therefore quotes verses 8-11 from Psalm 16, which tradition assigns to David. The Psalm states that God would not abandon his Holy One to death. But David died, and all the Jews present know where he is buried. The Psalm therefore is speaking not of David, but rather it is prophesying the resurrection of Jesus Christ. In Christ alone, God has fulfilled his promise that there will never be lacking a davidic heir, a Messiah, to sit upon the throne (cf. 2 Samuel 7). Christ has been raised (Acts 2:25-32). Moreover he has ascended to the position of power, to the right hand of God, and he is the one who has poured out his Spirit there on the disciples on the day of Pentecost. God has made Jesus Christ therefore both Lord and Messiah, "this Jesus whom you crucified" (vv. 33-36; the lesson really should include these verses).
It is notable in this sermon by Peter that he connects the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ with the Old Testament, not only because Peter is speaking to Jews, but because the identity of our Lord cannot fully be understood except in connection with that Book of the Old Covenant. Jesus is not some new figure suddenly dropped from the blue. Rather, his life, death, and resurrection form the final and full interpretation of all that has gone before in Israel's history. Jesus is the one who fulfills the plan and promises of God given in the past history of Israel. His death on the cross was not an accident perpetrated by sinful human beings. Rather it was foreknown, foretold in the Old Testament (cf. Isaiah 52:13--53:12), and fore-planned by God as the way to atone for the sins of the world. And the fact that he was raised by God from the dead was not a myth dreamed up by those who felt the spirit of a dead Jesus was somehow still with them. Rather it was an historical event that was foretold by "David" and witnessed to by those who met the risen Christ alive.
If we preserve that historical connection of Jesus with the Old Testament history and listen to the witness of the apostles in the New Testament, we are prevented from distorting the figure of our Lord. He cannot be seen as a myth, as an imaginary ideal, or as nothing more than a peasant revolutionary or traveling sage or mystic visionary, as some would like to make him. No. He is the flesh and blood descendant of Abraham and David, who walked the dusty roads of Palestine in the first century A.D., who healed the sick and raised the dead and announced the arrival of the Kingdom of God, who was crucified on a Roman cross, and who on the first day of the week was raised from the dead by the power of God.
The content of the Christian faith is finally made up of a story, of a real history. And it is part of that history that Peter recounts to his listeners in Jerusalem. Our faith is not based simply on propositions -- on statements such as "God is love," or "Christ died for our sins," or "The Bible is the Word of God." We believe all of those things, but the content of them is spelled out in a history. What manner of love does God have for us? We find out if we read the story! What are our sins and how and why did Christ die for them? Only the story can tell us! Why is the Bible the word of God? God speaks to us through its pages only when we read in faith! Our Christian faith rests on knowing the story, and so Peter tells some of that history in his sermon to convert his listeners. And we, when we say, "I believe," have to tell the story: "I believe in Jesus Christ, the only Son of the Father, who was born of the Virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, dead, and buried. He descended into hell. The third day he rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven, and sitteth on the right hand of God the Father Almighty; from thence he shall come to judge the quick and the dead." Only on the basis of that account can we say, "I believe."
If we want to spread the Christian faith, to join those "witnesses" of whom Peter speaks in his sermon (v. 32), then we must know and tell, as did those disciples at Pentecost, "the mighty works of God" (v. 11) -- the events, the history, the story of what God did through 2,000 years of history, in Israel and the early church, and what he is still doing today. He pours out the Spirit of Christ upon us, good Christians. Let us use it to proclaim his glorious deeds.
