Acts 10:34-43
This reading is about the passing on of a message.
It was a message that began in Galilee with John the Baptist.
It spread through Judea to Jerusalem, and from there to all people.
The Acts of the Apostles ends with the message reaching the centre of the then world: Rome
It is a very simple message. It is about Jesus
God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power to do good and to set people free.
God raised this Jesus, who they rejected and crucified, from the dead.
It is an incredible, almost unbelievable message.
When the women told the first followers of Jesus that the tomb was empty and that men in dazzling clothes had said that Jesus was risen – the disciples do not believe them.
It is only when they see the empty tomb for themselves, and the graveclothes wrapped up in a separate place, that the penny begins to drop.
And notice here how Peter, as he passes on the message, emphasises that he and the disciples saw it all.
‘We are witnesses to all that Jesus did’ (v39)
‘[we] were chosen by God as witnesses [of his resurrection]’. (v41)
In other words, he is saying, ‘This is not something we made up. We saw it’.
Note that Peter is not saying that after Jesus’ crucifixion, we suddenly realised that he lives on in here. Or that his teaching, his memory, his spirit lives on.
He is talking about something very physical: the body was not there in the tomb, the grave clothes were separate and we ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
And the message that they heard, the flame that was entrusted to them, was a message that meant that they began to look at the world with completely different eyes. It was a message that changed their lives.
And the message about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus can be summed up in five words: “Jesus is Lord of all” (v36).
This has so many implications.
The Palestinian Jewish peasant who lived 2000 years ago is Lord of life, of death, of light and darkness. He is Lord of creation, of love, of rulers – of Trump and Putin and Xi, and of each of us.
When we pray for the king, it is actually a subversive activity. We are saying to the ruler – there is a higher authority than you.
And Peter says that this Jesus who is Lord of all is ordained by God to be the judge of this world, of all people, the living and the dead.
The risen Jesus is the one before whom each one of us will one day stand, and he will be our judge.
And he will judge us on whether we have lived self-centred lives, in which we put our trust in ourselves and in our own wisdom and goodness – or whether we have sought to live God-centred lives and put our trust in him, in his word and in his promises.
That might sound bad news – but this is a message that brings peace.
“You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ” (v36)
God has not abandoned us
Jesus is Lord.
Evil, self-centredness, pride, despair has not won – it will not win in this world and it does not need to win in our lives.
Death will not win. It looks in this world as if death wins. Everything dies.
It is the law of entropy or is it the second law of thermodynamics?
Sadly most of my physics came from a very old song by two singers called Flanders and Swan;
“Heat won't pass from a cooler to a hotter.
You can try it if you like but you far better not-er!”
But the resurrection of Jesus says that a deeper, more fundamental law is at work. It is the law of ultimate life.
And because Jesus is Lord, there is forgiveness. “Everyone who believes, everyone who turns to him, trusts in him, calls on him, receives him, receives forgiveness of sins through his name”.
So this is the message. It is like a precious shining jewel. Handed down from the prophets and John the Baptist – through the apostles – through the people of God to us, to you and me. And now this light, this beautiful heirloom is ours – to wonder at, to delight in, and then to pass on. To our children and to our grandchildren, and to a generation who have never heard.
This is the gift of God, the gift of Jesus. It is the message, the assurance that however bad it gets, however difficult, however dark – out there and, to be honest, in here, it is not the end. There is forgiveness, there is hope. God brought Jesus from the dead, and Jesus is Lord.
This reading is about the passing on of a message.
It was a message that began in Galilee with John the Baptist.
It spread through Judea to Jerusalem, and from there to all people.
The Acts of the Apostles ends with the message reaching the centre of the then world: Rome
It is a very simple message. It is about Jesus
God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and power to do good and to set people free.
God raised this Jesus, who they rejected and crucified, from the dead.
It is an incredible, almost unbelievable message.
 |
| André Kamba Luesa (Congolese, 1944–1995), The Resurrection), 1992. Easter, Day 6: Mfurahini, Haleluya – Art & Theology |
When the women told the first followers of Jesus that the tomb was empty and that men in dazzling clothes had said that Jesus was risen – the disciples do not believe them.
It is only when they see the empty tomb for themselves, and the graveclothes wrapped up in a separate place, that the penny begins to drop.
And notice here how Peter, as he passes on the message, emphasises that he and the disciples saw it all.
‘We are witnesses to all that Jesus did’ (v39)
‘[we] were chosen by God as witnesses [of his resurrection]’. (v41)
In other words, he is saying, ‘This is not something we made up. We saw it’.
Note that Peter is not saying that after Jesus’ crucifixion, we suddenly realised that he lives on in here. Or that his teaching, his memory, his spirit lives on.
He is talking about something very physical: the body was not there in the tomb, the grave clothes were separate and we ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
And the message that they heard, the flame that was entrusted to them, was a message that meant that they began to look at the world with completely different eyes. It was a message that changed their lives.
And the message about the life, death and resurrection of Jesus can be summed up in five words: “Jesus is Lord of all” (v36).
This has so many implications.
The Palestinian Jewish peasant who lived 2000 years ago is Lord of life, of death, of light and darkness. He is Lord of creation, of love, of rulers – of Trump and Putin and Xi, and of each of us.
When we pray for the king, it is actually a subversive activity. We are saying to the ruler – there is a higher authority than you.
And Peter says that this Jesus who is Lord of all is ordained by God to be the judge of this world, of all people, the living and the dead.
The risen Jesus is the one before whom each one of us will one day stand, and he will be our judge.
And he will judge us on whether we have lived self-centred lives, in which we put our trust in ourselves and in our own wisdom and goodness – or whether we have sought to live God-centred lives and put our trust in him, in his word and in his promises.
That might sound bad news – but this is a message that brings peace.
“You know the message he sent to the people of Israel, preaching peace by Jesus Christ” (v36)
God has not abandoned us
Jesus is Lord.
Evil, self-centredness, pride, despair has not won – it will not win in this world and it does not need to win in our lives.
Death will not win. It looks in this world as if death wins. Everything dies.
It is the law of entropy or is it the second law of thermodynamics?
Sadly most of my physics came from a very old song by two singers called Flanders and Swan;
“Heat won't pass from a cooler to a hotter.
You can try it if you like but you far better not-er!”
But the resurrection of Jesus says that a deeper, more fundamental law is at work. It is the law of ultimate life.
And because Jesus is Lord, there is forgiveness. “Everyone who believes, everyone who turns to him, trusts in him, calls on him, receives him, receives forgiveness of sins through his name”.
So this is the message. It is like a precious shining jewel. Handed down from the prophets and John the Baptist – through the apostles – through the people of God to us, to you and me. And now this light, this beautiful heirloom is ours – to wonder at, to delight in, and then to pass on. To our children and to our grandchildren, and to a generation who have never heard.
This is the gift of God, the gift of Jesus. It is the message, the assurance that however bad it gets, however difficult, however dark – out there and, to be honest, in here, it is not the end. There is forgiveness, there is hope. God brought Jesus from the dead, and Jesus is Lord.
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