Thursday after the Fourth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on July 6, 2023 by under
Scripture: Acts 4:1-12 (NKJV)
4:1 Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.
5 And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, 6 as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: 9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, 10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Devotion
The Sadducees, who do not believe in the resurrection of the dead, find St. Peter and St. John speaking to the people about the resurrection of the dead. These Apostles had just healed a man who was born lame, who sat at the gate called “Beautiful” and asked for alms daily. The people recognized this man as the one who sat daily and begged, and they were naturally curious about what this meant. This opened the way for the preaching of St. Peter and St. John about the resurrection.
Even though the Apostles were arrested by the Sadducees, many people saw the events and heard the words of the Gospel, that salvation was found in the Lord Jesus alone. Many believed on Him, and the number of those believing grew to about five thousand. The unbelief of the Sadducees—of the rulers, elders, scribes, Annas, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander—could not prevent those who heard about the Lord Jesus from believing that He truly had risen from the dead.
His resurrection meant that the faithful also would rise from the dead to new life. Salvation from death is what faith in the Lord Jesus brings to all those who cling to Him in that faith. This is the One whom the heavenly Father has established, for mankind to find salvation. Let us give thanks to the Lord God for His precious gift of forgiveness, life, and salvation.
Prayer: Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by Thy governance, that Thy Church may joyfully serve Thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
