The Rejected, Yet Resurrected Savior - Acts 4:8-12
Pastor Dennis Bone
4/4/10
THE REJECTED, YET RESURRECTED SAVIOR 4-4-10
Charles Colson, the founder of Prison Fellowship, was in India on a speaking and evangelistic tour. As usual, the crowds he spoke to wanted to hear the testimony of this Watergate criminal turned prison evangelist. Colson described his experience in India this way:
“When I was in India I had many opportunities to tell people what Christ has done in my life. The thousands of faces in those predominantly Hindu crowds would nod and smile as I shared my experience. Hindus believe that all roads lead to God; if Jesus was my guru, that was just fine. They all had their gurus, too. But when I spoke of the reason for my faith, the resurrection of Christ, the nods would stop. People’s expressions changed and they listened intently. The fact of the resurrection demands a choice, one that reduces all other religions to mere philosophies.”
Today we are celebrating this historic fact and blessed truth of Christ’s resurrection from the dead, an event that proves that Jesus Christ is God, and that Jesus Christ is the Living Savior of all those who trust in Him by faith and follow Him as Lord. Colson is right, for his experience in India mirrors the apostle’s experience in the early church, for it’s the resurrection which sets Christianity apart from all other religions. The message of Christianity is that Jesus Christ, the rejected and crucified Savior is the Risen Savior; and the only person who can forgive our sins, and truly bring men and women – of any religion or culture or background – into a right relationship with God.
This morning I want us to look at the clarity of this resurrection message from Acts chapter 4. This comes right after the Day of Pentecost and is the first occasion that Peter has to preach the gospel to the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the main religious leaders of the day, and of course is shocked at Peter’s message. So please turn to Acts 4 – We will be looking at verses 8 – 12:
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.
You remember in Acts 3 that Peter healed the crippled beggar in front of the temple, and this created a huge crowd for Peter and John to preach the gospel. They were then arrested, not because of their kindness, but because of their message. In verse 2 of chapter 4 it says, “They (the leaders) were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” Now these same leaders, who had condemned Jesus to death just a few months earlier, are asking the apostles, “By what power are you doing this?” – verse 7. And they tell them that it’s on the basis of the man you crucified but God raised from the dead. Not only that, but they go on to say in verse 11:
He is the stone you builders rejected, which had become the capstone (or cornerstone). Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
You should notice that Peter personalizes the Old Testament prophecy from Psalm 118 to apply directly to these religious leaders; they rejected the Messiah, yet God used this horrible rejection through crucifixion, to accomplish salvation by virtue of His beautiful and majestic resurrection. Jesus is the rejected, yet resurrected Savior. This is the message of the gospel – the rejection of Good Friday; and the resurrection of Easter Sunday. This is what I want to focus in on for a few minutes this morning: Jesus the rejected, yet resurrected Savior.
Before we consider this passage I read from Acts 4, we need to first look at the important fact that Jesus Himself predicts His rejection and His resurrection. Some historians, religious “scholars”, and even church leaders, have taught in the past and continue to teach or say today, that Jesus was a good teacher and maybe even a prophet, but he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and was martyred like so many other religious teachers. These same people would of course deny the resurrection, and see Jesus as a good moral teacher who – at best – provided a good example of how to live. I don’t know where these people get their source material but it’s not from the New Testament, for Jesus was fully aware of His coming death and resurrection during His earthly ministry. If what He says about Himself isn’t true, then how can He be a good moral teacher?
Right after Peter declared that He was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God in Matthew 16, we read these words: “From that time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and the he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” This is why Peter was so upset and was harshly rebuked by Jesus. Jesus a little later takes the disciples aside again and says, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life.”
It’s important for us to know and understand that Jesus was fully aware of who He was, why He came and what He came to do. There was no surprise ending for Him; and I’ve summed up His own self-awareness and understanding in four points on the outline. One, He knew His purpose. Jesus said, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” “I came to seek and to save the lost.” Matthew said, “They will call his name Jesus because He will save His people from their sin.” His purpose was to redeem people by forgiving their sin and giving them new life. He did this by dying for sin and rising to conquer sin and death.
Two, Jesus knew His person. He knew He was the Messiah, the Savior, the Son of God. The person of Jesus was a mystery to those around Him, and still remains a mystery to some people today, but He knew that He was the Good Shepherd who would lay down His life for His sheep. He knew that His Father had sent Him to complete the work that the Father and Son had planned before the world began. He was fully aware of His deity and willingly took on our humanity. Three, Jesus knew His power. Although Jesus gave up His position in heaven, He still had power and authority from God, as the Son of God. This is of course evident in His miracles, but also in terms of His death and resurrection. Jesus says in John 10 that He has the authority to lay down His life for His sheep and the authority or power to take it back up again. The real power that sent Jesus to the cross wasn’t in the authority of Rome or the jealous Jewish leaders, it was in the person of Jesus Christ Himself. He had the power to lay down His life, or to not lay it down, and He chose to lay it down for us. Four, Jesus knew His prophecy. He was well aware of what the Scriptures said about what He came to do. In fact Jesus quotes the same verse from Psalm 118 that Peter does in Acts 4.
Jesus says in Matthew 21:42, “Have you never read the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this and it is marvelous in His sight.” Jesus said this right after the parable of the wicked tenants, where the owner of the vineyard (God) sent His servants to the vineyard (Israel) to collect fruit. But each time they beat and killed these servants until He finally sends His Son, and they kill Him as well. Jesus knew fully well that He was the Son, and that He is the stone the builders rejected, but because of the resurrection it will be marvelous in God’s sight. As Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 53: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows” . . . but later in this same passage he says, “After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied.” Isaiah prophecies Jesus’ rejection and resurrection; and Jesus knew both. Jesus not only knew prophecy, but He fulfilled prophecy.
This brings us back to our passage from Acts 4, where the apostles provide the interpretation of Jesus’ rejection and resurrection. In verse 11 Peter quotes the same verse as Jesus did in Matthew 21 and applies it specifically to those leaders he and John were standing before. The clear message is that this rejected stone is the risen cornerstone. And what Peter makes most clear is that the man, Jesus of Nazareth, is the stone, and He is the fulfillment of Psalm 118:22. Twenty years or so later Peter makes this same declaration in his first epistle – chapter 2 – when he talks about Christ as the “Living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him.” Peter goes on to quote from Isaiah 28: “See I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame. Now to those who believe, this stone is precious; but to those who do not believe, the stone the builders rejected has become the capstone.”
Once again Peter makes the same point he did in Acts 4 – the builders are the leaders who rejected Christ by crucifying Him. But he now expands this to include those who continue to not believe – those who do not come to faith in Christ have also rejected what God chose to do through Him. God has made Jesus the capstone by virtue of His resurrection. Christ’s resurrection elevated Him to the position of cornerstone or capstone. Literally it means the “head of the corner.” In building terms, He is the most important person; the main person in the building of God’s church. You see it’s the resurrection that sets Christ apart and above all things; He is preeminent; and this is why Peter goes on to say in verse 12 of Acts 4 that Christ alone has the authority to grant salvation.
Verse 12 – “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” There is no other name under heaven to call upon because Jesus Christ is the only one who is exalted above the heavens. The resurrection confirms that there is no other place and no other person you can go to for forgiveness of your sins and eternal life. This is the gospel, and this is why Jesus said that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one can come to God except through Him. This then leads us to point three on the outline: The Christian church proclaims this salvation accomplished through the rejection and resurrection of Christ.
As Christians we believe that salvation is only found in Jesus Christ. This is the message of the gospel that we are called to share with others; and its’ true because of the resurrection. The resurrection is foundational to our Christian faith and hope. We base what we believe on a living Savior, who gives us true hope for this life and for the life to come. Paul tells us that apart from Christ’s resurrection our faith would be in vain, and our hope empty. This great truth also points out the fact that apart from Christ you can’t have true faith or hope. This is why we have been commissioned by the Risen Christ to take this message of salvation into all the world – there is no other message that saves because there is no other Savior.
Like the apostles and the early church, we too take our stand upon the Risen Savior; and need to watch out for false builders who still reject the Living Stone today. There are still religious leaders today who follow in the tradition of the Sanhedrin by dismissing and denying the resurrection, and seek to lead people astray by their false teachings. Any one who views Jesus as a mere man or simply a prophet, rejects the Living Stone, and has no place in the church that God is building. In contrast to this, as we have seen in our study of Ephesians, Christ, as the chief cornerstone, has all authority and is Head over all things. As Paul says, this is because of the resurrection. He writes, “God exerted His might power when He raised Christ from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given.”
The one who was rejected by men was raised by God; and now reigns at the right hand of God. Not only in He the cornerstone of His new temple – the church – but He is the King over all creation and every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Jesus Christ humbled Himself and became man in order to be rejected, so that we can now be accepted. And it’s because of the rejected Christ – the one who came to die for our sins – that we now have access to the Risen Christ. As Christians we have a Risen Savior who can relate to us, and who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, because he became like us in our humanity. And because He is divine, as well as human – and perfect although tempted by sin even as we are – He can always offer grace and mercy to us in our time of need. He is risen and exalted, but He is not far away from us – He is near to us – and He calls us to approach His throne of grace with confidence because He is our great high priest and our Risen Savior.
This is the wonder and glory of Easter. The Suffering Servant becomes the Risen King; the humble Son of Man becomes the exalted Son of God. His death accomplished our salvation, and His resurrection seals our salvation; and now by faith, and in love, we worship Him as the Risen, Ascended and Exalted King.
Easter proclaims the victory of Christ who conquered sin and death; but it also proclaims the victory of men and women like us, who through faith in Christ have also conquered sin and death as well. This is why we must be like the apostles, who not only rejoice in the truth of the Christ’s death and resurrection; and worship Him as Savior and King, but who also proclaim to Christ to others as the only Savior and King, and as the only way to salvation.
©You’re welcome to recycle these resources for your church free of charge. However, if you find them useful, please consider making a donation to the ministry of GCC
Pastor Dennis Bone
4/4/10
THE REJECTED, YET RESURRECTED SAVIOR 4-4-10
Charles Colson, the founder of Prison Fellowship, was in India on a speaking and evangelistic tour. As usual, the crowds he spoke to wanted to hear the testimony of this Watergate criminal turned prison evangelist. Colson described his experience in India this way:
“When I was in India I had many opportunities to tell people what Christ has done in my life. The thousands of faces in those predominantly Hindu crowds would nod and smile as I shared my experience. Hindus believe that all roads lead to God; if Jesus was my guru, that was just fine. They all had their gurus, too. But when I spoke of the reason for my faith, the resurrection of Christ, the nods would stop. People’s expressions changed and they listened intently. The fact of the resurrection demands a choice, one that reduces all other religions to mere philosophies.”
Today we are celebrating this historic fact and blessed truth of Christ’s resurrection from the dead, an event that proves that Jesus Christ is God, and that Jesus Christ is the Living Savior of all those who trust in Him by faith and follow Him as Lord. Colson is right, for his experience in India mirrors the apostle’s experience in the early church, for it’s the resurrection which sets Christianity apart from all other religions. The message of Christianity is that Jesus Christ, the rejected and crucified Savior is the Risen Savior; and the only person who can forgive our sins, and truly bring men and women – of any religion or culture or background – into a right relationship with God.
This morning I want us to look at the clarity of this resurrection message from Acts chapter 4. This comes right after the Day of Pentecost and is the first occasion that Peter has to preach the gospel to the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was the main religious leaders of the day, and of course is shocked at Peter’s message. So please turn to Acts 4 – We will be looking at verses 8 – 12:
Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a cripple and are asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.
You remember in Acts 3 that Peter healed the crippled beggar in front of the temple, and this created a huge crowd for Peter and John to preach the gospel. They were then arrested, not because of their kindness, but because of their message. In verse 2 of chapter 4 it says, “They (the leaders) were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.” Now these same leaders, who had condemned Jesus to death just a few months earlier, are asking the apostles, “By what power are you doing this?” – verse 7. And they tell them that it’s on the basis of the man you crucified but God raised from the dead. Not only that, but they go on to say in verse 11:
He is the stone you builders rejected, which had become the capstone (or cornerstone). Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
You should notice that Peter personalizes the Old Testament prophecy from Psalm 118 to apply directly to these religious leaders; they rejected the Messiah, yet God used this horrible rejection through crucifixion, to accomplish salvation by virtue of His beautiful and majestic resurrection. Jesus is the rejected, yet resurrected Savior. This is the message of the gospel – the rejection of Good Friday; and the resurrection of Easter Sunday. This is what I want to focus in on for a few minutes this morning: Jesus the rejected, yet resurrected Savior.
Before we consider this passage I read from Acts 4, we need to first look at the important fact that Jesus Himself predicts His rejection and His resurrection. Some historians, religious “scholars”, and even church leaders, have taught in the past and continue to teach or say today, that Jesus was a good teacher and maybe even a prophet, but he was in the wrong place at the wrong time, and was martyred like so many other religious teachers. These same people would of course deny the resurrection, and see Jesus as a good moral teacher who – at best – provided a good example of how to live. I don’t know where these people get their source material but it’s not from the New Testament, for Jesus was fully aware of His coming death and resurrection during His earthly ministry. If what He says about Himself isn’t true, then how can He be a good moral teacher?
Right after Peter declared that He was the Messiah, the Son of the Living God in Matthew 16, we read these words: “From that time on Jesus began to explain to His disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things at the hands of the elders, chief priests and teachers of the law, and the he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.” This is why Peter was so upset and was harshly rebuked by Jesus. Jesus a little later takes the disciples aside again and says, “We are going up to Jerusalem, and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and the teachers of the law. They will condemn him to death and will turn him over to the Gentiles to be mocked and flogged and crucified. On the third day he will be raised to life.”
It’s important for us to know and understand that Jesus was fully aware of who He was, why He came and what He came to do. There was no surprise ending for Him; and I’ve summed up His own self-awareness and understanding in four points on the outline. One, He knew His purpose. Jesus said, “The Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many.” “I came to seek and to save the lost.” Matthew said, “They will call his name Jesus because He will save His people from their sin.” His purpose was to redeem people by forgiving their sin and giving them new life. He did this by dying for sin and rising to conquer sin and death.
Two, Jesus knew His person. He knew He was the Messiah, the Savior, the Son of God. The person of Jesus was a mystery to those around Him, and still remains a mystery to some people today, but He knew that He was the Good Shepherd who would lay down His life for His sheep. He knew that His Father had sent Him to complete the work that the Father and Son had planned before the world began. He was fully aware of His deity and willingly took on our humanity. Three, Jesus knew His power. Although Jesus gave up His position in heaven, He still had power and authority from God, as the Son of God. This is of course evident in His miracles, but also in terms of His death and resurrection. Jesus says in John 10 that He has the authority to lay down His life for His sheep and the authority or power to take it back up again. The real power that sent Jesus to the cross wasn’t in the authority of Rome or the jealous Jewish leaders, it was in the person of Jesus Christ Himself. He had the power to lay down His life, or to not lay it down, and He chose to lay it down for us. Four, Jesus knew His prophecy. He was well aware of what the Scriptures said about what He came to do. In fact Jesus quotes the same verse from Psalm 118 that Peter does in Acts 4.
Jesus says in Matthew 21:42, “Have you never read the Scriptures: The stone that the builders rejected has become the capstone; the Lord has done this and it is marvelous in His sight.” Jesus said this right after the parable of the wicked tenants, where the owner of the vineyard (God) sent His servants to the vineyard (Israel) to collect fruit. But each time they beat and killed these servants until He finally sends His Son, and they kill Him as well. Jesus knew fully well that He was the Son, and that He is the stone the builders rejected, but because of the resurrection it will be marvelous in God’s sight. As Isaiah tells us in Isaiah 53: “He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows” . . . but later in this same passage he says, “After the suffering of his soul, he will see the light of life and be satisfied.” Isaiah prophecies Jesus’ rejection and resurrection; and Jesus knew both. Jesus not only knew prophecy, but He fulfilled prophecy.
This brings us back to our passage from Acts 4, where the apostles provide the interpretation of Jesus’ rejection and resurrection. In verse 11 Peter quotes the same verse as Jesus did in Matthew 21 and applies it specifically to those leaders he and John were standing before. The clear message is that this rejected stone is the risen cornerstone. And what Peter makes most clear is that the man, Jesus of Nazareth, is the stone, and He is the fulfillment of Psalm 118:22. Twenty years or so later Peter makes this same declaration in his first epistle – chapter 2 – when he talks about Christ as the “Living stone, rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to Him.” Peter goes on to quote from Isaiah 28: “See I lay a stone in Zion, a chosen and precious cornerstone; and the one who trusts in Him will never be put to shame. Now to those who believe, this stone is precious; but to those who do not believe, the stone the builders rejected has become the capstone.”
Once again Peter makes the same point he did in Acts 4 – the builders are the leaders who rejected Christ by crucifying Him. But he now expands this to include those who continue to not believe – those who do not come to faith in Christ have also rejected what God chose to do through Him. God has made Jesus the capstone by virtue of His resurrection. Christ’s resurrection elevated Him to the position of cornerstone or capstone. Literally it means the “head of the corner.” In building terms, He is the most important person; the main person in the building of God’s church. You see it’s the resurrection that sets Christ apart and above all things; He is preeminent; and this is why Peter goes on to say in verse 12 of Acts 4 that Christ alone has the authority to grant salvation.
Verse 12 – “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.” There is no other name under heaven to call upon because Jesus Christ is the only one who is exalted above the heavens. The resurrection confirms that there is no other place and no other person you can go to for forgiveness of your sins and eternal life. This is the gospel, and this is why Jesus said that He is the way, the truth, and the life, and that no one can come to God except through Him. This then leads us to point three on the outline: The Christian church proclaims this salvation accomplished through the rejection and resurrection of Christ.
As Christians we believe that salvation is only found in Jesus Christ. This is the message of the gospel that we are called to share with others; and its’ true because of the resurrection. The resurrection is foundational to our Christian faith and hope. We base what we believe on a living Savior, who gives us true hope for this life and for the life to come. Paul tells us that apart from Christ’s resurrection our faith would be in vain, and our hope empty. This great truth also points out the fact that apart from Christ you can’t have true faith or hope. This is why we have been commissioned by the Risen Christ to take this message of salvation into all the world – there is no other message that saves because there is no other Savior.
Like the apostles and the early church, we too take our stand upon the Risen Savior; and need to watch out for false builders who still reject the Living Stone today. There are still religious leaders today who follow in the tradition of the Sanhedrin by dismissing and denying the resurrection, and seek to lead people astray by their false teachings. Any one who views Jesus as a mere man or simply a prophet, rejects the Living Stone, and has no place in the church that God is building. In contrast to this, as we have seen in our study of Ephesians, Christ, as the chief cornerstone, has all authority and is Head over all things. As Paul says, this is because of the resurrection. He writes, “God exerted His might power when He raised Christ from the dead, and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given.”
The one who was rejected by men was raised by God; and now reigns at the right hand of God. Not only in He the cornerstone of His new temple – the church – but He is the King over all creation and every knee will bow and tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.
Jesus Christ humbled Himself and became man in order to be rejected, so that we can now be accepted. And it’s because of the rejected Christ – the one who came to die for our sins – that we now have access to the Risen Christ. As Christians we have a Risen Savior who can relate to us, and who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, because he became like us in our humanity. And because He is divine, as well as human – and perfect although tempted by sin even as we are – He can always offer grace and mercy to us in our time of need. He is risen and exalted, but He is not far away from us – He is near to us – and He calls us to approach His throne of grace with confidence because He is our great high priest and our Risen Savior.
This is the wonder and glory of Easter. The Suffering Servant becomes the Risen King; the humble Son of Man becomes the exalted Son of God. His death accomplished our salvation, and His resurrection seals our salvation; and now by faith, and in love, we worship Him as the Risen, Ascended and Exalted King.
Easter proclaims the victory of Christ who conquered sin and death; but it also proclaims the victory of men and women like us, who through faith in Christ have also conquered sin and death as well. This is why we must be like the apostles, who not only rejoice in the truth of the Christ’s death and resurrection; and worship Him as Savior and King, but who also proclaim to Christ to others as the only Savior and King, and as the only way to salvation.
©You’re welcome to recycle these resources for your church free of charge. However, if you find them useful, please consider making a donation to the ministry of GCC
