“The First Christian Sermon”
Acts 2:22-36

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Pentecost Sunday—May 20, 2018

In the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

It seems that each year as we get close to Easter, there suddenly appears in the news a flood of stories attacking the very message of Easter, that Christ rose from the dead.  A few years ago the big anti-Easter story was supposed to be a television special about “The Lost Tomb of Jesus,” supposedly discovered at Jerusalem, in which it was claimed that Jesus had been buried, but never rose from the dead.  An elaborate film was produced at great expense by a famous movie director, who is an ardent atheist.  But, before it was broadcast, serious archaeologists debunked it all as a hoax, and in embarrassment the television channel behind it took a big loss and just shelved the whole thing.

Such anti-Easter stories shouldn’t surprise us, for Peter prophesied, “There will be false teachers among you.  They will secretly introduce destructive heresies, even denying the sovereign Lord.”  But, what is really disturbing is that it seems the other part of Peter’s prophesy is also coming true: “MANY will follow their shameful ways.”  For, in a recent survey, an astounding 30% of those who described themselves as “born again” Christians nevertheless said they do not believe Christ rose from the dead.  “There will be false teachers among you. . .  many will follow their shameful ways.”

Today’s Reading from the Book of Acts is part of the sermon Peter gave at the first Pentecost, 50 days after Easter, when the Holy Spirit was poured out on the Apostles.  In this sermon, which is the first recorded sermon by a Christian preacher other than Christ himself, Peter shows that the Gospel message of Christ’s resurrection is NOT a made-up myth, but the fulfillment of God’s eternal plan of salvation, and that Christ’s resurrection was actually prophesied centuries beforehand by David in the book of Psalms. 

You are invited to follow along today’s Reading from the Book of Acts in your bulletin, as we look verse-by-verse at what Peter says about Christ’s resurrection, in “The First Christian Sermon” recorded in the Bible.

“Then Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice and addressed the crowd: ‘Men of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man accredited by God to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.’”

“Miracles, wonders and signs” are events that can only be explained as supernatural phenomena.  From his first miracle, turning water into wine, to his last great miracle, raising Lazarus from the dead, it was obvious that Jesus of Nazareth was no ordinary man.  How could you explain feeding the 5,000, walking on water, giving sight to the blind, the wonderful healings, and all the other phenomena?  There IS only one explanation: “Jesus of Nazareth was a man ACCREDITED BY GOD to you by miracles, wonders and signs, which God did among you through him, as you yourselves know.”

The entire purpose of Jesus’ miracles was to demonstrate who he really is: much more than a carpenter from Nazareth; much more than a brilliant, articulate rabbi; much more than a “great religious thinker.”  John puts it this way toward the end of his Gospel: “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.  But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”

Jesus’ divine powers and divine works are testimony that HE IS DIVINE, he is God in human flesh.  And the #1 miracle that affirms his divinity is the miracle we’re celebrating every Sunday, the reason WHY Christians gather for worship on Sunday.  As Paul says in Romans “[He] was declared with power to be the Son of God by his resurrection from the dead.”

Peter continues: “This man was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.”

The events of Holy Week and Good Friday did not take Jesus or his heavenly Father by surprise.  Matthew reports, “Now as Jesus was going up to Jerusalem, he took the twelve disciples aside and said to them, ‘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 was according to God’s plan, what Peter calls “God’s set purpose and foreknowledge,” that his Son suffered and died on the cross. “I am the good shepherd,”   Jesus says.  “I know my sheep and my sheep know me . . . and I lay down my life for the sheep. . .  No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.”

“But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.”  The Gospels report that on Easter morn, Christ’s funeral wrappings were still there in the tomb, just an empty shell that collapsed in on themselves, when they were vacated by his resurrected, glorified body.  In the same way, imagine all your sins, all the troubles of this world, even death itself, is wrapped around you, binding you, like a mummy.  The Good News of the Christian Gospel is, it is impossible for any of that to keep its hold on you.

We say in a negative sense, “You can’t take it with you.”  But, think of that adage in a positive sense: “You WON’T HAVE take it with you.”  Your sin, the troubles of this world, even death itself—you WON’T HAVE take it with you.  For, just as with Christ himself, it is impossible for any of that to keep its hold on you.  When these things seem overwhelming—your sins, and the troubles you face in this life, and death itself—just remember all those things are nothing more than like the empty shell of the funeral wrappings Christ left behind in the tomb.  In the same way, you will leave all those things behind in this life.  You WON’T HAVE to take any of it with you.

“But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.”  Peter then quotes from Psalm 16, which prophesies the resurrection of the Messiah: “David said about him: ‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’” 

Peter goes on to explain that David could not have been speaking about himself: “Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried, and his tomb is here to this day.”  So, who was David speaking about?  “But he was a prophet, and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay.”

Every Hebrew knew that a descendant of David would be the promised Messiah, and Peter is persuading them that the “HOLY ONE” David prophesied about, whose body would not see decay, is none other than Jesus of Nazareth.  “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.”  DAVID PROPHESIED that the Messiah would rise from the dead, a prophesy fulfilled in the resurrection of Jesus.

“God has raised this Jesus to life.”  That was the faith of the first Christians; that was the theme of “The First Christian Sermon”; that was the heart of the message the Apostles, by the power of the Holy Spirit, preached to all the world, and recorded in the pages of the New Testament “God has raised this Jesus to life”—that is the foundation of our faith. 

His death was the sacrifice for your sins, and God raised him to life to declare that his sacrifice is accepted as payment in full for all your sins.  His death was for your forgiveness, and God raised him to life to declare that you are forgiven.  He died to destroy the devil, and God raised him from to life to declare that hell has been defeated.  “God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact.”