“When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”
-Acts 4:13
Peter and John had just spent a night in jail. Their crime? Healing a lame beggar and attributing the healing to the power of a resurrected Jesus. They were brought before the religious leaders to be questioned, not because of the miracle (even the priests and Saducees couldn’t deny what had happened), but because any word of this Jesus had to be stomped out. He was becoming a problem. People were starting to believe these uneducated fishermen.
The text says that when the religious leaders observed the disciples they took note. They weren’t acting like uneducated fishermen. They were acting like they had been spending time with the troublemaker, Jesus. Jesus had been bold. He had made claims that couldn’t be true. He said he was the son of God and that he was going to destroy the temple and rebuild it in three days…blasphemy…
Of course we know that Jesus said a lot of other things too. He taught that whoever wanted to be great had to be the least…the servant of all. He said that we should love our enemies and pray for those that persecute us. He said that he came to call sinners, not the righteous. And he showed that he meant it all by the way he lived his life.
He spent most of his time speaking words of love and healing to the outcasts and sinners of society. He regularly called out the religious leaders and their showy spirituality with all of its tradition, and he confronted the hold that money had on the hearts of the wealthy. Even though he was the teacher, he took the lowest place in the room and washed his disciples’ feet. Where there was sickness, he brought health, and when he entered the room, demons fled from him. He was turning the world upside down and demonstrating that he had the authority to do so.
The claim of Christians is that Jesus became king in the most unexpected, upside down way anyone could imagine. Instead of riding into Jerusalem on a warhorse, he road in on a donkey. Instead of conquering the Romans, he submitted himself to torture, ridicule, and death.
It was backwards from what his own disciples expected. They wanted Jesus to put Israel back on the throne of the world, but he was fighting against a darker enemy than the Romans. He was addressing the problem of a world that was out of sorts. A world that thought down was up and up was down. While the world felt like Jesus was trying to turn the world upside down, Jesus knew that he was putting it right side up again. That sacrificial love was the only thing that could put the world back together.
Today, on Holy Saturday, I’m reminded how prone I am, like the religious leaders, or the disciples, to look at the world and wonder what it is that Jesus is doing. I’m reminded how often I buy into the lie that I need to be grasping for power or influence, or how often I think a little more money, or a better social status will give me peace. Too often I convince myself that it looks like the world is winning, and that the man who claimed to be God’s son is in the grave.
But I know resurrection is coming, and I love seeing the character development in the disciples who have been transformed by knowing the power that resurrection brings. The man who denied Jesus three times eventually stands in front of the religious leaders, telling them that Christ has risen, and he makes sure to remind them that they were the ones who put him to death (Bold!). It doesn’t matter now if they are threatened or killed, because their king is the conquerer of death itself. Jesus’ upside down way, turned out to be right side up, just like he said, so they don’t have anything or anyone to fear. The disciples had spent time with Jesus, and they were starting to speak like him and live like him. And people were taking note…
This month, my squad is spending time in Indonesia. Indonesia wasn’t originally a part of our route, but our leadership decided to add it into our experience along with the other Asian countries we’ve already spent time in. We’ve also had our first team change of the year. During this month, all eight of the guys plus leadership have been together for ministry, and the 10 ladies in our squad, plus leadership, have been together as well.
It’s been so great living life with the guys this month. Our ministry focus has been on practicing hospitality in the Airbnb that we’ve rented for a couple of weeks. But ultimately, we’re hoping to be men who, when people look at us, speak with us, and spend time with us, look like we’ve spent time with Jesus. So, if you’d like to be praying for us, pray that we’ll have boldness to live life with the same sacrificial love that Christ had. Pray that we’ll trust that the power that raised Christ from the dead lives in us too. Pray that we’ll practice Jesus’ right side up methods of loving God and loving neighbor. And pray that when the time comes we’ll know what to say to share good news with others. Today, may your words and deeds make it clear that you’ve spent time with the resurrected Jesus.
