Once again, we can watch this process in action in Acts, as the disciples are dragged before the court of the Sanhedrin twice in successive chapters, 4 and 5. And, once again, one is tempted to wonder whether Luke is deliberately writing a commentary on these promises of the ‘parakletos’ in John 14-16. On the first occasion (4.7ff.) the apostles Peter and John are interrogated by the council about the healing of the lame man at the temple gate: “By what power, and in whose name, did you do this ?” Perhaps at this moment Peter, remembering Jesus’ promise, sent up an ‘arrow prayer’, calling the ‘parakletos’ to his side to help him to bear faithful witness to Jesus, for we read that he was “filled with the Holy spirit”. Then he testified powerfully for his Lord, to his death and resurrection, and to the salvation which only he can offer. The council were amazed at this “boldness” (‘parrhesia’, a word which appears three times in this chapter in relation to the apostles’ Spirit-inspired witness), and “recognised that they had been with Jesus”. Indeed they had, for three years; but for them Jesus was not just a fading memory, but a living presence through the ministry of his ‘substitute’, the Holy Spirit. The authorities decided that they could take no action against them because the evidence of the healed cripple was too strong to deny (v. 16), so they strictly forbade them to continue “speaking or teaching in the name of Jesus”. To which they replied: “we cannot but speak of that which we have seen and heard” (v. 20). Their experience of Jesus had been so life-changing and earth-shaking that silence was impossible – they must bear witness. If our witness for Jesus is to be similarly compulsive and compelling, we, too, must experience his life-changing power in our lives through the ministry of his Spirit. Released, Peter and John went back to the rest of the church and held a prayer-meeting of such power that at the end “their meeting-place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (v. 31). Just as the Spirit had empowered Peter and John to bear powerful witness, so he now does for the whole company: “they spoke the word of God with boldness (‘parrhesia’) --- and the apostles with great power bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus” (vv. 31, 33). So it is that, in chapter 5, it is the whole company of the apostles who are arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin. Accused of breaching the ‘ASBO’ imposed on them in chapter 4, they once again testify powerfully to the death and resurrection of Jesus, and to his power to save those who repent of their sins; their conclusion could almost be a direct reference to John 15. 26-7: “We are witnesses of these words, together with the Spirit whom God gave to those who obey him”. They can testify so powerfully to the Sanhedrin because the ‘parakletos’ has testified so powerfully, and so personally, to each of them.
Thursday, 29 December 2011
PARAKLETOS 3 (c) the witness of the Holy Spirit (ii) the apostles
Once again, we can watch this process in action in Acts, as the disciples are dragged before the court of the Sanhedrin twice in successive chapters, 4 and 5. And, once again, one is tempted to wonder whether Luke is deliberately writing a commentary on these promises of the ‘parakletos’ in John 14-16. On the first occasion (4.7ff.) the apostles Peter and John are interrogated by the council about the healing of the lame man at the temple gate: “By what power, and in whose name, did you do this ?” Perhaps at this moment Peter, remembering Jesus’ promise, sent up an ‘arrow prayer’, calling the ‘parakletos’ to his side to help him to bear faithful witness to Jesus, for we read that he was “filled with the Holy spirit”. Then he testified powerfully for his Lord, to his death and resurrection, and to the salvation which only he can offer. The council were amazed at this “boldness” (‘parrhesia’, a word which appears three times in this chapter in relation to the apostles’ Spirit-inspired witness), and “recognised that they had been with Jesus”. Indeed they had, for three years; but for them Jesus was not just a fading memory, but a living presence through the ministry of his ‘substitute’, the Holy Spirit. The authorities decided that they could take no action against them because the evidence of the healed cripple was too strong to deny (v. 16), so they strictly forbade them to continue “speaking or teaching in the name of Jesus”. To which they replied: “we cannot but speak of that which we have seen and heard” (v. 20). Their experience of Jesus had been so life-changing and earth-shaking that silence was impossible – they must bear witness. If our witness for Jesus is to be similarly compulsive and compelling, we, too, must experience his life-changing power in our lives through the ministry of his Spirit. Released, Peter and John went back to the rest of the church and held a prayer-meeting of such power that at the end “their meeting-place was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit” (v. 31). Just as the Spirit had empowered Peter and John to bear powerful witness, so he now does for the whole company: “they spoke the word of God with boldness (‘parrhesia’) --- and the apostles with great power bore witness to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus” (vv. 31, 33). So it is that, in chapter 5, it is the whole company of the apostles who are arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin. Accused of breaching the ‘ASBO’ imposed on them in chapter 4, they once again testify powerfully to the death and resurrection of Jesus, and to his power to save those who repent of their sins; their conclusion could almost be a direct reference to John 15. 26-7: “We are witnesses of these words, together with the Spirit whom God gave to those who obey him”. They can testify so powerfully to the Sanhedrin because the ‘parakletos’ has testified so powerfully, and so personally, to each of them.
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