Signs and Wonders: A Meditation on Acts 5, for the 1st Sunday after Easter

And by the hands of the apostles were many signs

and wonders wrought among the people;

(and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s porch.

And of the rest durst no man join himself to them:

but the people magnified them.

 And believers were the more added to the Lord,

multitudes both of men and women.)

Insomuch that they brought forth the sick into the streets,

and laid them on beds and couches, that at the least the

shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow some of them.

There came also a multitude out of the cities

round about unto Jerusalem, bringing sick folks,

and them which were vexed with unclean spirits:

and they were healed every one.

It is reasonable to ask after such a momentous event as the resurrection of the Son of God for the redemption of the world, what practical impact it would have on the lives of those who encountered it.  To be sure, the world today would not be populated with roughly two billion Christians of various stripes and kinds, nor have had the tremendous missionary explosions that it saw from the first century to our own day, had not something absolutely remarkable taken place that Easter day in Palestine.  The unassailable empirical evidence and implications of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection moved his disciples and their followers to peacefully convert huge swaths of the Mediterranean lands, Africa, Asia, Europe, and eventually the Americas with a Gospel of life and salvation that pierced pagan darkness with light and hope.  Since faith and love in the heart could not be compelled by force or sword, the Christian message of Jesus’ Vicarious Atonement for the sins of the world spread by the preaching of His Word, requiring neither the power of politics nor the coercion of potentates.  While it is true that some erring Christians forgot this in their respective times, the vast and overwhelming witness of history is that the Church of Jesus Christ brought forth the light of saving faith, hope, and love by the simple power of Jesus’ Word and Spirit at work in the world.

What we read in Acts five is the beginning of this unstoppable movement which continues into our own day, and will persist until the Lord returns.  St. Peter and the Apostolic band preached Christ crucified and risen so that the people might have forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation in His Name.  They preached a Gospel of repentance and the forgiveness of sins to all people for Jesus’ sake.  And as Jesus promised them, signs and wonders came with the Word, healing those with disease, freeing those possessed by unclean spirits, and even raising the dead to life.  Such signs and wonders were never ends in themselves, nor were they to provide honor to the workers, but always pointed back to the Word of Life in Jesus Christ.  The Apostles knew that they were branches grafted by grace through faith into the Vine of Christ, and that apart from Him they could do nothing… but in and with Him, they could do all things given to them to do.  Jesus gave them the gift of His Holy Spirit so that they might preach His saving Gospel with power to all the world, and the Holy Spirit by their preaching of Jesus’ Word turned the satanic world on its head.   It was not St. Peter or St. John or St. Paul who did these things, but Christ working by His Word and Spirit through them which accomplished the works which the Father had ordained for them before the foundation of the world.  Such honor and glory, praise and majesty, are not ascribed to the blessed Apostles, but to the Holy Trinity who raised them up, empowered them, and sent them to the ends of the earth in His Name.

One might ask, sitting here in 21^st century America, that if such power once moved the world in antiquity, where has it gone today?  The answer is devastatingly simple:  it has gone where there is faith in God and His Word.  It is easy to forget that 21^st century America and our European forbearers have inherited centuries of Modernism, Enlightenment, Rationalism, and now Post-Modernist Nihilism.  For centuries we have been seeped in the stew of unbelief and incredulity, slowly becoming Materialists who disavow whatever they cannot prove by their own tests and merits.  Into the vacuum of unbelief in God and His Word have come rather a belief in Atheism, Secular Humanism, Naturalistic Evolution, and a valueless cosmos ruled only by blind and uncaring Chance.  Even historic churches who on paper and perhaps even in weekly worship confess the ancient Creeds which enshrine the elemental truths of God and His Word on the lips of His people, in their hearts no longer believe that God spoke the universe into existence by His Word, redeemed the world through His Incarnate Word, and converts the world through His Word proclaimed in the power of His Holy Spirit.  No longer do they believe that God can or will heal the sick, liberate the possessed, raise the dead, or convert the world to saving faith and repentance.  No longer do they believe the Word of God carries the power of God to accomplish what He has sent it forth to do, and that it will not return to Him void.  No longer do they believe the Word, and no longer do they see its power.

Many lament the rise of atheistic darkness upon our land, and fear its well documented horrors which emerge like putrid fruit from a diseased tree everywhere it is planted.  Many lament the newly burgeoning atrocities of a demonic jihadist Islam which moves to dominate and enslave the world, murdering all who would resist its hellish onslaught.  Many fear the newly rising pagan spiritualism which summons forth from ancient depths long vanquished demons to wreak their insatiable havoc once more upon an unwitting mankind.  Many fear that what rises today in our time and place is too powerful to be resisted, and that there is no hope for our world.  These fears are well warranted by an unbelieving people, for the foe who rises behind them is no mortal of flesh and blood, but a powerful host of principalities and powers bent on the death and destruction of the whole human race.  Man alone has no power to conquer them, and apart from God, there is today as in every age, no hope at all for mankind in their shadow.

But Easter has arisen once again, to shine its light into our present darkness.  Christ has risen, and the devil with his host are defeated.  Christ has risen, and hell has been trampled under His feet.  Christ has risen, and death no longer rules our fate.  Christ has risen, and eternal life is offered freely to all who will repent and believe His Holy Gospel.  Christ has risen, and there is no enemy which can stand before Him.  Christ has risen, and His Kingdom has come among men by grace through faith in Him.  Christ has risen, and has given His Eternal Word and Spirit to His people that the darkness might flee at their approach.  Christ has risen, and given His victory over sin, death, hell, and the power of the devil to His Holy Church.  Christ has risen, and given His authority in heaven and earth to His people, that by His Word the gates of hell shall not withstand the offensive preaching of His Gospel.

Christ has risen, and to your dead, cold, unbelieving heart He breathes His life by His Word and Spirit.  Into your breast He breathes faith to cling to His grace in and through His Word.  Into your spirit He pours forth His Holy Spirit, that He might send you in the power of His resurrection life to dispel the forces of darkness and despair everywhere you go.  Upon you the eternal light and life of His Gospel have shined, gathering you into the communion of His saints in every time and place, that together with the whole host of heaven you might reflect Christ into every corner of creation.  Upon you salvation has dawned by the power of His Word and Spirit, that by His Word and Spirit you might stand by grace through faith forever, unassailable by every evil foe.

Hear the Word of the Lord anew this Easter season, and do not be unbelieving, but believe.  For with the eyes of faith you will see the power of God unto salvation for all who repent and believe; you will see the sick healed, the possessed liberated, the dead raised, and the demonic horde put to flight; you will see the Kingdom of God come among men in power; and you will in time see the Lord Jesus Christ coming again on the clouds of glory, to welcome you into your eternal home.  Hear, repent, and believe, and you will see the wonders of your saving God once more.  Amen.