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Resurrection Plus the Name of Jesus Equals Trouble
Acts 4.1-12

I cherish the remark attributed to a bishop who complained that he didn’t seem to be having the same impact as the first apostles.

‘Everywhere St Paul went,’ he said, ‘there was a riot. Everywhere I go they serve tea.’

Well, it wasn’t just St Paul, either. We shall indeed watch in the later chapters of Acts as Paul goes from place to place and all kinds of trouble gets stirred up. But the message about Jesus as Messiah and rescuer meant trouble long before Paul started preaching it; indeed, as we shall see before too long, Paul was himself one of the leaders in making trouble for the people who were calling on the name of Jesus and declaring that God had raised him from the dead. So what was it about this early message which got the authorities, and others too, so alarmed and angry? Wouldn’t it be simply great news to know that God was alive and well and was providing a wonderful rescue operation through his chosen Messiah?...

Taken from Acts for Everyone Part 1 by Tom Wright
Publisher: SPCK - view more
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