Action Alert: Rome Examines Strange Events in Judea

[00:00:00] Folks, I wanna share something with you this morning. Something exciting in preparation for today's message actually came across an ancient report that, uh, purports to be from AD 33, late in that year. And in case you don't know that, that's, that's a probable date in which Jesus was crucified. I can't verify the authenticity exactly of this report, but I've reviewed its contents and it gr.

Coincides perfectly with what we see in the Gospels and those first four chapters of Acts. So it is a report filed by Maximus Histor, an emissary of Rome, given to the most glorious Tiberius, Augustus Emperor, writing about this Jewish set known as the way. And as he writes, he reports that Governor Pilate, governor of [00:01:00] Judea had shared that there was a rise of a new religious sect in Judea, and there were many strange events related to this sect and certain Jewish religious feasts.

The sect was led by a now dead rabbi having made an investigation of these matters. Maximus submits his report and is following findings to the emperor Tiberius. He starts by explaining this Jewish Passover as one of the highest Jewish religious feasts. A time when all Jews around the world, if they could, would return to Jerusalem to celebrate for them what was a celebration of freedom.

Their victory over Egypt. An establishment as a nation. Now, Rome always was aware that there was a streak of independence within the Jews, and so [00:02:00] they were always very careful at these Jewish feasts. Now of this rabbi, his name was Jesus. He was known to be from the town of Nazareth and had been going around as an itinerant type teacher.

Uh, with some crowds following him for about the past three years. But Maximus reports that his teaching was in contrast to the typical Jewish rabbis, and that had caused some conflict over time. In fact, there were many who had reported that he had done miracles from healing to raising people from the dead to feeding multitudes, and he was eventually as historian of Maximus reports.

Executed by Pilate, then the story starts to take a little bit of a turn, as it was this Jesus at the time of the Passover, [00:03:00] and here is when he was tried and crucified. In fact, he was turned over by the religious leaders. And when his followers, oops. Pardon me. Too many, too many, too many. Let's go back. Eh.

Technology worked fine for me in the first session. Now it's just a thumb that doesn't know when to stop. All right. He was tried and he was crucified. His followers scattered and hid. Now, at this point, Pilate reports that he thought that was the end of the story, and in case you had a quick read, it wasn't.

Because three days later, his followers claimed that this rabbi was in fact, alive again. Now, the Jewish leaders claimed that his followers had simply stolen his body. However, months of investigation have revealed that no body was ever found. And since then, over 500 had [00:04:00] claimed that they've seen this.

Jesus alive, walking and talking until a day when he strangely disappeared and the witnesses say he disappeared up into the clouds all again seemed fine. And Pilate thought that this group would simply dissipate until it came time of the Jewish Feast of Pentecost. This occurred 50 days after the Passover feast, and again was a high feast day, celebrating the harvest season, and when many around the world would gather again in Jerusalem, specifically around the temple.

And what happened here in this time, the followers, this mere group of 120. Who had been hiding behind locked doors become bold, audacious, if you will. They [00:05:00] made claims, strange claims, audacious claims of this thunderous rushing wind and fire appearing over them. Then those that were gathered around the temple that day report the most strange facts of all that they heard.

These uneducated simpletons. Speaking in worldwide languages, over 15 different languages, at least were recognized on that day from this uneducated group, and the group testified that it was the Holy Spirit of God. Then the most unlikely of them was a leader, a lowly fisherman named Peter, who again was reported that he ran away.

Almost immediately when his rabbi was tried, his message was both inciting and confusing [00:06:00] because he proclaimed to those Jews present and in the presence of the Roman guards that God had made this Jesus, this lowly Rabbi, both Lord and Christ Jesus, whom they had crucified. A Pilate reports that he fully expected a riot to break out when that was brought to him.

But instead, the crowd cried out, what shall we do? And Peter's response perhaps was even more strange. He did not call them to overthrow. He did not call them to take up arms. He called them repent. Be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ. For the forgiveness of your sins and receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

What is this strange call to action? [00:07:00] I do not understand Almighty Emperor, but I can tell you that that day 3000 joint, this crowd, me and the slideshow are not cooperating. It's all right. 3001 20 to 3000. Then histor Maximus reports Things seem calm until another reported miracle by one of his followers in the temple area.

The temple is always a place where riots could break out. In fact, this time, the Jewish leaders arrested these two leaders named Peter and John, and commanded them not to speak anymore. In the name of Jesus I. What did they do? Well, they defied. They defied the Jewish leaders. They stuck their finger on their nose at them, and in [00:08:00] fact, they prayed for boldness and they proclaimed more and more the teachings of this rabbi and the crowd negro to 5,000.

Well, emperor. Here are what I can tell you about this crowd known as the way they do seem committed to the teachings of this rabbi, teachings of Rabbi that speak of strange things like loving one another, obeying masters for giving one another. They're committed too, to loving and caring for one another, not again, trying to incite Rome.

Not trying to reestablish the Jewish independence, but taking care of the poor, the needy actually giving up their, their possessions to care for one [00:09:00] another's needs.

I've never seen such a group. My goodness. I'll tell you what, too many hands, they speak of this kingdom of the Rabbi as king. They continue to grow. They seem to be genuinely joyful with one another, and the crowds love them. It's strange. They speak of this kingdom and the rabbi is king. Again, but they're not zealots.

They're not trying to overthrow, and they're growing. Oh, emperor. I think Rome should keep an eye on this group, such as the report of Maximus Histor Maximus to the Sovereign Emperor Tiberius Augustus of Rome. Now, let's compare [00:10:00] that with the biblical record. Picking up with Peter and his address to the crowd on that day of Pentecost, having advised the crowd that what they were seeing that day with all of them speaking in different language, it was not that they were drunk since it was only nine o'clock in the morning.

Some cultures, that's odd, but okay. Peter proclaims this to those that would listen, this Jesus God raised up, raised up, and of that we are all witnesses, being therefore exalted at the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, he has poured out this, that you yourselves are seeing and hearing.

Let all the House of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him [00:11:00] both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified. Now, when they'd heard this, they were cut to the heart and said to Peter and the rest of the Apostles Brothers, what shall we do? And Peter said to them, repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ, for the forgiveness of your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit for the promises for you and for your children, and for all who are far off.

Everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself. And with many other words, he bore witness and continued to exhort them, saying, save yourselves from this crooked generation. So those who received his word were baptized and there were added that day about 3000 souls, and [00:12:00] they, and they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching.

And the fellowship to the breaking of bread, and the prayers and awe came upon every soul, and many wonders and signs were being done through the apostles and all who believed were together and had all things in common, and they were selling their possessions and belongings and distributing the proceeds to all as any had need.

And day by day attending the temple, they came together breaking bread in their homes and they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved.[00:13:00]

Wow. Wow. Did we get that? There was a 12 leaders, there was 120 some in the whole group, and their leader was gu, and they were scared. They were hiding for fear of the Jews. They didn't want to be next. And within two months. There's 5,000 of 'em and they're devoted to one another. They're house to house sharing meals.

They're sharing in their needs. They're selling their stuff so they can take care of somebody else in the group. And all of Jerusalem is saying, who is this bunch? What do you think? Made the difference.[00:14:00]

What would you say caused it?

What would it take for this body, community Church, Portage Lakes, to be described in the same way? Could you hear it? Would it be the podcast? Would it be the Facebook post? Would it be? Have you seen those weirdos over there in Coventry? I don't get it, but I want it. I'm gonna propose to you. The answers were right there before us in Peter's message, and the results are what we see in Acts 2 42 through 47.

I propose to you this, that those people were fully convinced of the depth and the power of the resurrection. The fact that it established Jesus' resurrection, [00:15:00] established him as Lord and Messiah, and his direction of the Holy Spirit in their lives was empowering to them to change them from cowards to bold, loving, powerful witnesses.

And so I want to spend some time here and I want to ask you, have you fully considered the implications of those factors? Are you experiencing that kind of wonder, that kind of fellowship? As Pastor Mike has shared this fellowship is living life together. It's the sharing in common of lives I've shared with you previously.

It's the difference between a jar full of marbles and grapes crushed [00:16:00] into wine, marbles stay independent wine, and the crushing of grape. Intermixes, it calls for something of everyone. So I want to propose this to you. I want you to consider this the resurrection.

Jesus's resurrection means everything to our faith, and sometimes we gloss over it. Having heard it so many times, I'm gonna ask you to consider a couple of things. What other philosophy, what other religion offers you? A sacrificial savior Who lives, again, where are they? Name them. Is it Muhammad? Is it Confucius?[00:17:00]

And all of the Pantheon. Where is the crucified, risen savior in all of the world's philosophies in all of our moral culture, the cause of all the things that are wrong, where is the redemption and forgiveness and hope?

Jesus Christ stands alone, the resurrected savior, and that resurrection not only validates his position as Lord, king of all, master of all, there is. I find it interesting that Maximus Historia wrote to the sovereign Tiberius, the Roman emperors did believe they were sovereign over the world. [00:18:00] God is sovereign over all that is, and that's the truth claim of the word of the scripture in that passage in Acts two, if you read the fullness of Peter's message, it actually refers to in his resurrection, God raised him Jesus.

To the highest position in heaven and put his enemies as his footstool, do we fully recognize that that's the power of the resurrection and it means something. If he is Lord of all and he is holy good, are we fully subject to him? Not only did he make him Lord, but he made him Messiah. That meant something again, in that day to that Jewish crowd.

They had heard from their smallest days that God was going to send them Messiah, who would [00:19:00] restore them as a nation, who would be all that they hoped for? That vision was too small. The Messiah that God had in mind would not just save them as a nation, but would save the world who would come to him? I.

And would bring them to live with him and him with them. The Messiah. The definite article indicates the one and only there is no other name under heaven whereby we must be saved. But in Jesus Christ, that is all established in the power of the resurrection. Not to mention. That his victory over death becomes ours as well.

That the fullness of his sacrifice to cover our sins and our inadequacies was accomplished as well. [00:20:00] They were fully convinced of the resurrection of Jesus Christ and his authority as Lord and the grace of his Messiah ship. And then he didn't leave them, as he said, as orphans, but that he sent his spirit not to be around them, not to come and go, but to dwell within us.

God with us. Remember Emmanuel at Christmas now his spirit with us. To lead us in all righteousness, to remind us of all that Jesus had taught to be with us, to never leave us, to never forsake us. I propose to you that, that understanding, that hearing the testimony, seeing the resurrected, say, seeing him rise up into the [00:21:00] clouds, it changed their lives.

And now they saw themselves not as individuals, not just as Israelites. They saw themselves as the body of Christ, members of him carrying out his mission, establishing his kingdom here on earth. They were royal subjects, children of the King, co-heirs with Christ. It's their primary identity. Is it ours? Is it ours?

You could ask. So what? And maybe you do. I want to challenge us if we haven't and if we have encourage someone else that our salvation is not simple deliverance from our misery, from our sin, even the threat of hell, but our salvation is [00:22:00] adjoining with Christ. To move his kingdom, to love his people, to be on mission, and anything else than that is a cheap substitute.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer was a German theologian living in the time of the Nazi regime in Germany, in fact, put to death by Hitler. As a German theologian, he's known for coining this phrase called cheap grace at a time to protect itself. The Lutheran Church at that time in Germany synonymous German church.

Lutheran Church tried to avoid getting the Nazi regime angry at them, so they didn't object to what was going on. Dietrich did, and he writes this in a book, the [00:23:00] Cost of Discipleship. He says, chief Grace is grace without discipleship, grace without the cross, grace without Jesus Christ, living and incarnate costly grace.

It's costly because it calls us to follow, and it's grace because it calls us to follow Jesus Christ. It's costly because it costs a man his life and it's grace because it gives a man the only true life above all. It is costly because it cost God the life of his son. He quotes one Corinthians six. You were bought with a price and what has God, what has cost God much cannot be cheap for us.

Do you remember that passage from one Corinthians six? Do you remember that? Your [00:24:00] body is a Holy Spirit of the temple. You are not your own. You were bought with a price. Folks, I don't want to nag. But sometimes we forget in our culture that salvation is not about me. It is about him and his purposes. And when I live for him and his purposes, I find a glory of life, a freedom that I've never known.

I find a purpose greater than myself. So what? What am I hounding all this about? Why this passage? Why Acts 2 42 and they devoted themselves to the apostles teaching, to the fellowship and to the breaking of prayer? Why? Folks, I want to thank you. I've been here on staff [00:25:00] long enough. That I see people wander in and out of this building doing acts of service in the name of the king that many of you never see.

I know that there are people who change diapers, who chase squirrels known as children, who listened to stories of the worst heartbreak that ever existed from our teens and our adults. And they hear the miseries of devastating disease and loss and tragedy of life, and they don't do it because they're nice people.

They do it because of the love of Jesus. Christ is real in their hearts and they want to share it. They write checks when there's a need. Some of them take out of retirement funds, [00:26:00] some of them forego vacations because the kingdom's worth it.

So I want to thank you. And before I just go to, from preaching to meddling, I want to think I'm simply saying, you're doing it. Let's do it some more. Let's lean into it. Why is that? Some of you're gonna hear today some more specifics, but I can tell you overall, community Church of Portage Lakes is facing unprecedented opportunities in this community and within our body to be representatives, ambassadors of the king, and these opportunities bring unprecedented needs.

But it calls for us to have the devotion of those first Christians [00:27:00] to answer the Call of the King. And I'm afraid sometimes when we start talking about, oh, Todd needs 20 more volunteers. Vbss right here. Joseph needs at least half a dozen. And oh, by the way, would you ever like some sound panels out there in the lobby so you can hear yourself?

Sometimes our calls for need fulfillment can drown out the fact that it's the call of the master because it comes across as the call of a social club. I want us to see the bigger vision. I wanna see is those Israelites, those new believers saw themselves and they call themselves the people of the way, the way, the way to watch [00:28:00] the way of the king to his kingdom.

Will we be together on the way and will we do what that calls for? And sometimes that means learning to love one another when we don't even say we like each other.

The master said, love one another as I have loved you, and by this while all men know that you are my disciples. Sometimes, sometimes. We don't know what we can do until we surrender to the master and lean in to what he has for us. Folks, God loves you. I'm trying to love you. My [00:29:00] wife's trying to love me, not trying to pick.

I want to draw us. I want to implore you. I have questions to ask you, and this is really where we end. Some of us haven't really considered the full impact of costly grape grace and the lordship of Jesus Christ in all area of our lives. I, we, some of us struggle, some of us don't realize that we tend to live by the philosophies and priorities of this world.

And our own selfish wills, not the least of which is probably the bane of my existence, my own personal comfort.

How many of us have that idol, man? Nevermind. Don't need. Don't need to get too personal. [00:30:00] No. So think of this. Jim Elliot was a missionary to the nation of Ecuador, 1950s. Even in his Bible training days, he was known to have said this often. He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose.

He is no fool who gives up what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose. Does it sound like scripture to you? It is. It's because we cannot keep our own selves, and the more we try to keep our own selves, the more our control life gets and we cannot save ourselves. It's only in the surrender to the [00:31:00] king.

That we can be saved, that we can find value, security, hope, purpose. Now, what about Jim Elliot? Jim Elliot sought to reach an unreached people at that time called the ACA Indians

on a fateful day in 1956. He and four other missionaries were killed by the very people they wanted to reach. Did he lose? If you don't know the rest of the story, it's called through the gates of splendor. His wife, Elizabeth, and the other team of missionaries went back and the unreached peoples would reached and converted and one of the tribesmen.

Became an adopted father to their children.[00:32:00]

What else is there worth living for? What is there worth putting your energies and your devotions towards? So I have to ask you that. And before I just get all weepy, I have two, two groups of people I'm really talking to today. One is. If you have never considered your need to respond to Jesus Christ as the Lord and only Messiah,

do so, do so, and I'm gonna ask the worship team to come and they're gonna play and before they play. I'm gonna pray. I'm gonna invite you if you need to make that decision while I'm praying and while they're playing, [00:33:00] do it. If we've already made that decision and you're realizing that you don't have the love, devotion, and realization of the resurrection power of Jesus in your life, the way those early believers did.

Then maybe it's time for you to come commit yourself fully to the fellowship of this body, the mission of the King, as you've never done before. If you have a question about the Message Community Church or Jesus Christ, send us a text to 3 3 0. 432 42. You can learn more about our events and community groups at CCP Life slash Connect There you can also send in a prayer request.

We would love to pray for you. Have a blessed Lord's Day, and we'll see you on Sunday.