Sermon 6-29–25

Pastor Ray Lorthioir

Trinity Lutheran Church

W. Hempstead, NY

The Feast of St. Peter and St. Paul

Rocky and Paul 

Acts 4:8-14, “8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, ‘Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead — by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. [Psalm 118:22] 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.’ 13 Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. 14 But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.”

Why were the members of the Sanhedrin astonished? They perceived that Peter and John had never been to any of their yeshivas and had never studied under any of their rabbis. They were common people.

As we know, Peter and John were fishermen from Capernaum on the Sea of Galilee. Yet, Peter had just laid out a sophisticated, messianic interpretation of what we know as Psalm 118:22. First of all, how did these common men have that verse memorized in their heads so they could just spit it out? Second, how did these men know the verse applied to Messiah without having studied? Third, where did they get the radical interpretation of the verse that the very Sanhedrin they were standing before had fulfilled Psalm 118:22 by rejecting Jesus of Nazareth and having Him crucified?

The answer the Sanhedrin arrived at to all these questions was simple. These men had been with Jesus. The well educated members of the Sanhedrin knew that the Carpenter from Galilee was much more than He seemed to be because they had publicly challenged Jesus to multiple debates over Scripture and had lost to Him every time. Therefore, it dawned on the members of the Sanhedrin that if Jesus was Peter and John’s teacher, then their ability to interpret messianic prophecies was thereby explainable.

Having heard Peter’s sermon, all the members of the Sanhedrin had an opportunity to believe the interpretation of Psalm 118:22 that proved that they were the very “builders” it speaks of. All they had to do was repent of their attempt to destroy the Messiah, the Son of God. But they would not and could not. The reason was again simple. Peter and John were filled with Yahweh’s Holy Spirit. The members of the Sanhedrin were not. And unless Yahweh was merciful to members of the Sanhedrin and at some point filled them with His Holy Spirit, they would die believing they had done the right thing by having Jesus of Nazareth put to death by the Romans.

Jesus was most wise in choosing a motley group of ordinary men as the inner core of His disciples. For, they were unspoiled by the teaching of the Pharisees, Sadducees and other Jewish sects of the time. Jesus’ teaching was something entirely different from anything else that existed at the time. And the unspoiled, common men Jesus chose were able to receive His teaching by the power of Lord Holy Spirit. Thus, when common uneducated men were able to preach and teach a sophisticated understanding of the messianic prophecies, it would not go unnoticed. 

Now, in the case of Peter and John, each of them were also empowered by Lord Holy Spirit to write what they had received from Jesus. And so, through their work and that of a few others, we have the New Testament.

From of old, June 29th has been a day dedicated to the memory of Simon, son of Jona, the Galilean fisherman that Jesus nicknamed “Rocky” — for that’s what “Peter” means. And it’s a day dedicated to Rabbi Saul of Tarsus, who we know as St. Paul.

Of the twelve men that Jesus chose to be his inner core disciples, two men stand out in history: Judas Iscariot, the traitor; and Peter who became the primary preacher of the Gospel. John comes in a notable third and Matthew a notable fourth. For they also wrote the New Testament. However, tradition also puts Peter forward in a big way. He is considered the first bishop of Rome. And as we know, the Roman Catholic Church considers Peter to be the first pope.

Paul, on the other hand, was not a common man. Here’s what Paul has to say about himself in Galatians 1:11-17,  “11 For I would have you know, brothers, that the gospel that was preached by me is not man’s gospel. 12 For I did not receive it from any man, nor was I taught it, but I received it through a revelation of Jesus Christ. 13 For you have heard of my former life in Judaism, how I persecuted the church of God violently and tried to destroy it. 14 And I was advancing in Judaism beyond many of my own age among my people, so extremely zealous was I for the traditions of my fathers. 15 But when he who had set me apart before I was born, and who called me by his grace, 16 was pleased to reveal his Son to me, in order that I might preach him among the Gentiles, I did not immediately consult with anyone; 17 nor did I go up to Jerusalem to those who were apostles before me, but I went away into Arabia, and returned again to Damascus.”

In Acts 23:6, Paul said, “I am a Pharisee, a son of Pharisees.” So, we know that unlike unspoiled Peter, Paul was very much spoiled by the education in Judaism he had received. In Acts 22:3, Paul declared that he was educated “at the feet of Gamaliel” a significant Pharisee and rabbi of the time mentioned in Acts 5:34. Paul was so spoiled by Phariseeism, that he was a zealous persecutor of anyone who named the name of Jesus. He was a most unlikely thirteenth apostle. Paul had never been with Jesus. He had no eyewitness testimony of Jesus’ death, resurrection and ascension. His original mindset was dead set against the carpenter from Nazareth being the Messiah.

Yet, in an extraordinary vision from heaven, Jesus appeared to Paul and called him to be the apostle to, of all people, the Gentiles. As a radical Pharisee, the Gentiles were probably the last people on earth Paul would have wanted anything to do with. But Jesus had other plans. So, Paul testified in Philippians 3:4-11, “4. . . If anyone else thinks he has reason for confidence in the flesh, I have more: 5 circumcised on the eighth day, of the people of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of Hebrews; as to the law, a Pharisee; 6 as to zeal, a persecutor of the church; as to righteousness under the law, blameless. 7 But whatever gain I had, I counted as loss for the sake of Christ. 8 Indeed, I count everything as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord. For his sake I have suffered the loss of all things and count them as rubbish, in order that I may gain Christ 9 and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which comes through faith in Christ, the righteousness from God that depends on faith— 10 that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, 11 that by any means possible I may attain the resurrection from the dead.”

What Paul confessed in these versus is that Jesus put him through what the Marxists call a re-education camp. Paul had to be un-educated in everything he thought important and re-educated in everything that really is important — namely that Jesus of Nazareth truly is the Messiah prophesied by Moses and the Prophets. And that Jesus is not only the Messiah and Savior of the Jews, He is the Messiah and Savior of all nations.

And once Paul was re-educated, all his knowledge of Scripture was put to good use proving that Jesus is Messiah. As we read in Acts 9:19-22, “19. . . For some days he [Paul] was with the disciples at Damascus. 20 And immediately he proclaimed Jesus in the synagogues, saying, ‘He is the Son of God.’ 21 And all who heard him were amazed and said, ‘Is not this the man who made havoc in Jerusalem of those who called upon this name? And has he not come here for this purpose, to bring them bound before the chief priests?’ 22 But Saul [Paul] increased all the more in strength, and confounded the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus was the Christ.”

As we spoke about several weeks ago, both Peter and Paul were flawed. Let’s count the number of ways.

Matthew, Mark and Luke speak of a decisive event in Jesus’ ministry. It was when Jesus asked the disciples, “Who do men say I am?”, and then asked, “Who do you say I am?”. Peter responded by declaring Jesus to be the Messiah, the Son of the Living God. We then read in Matthew 16:21-23,  “21 From that time Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised. 22 And Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, saying, ‘Far be it from you, Lord! This shall never happen to you.’ 23 But he turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are a hindrance to me. For you are not setting your mind on the things of God, but on the things of man.”

As we discovered back in Lent, Peter was unwittingly used as an agent of Satan to tempt Jesus into abandoning the life-script written for Messiah in Moses, the Prophets and Psalms, and writing His own life-script instead. We could easily say from Scripture that Peter was probably Jesus’ best friend and most loyal supporter in the whole world. So, it would be just like Satan to use the strong emotional ties of friendship to derail the work of Messiah. But as we just read, Jesus refused the temptation and stayed on course.

Then, there was Peter’s massive failure on the night Jesus was arrested. We read in Luke 22:31-34, “31 [Jesus said,] ‘Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, 32 but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers.’ 33 Peter said to him, ‘Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death.’ 34 Jesus said, ‘I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me.’”

As we know, Jesus’ prophetic word came true. Peter denied knowing Jesus three times and then a rooster crowed. They usually crow first around 3am.

Now, as Jesus predicted, by the grace of God Peter’s faith did not fail. He continued to hang around with the other disciples post crucifixion and was one of the first two male disciples to see the empty tomb. Then, in the Gospel of John, it’s reported that Jesus restored Peter by telling him three times, “Feed my sheep; tend my sheep.” Thereby Jesus declared Peter fit for ministry despite his scandalous denial. And throughout the book of Acts, we read that Peter never again denied Jesus, even though he was in many terrifying situations, looking violence and death in the face. And tradition tells us that Peter was crucified upside down for being a Christian preacher.

Paul, as we have already seen, was a homicidal anti-Jesus and anti-Christian Pharisee maniac. How could Yahweh ever use someone like him? In answer let’s recall that on one occasion Jesus announced a shocking mystery — that all things are possible with our Creator God (Matthew 19:26), even the conversion of His bitter enemies. For, once Jesus successfully paid for for all human sin on the cross, real forgiveness of real human sin became a reality, even for those who had crucified Jesus. And so through a very radical conversion completely orchestrated by Yahweh, Paul morphed from being a radical enemy of Messiah Jesus into being one of His chief proponents. And from being a bitter enemy of interpreting Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms through the lens of Messiah Jesus, Paul became the Holy Spirit empowered expert at interpreting Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms through the lens of Messiah Jesus.

Speaking about his visit with the Christian leadership in Jerusalem fourteen years after he had begun his ministry, we heard Paul say in today’s second lesson, Galatians 2:6, that these elders who had known Jesus could add nothing to the Gospel Paul was preaching. Indeed, we read in Galatians 2:7-9 that it became clear to everyone that Paul had a ministry to the Gentiles just like Peter had a ministry to the Jews. And the meeting ended in goodwill on that agreement.

So, we come, then, to the Holy Gospel that both Peter and Paul preached. Here’s how Peter begins his first letter. 1Peter 1:3-5, “3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, 5 who by God’s power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.”

Here we have numerous key words. The first is mercy. Mercy is when you have either the right and/or capacity to punish or harm someone and you don’t do it. For instance, a judge can have mercy on someone who pleads guilty or is convicted by shortening a sentence or reducing a fine. In the case of human existence, our Creator has had mercy on us pitiable humans who are born in Original Sin and are thereby forced to disobey the first commandment by being our own gods, deciding good and evil for ourselves. Yahweh demonstrated His mercy by sending His only begotten Son to pay the penalty we deserve for our disobedience. By doing this, Yahweh demonstrated His grace, a word that Paul uses extensively in his letters. Grace means a gift. In this case Jesus is an undeserved gift to us, because our lives are full of overt or subtle rebellion against the righteousness of our Creator.

The next term is “born again.” Because we’re born in Original Sin, we need a second birth into the forgiveness of sins and Yahweh’s righteousness to get us out of the Judgment that comes because of Original Sin. This second birth is not something we can do or create for ourselves. It can only come as a free, gracious gift from Yahweh through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Peter says we’re born again into a living hope. Hope always looks forward to something better than what we presently have. The hope Peter is speaking of is righteous, eternal life in human bodies that will never die, grow old, be diseased or be involved in sin ever again. It’s life as our Creator meant it to be — an existence full of Yahweh’s perfect goodness.

How can we be sure that this is our hope? Peter says the bodily resurrection of Jesus guarantees it. The bodily resurrection of Jesus guarantees a righteous, resurrected, eternal existence for all who have been given the New Birth in Messiah Jesus. And Peter is an eyewitness of Jesus’ bodily resurrection.

Finally, there’s faith. Faith always has an object. Faith doesn’t make things up out of thin air. Faith believes a reality — for instance, faith believes the reality that Jesus was bodily resurrected from the dead.

Faith also believes a promise made by someone — for instance, the promise from Scripture that those Born Again in Messiah Jesus will be bodily resurrected with Messiah Jesus into perfect, righteous, eternal life.

And Peter tells us that faith does one more thing. It guards us. Having set us on a path to righteous eternal life, faith guards us through all the temptations, twists and turns of this sinful life to keep us moving toward righteous, eternal life.

In a famous series of verses, Paul wrote in Ephesians 2:8-10, “8 For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, 9 not a result of works, so that no one may boast. 10 For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.”

What does the gift of God received by faith save us from? The Second Death. Those who hate Yahweh and earnestly desire to remain their own gods deciding good and evil for themselves will receive what they want for all eternity in the final Judgment. By insisting on their right to define “good” for themselves, they will separate themselves from the only source of goodness that exists — Yahweh. Separated from Yahweh they will descend into the pure evil that they knowingly or unknowingly desire. This is the Second Death.

On the other hand, those whom Yahweh has called to His goodness — His righteousness—  desire only one thing, namely Yahweh Himself. The Gospel that Peter and Paul preached tells us that Jesus is the only way to approach righteous Yahweh in true righteousness. By faith in that Gospel, those whom Yahweh has called to Himself come to Him through the forgiveness of their sins.

Jesus commanded all humanity to believe that He is the only one that Yahweh sent who can make atonement for us so that sin is truly forgiven. Jesus commanded all humanity to follow Him to Yahweh. Jesus commanded all humanity to walk in righteousness with Him. This is the Gospel that the Apostles made known. 

In conclusion, it’s quite remarkable that Jesus used flawed men to advance the Kingdom of God. And by Yahweh’s power they greatly succeeded. So, He can use flawed ones even like us to speak His loving Truth to humanity. Thank you, Lord, for Saint Peter and St. Paul. Amen.

All Bible quotes are from the ESV.