“Giving credit where credit is due”
By Rev. Michael Stonhouse
Meditation – Wednesday, January 18, 2023
Acts 4:8-13 (Forward, p. 81) CEV p. 1137
Something that we are sadly, and unfortunately, made aware of—and far too frequently at that—is of public officials falsely claiming credit for achievements and policies that they were not in the least responsible for. But then, isn’t that something that we fallible humans are quite likely to do?
However, in today’s passage we read of the exact opposite taking place. Where Peter and John could have quite easily—and rightfully, in one sense—claimed credit for the healing of the man who had been born lame—after all, they were the ones whom the Lord had used in this healing, Peter quickly switched all credit over to the Lord. Here is what he said to the crowd on the actual day of the healing:
“Friends, why are you surprised at what has happened? Why are you staring at us? Do you think we have some power of our own? Do you think we were able to make this man walk because we are so religious? ... You see this man, and you know him. He put his faith in the name of Jesus and was made strong. Faith in Jesus made this man completely well while everyone was watching” (verses 12,16).
And then, in today’s passage, as he and John are brought before the Sanhedrin for questioning:
“You are questioning us today about a kind deed in which a crippled man was healed. But there is something we must tell you and everyone else in Israel. This man is standing here completely well because of the power of Jesus Christ from Nazareth…Only Jesus has the power to save! His name is the only one in all the world that can save anyone” (verses 9-10a,12)
With his words to the largely incredulous audience, Peter leaves absolutely no doubt as to where he believes the healing came from. And, then, as if this was not enough, there is one other circumstantial kind of evidence that tends to back this up:
“The officials were amazed to see how brave Peter and John were, and they knew that these two apostles were only ordinary men and not well educated. They officials were certain that these men had been with Jesus” (verse 13).
There it is again: there was nothing in either man’s background, whether education or experience, that could account for this miracle—nothing, that is, except for the fact that they had been with Jesus. And so there it is again: Jesus! Jesus was the one who ‘pulled off’ this miracle, and to Him, and to Him alone, all credit is due. Not to these two servants used of God, but to Jesus and to God alone. Amen.
Forward notes: “Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and ordinary men, they were amazed and recognized them as companions of Jesus” (verse 13).
“I grew up in the house next to my grandmother’s younger sister. My mother, her parents, and siblings all converted to Christianity at her witness. I was baptized in the small Rhenish church they attended in Hong Kong. At my great-aunt’s funeral, I learned how deep her faith ran. Her pastor preached about how he would visit her at her apartment, which was filled with dozens of small notebooks. Every day, she would sit and read her Bible and copy down verses to remember them. She was buried with her well-annotated personal Bible.
“Today, I’m struck by how Peter and John get recognized as companions of Jesus. At Jesus’s arrest, it is Peter’s Galilean accent that betrays him to the bystanders as a companion of Jesus. In the early, bustling days of the church, it is uneducated and ordinary people who proclaim the gospel. Let us follow their example of boldness in the service of healing and resurrection and salvation.”
MOVING FORWARD: “How do others know you are Christian? By your love? Words? Study? Actions?