Acts 3: Jesus on the Doorstep: Loving Your Enemies

Here is a good place to start when trying to understand the Lord’s motivations: “Do I take any pleasure in the death of the wicked? declares the Sovereign LORD. Rather, am I not pleased when they turn from their ways and live?” Ezekiel 18:23. To turn from their ways and live—that is the Lord’s desire—even for His enemies.

The Sadducees, as true materialists, were opposed to Jesus. They were gleefully His enemies it seems. As the ruling class of high priests (Annas and Caiaphas) and nobility, they were seeking to destroy Him. Luke 19:47 (“The chief priests and the scribes and the principal men of the people were seeking to destroy him.”); Luke 22:2.. They refused to acknowledge His authority. Luke 20:1-2. And they thought the doctrine of the resurrection was foolishness. Luke 20:27 et seq. And they tried to find a reason to accuse Him to Rome, with the question of political authority. Luke 20:19-26.

Jesus knew their intentions. He told his disciples, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” Luke 9:22. And Jesus let them know He understood they meant to, and would, do Him harm. Luke 20:9-19.

It was with the chief priests that Judas Iscariot was in league. Luke 33:3-6. And it was they who came out against Him in the power of darkness. Luke 22:52, 66. And it was they who brought Jesus to Pilate, Luke 23:1-5, and cried out for His death again and again, Luke 23:18-23, and mocked His dying. Luke 23:35.

You get the point. They were His enemies; they hated Him.

Jesus told them when asked if He was the Christ, “If I tell you, you will not believe, and if I ask you, you will not answer. But from now on the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of the power of God.” Luke 22:66-69. This is a clear reference to Daniel 7:13-14 and they understood His meaning, “Are you the Son of God then?” Luke 22:70. He answered, “It is as you say.” They killed Him anyway, but they could not have forgotten what He said about Himself.

Talk is cheap. At least that is what the Sadducees thought, “He saved others; let him save himself, if he is the Christ, His Chosen One!” Again, it is important to note they understood exactly who Jesus was saying He was. But you cannot kill God. You can try, and people, and nations, still do try, but you cannot kill God. You can put Him in the ground and bury Him, put a stone on top of Him, and seal it with wax. But He will live. He will be seated at the right hand of the power of God—if, and only if, He is God.

In this sense, we are all Sadducees confronted by the identity of Jesus: Is Jesus the Chosen One of God? That question would only make a material difference, however, if we were given a chance to answer it, not in ignorance, but after having all the information. They (together with Judas Iscariot) are the basest of sinners since they rejected everything, everything, about Christ Jesus in favor of this life and all the self-made hold they had on it despite (and perhaps because of) its temporal nature. If Christ still loved them, His most strident enemies, then we would have all the hope available in this world that He would love us.

The disciples saw Jesus ascend, and they were assured He was at the right hand of God when Joel 2 was fulfilled on Pentecost (that prophesy could only have been fulfilled if Jesus was where He said He would be). But the Sadducees did not know that. They were not witnesses to these recent events.

At this point, speaking in purely human terms, God had two choices (that’s not a fair approximation of how God thinks; but to highlight a point I will express it this human way). He could leave the Sadducees to themselves and their unbelief, or He could bring a witness of the “Chosen One of God” right to their doorstep, the Temple. If you’ve read Chapter 3, then you know He laid a witness right at their front door.

What was the witness? A man who had been lame since the day he was born, whose friends had lain him at the Beautiful Gate to beg of alms. How many times the Sadducees had passed by that man we don’t know; but we do know they were powerless to help him, even if they were so inclined.

But here he was clearly walking, leaping, and praising God. An undeniable healing. The Sadducces were greatly annoyed because Peter and John were proclaiming Jesus had risen from the dead—a doctrine they rejected. That’s a remarkable annoyance for what else could the healing of a lame-from-birth-man mean? Who else in recent memory had done this throughout Judea, except for Jesus? To remove all doubt, Peter—filled with the Holy Spirit—testified to them the following in Chapter 4:

Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is

“‘the stone you builders rejected,
    which has become the cornerstone.’

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

What a stunning reversal for them; they had only recently shouted “Crucify!” and had only recently mocked “Save yourself!” While they refused to entertain the implications of the “notable sign” (Acts 4, 16), their hard-boiled refusal says nothing about what Christ Jesus has done here.

He had said on the cross, “Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.” At the Temple, Christ provides a notable sign—they could see the man standing—the forgiveness was impressively real. It is at this moment the Sadducees could enter into the forgiveness Christ had prayed for them, and now offers them. He is clearly who He said He was when they examined Him upon His arrest. But instead of condemnation, and rebuke, He offers them His name and salvation.

They will have none of it. He had to have known that. But did that stop Him from making a very direct appeal based on what they knew of Him? No, it didn’t.

If not His great love, what else can explain His seeking them out where they were in the Temple, and that in the face of, and after, such intense animus? If He loved them, and desired their salvation, how about you? If Acts 3 and 4 prove anything, it is that He loves you and me, very much. His heart is toward us, in love, even if we have hated Him, not wanted Him, and rejected Him. His hand is open. Take it, and walk, and leap, and praise God.