Defilement's Origin - Mark 7:14-23 - May 17, 2020

These are the Sermon Notes for May 17, 2020. Watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

Mark 7:14-23 Defilement’s Origin 

We are returning in our study of the Gospel of Mark with chapter 7:14-23. Last  week we left Jesus and His disciples on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee in the region of Gennesaret in a dispute with the Scribes and Pharisees.

The Scribes and Pharisees had been questioning Jesus as to why His disciples eat with hands that were defiled, meaning that they had not gone through the ritual of ceremonial washing before they ate according to the traditions of the elders that had been passed down.

Jesus condemned their religious tradition for what it was, a tradition of men and not the command of God. He then went on to expose the hypocrisy of their hearts by showing how they very easily ignore the commands of God in order to protect their traditions. Jesus used the example of their violation of the fifth Commandment in order to protect their own wealth and resources instead of caring for their aging parents. He exposed that they were making void the Word of God by their traditions not just in this way but in many others.

And then we come to our text in chapter seven, verse fourteen.

14 And he called the people to him again and said to them, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.” 17 And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

Last week I quoted Matthew Henry when he wrote, “Corrupt customs are best cured by rectifying corrupt notions.” Here in this passage Jesus not only shows the answer to the Scribes and Pharisees corrupt notions but He also exposes the corrupt notions of all mankind when it comes to defilement.

Now, I’m sure that that may not be the vocabulary that people use when, or if, they consider this issue but the concept is there that mankind is basically good and whatever makes him bad comes from outside. 

This is at the heart of modern psychology, that a person starts out as good but their environment, their education, or their examples let them down and somehow damaged them, defiled them.

The Scribes and the Pharisees taught the same thing, that the children of Abraham were pure in and of themselves, and as long as they carefully held to the traditions of the elders that they would remain pure and acceptable to God. If something on the outside of a person could defile them, the assumption is made that they were inwardly pure before but Jesus here says that it’s exactly the opposite.

The problem with thinking that people are basically good, that people were morally pure in and of themselves before situations arose, or circumstances changed, or bad things happened that damaged them and defiled them is that it ignores the Scripture, it ignores what God’s Word actually says.

I want to be very clear before I go any further: I am not downplaying mental health problems, I am not denying that mental health problems exist, I am not suggesting that if people just believe in Jesus that their problems and issues will disappear. I am an example of exactly the opposite, I have put my faith in Jesus, I have given my life to His service, and yet I still struggle with anxiety and depression. These things are real and are constant companions so please do not hear me saying that this stuff is not real, it is.

The problem is not the psychology, the problem is moral defilement, what makes a person bad. And the question before us, the question that Jesus answered here is, does defilement come from the outside or the inside?

The Scribes and Pharisees were saying that moral defilement comes from the outside, from external, outward performance. But the Bible says, Jesus says otherwise.

Jeremiah 17:9 says, that the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately sick, Romans 3:23 says, that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.

Jesus said, “Hear me, all of you, and understand: 15 There is nothing outside a person that by going into him can defile him, but the things that come out of a person are what defile him.”

That is to say that a person is not morally defiled by what he eats even if his hands were not ceremonially washed, disobedience is what causes defilement, disobedience to God’s Law. A person who ate unclean food or ate with unclean hands as defined by the Law of Moses was not defiled by the food nor defiled by their hands but by disobedience to God’s commands. Even Adam and Eve are an example of this, it wasn’t the forbidden fruit that made them sinful, it was their disobedience of God’s command not to eat from that particular tree. Mankind has suffered from their disobedience ever since.

The scribes and Pharisees taught that a person had to follow their rules in order to maintain their cleanness, but external rituals do not cleanse a person, God alone can cleanse a person’s evil heart.

The Disciples still did not get this. 

17 And when he had entered the house and left the people, his disciples asked him about the parable. 18 And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? I grew up with the New International Version of the Bible where my life verse here is translated, “Are you still so dull?”

Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) 

Good news for all you bacon and lobster lovers! Paul also echoed this truth in Romans 14:17, the kingdom of God is not a matter of eating and drinking but of righteousness and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit.

This was a problem that plagued the early church, not just eating non-kosher foods but the eating of meat that had been sacrificed to idols. Even the Apostle Peter struggled with this long after this teaching from Jesus and visions given by the Holy Spirit. You can read about that in Acts 10 and Galatians 2.

And yet somehow, though we don’t really struggle with the cleanness of foods or the ceremonial washing of our hands we still don’t get Jesus’ real point, that defilement from sin does not come from outside a person but from inside a person.

Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, 19 since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?”

 20 And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. 21 For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”

This is a list of evil that is tolerated, accepted, celebrated, even seen as fundamental rights of the individual in our society.

Evil thoughts, the first item on the list, is the general category and root of all the various evils that follow. Evil thoughts unite with a person’s will and produce all these various evil words and actions.

When Jesus said, in verse 21, out of the heart of man come evil thoughts and so on, He was not talking about one man, but every man, all of mankind, men and women alike. This is the common condition of all mankind, bubbling over with evil thoughts that give rise to evil deeds.

Sexual immorality, that is, any sexual activity outside the covenant of marriage, theft or stealing, murder (1John 3:15 says that everyone who hates his brother is a murderer), adultery, that is any sexual activity with someone who is not your spouse or who is the spouse of someone else, coveting, that strong urge to collect more and better material things than others around you, the need to keep up with the Joneses, wickedness, generally doing evil things, deceit, lying, trickery and treachery, sensuality, meaning sexual activity with no moral restraint, envy, literally “an evil eye,” an idiom that means a feeling of resentment or jealousy because of what someone else has, slander, speaking about someone in such a way that damages their reputation, pride, meaning arrogance, foolishness, not goofiness or silliness but an unwillingness to use one’s capacity for understanding, some might say living in a constant willing denial of God. 

This is the common condition of the insides of every person who has ever lived besides Jesus. No external ritual can cleanse us of this, no amount of hand washing or rule following will ever effect this condition.

And this condition, which the Bible calls “sin,” brings with it consequences.

Romans 6:23 says, the wages of sin in death. That is that the reward for this inward sinfulness is death, eternal death. This is the great predicament of mankind. This is the bad news. Because of our inward sinfulness we are defiled in God’s sight and that sinfulness earns us only death and eternal judgment.

This bad news from Jesus is offensive, I wouldn’t blame you for shutting off this video long before now, but Jesus didn’t come to make your life easy or to make you feel good about yourself and I’m not here to make you feel good or make your life easy either. It’s the badness of the bad news that makes the Good News so good!

Jesus didn’t come to condemn us, Jesus came to expose our sin, remind us of its consequences, and offer a solution. It is by God’s grace that we are saved from the condemnation that we deserve because of our inward defilement, it is by God’s grace that though we sin against Him, God the Father still loves us. John 3:16-20 says:

16 “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. 17 For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. 18 Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. 19 And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. 20 For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed.

Not everyone will accept this word, not everyone wants to come out from the darkness. But I do pray that everyone who hears this word today will come to the light, confess their sin, and trust in the Savior, Jesus Christ, who died on the cross to take the punishment that we all deserve for our sin. Through faith in Him He cancelled the record of our debt that stood against us, this He set aside, nailing it to the cross.

May His Name be praised.

Let’s pray

Traditions Examined - Mark 7:1-13 - May 10, 2020

These are the Sermon Notes for May 10, 2020. Watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

Mark 7:1-13 Traditions Examined

We are returning to the Gospel of Mark, in chapter seven, verses 1-13. What a timely Scripture this is that we are going to examine! I say that because we are living in a time when people are beginning to examine the traditions of the church.

There have been several articles and discussions lately about what it means to “go back to church.” “Church” meaning the event that traditionally happened on Sunday mornings in a church building. Our brothers and sisters in Maine and in various other states now get to do “drive-in” church where everybody just stays in their cars, honk twice to say, “amen,” turn on the windshield wipers to raise their hands in worship, one long honk of the horn because they’ve fallen asleep and are slumped over onto the steering wheel…

This discussion about going back to church and how to do that best is an important one. Every church has traditions and ideas about what church is supposed to be like, CrossRoads Church is no different. But what we have the privilege of doing now in this time where we are not allowed to gather together for corporate worship is to examine our traditions and see if they measure up to Scripture or if they are based just in our own ideas of how we should please God.

Jesus had a similar opportunity in our text today, Mark 7:1-13 where He was confronted by a group of Scribes and Pharisees over adherence to their traditions. So let’s look at that together and see if we can glean any guidance for our own situation as a church family.

Now when the Pharisees gathered to him, with some of the scribes who had come from Jerusalem, 2 they saw that some of his disciples ate with hands that were defiled, that is, unwashed. 3 (For the Pharisees and all the Jews do not eat unless they wash their hands properly, holding to the tradition of the elders, 4 and when they come from the marketplace, they do not eat unless they wash. And there are many other traditions that they observe, such as the washing of cups and pots and copper vessels and dining couches.) 5 And the Pharisees and the scribes asked him, “Why do your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders, but eat with defiled hands?” 6 And he said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, 

“‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 

8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” 

9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban” ’ (that is, given to God)— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

Now this is only part one of a two part teaching of Jesus on the idea of defilement or what defiles a person, and we’ll look at the second part next time. In the first part of Jesus’ teaching here He deals, in a general sense, with the idea of traditions and their motivation behind them.

The first tradition examined is the tradition of ceremonial hand washing before eating. Now to be clear, since we are in the age of diligent hand washing to avoid a virus, the interest here was not hand washing for sanitary reasons. Their concern had nothing really to do with washing off dirt or germs. Their concern was preserving adherence to the traditions of the elders.

Warren Wiersbe wrote, “The Jews called tradition ‘the fence of the Law.’ It is not the Law that protected the tradition but the tradition that protected the Law!”

We’ve talked about this idea before when dealing with the Sabbath laws. God said to keep the Sabbath holy and that the people were not to do any work on the Sabbath, so in order to protect the Law they put in place specific rules defining just exactly what one could do before it was considered work, how many steps one could take and things like that. 

What began as a desire to keep the Law of God became a law unto itself, an empty law that became even more revered than the Law of God. In fact, in the Talmud, the collection of all these teachings it’s recorded, “It is a greater offense to teach anything contrary to the voice of the Rabbis than to contradict Scripture itself.”

There were Levitical Laws concerning washing and ceremonial cleanness but the traditions of the elders took those Laws to a whole new level to the point where cleanness wasn’t the point, adherence to the tradition was.

I want to skip down to verse 9 and then we’ll circle back to verses 6-8.

9 And he said to them, “You have a fine way of rejecting the commandment of God in order to establish your tradition! 10 For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’ 11 But you say, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban” ’ (that is, given to God)— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

The Pharisees had developed their own loophole to God’s commands and this truly exposes what their real concern was. 

Verse 10 says, For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’; and, ‘Whoever reviles father or mother must surely die.’

Honoring one’s father and mother was the fifth commandment, our parents who raised us, fed us, and taught us deserve our love and support when they reach old age and need us to do for them what they did for us, and caring for them in this way is a way to honor God by obeying His commandment. 

Paul also wrote about this in 1 Timothy 5:4, 8:

4 But if a widow has children or grandchildren, let them first learn to show godliness to their own household and to make some return to their parents, for this is pleasing in the sight of God…

And…

8 …if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.

But the Pharisees, the traditions of the elders said, ‘If a man tells his father or his mother, “Whatever you would have gained from me is Corban” ’ (that is, given to God)— 12 then you no longer permit him to do anything for his father or mother, 13 thus making void the word of God by your tradition that you have handed down. And many such things you do.”

This is in essence saying something like, “Mom and Dad, I know that it’s not really safe for you to live on your own and I do have that nice big spare room but… The church really needs a place to store the costumes and sets for the Christmas play so you’re just going to have to figure something out for yourselves.

There were no nursing homes, there were no convalescent centers, this was a sentence of poverty and destitution.

What this exposes was that the Scribes and Pharisees had no interest in real holiness, or in real cleanness, it had to do with preserving their own wealth, power, and influence. 

Jesus posed a threat to their influence because people were flocking to Him, He was a threat to their power because he came to give freedom to the captives, and a loss of their influence and power over people was a threat to their wealth and comfortable lifestyle.

Traditions can be a way that some people preserve their own power and influence, and as Matthew Henry wrote, “Corrupt customs are best cured by rectifying corrupt notions.”

6 [Jesus] said to them, “Well did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, 

“‘This people honors me with their lips, but their heart is far from me; 7 in vain do they worship me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.’ 

8 You leave the commandment of God and hold to the tradition of men.” 

But what about us?

Traditions sometimes are based on a misinterpretation of Scripture, sometimes they are added on top of the requirements of Scripture, and sometimes they ignore Scripture altogether!

But not all traditions are bad, so how can we tell the difference? How can we tell if a tradition that we hold, something that we do as a church family is a command of God, or is sinful, or is something totally innocuous, something that is just practical?

Scripture is the key! Does the tradition misinterpret Scripture, does it add requirements on top of Scripture, does it ignore the teaching of Scripture?

We must also be careful to avoid using the rights words but the wrong attitude, just because our description or defense of a particular tradition sounds “bible-ish” doesn’t make it correct.

Does the tradition lead to a feeling of self righteousness, as if our adherence to that particular tradition is what makes us acceptable to God in our minds?

Are we just using worldly philosophies cloaked in religious words?

Are we adding a secondary set of rules as if the plain commands of God are not enough?

True confession: It seems as if I’ve made a career out of bucking tradition and questioning everything the church does and that certainly hasn’t made my life any easier, but I don’t regret it. The truth is that if the Bible is not our true source of how we practice our “religion,” we are only leading people to an imaginary god of our own making.

The One True Living God has made Himself known, He has revealed to the world how we can have a relationship with Him through faith in His Son Jesus Christ and be filled with His Holy Spirit so that we can interpret His holy Word. He has given us everything we need, we don’t need to add to it.

Some traditions we hold are outside the scope of biblical teaching, some may very well be against it, and some may be perfectly in line, but let’s all examine them together as a family so that we can know for certain that our traditions are in keeping with the Father’s instruction through Christ and His Apostles so that as we move forward as a church family we bring honor and glory to Him alone.

Amen.

The Most Embarrassing Lesson - Mark 6:45-56 - May 3, 2020

These are the Sermon Notes for May 3, 2020. Watch our livestream service every Sunday at 9:37 am on our facebook page or watch the livestream recordings any time.

Mark 6:45-56 The Most Embarrassing Lesson

Last week we looked at Jesus feeding the five thousand and how that miraculous event was really aimed at teaching the disciples a lesson in humility. They had returned from a successful missions trip where they had preached and cast out demons and healed many who were sick in Jesus’ Name, and then when faced with an inconvenient hungry crowd Jesus challenged their pride in their accomplishments and said to them, “You feed them.”

Jesus proved to them that the power to accomplish His work on the earth came from God and not from them, that they were merely clay pots that the Lord had chosen to manifest His power through. Unfortunately for them, Jesus was not finished teaching them this lesson.

We are going to pick up Mark’s account in Mark 6:45-56 and we are going to look at, what I think, is the most embarrassing and humiliating moment in the Disciples’ lives.

45 Immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida, while he dismissed the crowd. 46 And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. 47 And when evening came, the boat was out on the sea, and he was alone on the land. 48 And he saw that they were making headway painfully, for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. He meant to pass by them, 49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. 

53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him 55 and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.

Before we go too far, I want you to consider what is missing from Mark’s account. I’m sure many of you have heard of Jesus walking on water but who else is usually included in the story? Peter, right?

In Matthew’s Gospel he includes Peter asking Jesus to invite him out on the water in order to prove that it’s really Him, and, of course, Peter takes his eyes off the Lord and focuses instead on the wind and the waves and began to sink. Peter cried out to Jesus and He saves him and they both get into the boat.

Now, you have to remember that Mark is recording Peter’s recollection of these events. This is most likely why this part of the story is left out, either because Peter didn’t want people to get the wrong idea and think too much of him, or he was embarrassed by his failure.

Either way, there was enough embarrassment to go around.

After everyone had eaten their fill and the disciples picked up the twelve basketfuls of leftovers Jesus compelled the disciples to get into their boat and go to the other side to Bethsaida while he dismissed the crowd.

I’m sure the disciples didn’t want to go without Him and that is apparent in the language there, “He made His disciples get into the boat and go…” But they went and paddled off for the other side of the lake.

Jesus remained and dismissed the crowd, then went up on the mountain to pray. “Mountain” is a generous word especially compared to the White Mountains where we live, nevertheless, He went up on the hillside to pray.

And He prays until about the fourth watch of the night there on the hillside where he can see the disciples struggling against a headwind down on the lake and He decides to go to them, walking on the water.

Now imagine yourself in the disciples’ shoes, or sandals, I guess.

The disciples had just witnessed the glory of God manifested in the feeding of five thousand men with the equivalent of a tuna melt. In fact, they most likely had the twelve baskets full of broken pieces of bread and fish in the boat with them. And when Jesus comes to them in the fourth watch of the night, that’s somewhere between three and six in the morning, when He comes to them walking on the water, how do they respond?

…when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were terrified.

They thought He was a ghost. They thought the same as King Herod thinking Jesus was the ghost of John the Baptist.

They had just been on a spiritual mountaintop and fallen off a cliff!

The scholars say it like this: “The disciples did not properly consider the glory of Christ which was exhibited in the multiplication of the loaves…”

I say it like this: what a bunch of morons! They had full bellies, and most likely full baskets of bread, all by Jesus’ hand and now when they see Him walking on the water they freak out and think he’s a ghost! What on earth is their problem?!

49 but when they saw him walking on the sea they thought it was a ghost, and cried out, 50 for they all saw him and were terrified. But immediately he spoke to them and said, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” 51 And he got into the boat with them, and the wind ceased. And they were utterly astounded, 52 for they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. 

So, what on earth was their problem? Their hearts were hardened, they were literally unwilling to learn and accept new information, they did not yet recognize that Jesus is Messiah, the Son of God.

Even after Jesus got into the boat and calmed the wind, even after they recognized that it was truly Him and not a ghost, they were, “utterly astounded,” completely flabbergasted as Ray Steadman put it.

The fact of the matter is regardless of what they had seen Jesus do or what they had heard Him say they still did not know who He really was. They were blinded.

53 When they had crossed over, they came to land at Gennesaret and moored to the shore. 54 And when they got out of the boat, the people immediately recognized him 55 and ran about the whole region and began to bring the sick people on their beds to wherever they heard he was. 56 And wherever he came, in villages, cities, or countryside, they laid the sick in the marketplaces and implored him that they might touch even the fringe of his garment. And as many as touched it were made well.

Even after they landed at Gennesaret, just south of Capernaum, people flocked to Jesus for healing, but, like the disciples, their understanding of who Jesus is was limited only to what He could do for them right then. To even touch the hem of his garment brought healing to the sick. He met their immediate need but what about their eternal need?

And what about the disciples? How did this bunch of dim-witted, dull-eyed, dopes go on to change the world? There are cities named after these men all over the world because of what they did, so what changed?

Fast-forward a year or so to Acts chapter 2…

When the day of Pentecost arrived, they were all together in one place. 2 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. 3 And divided tongues as of fire appeared to them and rested on each one of them. 4 And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. 

5 Now there were dwelling in Jerusalem Jews, devout men from every nation under heaven. 6 And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. 7 And they were amazed and astonished, saying, “Are not all these who are speaking Galileans? 8 And how is it that we hear, each of us in his own native language? 9 Parthians and Medes and Elamites and residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, 10 Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, 11 both Jews and proselytes, Cretans and Arabians—we hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works of God.” 12 And all were amazed and perplexed, saying to one another, “What does this mean?” 13 But others mocking said, “They are filled with new wine.” 

14 But Peter, standing with the eleven, lifted up his voice and addressed them: “Men of Judea and all who dwell in Jerusalem, let this be known to you, and give ear to my words. 15 For these people are not drunk, as you suppose, since it is only the third hour of the day. 16 But this is what was uttered through the prophet Joel: 

17 “ ‘And in the last days it shall be, God declares, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh, and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, and your young men shall see visions, and your old men shall dream dreams; 18 even on my male servants and female servants in those days I will pour out my Spirit, and they shall prophesy.     19 And I will show wonders in the heavens above and signs on the earth below, blood, and fire, and vapor of smoke; 20 the sun shall be turned to darkness and the moon to blood, before the day of the Lord comes, the great and magnificent day. 21 And it shall come to pass that everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.’ 

22 “Men of Israel, hear these words: Jesus of Nazareth, a man attested to you by God with mighty works and wonders and signs that God did through him in your midst, as you yourselves know— 23 this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. 24 God raised him up, loosing the pangs of death, because it was not possible for him to be held by it. 25 For David says concerning him, “ ‘I saw the Lord always before me, for he is at my right hand that I may not be shaken; 26 therefore my heart was glad, and my tongue rejoiced; my flesh also will dwell in hope. 27 For you will not abandon my soul to Hades, or let your Holy One see corruption. 28 You have made known to me the paths of life; you will make me full of gladness with your presence.’ 

29 “Brothers, I may say to you with confidence about the patriarch David that he both died and was buried, and his tomb is with us to this day. 30 Being therefore a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him that he would set one of his descendants on his throne, 31 he foresaw and spoke about the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to Hades, nor did his flesh see corruption. 32 This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. 33 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. 34 For David did not ascend into the heavens, but he himself says, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord, “Sit at my right hand, 35 until I make your enemies your footstool.” ’ 

36 Let all the house of Israel therefore know for certain that God has made him both Lord and Christ, this Jesus whom you crucified.” 

37 Now when they heard this they were cut to the heart, and said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, “Brothers, what shall we do?” 38 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. 39 For the promise is for you and for your children and for all who are far off, everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself.”

Peter, the disciple too embarrassed to include his failure at walking on water in Mark’s Gospel preached this message and about three thousand souls came to Christ in faith. 

What was the difference? The presence and power of the Holy Spirit.

John Calvin wrote, “It is no new thing if men have their eyes closed against the manifest works of God, till they are enlightened from above.”

When people are enlightened from above by the power of the Holy Spirit they are given new eyes to see, new eyes that are no longer blinded to the purposes of God in their lives and in the world.

May we see the world with new eyes, may we seek the Lord with new eyes.

Amen.