April 28, 2025

Today's Reading: Acts 5:12-20 (21-32)

Daily Lectionary: Exodus 22:20-23:13; Luke 4:16-30

“...they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, ‘Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.’ And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.” (Acts 5:18-21)

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. 

The Acts of the Apostles opens with Jesus’s ascension and the day of Pentecost and then details the wild expansion of the Church. Unless your life is far more exciting than mine, many of the events in Acts aren’t terribly common in your daily lives—like extraordinary healings that draw sizeable crowds. At the beginning of this reading, people are hoping they can receive healing just from being under the shade of Peter’s shadow, though the text doesn’t say whether this tactic worked, and these large crowds result in jealousy on the part of the religious leaders who respond by putting the apostles in prison. This isn’t the only case of these types of miracles (and responses from authorities), and just as was the case in Jesus’ ministry, it would be easy to think these extraordinary miracles are the main point of the apostolic ministry. While these miracles are important, as they confirm Jesus’ place as Lord of all creation and a correction of the poisonous fruits of the Fall, they are not quite the main thing. When the Lord sends an angel to deliver the apostles out of prison, what does he tell them? He tells them to go to the temple and speak the words of this Life. By “this Life,” the angel means the life-giving and sustaining Word of God that brings us repentance, forgiveness, and salvation. The miracle that really is at the center of the apostolic ministry and continues today is not the healing, though this is certainly a residue of our Lord’s renewal of all things, but the forgiveness of sins. This forgiveness of sins is not just floating on the air but is in the words still spoken to us today as our pastors and fellow Christians forgive us, teach us, and help us walk in newness of life. So, while we may not see healings and deliverances as a regular part of the church’s work today, we do see greater healing and greater deliverance as Jesus gives us His words of this Life in the consolation of fellow Christians, the Absolution, and the breaking of the bread. 

In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.

Lord, Your words are waters living When my thirsting spirit pleads. Lord, Your words are bread life-giving; On Your words my spirit feeds. Lord, Your words will be my light Through death’s cold and dreary night; Yes, they are my sword prevailing And my cup of joy unfailing! (LSB 589:3)

- Deac. Eleanor Corrow, Higher Things Board Member and coordinator in LCMS Missionary Services

Audio Reflections Speaker: Pastor Jonathan Lackey is the pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Vine Grove, KY.

Andrew R. Jones identifies ten lies Satan uses in attempts to dismantle God’s people and His kingdom. Find encouragement in God's Word of Truth and remember the final victory we have in our Savior, Jesus Christ.