God’s Word for You
Acts 5:41-42 The Name
by Pastor Timothy Smith on Thursday, November 28, 2019
41 The apostles rejoiced as they left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to be dishonored for the Name. 42 Every day, in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the gospel that Jesus is the Christ.
The apostles were scourged (whipped) with the members of the Sanhedrin watching, just as Jesus had been scourged before Pilate (John 19:1). But there was no other punishment. Bleeding and in tremendous physical pain, they began to rejoice. They left the presence of the Sanhedrin council smiling, laughing, and singing, despite their physical pain. They probably joined together in a hymn or Psalm such as Psalm 67, with words of praise and joy to the Lord: “May the peoples praise you, O God, may all the peoples praise you!” They were especially glad to have been “counted worthy to be dishonored for the Name.” Perhaps the words of Psalm 135 came to mind: “You who minister in the house of the LORD, in the courts of the house of our God, praise the LORD, for the LORD is good; sing praise to his Name, for that is pleasant” (Psalm 135:2-3).
“The Name” is a way of saying the name of God or of Jesus without pronouncing its syllables. Modern Jews still often say Ha-Shem “the Name” rather than saying “God” when teaching or in worship.
Why did the disciples use the term “the Name” at this time? They had been commanded by the Sanhedrin not to teach in the name of Jesus, and had just been flogged as a sharp reminder, so to confess their faith, they showed that it doesn’t matter what name one uses for Jesus; he is every bit as much the God of Heaven as God the Father. Jesus often used the term “Son of Man” for himself. This was as if to say to the Jews, “You don’t like it when I call myself the Son of God? Fine. I’ll say, ‘Son of Man’ instead.” But “Son of Man” was also a title for the Son of God, and the Jews knew it. The apostles were going to be preaching and teaching about everything Jesus Christ said and did, and it didn’t matter to them whether they said “Jesus Christ” or “The Name, the Messiah whom the Sanhedrin crucified and who has risen again.” The people would know. John later wrote: “It was for the sake of the Name that they went out, receiving no help from the pagans” (3 John 7). He was talking about the Christian preachers and missionaries of a later time (writing some fifty or sixty years after this), but doubtless his memory of this day and of those first stripes he received for Jesus’ sake never faded.
They went right back into the temple and began to preach. They didn’t complain about their harsh treatment. They didn’t raise a lawsuit against the Sanhedrin. They didn’t create a new #hashtag account about what they went through. They just kept on preaching the gospel of Jesus.
One other thing stands out in this account. The apostles never once boasted about their courage or about what they were “willing to go through” for Jesus. They just endured it, and then started preaching again. There was never a moment of “I am the Apostle Nathanael, and this is what I have done for Jesus.” It was just “Jesus, and what he has done for us.” This is what it looks like when faith in Christ is put into action.
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in New Ulm, Minnesota. To receive God’s Word for You via e-mail, please visit the St. Paul’s Lutheran Church website.