Thursday, December 20, 2012

Primacy in Preaching

Acts 4:2 KJV
Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

Here is the chief objection of the religious leaders of Israel as well as the main doctrine preached by the Apostles.

They preached through Jesus the resurrection of the dead.

Of course the Sadducees would have objected to any message concerning the resurrection because they did not believe in one. But the Pharisees found their objection in Christ Himself. They had thought themselves rid of Him on the day of His crucifixion. They could not have been more wrong. Christ's own resurrection from the dead, being witnessed by so many, had provided impetus to the disciples of the Lord and made His message a thousand times more appealing than it had been.

Orthodox Jews expected a Messiah and hoped for a resurrection of the just. In Christ's resurrection, His Messianic claim was confirmed and their hope of resurrection became validated. A people who expect that death is no end to life cannot be little forced. They know that, should they suffer even to the death, it only serves as the gateway into a far greater life.

What I see here is a key to biblical preaching; it is resurrection through Christ that was the earliest message of the Apostles and it is resurrection through Christ that should take primacy in our preaching today. 


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