In Whose Name?
The Power of the Name of Jesus
“By what power or what name do you do this? “
The Pharisees and the Sadducees were angry and incensed that Peter and John had been going around their house and their city proclaiming the name of Jesus as Messiah and Savior of mankind from their sins. The straw that broke the proverbial camel’s back was when they had healed a beggar of his infirmity and he had jumped for joy and thanked and proclaimed the name of Jesus all throughout town.
The Pharisees and the Sadducees weren’t going to have anymore of that! They had thought (wrongly) that once Jesus was crucified that would be the end of the so-called Messiah!
The religious leaders did not care about God or Jesus as they used to in times of old. They were so caught up and enamored by the luxuries of this world and all of the acclaim and honor they received as highly-esteemed leaders of the Jewish people that they had put to bed the only person who made all of that possible in the first place! They were so puffed up with pride that they had subconsciously rejected God and barely stopped short of considering themselves their own gods!
I think I can understand how that is, albeit not in the aspect of religious esteem. It’s very easy to be caught up in the worries and pleasures of this world that we put God on the back burner and begin caring more for the fleshly things as opposed to the spiritual things. It can be even more difficult to remain close to God in this fast-paced modern world we live in. There’s so much going on all the time that we forget that we need to be thankful to God for blessing us with salvation!
I like to think that proclaiming all the aspects of the gospel (salvation, the consequences of sin and unrepentance, and the necessity of coming to Jesus for salvation) would be the first and foremost important thing we have to do each day, but if we don’t take inventory of our own hearts and the conditions of our spiritual lives, then how can we confidently say to those who ask, “by what power or by what name do you do this?” that we proclaim and do these things in the name of Jesus Christ, who came to save the world?
Let’s stop more often in each day, savor the quiet moments we do have and give thanks to God. Let’s ask God to clean our hearts and minds, replenish our spirits, and continually take stock of our spiritual conditions so that we can go forth and confidently proclaim the gospel knowing that we are in good standing with the Lord!
