May 2, 2023
Today’s Reading: Acts 2:42-47
Daily Lectionary: Leviticus 10:1-20; Luke 9:37-62
And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts, praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. (Acts 2:46–47 ESV)
In the Name + of Jesus. Amen. I had a roommate in college that thought a romantic relationship only lasted until someone better came along. A girlfriend could be (and often was) replaced at any time. I bring this up because this is how some in the ancient world thought about the Christian God. They would question His commitment to His people. If one of their friends became a Christian they would ask them how they could follow such a fickle God. “He changed His mind about the Jews,”they would say, “How long until He changes his mind about you?”
Their thought was that God had chosen the Gentiles over the Jews and that He had not kept His promises to the descendants of Abraham. Such a God who changed His mind was not to be trusted, He was not to be followed, and He was inferior to the other Gods available. These critiques were meant to sow the seeds of doubt among the non-Jewish converts to the new faith. Part of the apologetic task of the early church was to counter such criticisms and show that God had kept his promises to the Jews, that He was, is, and always would be faithful to His people whether they were Jew or Gentile.
Our reading today shows that God was faithful to the Jews and that He did keep his promises to them. Everything that Luke mentions in this summary statement took place in Jerusalem among believers who were ethnic Jews. They were devoted to the apostles’ teaching and the breaking of the bread. They were proof that God was faithful to the Jews, that God kept the promises He had made to Abraham.
God continues to be faithful to His promises. The same teachings that they were devoted to are the same teachings that continue to this day in the church. The bread they broke is the same bread we break in the Sacrament of the Altar. The God who was faithful to them is the God who is faithful to you. God did not change His mind about them and He will not change His mind about you. In the Name + of Jesus. Amen.
Through the intervening ages Round the world the Gospel spread: Faithful heralds took the message , Guided where the Spirit led; So the body grew in stature, Serving Christ, the living head. (We Are Called to Stand Together, LSB 828:3)
– Pastor Grant A Knepper is Pastor at Grace Lutheran Church, Modesto, CA.
Audio Reflections Speaker: Jonathan Lackey is an LCMS seminarian.
Study Christ’s words on the cross to see how you can show more Christlike grace in your life. Perfect for group or individual study, each chapter has a Q&A at the end, and the back of the book includes a leader guide. Available now from Concordia Publishing House.
