No Other Name

Many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.
–Acts 4:4

If you’re familiar with US history, you know that Aaron Burr and Alexander Hamilton weren’t the best of friends. In fact, in 1804, they wound up in a duel that cost Hamilton his life. The musical Hamilton dramatizes the first meeting between the two men. After Hamilton goes on and on about his dreams, Burr gives him some advice: He should start talking less and smiling more.

Unfortunately, too many churches have adopted the philosophy of talking less and smiling more when it comes to sharing the gospel. They don’t want to say anything offensive and risk losing their audience. Yet the most offensive thing we can say when sharing the gospel is that Jesus is the only way to heaven. This offensive truth was the cornerstone of the early church.

In Acts 3, Peter and John went to the temple, where Peter healed a beggar who had been disabled since birth. This miracle provided a platform for Peter to share the gospel with unbelieving Jews in the temple area. But Peter hadn’t even finished speaking before he and John were accosted by religious officials. Acts 4:1–2 says, “As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.”

The Sadducees were an elite, educated sect of Judaism. They believed in God, but they didn’t believe in life after death. So they were particularly offended by Peter and John’s teaching. Verse 3 says, “They laid hands on them and put them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening.” It was unlawful to hold a trial in the evening, and the religious leaders might have thought a night in the clinker would cool the apostles’ jets.

But even though Peter and John were in jail, the Word of God wasn’t imprisoned. Verse 4 says, “Many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.” Because Peter and John did not back down from sharing the only way to be saved, thousands of people came to know Christ as Savior.

Today’s devotion is adapted from “No Other Name,” by Dr. Robert Jeffress, 2021.

Lin-Manuel Miranda, “Aaron Burr, Sir,” track 2 on disc 1 of Hamilton (Original Broadway Cast Recording), Atlantic, 2015, 2 compact discs.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. www.lockman.org.