(Please read the Scripture passage before reading the homily.)
Peter, with John, had invoked the Lord’s name to heal a crippled man. He then explained to the people that God had raised up Jesus as God’s chosen Messiah. In the middle of Peter’s speech, he, John and the healed man are arrested and brought before the court.
The authorities cannot deny that the man was cured, because he is in their midst. They can, however, insist that the apostles not preach in the name of the Lord Jesus, which the apostles refuse to do.
The authorities were much like the way we are when we are forced to accept some truth against our will. We tend to hem and haw, get angry, and say stupid things.
We can condemn the Jewish leaders, but we should not, and this for several reasons. One, we ourselves have done the same kind of thing to others. Second, This would be blaming all Jewish people for the actions of a few two thousand years ago. Third, it is easier to condemn others than to scrutinize our own conduct and intentions.
Without Jesus, we are as bad as all the other people. With Jesus we have salvation, but this salvation is tied into the salvation of all peoples. If we exclude anybody, we exclude ourselves because we are saved in the community Jesus established. When we accuse others, we accuse ourselves and remove ourselves from the community of the saved.
Peter explains that Jesus is the cornerstone, rejected by us, but chosen by God. He names the sin so as to invite the repentance. We likewise must announce repentance to others, nor because we are without sin, but because God calls us all to repentance and the forgiveness of sins.