The Empty Cell

This past Resurrection Sunday, Pastor Harlow preached “The Empty Cell” from Acts 5:12–42, drawing a vivid parallel between the empty tomb and the empty prison the risen Christ left behind him. The same God who raised Jesus from the dead sent an angel to open locked doors and return the apostles to the temple courts, and no Sanhedrin, no threat, and no flogging could silence their witness. Peter’s declaration before the council — “We must obey God rather than men” — shows the resurrection is not simply a doctrine to confess but a power that reorders every loyalty. The apostles walked away from their beating rejoicing, and their example presses the same question on us: does the risen Christ hold that kind of authority over our lives?