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Acts study & commentary

Acts 4

By Doug Ford
Peter and John Arrested
Addressing the Sanhedrin
The Name of Jesus Forbidden
Prayer for Boldness
Sharing in All Things

In chapter 3 we saw Peter and John at the temple.  They went to pray but God had led them to a divine appointment with a certain man.  Why that man?  Among all those that were afflicted and in need, why that man on that day?  That's the sovereignty of God and the mystery of election.

God chose this man.  He also chose Peter as the man who He would empower and by whose hands He would do His work.  Peter knew when He reached down and lifted that lame man that God was doing something.  It took faith for Peter and John both.  It also took faith for the man that was lame to stand.

This is the first recorded miracle at the hands of the apostles.  It's much like what Jesus did.  A miracle drew a crowd, many of them coming hoping to see another or benefit from one, but many wanting to know what it means and who did it?  No matter the motivation, everyone heard the message of Jesus.  For Peter and John that day, a mob of people gathered in response to this lame man's walking into the temple.  Peter showed them Jesus, their messiah.

In chapter 4 we see the man formerly known as lame has become the most important person there.  He's evidence of a move of God.  His dancing around, standing, walking are a testimony of the authority of God.  The crowd saw this and wanted to know more.  The religious folks saw this and investigated.   They couldn't deny the miracle, so they did the only thing they could do; they attempted to intimidate, threaten them, treat them poorly and use their authority to silence them.  The blind bust the bold as this religious system attempts to silence the bold preachers proclaiming Christ.

 

Acts 4:1-4

The word used for 'greatly disturbed' is irked, upset; disturbed with an underlying anger.  This preaching by Peter became offensive to the temple guard and priests because Peter and John were teaching that the Jews had crucified Christ as a blasphemer. After all, if anyone was to teach at the temple, it was the Sadducees, priests and Pharisees, not these followers of the Nazarene.  Once again, we see the religious leaders unmoved by what had happened in the healing of the lame man. The Sadducees were particular disturbed that anyone would teach about the resurrection.  Teaching salvation by grace, through faith in a resurrected messiah who promised eternal life was offensive to the Sadducees on every point.  The captain of the temple was a like the chief of police at the temple mount.  He was the authority.  It was normal for Him to check out anything viewed as a disturbance.  It was a clash of multiple agendas, interests and thoughts. 

The Sadducees and Pharisees had joined together in their willingness to get rid of Jesus.  Technically they worshiped the same God in the same place but that's about all they had in common.  The Sadducees saw themselves as the sole protectors of tradition.  The messiah was an ideal to them, not some Galilean, a carpenter from Nazareth that had been nailed to a cross.  They were greatly disturbed because they thought they got rid of this threat.

Peter and John were seized and put in jail for the night because it was too late for them to stand trial.  Even though the Sadducees did this for damage control, it was too late; the gospel message had gone out.  The witness of these two Apostles in the presence of the man 'formerly known as lame' had reached the people.  Many were saved from their sins that day.  God added to the church. 

This five thousand means that two thousand had been added to the three thousand saved at Pentecost.  What started with a handful of folks is now measured in the thousands in a fairly short time.

 

Acts 4:5-12

This is a setting that would intimidate nearly anyone.  These were the respected and recognized authorities of the Jews.  This was probably the Sanhedrin, which was the body of elders and priests, but they were probably gathered more informally.   Jesus had stood before this same group of people.  Peter & John were the first Christians to stand before them, many would follow.  Saul of Tarsus may be a member of this council as we find out later that he cast his vote many times against the early Christians.

Peter & John are brought from jail and confronted by this intimidating group.   It's possible these men know that Peter had denied Jesus and ran scared before and all the disciples had run away at the crucifixion.  The religious leaders were doing what they were supposed to do according to Deuteronomy 13.  They were to question the signs and wonders and the source of them.  Not every sign and wonder was assumed to come from their God. 

Don't miss Luke's reference to the family of the High Priest.  The Sanhedrin had all of Ciaphas's family on it, starting with his son in law, Annas, the high priest.  There were five of Ciaphas's sons also lined up to become priest and likely present on this council.  The high priest had become a political appointment from Rome.  Trouble with the Jews or around Jerusalem could bring them trouble.  They needed to preserve their interest and authority over the people. 

Peter was able to speak in the presence of these men by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Peter was baptized in the Spirit once but is now receives a filling.  In recognizing them as 'rulers of the people' and 'elders of Israel' he puts them in the place of a responsibility and accountability.  Then he puts the truth before them.  That truth was that they had done nothing spectacular; what was done was done by the power of Jesus, in the name of Jesus for the glory of Jesus.  Peter pointed out that this was the same Jesus they had killed for their purposes, God raised up for His. 

Jesus is the stone which the builders rejected.  These Jews would recognize this as one of their scriptures.  Peter is linking their Jesus to their scriptures.  This is the exact thing he did to the crowd on Solomon's portico.  He linked Jesus to their scriptures saying, Jesus is the prophet Moses said would come.  Jesus is the One of whom all the prophets spoke.  Then he told the religious leaders they had rejected Him; in spite of that, He had become the chief cornerstone.

The Jewish tradition says that when Solomon's temple was built the cornerstone was delivered early.  It was cast aside and ignored.  Later when they were ready for it, they inquired of the builders.  They said they remembered the stone.  They didn't know what to do with it.  It didn't fit so they rejected it.  The rejected stones were rolled down the hill into the valley of Gehenna. 

Peter said, it's by the name of Jesus that the man 'formerly known as lame' was able to stand before them.  Peter was very plain and very clear; there is salvation in no one else.  The religion in which these priests had worked and trusted in was cold and dead.  There is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved.  This meant that their work was for nothing, they had lost their way.  This was offensive to them.

 

Acts 4:13-17

Peter and John were merely two Galilean fishermen; uneducated and untrained in the eyes of the men of the council.  Yet, they had been saved by grace, educated in the scriptures and they had walked with Jesus.  God is no respecter of the wisdom of man; He puts no value in our education system.  For centuries God has equipped both those educated and uneducated by the world. 

Their boldness caused them to marvel.  This word marveled means they were impressed with the way these men conducted themselves. They spoke with a boldness that the leaders couldn't understand.   They just couldn't account for it.  This kind of boldness came only from years of schooling, training and practice.   These men realized Peter and John had been with Jesus.  These were possibly the first to see a profound difference in the life of a believer.  Its strange it was religious people though.  When men and women are with Jesus an unbelieving world can see it.  We stand out in a crowd.  Will anyone recognize us as having been with Jesus? 

They made no attempt to refute Jesus or the resurrection; too many folks knew, too many had witnessed Jesus.  They made no attempt to refute the miracle healing.  Again, too many people saw and could still see this man standing before them (with a big smile on his face).   Without the presence of this 'formerly lame man' this was a theological argument; one of ideas and beliefs.  But in the presence of this man, there was evidence of power and authority behind the idea, belief and reality of Jesus.  A 40-year-old man had been healed from a life of being lame.  This is incredible.  And this man that was healed stood next to them.  It seems like he could have taken what benefited him and left, not wanting to be involved with this dispute.  But he stood with them as a witness to the power of Jesus Christ.  This hushed the Sanhedrin.

"What to do?" they wondered.  This lame man walking and running around praising God wasn't something that went unnoticed.  That couldn't be denied.  The plan was to pull these two men they saw as simpletons before this powerful council and scare them into being silent.  (It had probably worked before!)  All around the table, they thought, "Good plan!  Let's go with it."  They thought they could intimidate Peter and John into not speaking of Jesus ever again; as if they could scare the Holy Spirit out of them.

 

Acts 4:18-22

I imagine Peter and John were respectfully laughing at them.  The things they had seen came from God and they simply ask if they should listen to God or the Sanhedrin.  This statement was offensive to the Sanhedrin, it placed them in opposition to God.  Peter, John and the 'not so lame' man confessed they were in a strange spot when these religious leaders told them this.  They had no choice but to speak of what they had seen and heard. 

In light of Christianity today this is heart breaking and should probably bother us.  Would anyone today say they couldn't stop talking about all the Jesus had done?  When the lockdowns came, nearly every church quickly shut down.  We thought it was 2 weeks, for the good of our people, for health reasons.  However, the 2 weeks became months and the months became a year or more.  Far more people suffered the ill effects of not having the church.  It was a dark time in the church, but also a time God used for His purpose.

The people were all praising God for the miracle and these guys didn't have any reason to hold them so Peter and John are released.  This 40-year-old man 'formerly known as lame' was probably a regular fixture at the Beautiful gate.  Over the years, those who came to worship saw him and gave alms.  The 40 year history of being lame removed any doubt that this was fake as well as removing any opportunity for the leaders to claim such a thing.

This man might question, why didn't God heal me sooner?  Why did I have to go through that part of my life?  But God's timing was perfect.  This man had become known as the lame man. 

 

Acts 4:23-31

Upon the heels of being threatened and further threatened, these two Apostles went back to their companions and told them everything.  This moved them to pray for more miracles and more boldness to do more ministry and reach more people in the name of Jesus.  In the middle of all these threats, they prayed that God will grant them the ability to speak His word with all confidence.  They may well have felt somewhat threatened or intimidated.  But we don't see it.  We see that in a pinch they lay their cause out before the Lord. 

God answered their prayer:

  1. The place was shaken
  2. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit
  3. They spoke with boldness   

They proclaim God as the God of heaven and earth.  The culture looked to nature and the world around them as having the answers, but the Christians realize that God is ruler over all things.  They speak of the gentiles and the rulers of the earth who rail against Him as they see Psalm 2 come to life.  But they see the truth in that Herod, Pilate, the gentiles and the prophets all worked the plan that was predestined to occur.  It's fascinating that Herod and Pilate are put in the same place next to the prophets.  But God uses large and small, the wise and foolish; he raises up kingdoms for his purpose and when he is done with them, they disappear. 

 

Acts 4:32-37

We've seen several references to the unity of these early believers.  The 'heart' was the center of moral and ethical decisions.  The 'soul' is the center of all conscience; the actuating cause of life.  Some see the soul as the software and the heart as the processor.  If we are born of the same Spirit from the same Lord, why would we not be unified and of one mind.  However, we find this so rare in our days where church splits and in fighting are so common.  The people viewed their possessions as belonging to the Lord.  He bought them with His blood, they surrendered all to the master. 

The reference to 'great power' may be an indication of the answer to their prayer for boldness.  It also may point to the signs and wonders and the response to the gospel testimony.  In conjunction with great power was great grace.  His grace is amazing already but when it comes in 'mega' doses, God's people are truly blessed.  This is God's will being worked out through surrendered people.

No one was commanded to sell their property and bring the money.  It was the desire of their would to bring all things in common.  They voluntarily did this and brought the proceeds to the apostles.  Their job would be difficult; working through needs versus wants.  There were somewhere around 5000 believers by now.  Its not hard for us to imagine that some thought this idea of selling everything and giving to the church was a great idea for other folks.  Many would see themselves as those who would receive the benefit of this.  Those of one heart would be moved simply by the great power and grace from God.  There will always be those who are swayed by material goods and pass on God's grace and power.  It's a sad choice. 

The power of the Holy Spirit and God's mega grace must have been so astounding that personal possessions looked like nothing.  This kind of thought process indicates a heart and mind on eternal things.  They were characterized by Holy Spirit power, mega grace and an attitude of giving to others.  These folks gave up all they had; not because they had to but because they wanted to. 

Are we missing out on something?  Would we give up all we had to be shared among the other believers?  Do we give a bold testimony and experience abundant grace?  Are we unified with a goal of preaching and teaching?  Or, are we conformed to the world? Are we missing out on the bold power of God and His mega grace as we hold fast to our worldly possessions?  There's plenty here for us to consider. 

What does this look like; to be filled with the Holy Spirit and moved by Jesus to bring the power of His name?  We are reminded, there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.  Luke gives us an example, showing us Barnabas as an example.    It's interesting to note that Levites weren't supposed to own land.   It's unclear as to how or why Barnabas has this land in his possession, but he sells it and lays the money at the feet of the apostles.

©2008, 2014, 2021 Doug Ford, Calvary Chapel Sweetwater