Acts 4

A great miracle had undeniably taken place by the hands of the apostles Peter and John. This presented an opportunity for them to give all the glory to Jesus Christ, since it was in His Name that a lame man was now leaping and praising God. As many gathered around them, they began to teach the people. In particular they were proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. Jesus rising from the tomb was the beginning of a larger, general resurrection from the dead. Our participation in the blessing of that coming day is entirely in Jesus Christ. This is a wonderful message to teach and to receive, but it was not a message that the temple authorities were willing to promote or even permit. It was for this reason that they arrested Peter and John. Nonetheless, the good damage had been done. Thousands of people believed.

This amazing healing of lame man by someone claiming to act in the Name of Jesus, the Jesus who the authorities had attempted to silence, was a horrible nightmare for those who had presumed to put an end to the Jesus movement. The rulers, elders, and scribes gathered together to take some strong action. But what could they actually do that would change anything? They began by examining the two apostles. They asked them about the source of the healing. “By what power or by what name did you do this?”

Peter’s answer is clear. This healing took place through the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Peter went on to point out that this Jesus was the same Jesus who these men had crucified. His death did not stop Him. In fact, God had raised Him from the dead. Not only that, this same Jesus was rejected by them in fulfillment of Psalm 118. He was a Stone rejected by men. This Jesus was still healing, now through His church, even though His body had spent three days in the grave. This same Name was the only “name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” His death did not stop Him. It only secured our salvation and set the wheels of a great new kingdom in motion.

The boldness and confidence of Peter and John was absolutely shocking to these ruling men. They did not exhibit the obvious signs of those who have the normal credentials to speak with forcefulness on such significant matters of faith. There was something different about them. This is an especially glaring fact when we consider the fear and doubt that the apostles exhibited even after the resurrection of the Lord. Think of what the disciples were going through at the end of Mark’s gospel. They were afraid. The change that took place in Peter, John, and the others is from the Holy Spirit. The Jewish rulers knew that something amazing had happened to these men, and the only point of reference that they had for this kind of boldness was Jesus. That’s why we are told that they recognized that these men had been with Jesus. The same spiritual realities that caused people to marvel at the way that Jesus taught with such authority now caused people to marvel at what these simple disciples of Jesus were saying and doing.

What could the rulers possibly say to these men? The miracle was obvious and undeniable. They could only try to insist that everyone stop speaking and teaching in the name of Jesus. Peter and John answered them with the same confidence with which they had taught the people. They were willing to respect authority as established by God, but there had to be a limit to this. They could not prefer the authority of men above the authority of God, who is over all. They had to tell what they had seen and heard. They were witnesses of the resurrected Jesus Christ. They had been commissioned by the Son of God to tell this good news.

There was nothing more that could be done against the apostles at this time. They were free to go. They gathered together with others who believed and they lifted their voices together in prayer. They acknowledged that God was above all earthly powers, that He was the Creator, and that He had brought about the great events of redemption according to His holy will. Yes, powerful civil and religious authorities might be against them, as they had been against Jesus. Nevertheless, in both cases it would be the Almighty who would accomplish His own purposes. They were willing to trust God in their sufferings, and to rejoice in Him, regardless of the trouble they might face.

They did call upon God to take notice of the threats made against them. Their holy boldness was not only in their words of healing to a lame man, their teaching of the crowd at the temple, and their speech before religious authorities. They spoke with boldness to God – not with arrogance, but with confidence in Him and in His Word. They brought these matters to His attention in prayer, and asked for continued blessing from Him that would allow them to speak forthrightly and to perform other works that would draw further attention to the Word of Jesus Christ.

This prayer was answered immediately as the earth shook, and they were filled with the Holy Spirit, that they might continue to speak the truth with great boldness. The church was not only a place of powerful instruction. It was also a place of sacrificial living. People were giving of their possessions for the needs of those in their midst, even selling land and bringing the proceeds to the apostles. This is the power of Christ at work within the church. He makes the lame man leap for joy. He causes the message of the cross to be taught with clarity and vigor. He enables true hearers to give themselves to God, to His gospel, and to His church with new sincerity and love. All of this is due to the power of the Lord’s Spirit in our midst, and it is a strong testimony to those who may come soon conclude that we have been with Jesus.