Speak the word of God boldly [Act 4]

Acts 4:1-36

Acts 4: 19-20¹⁹ But Peter and John replied, "Which is right in God's eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! ²⁰ As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."

In reviewing of ch 3:

There was a man crippled from birth who was begging at the entrance of the temple of Jerusalem. He had been there as long as he had lived, forty years. When Peter and John healed this man, he was filled with joy and entered the temple praising God. When many came to find out what happened to this man, almost everyone in the temple gathered around Peter and John. To this crowd, Peter explained that the man was healed in the name of Jesus of Nazareth. Jesus is the Lord, Messiah; he attested to this truth, offering two facts as the proof. First, though they killed him by crucifixion, he rose from the dead and ascended to heaven and Peter and John are the witnesses of this fact. Second, the power displayed in this man is the proof that Jesus is the Lord and Messiah.

Peter and John went to the temple to pray as their usual schedule of life of faith. This was never intended. Even they never thought of doing such a thing within the temple complex. But because of the demands of this crowd, Peter had no choice but to explain and to preach. The outcome of this preaching was a remarkable one. More than two thousand people came to believe. At the same time, their activities were fully exposed to the temple authorities. This brought about an opposition from them.

As we look into today’s passages, I would like to explore what God’s purpose was in leading the healing of this man for the nation Israel, and for the apostles and believers, particularly in respect to the opposition. 

V1 The priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to Peter and John while they were speaking to the people. ² They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people, proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. ³ They seized Peter and John and, because it was evening, they put them in jail until the next day. ⁴ But many who heard the message believed; so the number of men who believed grew to about five thousand.

While they were preaching to the crowd of more than two thousand people, the temple authorities came up to them. They were greatly disturbed because they were teaching people about the resurrection of the dead. Their teaching in the temple was very annoying. Their teaching on resurrection in Jesus was very disturbing. Who are they? V1 says that they were priests, captain of the temple guard, and the Sadducees. They were the ones who held the power over all of the matters of the temple, including worship and administration. They came and seized Peter and John in front of a large crowd of at least more than two thousand while they were preaching! I can imagine that this crowd followed Peter and John as they were being escorted to the prison of the temple. This scene was very damaging to the message of Peter and John. Yet despite such a threatening situation, a large number of people came to believe. So the total number of believers became five thousand. This means that through this event, two thousand people were added to the believers. What does this mean? It means that this crowd trusted Peter and John and did not condone what the temple authorities were doing to Peter and John. Most likely, the majority of this crowd partook in the crucifixion of Jesus. But at this time, they rejected the temple authorities and instead accepted Peter and John’s message. We can reason that they changed their thinking about Jesus; they came to realize that they did wrong by crucifying Jesus and accepted Peter and John, the apostles of Jesus.

The next day, they were brought before the authorities.

Vv5-7 The next day the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law met in Jerusalem. ⁶ Annas the high priest was there, and so were Caiaphas, John, Alexander and others of the high priest's family. ⁷ They had Peter and John brought before them and began to question them: "By what power or what name did you do this?"

They were the authorities of temple, as well as the entire nation. Here, three groups of people are mentioned. They were the rulers, the elders, and the teachers of the Law. They represented the entire nation of Israel, combining religious and political authorities. They were called the Sanhedrin. It is composed of 70 people and the head of all these was the High priest. They held the power of governing, with religious and political authority. No other authorities existed among the people of Israel. So whatever they decided to do was the law of the land and carried an absolute power over people.  Here Annas, the high priest, and his family are particularly mentioned. The high priest and his family held the supreme power of the nation and they were all present here. In addition, it is worthy to note that the high priest and his family belonged to the Sadducees party and they openly rejected any notion of resurrection of the dead. Nonetheless, they held the most prominent positions in the religious and political system of Israel. In a small chamber that held seventy people, Peter and John were brought before them, the authority of the nation.

V2

They were greatly disturbed because of two things:

·         The apostles were teaching the people.

·         They were proclaiming in Jesus, the resurrection of the dead.

It is understandable because to their eyes, these apostles were nobodies. They were uneducated in the Law of Moses; they did not have any affiliation to any of the religious systems of Israel. They were simply ordinary men of Israel and did not hold any authority to teach or to conduct any teaching in the temple.  Yet their teaching attracted more than two thousand people. This attraction came from the preaching of resurrection in Jesus’ name. The high priest and his family were the staunch opposition to the idea of resurrection. This means that Peter and John preached the belief that directly opposed the teachings of the High priest, the authority of the temple. The next day, they were brought before the group of leaders of the nation.

V5-6

Here, all of the leaders of the nation of Israel gathered together to question them. They all took pride in their understanding of God, their understanding of the truth, and they believed that they were the authorities in biblical truth, as well as the governing power. They were sure that these were authorized by the God of the nation Israel.  In this mind set, they raised a question.

V7, by what power or what name did you do this?

If we put this in simple terms, it would sound like this – who gave you the authority to do this? They were concerned about the source of the authority or power that they displayed.

One thing we must note is that from the beginning, they did not pay any attention to the healing of this man; they all knew him well because they all had seen him for many, many years!  He was crippled, begging day by day, and year after year, and this man was healed completely and was filled with joy, jumping and praising God. How could, or would, they not give their thought on the miraculous power on this man? Who gave you this authority? Where does the power come from? They concerned about their authority and power being evaded by these hillbillies. This was a real threat because of the amazing number of people who turned to the teaching of Peter and John; about two thousand men turned their mind to Peter and John. They did not fear the religious authorities at all.

When one is obsessed with his or her own power or authority, when one’s own security of life on earth takes the first place in one’s heart, he has no room to pay attention to what God is doing! At the center of such a man are his rights, his power and his authority! Here in this man, the power of God, the authority of Jesus Christ was fully displayed.  This power and authority damaged the authority of the temple court. They felt threatened by the power of Jesus.  In essence, God was challenging their belief, their right, and their authority.

Peter answers

V10 then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed.

The source of power or authority to heal this man is in neither Peter nor John. The Power or authority of healing lies in the name of Jesus, the Jesus of Nazareth, whom you crucified but God resurrected him. As God prophesied, Jesus is the stone you builders rejected and has become the cornerstone.

What does it mean exactly? The Gospel Luke described an event where Jesus exchanged his argument with the leaders of Israel. [Luke 20:9-19] In this parable, a vineyard owner left his vineyard to tenants while he went on a long journey. Sometime later, he sent his servants to get the harvest from the vineyard but the tenants did not give any but instead killed the servants of the owner. He sent many of his servants, one after another. But the tenants of the vineyard did not him give any fruits from the vine. Instead, they killed all the servants of the owner. Finally, the owner sent his son, hoping that the tenants may honor the son and give him the fruit of the vine from the vineyard. But the tenants killed even the son. So the owner came and took over the vineyard from the tenant and he threw them away. At the end of this parable, Jesus quoted this Psalm. So, as shown in this parable, the tenants are Israel’s leaders and in their rejection of the son, a stone, they killed him. But God the father raised him from the dead and made him the cornerstone of the kingdom of God. So we can make this equation: Vineyard=the building=kingdom of God; the tenants=Builder=the leaders of Israel.

The implication of this quote is huge. They, the leaders of Israel, refused to use or accept Jesus in building the kingdom of God. God used this rejected stone, Jesus, as the cornerstone of the building of the kingdom of God. The builders will not join in building the kingdom of God. They will be thrown away and excluded from the kingdom of God.

Here Cornerstone is the first stone laid as one begins to build a building. Against the cornerstone, all other stones are measured in its level, direction. Also, this cornerstone bears the weight of all of the stones above it.  The survival of the building depends on the quality and power of the cornerstone. 

What does it mean to reject the Cornerstone, Jesus? Peter nailed down the stark truth that they must accept.

v12¹² Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."

This one sentence challenges the entire system of their standing of belief! What was their understanding about the coming Messiah? In their thoughts, the Messiah is the one who will come and rescue the nation of Israel from the hands of Roman occupation. He must free the nation and make it the most powerful nation on Earth with mighty power and justice. Also, he must forgive the sins of Israel freely and accept Israel as God promised. But Peter said that Jesus is the one. There is no other one coming now or any time in the future!

It challenged their authority over the temple, over the nation of Israel, over their in-depth knowledge of the Bible and their life prospects! 

How could Peter say such a bold statement?! His statement was so simple and so powerful and so pointed! How come?! A fisher of man, uneducated and never learned the scripture in a formal setting! As V8 says, he spoke this truth as he was filled with the Holy Spirit!

It is redundant to add more to this declaration, but for the sake of engaging our thought in reason, I will list three reasons.

·         God gave Jesus, His son, knowing fully that human beings are helpless in knowing God as an invisible spirit and that they have to have an object of worship. When I say object of worship, I mean a visible and tangible being instead of an invisible spirit. The only one that God gave was Jesus, his son who came in flesh like us and fully represented God his father [Heb; Deut]. 

·         Jesus is the only one that came from heaven and went back to heaven. He is the one who has the full knowledge of God Almighty. [John]

·         Jesus is the only one who overcame the power of sin and its consequence, death, by his suffering, death, and resurrection. [Matt 28:18]

Jesus is the cornerstone. From him, and in him, God is building the kingdom of God. There is no one else! Nevertheless, at the present time, more than ever before, this truth is being challenged.  Even among Christians, there are many who believe that Jesus is the salvation. At the same time, they accept that there are number of ways to get to God or to be saved.  Jesus is a way to God. So it is not wrong to say that they do not know Christ or God who sent Christ. Their belief is false and their understanding is wrong! They may not even believe in the Jesus of Nazareth at all! When these leaders of Israel heard this, how did they respond?

V13. ¹³ When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.

They were astonished! They were so shocked! The kind of power in healing the lame man was in the words of Peter! Such a definite and finite, authoritative declaration of the truth! Salvation is found in no one else but Jesus! What does this tell us? This is an outright expression of the certainty, conviction of their faith. This is the truth that cannot be compromised or smeared. The fearful or worrisome thing was that these people were with Jesus, the one whom they crucified! They condemned him and they crucified him. But in these men was the kind of the power that Jesus displayed when he was administered them and that power is challenging their power and their authority.

Where does the power come from? How can such power be in these disciples?  It is their belief in Jesus, the Son of God, the Savior, and the Holy Spirit with them in this truth!

But the power is not just displayed in and with the disciples.

V14, 16, 21 ¹⁴ But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. …¹⁶ "What are we going to do with these men?" they asked. "Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it.

God’s power is evident in the man. This crippled, helpless, sad and hopeless man was changed; he was jumping with joy and praising God, filled with the vividness of life and victory! Who could deny the power of new life in this man!  It is by God, in the name of Jesus! The entire population of Jerusalem knew of this man and what happened to him. He became the talk of the day! Not only that, more than two thousand people joined with them.  God’s power was in this large mass of people as well.

How did they handle this truth and the power?

V18 By their power as the supreme authority of the nation, they threatened and forbid them to talk or to teach in the name of Jesus.

Our power and strength resides in Jesus. But Jesus is the object of opposition and hostility for all of the authority in the world. It is very interesting that our society as a whole is making decisions to erase Jesus’ name in all public places.

Ultimately, the power of the world will challenge all godly people who call on the name of Jesus. There will be two powers: the power of Satan; and the power of Jesus. The power of Satan will round up the power of this world to go against the power of God, His son Jesus. The world, with its power, will challenge Jesus’ power in his death and resurrection.

Evangelism cannot work without facing the power of this world. Also, we cannot witness unless we overcome the power of this world.

At such a crossroad, what did the disciples do? If we face such a situation what should we do?

V19-20.

Intellectually and reasonably speaking as a man of God, it is quite right to listen to God instead of men. God revealed the truth in Jesus and they saw it and they heard it. They confirmed the truth which is against all human notions or knowledge. The revelation that God gave to us is eternal truth and it was confirmed by the apostles. This truth is very alien to all other human beings. In this regard, the Gospel that we know is a special revelation from God to us. They were the first witnesses of this truth. It was confirmed through the lives of the apostles. But such bold statement may not be just a purely intellectual choice.

Speaking of human mind or heart, such certainty and undeterred assertion comes from the confidence in God. It is the power of the truth overwhelming in the minds of the disciples.  It becomes a solidified truth as the Holy Spirit imparts this truth to each of us. In this way, God is one with the disciples. When the disciples were gripped with anxiety, Jesus prayed to God that this oneness may come upon his disciples. [ John 17:22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one-- ²³ I in them and you in me--so that they may be brought to complete unity. Then the world will know that you sent me and have loved them even as you have loved me.]  In the essence of their being, God is and has taken the place of the Supreme Being!

Also, Gospel truth is the supreme truth among all truths because all men will die in sin and death is proof of God’s judgment.  God chose us to be the witness of this truth!

The two disciples were surrounded by 71 leaders of Israel. Peter and John were the only two men standing before the authorities of the entire nation like criminals. It looked like two against seventy one. It looked very scary. But the power of these people came from men, themselves, collectively what they would conjure up to do.  These 71 people, the Sanhedrin, the supreme power of the nation, could not do anything to Peter and John. They released them.  The faith in this truth is the power. So the power comes to us when we believe in Jesus.

V21-22.

They could not do anything to Peter and John because all of the people were praising God for what had happened in the man who had been crippled for 40 years! The entire city of Jerusalem knew of this as the work of God.   It was not two against 71. The power of God was working on over two thousand people. Though they held the authority over the entire nation, they felt such great power from God upon them.

This was the first witness to the leaders of the nation. When Jesus was confronted by the religious leaders of the nation, Jesus prophesied this:

Matthew 23:34 Therefore I am sending you prophets and sages and teachers. Some of them you will kill and crucify; others you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town.

The whole event started when God brought his power upon the lame man as Peter called upon the power in Jesus’ name.  Through the healing of this man God demonstrated his power to the leaders of the nation. It was publicized to the entire city of Jerusalem. God began this event with a clear purpose. What was God’s purpose in this? 

·         It was God’s appeal to them for their repentance.

·         It was God’s final message of the salvation for them in a powerful and forceful way. The most powerful evidence of God’s power is found in the lame man

·         It was God’s challenge to the power of men in this world – the most formidable power, religious and political.

V23 ²³ On their release, Peter and John went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.

Peter and John went back to ‘their own people’, the believers’ community, and reported to them all that had happened.  Now, I would like to put our thought to understand this community:

·         This community had grown to be about five thousand, forming a large community.

·         They did not have any formal system to sustain this number as a cohesive group with an organized chain of command.

·         In such an unorganized body of people, the 12 apostles and probably the one hundred twenty original believers may have functioned as the loose body of leadership.

·         In this, Peter and John were the top leaders. Their survival was so vital to sustain this community.

When they heard that Peter and John were arrested by the temple officials and were put in prison, the entire community of believers was shaken and worried. This was the first encounter of a conflict with the existing leadership of the nation. They held the power and authority to do anything to Peter and John, just as they exercised that authority and power on Jesus. It was a very fearful and worrisome situation for the entire community. 

Upon release of Peter and John, they understood the situation in this way –

V25-26. ²⁵ You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant, our father David: "'Why do the nations rage and the peoples plot in vain? ²⁶ The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one

According to the Prophecy of David, the nation’s rage and its people plot to uphold their power and authority. But all these will not succeed because God, the Sovereign Lord, will govern things according to his will and purpose despite all oppositions. It is God who rules, no matter what men plan in their authority and power.

This is restated with emphasis; the kings of the earth rise up, and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one. In this way, they understood that no matter how the entire leadership of Israel, the Sanhedrin, force their power upon the disciples, God will fulfill his purpose!

They came to know the sovereign will of God and exercise of that will through this event. So they called God in this way.

V24²⁴ When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. "Sovereign Lord," they said, "you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.

God has absolute authority over entire human affairs, particularly for his mission to save the world. This sovereign will was shown in Jesus first. Pilate and Herod, along with the entire body of Israel leaders, killed Jesus. But God raised Jesus from the dead and nullified their power. No one can obstruct or hinder what God planned to do.

What was the conclusion? All of these things happened according to God’s will and purpose.   No matter how much power and authorities of the world devise a cunning scheme, to thwart God’s work, God will accomplish his purpose through his wisdom and power. He is the ruler and he runs the history of the world. He is the Sovereign Lord.

We are scared when we stand before the authorities of this world. Because we know and are keenly aware that they have power to arrest us and put us in jail, and even have the authority to take away our lives. We are fearful that we might be ridiculed and ostracized.  To face off such challenges, what are we to ask God?

V29-30. ²⁹ Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. ³⁰ Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus."

They asked God to do two things:

·         Enable your servant to speak your word with great boldness.—They did not ask for personal protection from all harms or threats from these hostile leaders of the world. They saw this as an inevitable course of life in truth. The first and foremost important thing was to speak the word of God boldly. The word is the vehicle to convey the truth of God. But the word of God is offensive to the people of the world. It demands repentance and it condemns them to judgment as well as offering God’s blessing and salvation. But it contains the absolute truth of God, the truth of the salvation of men, so that God may give them power and strength to tell this truth with boldness.

·         Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus. – They asked God to provide signs and wonders in Jesus’ name. Men are so stubborn that it is almost impossible for any man to accept God’s word of truth without accompanying power. I personally believe that unless God delivers his message with an accompanying power, whether it is small or big, it is very hard for any men to accept God’s word and submit himself to God. May God demonstrate his power in each of our lives! I have personally experienced such power of God in my life. These events are very few, but they are etched in my heart and serve as a permanent reminder of God’s grace and power for me. This was the same for the Apostle Paul. The memory of meeting the risen Jesus appeared to him as he was on the way to Damascus was a lasting evidence of God’s power and grace in his life.  Our faith is anchored in the word of God, as well as in his work in each of our lives! These must go hand in hand. It does not happen all of the time. But it should happen.

So, these two must be the themes of our prayer requests. When they prayed this, what was God’s response?

V31. ³¹ After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly

The place where they were meeting was shaken. They were all filled with the Holy Spirit. God clearly showed them that he was present with them in power. We do not know how many were there.  It is not unlikely that all five thousand were there in prayer! They all were filled with the Holy Spirit. Simply, the spirit of God was fully upon each of them!  They all were empowered to challenge the world with the truth of the Gospel! This is the life in victory, the life with full of truth.

V32-37 When they were filled with the Holy Spirit, what kind of lives did they live?

To end, I would like to note three things:

·         They shared everything that they had.

·         The apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.

God’s grace was so powerfully at work in them all.