Acts 4

Reflections on Acts

Chapter 4

(Acts 4 KJV) "And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, {2} Being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead.

Why was this such a problem? It might not have been so important if the adversaries were Pharisees who at least believed in the resurrection. But the Sadducees didn’t believe in the resurrection of the dead at all. But this particular group on this day, the captain of the temple and the priests, were all Sadducees. They didn’t like them teaching the resurrection..

{3} And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide. {4} Howbeit many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.

If they thought they had a problem with 3000 brand new members in one day now we’ve gone to a total of 8000, adding this 5000, to the fledgling church in and around Jerusalem. Of course, I don’t think that they were all in contact on necessarily a daily basis. But still the effect that these men were having on Jerusalem and the religious community there was enormous

{5} And it came to pass on the morrow, that their rulers, and elders, and scribes, {6} And Annas the high priest, and Caiaphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the kindred of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. {7} And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, By what power, or by what name, have ye done this? {8} Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, {9} If we this day be examined of the good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole; {10} Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. {11} This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner. {12} Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.

Now this is strong stuff. This didn’t happen under Moses’ administration. And it wasn’t going to happen under the current administration at the temple. This salvation is by the name of Jesus Christ. How could they argue? Here was a man lame from birth, standing, walking, praising God.

{13} Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men, they marvelled; and they took knowledge of them, that they had been with Jesus. {14} And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it.

It is of interest that in just looking at Peter and listening to him they knew that Peter and the others were what the Sadducees would have considered unlearned and ignorant, that they had never systematically learned. They could tell this from their language, and probably from their speech. Comparing this to the United States, we might think that these were good old boys from somewhere down in Alabama. You can tell by the way they talk. They can’t possibly have gone to college. Can’t possibly be educated men. But what are you going to say about this man who used to be lame and now can walk?

{15} But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, {16} Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it. {17} But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.

This is hard to figure. They had to admit that this man standing before them has been healed. A notable miracle had been done and they’ve been told plainly and clearly it was done in the name of Jesus. Now, they are prepared to threaten these men that they mustn’t use that name anymore.

{18} And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus. {19} But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye. {20} For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.

One thing is clear. The power of God had turned these men into winners.

{21} So when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people: for all men glorified God for that which was done. {22} For the man was above forty years old, on whom this miracle of healing was showed.

For Peter and John, this might have been a caution light, but it seems not to have been. In fact, you get the impression that they almost relished the danger. I think this is not altogether uncommon in people who carry a lot of power. I suspect those young men who fly off aircraft carriers with all that power actually relish and get a high out of the danger that they face. Not that they’re not scared, because they are. But they’ll go back again. Well, I think the lives of two men who had been fishermen at one time, and rather a mundane existence, who now were thrown right in the midst of power politics, whose lives were in danger of various things, I think they were excited and exhilarated by the danger.

{23} And being let go, they went to their own company, and reported all that the chief priests and elders had said unto them. {24} And when they heard that, they lifted up their voice to God with one accord, and said, Lord, thou art God, which hast made heaven, and earth, and the sea, and all that in them is: {25} Who by the mouth of thy servant David hast said, Why did the heathen rage, and the people imagine vain things? {26} The kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord, and against his Christ.

They cite the Psalms, saying that what is happening here should be should be expected. Because the prophet said long ago that the rulers would actually resist and fight the Messiah. And then they went on in their prayer to say:

{27} For of a truth against thy holy child Jesus, whom thou hast anointed, both Herod, and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles, and the people of Israel, were gathered together, {28} For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done. {29} And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word, {30} By stretching forth thine hand to heal; and that signs and wonders may be done by the name of thy holy child Jesus. {31} And when they had prayed, the place was shaken where they were assembled together; and they were all filled with the Holy Ghost, and they spake the word of God with boldness.

Once again, power begets power. Here is yet another manifestation of God as the power of the Holy Spirit comes rolling into this building and the whole building shakes with the infusion of power. Now I don’t pretend to fully understand the power of the Holy Spirit, but there are some things that are indicated in the Bible. For one thing, I don’t think God reached out and shook the building just to shake the building. I think the outpouring of the Holy Spirit that came upon these people in this building is what made the building shake. There are other examples in the Bible of how the Holy Spirit actually interacts with this world and how it effects things physically.

The Holy Spirit conveys a kind of Power, and the power is manifested in different ways.

The power does not seem to be permanent, but rather it comes in surges--and wanes over time. One example is that Moses face shone when he came down from his mountaintop encounter with God. In fact, Moses face was so bright that many people found themselves unable to look at him. He had to put a veil over his face. But the fact is that after some period of time had passed that shining faded away. It wasn’t like some people seem to think, that he was just glowing because he’s been with God. No, there was a lot more than that. The fact was that he had taken his physical body into the presence of God and he glowed in the dark as a result of the exposure to the power that was there. It wasn’t anything in own volition. He couldn’t turn it on. He couldn’t turn it off. It was just there. That power seems to exist without conscious volition on the part of the person who received it.

Another interesting example is found in 2 Kings 13:21 ff. While some Israelites were burying a man, suddenly they saw a band of raiders; so they threw the man's body into Elisha's tomb. When the body touched Elisha's bones, the man came to life and stood up on his feet. Now this is astonishing when you thing about it. There is no hint anywhere in the story that God miraculously brought this man back to life. Nothing like of that kind is the story. In fact there appears to be no act of volition on anybody’s part. Not the men who brought him there, not God, and certainly not Elisha. Elisha was dead. But some little time after his death the power of God still lingered in the remains of Elisha. I don’t think if you could find them today, they would have any effect on anything at all. For the power will long since have faded away.

The power of the apostles seems to have waned over time. Paul raised a dead boy to life on one occasion, but later in life had to leave a sick friend behind. He couldn’t heal him. Things like this help us realize that there is enormous power connected with the Holy Spirit and when it is present, there are sometimes physical manifestations.

{32} And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul: neither said any of them that ought of the things which he possessed was his own; but they had all things common. {33} And with great power gave the apostles witness of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus: and great grace was upon them all.

You can imagine how this would be, with the tremendous power that was there and the confidence it generated. It could have gotten out of hand and turned into arrogance but there is no hint that it did. But being in that kind of situation the people wanted to stay in it as long as they could.

{34} Neither was there any among them that lacked: for as many as were possessors of lands or houses sold them, and brought the prices of the things that were sold, {35} And laid them down at the apostles' feet: and distribution was made unto every man according as he had need. {36} And Joses, who by the apostles was surnamed Barnabas, (which is, being interpreted, The son of consolation,) a Levite, and of the country of Cyprus, {37} Having land, sold it, and brought the money, and laid it at the apostles' feet.

This man’s name is mentioned in the Bible for two reasons. One is because of this gift, but the other is because he later becomes a very significant player in the New Testament story. But what’s sobering about it is that, unfortunately, this was seen by some as the road to honor in the church. In their eyes, Barnabas received special honor because he made this size of gift. Now there is nothing surprising about that. If you have been a part of a church for any period of time, you probably have encountered a kind of presumption on the part of the really big givers. They assume that they are the more important people in the church. It takes a pretty disciplined and a converted leadership to stay on top of this kind of attitude. But something happened here in the early church that is a little hard to understand and I think it has been variously misunderstood. We’ll see that in chapter 5.

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