Session 5
Acts 4:8-21
Memory Verse: Acts 4:12
Being nervous about sharing the gospel is a normal experience for believers. The only sure way to overcome this fear is to trust that Jesus keeps His promises. He has promised to be with us as we make disciples (Matt. 28:20), and He has promised that the Holy Spirit will empower us as we are His witnesses (Acts 1:8). It is only by trusting in the power of the Holy Spirit and the name of Jesus that we can effectively share the gospel with a lost and dying world.
As you prepare to lead this session, consider the things that keep you from being bold in sharing the gospel. Confess those things to God and ask Him to help you develop renewed courage as you put your trust in Him. Find ways to be transparent with the adults in your group. Let them know that they are not alone if they struggle with fear and anxiety. Commit to praying with them and for them as you seek opportunities to witness in the world.
If you knew your employer was engaging in deceitful and dishonest practices, what would you do? What if your employer warned you to keep quiet about it? Understanding the difference between right and wrong is one thing. Having the boldness to do what is right is something else. When it comes to being Christ’s witness in the world, we can depend on the Holy Spirit to embolden us to speak God’s truth with confidence. (PSG, p. 46)
The healing of the lame man and Peter’s sermon in Acts 3 didn’t just catch the attention of Jews worshiping in the temple. The Jewish religious leaders also noticed, and they took action.
In the opening verses of Acts 4, Peter and John were arrested because the temple leaders were “annoyed” that the members of the early church kept preaching about Jesus and His resurrection (Acts 4:2). Despite Peter and John’s sudden arrest, Luke emphasized that God was at work saving people and building His church. The Bible tells us that “about five thousand” people believed Peter’s message (4:4).
Five thousand was possibly the new total of believing men and not the number that were added on that particular day. We have already read that the Lord was adding to their number daily (2:47), and we know that three thousand believed on the Day of Pentecost (2:41). The reference to “men” suggests that Luke was using a Hebrew style of counting by reporting the fighting force in an army. This does not diminish the role of women in the early church. To the contrary, it suggests that the total number of converts who came to Christ in these early weeks could be twice as many as Luke recorded.
Whatever the precise number, Jesus’s followers were obeying the Great Commission. As a result of their obedience, their witness was resulting in numerical growth. But their success also intensified persecution.
Upon their arrest, Peter and John only spent one night in prison. The next morning, they were brought before the high priest, Annas, along with several other members of this ruling family. God was providential in His work to bring attention to the proclamation of the gospel. The question put before Peter and John was tailor-made for them to answer: “By what power or in what name have you done this?” (4:7). They had a quick and sure answer: Jesus.
The theme of power that began with Jesus’s instructions to His disciples in 1:8 can be traced rather easily through the Acts narrative up to this point, as has the theme of Jesus’s name (2:21,38; 3:6,16). Of course, the name of Jesus is intimately connected to the power of Jesus; and it was in His name that Peter and John had the power both to heal the lame man and to be His witnesses in Solomon’s Colonnade.
A firm reliance on His name also gave the apostles the boldness to rely on the Holy Spirit. With the Spirit’s help, they were able to share the heart of the gospel with what could only be described as a hostile audience.
Read Acts 4:5-31. Why did the religious leaders oppose Peter and John? How do you account for Peter and John’s boldness in the face of opposition? (PSG, p. 47)
EXPLORE THE TEXT
8 Then Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit and said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders: 9 If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a disabled man, by what means he was healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead ?- ?by him this man is standing here before you healthy. 11 This Jesus is the stone rejected by you builders, which has become the cornerstone. 12 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to people by which we must be saved.”
(v. 8) Filled with the Holy Spirit: The filling of the Spirit here was a specific empowering for the purpose of speaking the gospel with boldness. Jesus had predicted that His followers would face religious opposition (Luke 12:11-12) and challenged them to rely on the Spirit for direction.
(v. 9) Examined: The Greek wording suggests an inquiry or an investigation. Luke had used the same word to describe Pilate’s interrogation of Jesus (Luke 23:14). Peter and John were not politely invited to a religious dialogue. They were facing a tribunal. While this is the first known incident of persecution against the church, being mistreated for Jesus became common in first-century congregations.
(v. 9) Good deed: The old cliché states that no good deed goes unpunished. Peter’s questions imply that he and John were on trial because God used them to heal a lame man. As when Jesus healed, the leaders were more worried about a message that threatened their authority than about helping someone in need.
(v. 10) Name of Jesus Christ: The leaders wanted to know by whose power and authority the man was healed
(v. 7), and Peter gave them a clear response: Jesus Christ. By attributing the miracle and the title of Christ/Messiah to Jesus, Peter emphasized that He was fully divine.
(v. 11) The stone rejected: In describing Jesus, Peter quoted Psalm 118:22. Jesus quoted the same verse in Luke 20:17. In that context, He indicted the religious leaders for their rejection of God’s Son, the foundation stone of God’s kingdom. Peter drew the same conclusion. His message directly confronted the leaders’ guilt in rejecting God’s cornerstone, the Messiah. Instead of honoring Him as the bedrock of human history, the leaders cast Him aside like a useless or flawed stone at a construction site.
(v. 12) No other name: The authority of Jesus’s name not only healed a man, but it also provides spiritual healing and eternal salvation. Addressing someone’s felt needs is often just the beginning of a meaningful spiritual conversation. The immediate questions should lead us to confront a deeper need: eternal life.
Acts 4:12
Spend time praying Scripture using Acts 4:12. Read the verse, then respond to these questions:
How does God reveal Himself in this verse?
How should I respond to what He reveals?
Example: Thank God for sending Jesus who made salvation and forgiveness of our sins possible. Ask Him to make you aware of opportunities you have to tell others about Jesus and the salvation that is only found in Him.
During the session, invite adults to pray this Scripture, as well.
13 When they observed the boldness of Peter and John and realized that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and recognized that they had been with Jesus. 14 And since they saw the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in opposition. 15 After they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin, they conferred among themselves, 16 saying, “What should we do with these men? For an obvious sign has been done through them, clear to everyone living in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But so that this does not spread any further among the people, let’s threaten them against speaking to anyone in this name again.” 18 So they called for them and ordered them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
Sanhedrin
The Sanhedrin was a group of religious leaders who made decisions that affected not only religious issues, but also legal, political, and social matters as well. In the ancient world, these spheres were often intertwined.
The Sanhedrin included seventy-one leaders and was overseen by the high priest. Both Pharisees and Sadducees-the two main religious parties in Israel-were represented, though the Sadducees (the party of the high priest) was probably more influential.
(v. 13) Boldness: Peter and John’s boldness was not inherent. While Peter famously denied Jesus three times, John and the other apostles effectively denied Jesus by their silence in the wake of Jesus’s arrest. Here in Acts, readers see two men completely transformed. Instead of fearing for their lives, they feared only God. That boldness only comes through the power of the Holy Spirit.
(v. 13) Uneducated and untrained men: John and Peter were successful fisherman who likely had some degree of training in the Torah. Both were obviously literate since they wrote seven New Testament books between them. So, when Luke mentioned that they were untrained and uneducated, he was not suggesting they were completely unschooled.
However, they did not have as much education as many men in Jewish society-and certainly not the level of training represented by the men questioning them. Most likely, Luke meant that John and Peter were not the products of a rabbinical school. They did not have the credentials that most teachers and theologians of the day would have had.
(v. 13) Been with Jesus: While Peter and John didn’t have impressive training or credentials, they had something more important. They had walked with and been mentored by the greatest Teacher the world has ever known. They had studied at the feet of God Himself.
(v. 14) Nothing to say: The presence of the healed man left the leaders speechless. The wording likely carries legal connotations. Having nothing to say meant that the members of the Sanhedrin had no substantive charges to bring against Peter and John. In addition, the lame man’s healing had swung public sentiment toward Jesus’s followers.
They could not deny that Jesus’s name had power. In 1 Corinthians 3:20, Paul quoted Psalm 94:11, saying that the logic of the world is essentially useless. Job and his friends had the same speechless experience when they encountered God in a personal way (Job 40:5).
(v. 18) Ordered them not to speak: After dismissing Peter and John, the leaders acknowledged their dilemma and determined a plan of action (vv. 15-17). The Sanhedrin ordered the apostles to stop talking about Jesus. They believed that if they shut down the name, they could shut down the influence and power. They assumed their own authority would be enough to intimidate the disciples.
19 Peter and John answered them, “Whether it’s right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide; 20 for we are unable to stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” se After threatening them further, they released them. They found no way to punish them because the people were all giving glory to God over what had been done.
Luke’s Sources
Luke has a reputation for careful historical research. That’s evident in this precise description of Peter and John’s experience in Acts 4. One might wonder how Luke knew all that went on during this meeting. The most common explanation is that Peter and John told him. It is reasonable to assume that in compiling his Gospel and his history of the early church, Luke spoke with these pillars of the Jerusalem congregation.
For the conversations held after the apostles left the room, it’s possible that Saul of Tarsus (later the apostle Paul) was a member of the Sanhedrin and could have shared these events as they traveled together on missionary journeys.
(v. 19) Right in the sight of God: If the leaders of the Sanhedrin expected the apostles to quietly submit, they were mistaken. The text is not clear as to which apostle-Peter or John-actually spoke, but the wording suggests they shared a common sentiment: God’s opinion is the only one that mattered. The Sanhedrin could do as it wished. The early believers had already made their choice.
(v. 20) Unable to stop: The best apologetic for the power of God is the testimony of a transformed life. Witnessing comes out of the overflow of God’s work in our lives. Even if they had wanted to honor the Sanhedrin’s command, Peter and John could never stop sharing the gospel.
A similar sentiment is expressed in many Psalms, where the writers rejoiced in testifying about God’s work (Ps. 8; 67; 93; 96; 117; 145). The prophet Jeremiah noted that when he thought about abandoning his ministry, God’s words became a fire in his heart (Jer. 20:9). Apparently, the apostles felt the same way.
(v. 21) Threatening: Peter and John’s response must have shocked the leaders. In response, the Sanhedrin turned up the heat by intensifying their verbal threats. The original Greek suggests that they added to whatever threats they had already made. They tried to be more intimidating.
In reality, their threats were hollow. Jesus held all the authority and power. This truth was underscored by Luke’s note that the leaders really had no way to enforce their threats.
(v. 21) Glory to God: Instead of shutting down the name of Jesus, the Sanhedrin found that the influence of the early church grew. Rather than rejecting the apostles, the crowds glorified God. Unlike their leaders, the people recognized God at work in the healing of the lame man.
The concept of God’s glory is found throughout the Bible and highlights God’s internal and inherent excellence. The Greek wording relates to the idea of weight or substance and to assigning value. In this case, the name of God and the glory of God signify the same thing. Both deserved worship and adoration because both were valuable beyond compare.
Salvation
There is no salvation apart from personal faith in Jesus Christ as Lord. (See John 14:6; 1 Corinthians 1:18.)
Read other Bible passages to learn more about persecution.
Read the following passages about Christian persecution: Matthew 5:10-12; 10:16-18; Mark 10:29-30; John 15:19-20; 2 Corinthians 12:9-10; Galatians 4:29; 1 Thessalonians 3:3-4; 2 Timothy 3:11-12; 1 Peter 4:12-14; and Revelation 2:10-11. Record key points about the nature of persecution and the Christian response to persecution.