Acts 4:5 ¶ 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. 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.
Notice the use, in
verse 7, of the word power for
authority.
Luke 4:36 And they were all
amazed, and spake among themselves, saying, What a word is this! for with authority
and power he commandeth the
unclean spirits, and they come out.
Here are leaders in the
temple and the high priest and members of his family, also priests, with Annas
and Caiaphas having been the high priests in their turn at the beginning of
John the Baptist’s ministry a few years earlier.
Luke 3:2 Annas and Caiaphas
being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in
the wilderness.
They may have taken
turns in that position. One source I read said that the Romans appointed the
High Priest during their occupation before the rebellions that resulted in the
temple being destroyed.
John 18:13 And led him away
to Annas first; for he was
father in law to Caiaphas, which was the high priest that same year.
Priests served in
family groups.
2Chronicles 35:4 And
prepare yourselves by the
houses of your fathers, after your courses, according to the writing of David
king of Israel, and according to the writing of Solomon his son. 5 And stand in the holy place according to the divisions of the families of the fathers
of your brethren the people, and after
the division of the families of the Levites.
Luke 1:5 ¶ There was in the
days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias, of the
course of Abia: and his wife was
of the daughters of Aaron, and her name was
Elisabeth…8 And it came to pass, that
while he executed the priest’s office before God in the order of his course,
Peter has preached yet
another sermon, this time to the rulers. He has witnessed to proselytes from
the many countries in which Jews had been scattered, to the people visiting the
temple, and now to the rulers. No one has any excuse. Peter’s boldness can be
attributed to the Holy Ghost and if you look at the sermons he stays right on
track.
He accuses them of
crucifying Christ who defied their authority by rising from the dead. What a
statement!
Verse 11 refers back to
Psalm 118:22 which both Jesus and Peter quote as well.
Verse 12 is a
meaningful statement not unlike John 14:6.
John 14:6 Jesus saith unto
him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but
by me.
Here is one fulfillment
of a promise Christ made.
Luke 12:11 And when they
bring you unto the synagogues, and unto
magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer,
or what ye shall say: 12 For the Holy
Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say.
The leadership understands
that these common, uneducated men had been with Jesus and they were impressed
with their boldness to talk about Him. The healed man was evidence in their
favor as well that left the leadership of the Jews nothing to say.
Acts 4:15 ¶ 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. 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. 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 shewed.
Peter and John are now
sent to wait outside. This is a cause of grave concern because it is impossible
to deny that this healing has happened. News of it is spreading. If these men
can do the work that Jesus did, healing the sick and the lame, who can say but
what His claims were true and maybe their claims are, as well. This news has
got to be squelched right away.
Galatians 5:22 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy,
peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, 23 Meekness, temperance: against such there is
no law.
We are called to be witnesses for Christ and to make disciples.
Matthew 28:19 Go ye therefore, and teach all nations,
baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy
Ghost: 20 Teaching them to observe all
things whatsoever I have commanded you: and, lo, I am with you alway, even unto the end of the world. Amen.
The leadership, probably caught between the amazement of the
people for this miracle and the danger to their position if this aroused a
disturbance that would come to the attention of their Roman masters, can only
threaten them and then let them go. They were always torn between trying to
squelch what was being preached or trying to ignore it for fear of public unrest.
Mark 12:12 And they sought to lay hold on him, but feared the people: for they knew that he had spoken the parable against them:
and they left him, and went their way.
John 11:46 But some of them went their ways to the
Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done. 47 Then gathered the chief priests and the
Pharisees a council, and said, What do we? for this man doeth many miracles. 48 If we let him thus alone, all men will believe on him: and the
Romans shall come and take away both our place and nation.
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