Acts 4:1-22 The apostles on trial

Acts 4:1-7 The priests, temple guard, and the Sadducees arrest some of the apostles. Since Peter and John were mentioned in 3:11, it seems likely they were the ones arrested. They spent the night in jail, but the rest of the church must have been busy, because there were five thousand converts as a result of this incident and sermon. The next day, what must have been a very large group of senior Jewish leaders gathered, since it mentions the elders and scribes, and then by name Annas, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and adds, "...all who were of high priestly descent." Although Jesus had done similar miracles, He was gone and the Jewish leadership probably couldn't miss the fact that 5,000 Jews, presumably devout enough to be in the temple, had all converted to believe in Jesus.

          The question asked in verse 7, "By what power or in what name have you done this?" sounds very much like a trial lawyer questioning a hostile witness in court. They could not have been unaware that Peter had preached a message about Jesus, whom they recently had the Romans dispose of. So this was the opening line of questioning to bring into court first-hand testimony. Peter obliged them.

Acts 4:8-12 Peter gives a short sermon. Boiled down to the basics. They had asked in what name and Peter responded, Jesus Christ the Nazarene; then to be sure they knew who he was talking about, he brought up His crucifixion by them, and His resurrection by God. That Jesus. He quoted Psalm 118:22, gave an altar call. Be saved in His name.

Acts 4:13-22 The priests consider this and decide to threaten and release the apostles. God had placed the senior Jewish leadership in a dilemma. The miracle was undeniable (4:14, 16, & 22), but at the same time, they could not acknowledge Jesus in any way, or else their own places of power & privilege would be at risk. So they warned and threatened the apostles, they got the response which seems almost rebellious. The apostles simply said that they could not stop speaking about what they had seen and heard. But they had committed no crime under Jewish law or Roman law, and at least 5,000 people were witnesses to the miraculous healing, so the Jewish leaders could do nothing further.

          There is often a dilemma on the part of believers about the extent to which we should be subject to the governing authorities (Romans 13:1-7) and when we should disobey. The apostles established a standard, and this was two-fold. Firstly, they were operating under the authority of the Holy Spirit, which no human government can regulate. Secondly, they were in effect being told to deny the truth, the things they saw and heard. It was not that they were being argued out of believing that Jesus had been responsible for the healing, it was that they were being told just to shut up about it. Governments since then have tried to suppress the gospel. They have for a period succeeded in driving the church underground, but the power of the Holy Spirit so permeates the persecuted church that sooner or later, He and it both emerge into the light of day. We shall see wise counsel is given to the leadership in Acts 5:38-39. It was ultimately ignored.

          The problem is that there is a built-in, permanent conflict between the world and the gospel. It can never be reconciled.  And so any government that buys into the world system will eventually find itself in conflict with the gospel. Just as there is a conflict between the world and the gospel in the life of each individual, until they take a stand to reject the world's way of looking at life, accepting not only the good news that Jesus died to save them, but the good news that God provides both the guidance and the power to live life His way.