< Acts 4 >

The apostles, as a consequence of healing the beggar and teaching the people, soon experienced the persecution and imprisonment which Jesus had warned would attend the preaching of the gospel. The Jewish rulers, being members of the sect of the Sadducees who denied the resurrection, were particularly incensed at the apostles’ proclamation of Jesus’ resurrection. They, therefore, took them into custody, whereupon Peter declared the truth the Sadducees were reluctant to hear - that Jesus is Christ. They were supposedly the builders of God’s house, composed of faithful men and women, but they had rejected the most important stone in the building, the Lord Jesus Christ, whom God had made the head stone (quoting Psalm 118).

The apostles had healed in the name of Jesus, demonstrating the efficacy of his name to save men and women, not only from sickness and disability but also from sin and death. Therefore Peter declared that the healing had been done in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth and “neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved”.

The Jewish rulers perceived that Peter and John were “uneducated” men but they were soon to learn that by the Spirit of God the apostles were wiser than these religious leaders with all their formal education. They wanted to incarcerate Peter and John but, acknowledging “a notable miracle had been done” which was known by all the people, they simply ordered them to speak no more in the name of Jesus. One of the commandments of Jesus to his disciples is that they obey the authorities, but not when their orders contradict the law of God. Therefore “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. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard”.

The disciples rejoiced at their deliverance from the same authorities who had condemned Jesus to death, recalling that Christ’s experience was foretold in the Psalms. The second Psalm described his sufferings when “the kings of the earth stood up, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against his Christ” (v.26Waiting for response for Acts 4:26 and Psalm 2:2),Waiting for response for Psalm 2:2 and also his glory when he returns to reign in Zion. The rulers of the earth opposed Christ when he was crucified, and they will do so again at his return but he, the king of Israel, will nevertheless become the supreme ruler of the whole world (Psalm 2:6-8).Waiting for response for Psalm 2:6-8