Acts 4:13-22. This sermon was preached by Pastor Marty Bonner on August 21, 2022.
Peter and John are in front of the leaders of Israel in Jerusalem. Last week, we looked at Peter’s response to the questions they had given them. Now, we are going to see the decision of Israel’s top Council, the Sanhedrin.
Let’s get into the passage.
Luke again gives us commentary about what was going on inside the minds of the council, to which later threats and actions give evidence. In verse 15, they had Peter and John taken out of the council chamber while they confer among themselves. However, they are having difficulty processing what these Galilean fishermen have done.
In short, they are amazed by the disciples of Jesus. First, they are amazed at the healing of this man that everyone knows was lame from birth. They are not going to be able to say anything that will neutralize the healing that has happened. How do you convince people that this was not a good thing?
Yet, Peter’s response to the council added to their amazement. They are amazed at his boldness. How many men have they brought in before these powerful men and blanched at the gravity of their situation? Yet, these fishermen from Galilee were bold. By the way, let’s not interpret boldness as arrogance. Peter went out of his way to put all the credit at the feet of Jesus. It is not about him. It is about Jesus. Neither was he employing some kind of psychological trick or manipulation. It was the result of the Holy Spirit within them. We all need more boldness, and it can only come through spending time with Jesus and the Holy Spirit.
They are also amazed that these uneducated and untrained men are able to respond in the way that they have. They then took note that these men “had been with Jesus.” There is an uncanny similarity between these men and Jesus of Nazareth, whom they thought they had dealt with.
Here’s an important question for every Christian to ask themselves. Have I been with Jesus? If I have been with Jesus, then others will take note. That doesn’t mean they will like it. Have I been with Jesus?
These men hadn’t been trained and educated according to the system of the Sadducees or the Pharisees. However, they had been trained and educated by Jesus over the last 3 ½ years, who is the best rabbi ever! That didn’t fit in their system, the way they did things.
Let me just say that education or lack thereof is never the problem or the solution. Peter was an uneducated fisherman, but Saul/Paul had been trained in all the teachings of the Pharisees. For all of his education, he was blind to the identity of Jesus and he persecuted those who were see that Jesus was the Messiah. Yet, he too came to believe in Jesus. There is nothing wrong with education, but it cannot take the place of God’s Spirit in our hearts and minds. If people are only amazed at my education credentials, then they will not be looking at the right thing, and most likely miss what God is trying to give them.
In verse 16, the leaders confess that they are in a tight spot. What can you do to men who have performed an obvious miraculous sign? The people of Jerusalem are convinced that God has done an amazing miracle through these men.
Now, the word translated “notable miracle” here is literally a sign. It is an amazing event that points people to what God is doing. It has meaning beyond the miracle itself. Jesus did similar signs that pointed to the reality that at least a great prophet was in their midst, and likely that Messiah was here. Yet, he was then put to death. Of course, the resurrection was rumored about, but only the believers saw the evidence for it. This amazing miracle, however, was like a neon sign pointing out that the powerful works of Jesus were back through his disciples. Must not God be behind this?
At this point, the leaders are afraid that this teaching will spread if they do nothing. They don’t want it to spread beyond Jerusalem to the rest of Israel. In short, they are standing in the way of God. God help us to work with Him and not against Him. It is not enough to point to a pedigree, or a passage in the Bible that says you are doing what God said. We must truly be walking in such a way that we are humbly looking for the leading of God’s Spirit, and saying yes when He speaks.
Their solution is to threaten them severely not to speak in the name of Jesus any more to anybody. If you will not embrace the seductions of this world that use the flesh to draw us in and entangle us through sin, then the threats will come forth in one way or another. You will get the carrot or the stick from this old world.
Yet, Jesus has shown us that we do not need to fear these threats. In one way, they are not empty threats. In the natural, this world and its ruler can make things very hard for a follower of Jesus. However, God will take the very things that we fear and use them to do even more powerful things through us. In this sense, they are empty threats. The enemy cannot truly hurt you, in the ultimate sense. We need boldness to walk the path, that Jesus puts before us, over the top of all the fears that the enemy will try to point out to us. We must walk “in his name” by walking in His power and His authority. Another way to think of that last sentence is to seek to walk in what He is empowering and to do what He is authorizing.
In this section, we have the severe threats given to the disciples. First, they are commanded not to speak in or teach in the name of Jesus. It may be that they feel like this is a concession on their part. “You can teach, but just not about Jesus!” It sends the not-so-subtle message. “This thing that you are doing is only going to get you in more trouble, so go back to fishing in the Galilee.”
Peter speaks again in a bold way. There is most likely a part of Peter that is intimidated by the threats, but another part of them cannot deny who Jesus is. The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom, and Peter cuts to the heart of the issue.
Whom should we obey, man or God? This is an important question that we can abuse to cover rebellion. However, when the authority commands you to obey them rather than God, they have stepped out of bounds. It is possible that we can try to manipulate this by saying that God wants what we want all of the time. However, that would not be a fear of the Lord. We are not talking about a justification of our actions. When we focus on obedience, we can miss the fact that this comes down to whether you love the Lord or not. These disciples are not merely obeying God. They are following the one who has opened their eyes to the truth. They are following God Himself. The threats are very real, and those authorities will most likely punish, but to suffer for the sake of Christ is glory on the battle field.
The disciples had seen and heard amazing things from the Messiah himself. How could they not talk about it? It is like the story in 2 Kings 7. It was during the days of Elisha and King Jehoram of Jerusalem. The Syrians had besieged the city, and it had run out of food. Four lepers who were outside the gate decided to go to the Syrian camp at twilight, hoping to get some food, and yet it was empty of soldiers. After eating food and carrying off silver and gold to bury in the field, they realized that they should go tell the people in the city. If it is found out later that they knew and didn’t make the city aware of it, then they would be in trouble.
How can we keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard? That is the key. What are you seeing and what are you hearing? Only those with ears to hear and eyes to see will hear what the Spirit is saying to the Churches. We need to wake up and be about our Father’s business regardless of the threats of the world around us.
It then says that they threatened the disciples further, and release them. Really, they are at a loss of what to do. If they were giving credit to a foreign god, then they could punish them for heresy. However, this is only a short window of mental confusion. They will become more and more desperate, until they start the physical torments: whippings, stocks, imprisonments, fines, seizures of property, and even execution. The cognitive dissonance will not last long because these are very powerful people of the world who are used to accomplishing what they want. They will eventually turn the threats into punishments.
We need to be a people who are walking in faith in Jesus, not a faith that says, “I can’t be touched,” and not a faith that says, “I can do whatever I want.” Rather, we need a faith that follows Jesus wherever he may lead us, be it a lion’s den, or a cross. We can only do this by the Spirit of God.