Acts 4:13-31
Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. 14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply. 15 But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another, 16 saying, " What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 "But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name." 18 And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, " Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge; 20 for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard." 21 When they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened; 22 for the man was more than forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.
23 When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. 24 And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, "O Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM, 25 who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said,
'WHY DID THE GENTILES RAGE,
AND THE PEOPLES DEVISE FUTILE THINGS?
26'THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND,
AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER
AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST.'
27 "For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur. 29 "And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence, 30 while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus." 31 And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.
NASU
Acts 4:13-31 Exposition
Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.
Three things were notable about these Apostles: First they were confident, bold, and fearless in proclaiming the risen Jesus as the Christ and His power. They did not back down when challenged by the authorities and even went so far as to announce to these men their sins in rejecting their Messiah. Many a person will proclaim an idea or make a complaint against a person or even an authority, but when challenged will back away, retreating, apologizing or attempting to soften the impact of their words. The apostles increased the intensity of the focus of their message when challenged and made no compromise in its meaning.
Second: They were uneducated and untrained, even “ignorant” depending on the way one translates the Greek word idiotai which to our ears gives the force of its meaning being similar to our own word “idiot”. They were not thought to be mentally deficient but sufficiently untrained as to have their teaching considered doubtful. Their amazement comes from the bringing together of their confidence and their incongruous position of a lack of training. In short their speech would have been more suited to a trained debater or scholar than to working class Galileans.
Third: what draws together the two previous things is the third notable, the fact that they had been with Jesus. They were speaking from a position of having been among those close to him and eyewitnesses of His ministry. It is unlikely that the leaders would have considered the Apostles eyewitnesses of His resurrection since they did not believe it, but they would have considered that they were insiders to Jesus' ministry of apparent miracles which now seemed to be spreading among His followers.
These things left them amazed. What was it about having been with Jesus? That made these men so bold?
14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply.
Their amazement left them without reply to the apostles' speech and the were all the more without reply because of the evidence before them of a man healed who all knew to have been crippled. This was no “ringer” brought in by frauds who had him act ill then show a feigned “miraculous” recovery. His fraud would have to have been begun long before this event as all knew him to be the man whom others, unrelated to the apostles, carried daily to the gate to beg alms.
15 But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another,
With no reply the Council begins to discuss what to do. The danger all of us face when left with undeniable evidence of God is that we may look for a response which we can make other than the one Gods asks fro, namely: repentance and faith. These men conferred together to come up with a response which as we shall see more suits their own desires than any faithfulness to God or evn integrity in the face of the facts.
16 saying, " What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
By their own admission they lack any evidence to deny the truth of the miracle in the face of a public who had seen for themselves. It required no faith to believe the fact of the healing. What requires faith is to believe the words of the apostles are in fact the Word of God and something to be believed and trusted. Scripture informs us that we have sufficient evidence to believe that God exists but we still deny Him His due worship, not based on evidence, but on our own willing choice give our worship to another. Consider Rom 1:18-23
For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19 because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21 For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22 Professing to be wise, they became fools, 23 and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.
NASU
God's wrath is revealed justly against those who would willingly be ungodly and unrighteous in ignoring evidence and suppressing the truth. The Council attempts to continue the unregenerate pattern of humanity in looking for a solution that works for them and required no submission to the call of God to believe. The low status of the apostles, the people's previous rejection of Jesus, and the potential threat to their own power and institutions are too offensive to allow true repentance and faith.
17 "But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no longer to any man in this name."
Their decision is to attempt to use their power, authority, and influence to coerce the apostles to stop their preaching of Jesus' Name. Their intentions are to prevent any further spread of this message among the people. Perhaps “good” intentions to preserve the public order, but ultimately, had the apostles obeyed it would have resulted in the suppression of God's chosen means of salvation, Faith in Christ, through the preaching of the Gospel.
18 And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
Assuming they still had the authority to command men to obey them in matters concerning their religion, the Apostles are summoned by the council and instructed to be silent concerning the Person and name of Jesus.
19 But Peter and John answered and said to them, " Whether it is right in the sight of God to give heed to you rather than to God, you be the judge;
The apostles reach the crux of the argument immediately. Denying the Word of God is disobedience to God. A man cannot act in the name of God and command others to deny or suppress the Word of God namely the good news concerning Jesus Christ. This is why it is foolishness when a worldly authority tells a Christian minister to pray but to refrain from praying in Jesus Name. When faced with the choice of obedience to human authority or obedience to God we must always choose to obey God first despite whatever consequences we may face.
20 for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard."
Added to the force of their argument is the fact that they are speaking of things which they have observed and not mere ideas which may be taken as a matter of opinion or be subject to debate.
21 When they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened;
The Council's hypocrisy is shown all the more when without any real cause, that is any legal basis, for persecuting the apostles they resort to threats before releasing them. Their fear of the people was the only thing which restrained them from harming the Apostles further as even they had to acknowlege that the result of these events was an increase in divine worship among the people. The work of God will lead all who would respond to it to greater worship regardless of the human source of the work. The Apostles low worldly degree was no discouragement for many from glorifying God in what had occurred. The council on the other hand had a greater fear of the people than they had of God. We see this when they willingly threaten the Apostles but will not carry it far enough to anger the people. There is little thought to the prospect of angering God.
22 for the man was more than forty years old on whom this miracle of healing had been performed.
The people's amazement is notable for the age of the man. His age would have made him more credible, no mere child, as well as more remarkable since he had been crippled all that time and was now healed.
23 When they had been released, they went to their own companions and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them.
The Apostles turn to their fellow believers to report the threats, the orders of the council and the events which had occurred. We must likewise turn in moments of personal difficulty and dilemma to the body of other believers in our own congregations to seek God's will.
24 And when they heard this, they lifted their voices to God with one accord and said, "O Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH AND THE SEA, AND ALL THAT IS IN THEM,
Wisely the congregation turns not to their own ideas first but to Worship and prayer. God is acknowledged as sovereign over all having made all things. Our sovereign God is certainly capable of managing our dilemmas as much as he can manage the earth and the mysterious chaotic sea.
25 who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said,
'WHY DID THE GENTILES RAGE,
AND THE PEOPLES DEVISE FUTILE THINGS?
Turning not only to prayer but also to the Written Word of God they see in David's psalm a parallel to their own situation. The Spirit inspired the Words of Scripture and included such events in its accounts as to inform us when we find ourselves on a similar path. Here we find in the Early Church's recognition of David's words as inspired by the Holy Spirit, an early and important support for the doctrine of inspiration of Scripture. In a practical sense the beauty of Scripture is that it shows the continuing history of the people of God and we may know from it that others have been this way before and God has dealt graciously, mercifully, and kindly with them as well.
26'THE KINGS OF THE EARTH TOOK THEIR STAND,
AND THE RULERS WERE GATHERED TOGETHER
AGAINST THE LORD AND AGAINST HIS CHRIST.'
If you were to look up this psalm, Psalm 2 you would no doubt find the word translated here “Christ” rendered “anointed”, leading you to believe it refers to David alone as the Lord's anointed king over Israel. Yet the early church quickly, prophetically, and inspired as David was by the Spirit, Show David's experience to point to the eternal king of Israel, the Christ. It shows that if they treated David with contempt as the Lord's anointed king, how much more would the world hold contempt for the Christ.
27 "For truly in this city there were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus, whom You anointed, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel,
Here the believers add their own spontaneous prayer recalling the actions of the people, Herod the Half-Israelite King and Pilate the Gentile Roman Governor. As we shall see this is not to inform God of information which they believe Him to be ignorant of, but to converse with their God concerning their own trials and to seek their place in God's plan.
28 to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur.
Here we see they believe the abuses of the people and the leaders of Jesus were done to fulfill God's plan and not in opposition to it.
29 "And now, Lord, take note of their threats, and grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence,
Now their pray brings to God the present struggle and they ask not deliverance from it but faithfulness in it. They wish to play their part with all diligence and specifically they ask for boldness to speak the Word, the Message of God, with confidence in the face of confidence-shaking persecution.
30 while You extend Your hand to heal, and signs and wonders take place through the name of Your holy servant Jesus."
They ask too that their credibility come not from themselves but from the signs and wonders and healings which they must rely on God to do. Do we have the boldness to likewise ask for God to provide the evidence of our message rather than our own simple arguments and evidences? The early church grabbed so much attention because in addition to a message of hope their was a power from God evident in their work which left doubters speechless. They could threaten and kill the bodies of the messengers but they could not discredit the message or its very visible and real power. Dare we ask the same?
31 And when they had prayed, the place where they had gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak the word of God with boldness.
Their prayer was answered with both an immediate display of power in the “shaking” of the place and in the general way in which the many now began to speak with the boldness they had requested. It is important to note that again it says they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. God seems to honor our requests to be filled with the Spirit. This should be our foremost prayer before any others. May we be filled with the Holy Spirit and live it out in whatever way God chooses to work, speaking the message of our faith in Jesus Christ with all boldness.
Mark
