Peter and John Arrested and Questioned

Acts 4

While Peter and John were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple guard, and the Sadducees came up to them. They were greatly disturbed because the apostles were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. They sized them, and put them in jail until the next day, since it was already evening. But many of those who heard the message believed, and the number of men came to be about five thousand.

The next day, their rulers, elders, and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem. Annas the high priest was there, with Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest. They had Peter and John stand before them and began to question them, “By what power, or in what name, did y’all do this?”

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people, if we are being examined today for a good deed done to a disabled man, and being asked how he was healed, let it be known to all of y’all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth—whom y’all crucified but whom God raised from the dead—this man stands here before y’all healthy. This Jesus is ‘the stone rejected by y’all builders, which has become the cornerstone.’+Psa 118:22 There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to humans by which we must be saved!”

Now when they observed the fearless confidence of Peter and John, and it grasped them that they were uneducated, ordinary humans, they marveled, and they recognized that they had been with Jesus. And because they could see the man who was healed standing with them, they had nothing to say against this. But after they ordered them to leave the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, “What should we do with these men? For a notable miracle has been done through them, as everyone who lives in Jerusalem has clearly seen, and we can’t deny it. But so that this doesn’t spread any further among the people, let’s threaten them to no longer speak in this name to any humans.” They called them in and ordered them not to speak or teach in the name of Jesus at all.

But Peter and John responded, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to y’all rather than to God, y’all be the judge, for we can’t help but speak about the things which we have seen and heard.”

After threatening them again, they let them go because they found no way to punish them while all the people were glorifying God for what had happened. For this miracle of healing had been performed on a man who was more than forty years old.

Prayer for Continued Boldness

After they were let go, they went back to their own people and reported all that the chief priests and the elders had said to them. When they heard this, they lifted up their voice to God with one mind and said, “Master, who made the heaven, the earth, the sea, and all that is in them. You spoke by the Holy Spirit through the mouth of your servant David,

‘Why do the ethnic groups rage, and the peoples plot in vain? The kings of the earth take a stand, and the rulers assemble together, against the Lord, and against his Christ.’+Psa 2:1-2

“The truth is that Herod and Pontius Pilate gathered together in this city with the ethnic groups and the people of Israel against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed, to do whatever your hand and your will predestined to happen. And now, Lord, consider their threats and grant that your servants may speak your word with all boldness, while you stretch out your hand to heal, and signs and wonders may be done through the name of your holy servant Jesus.”

When they had prayed, the place where they were gathered together was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.

Pentecost Believers Share Their Possessions

The whole group of believers were of one heart and soul. Not one of them claimed that any of their possessed was their own, but they held everything in common. With massive power the apostles were giving their testimony of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and massive grace was on them all. There was no person in need among them because those who owned land or houses would sell them, bring the proceeds of the sales and lay it at the apostles’ feet, and it would be distributed to each person who had a need.

Joses, a Levite from Cyprus by birth, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which is translated “Son of Encouragement”), sold a field he owned, brought the money, and laid it at the apostles’ feet.