Acts 4 - Peter and James Preach in the Name of Jesus and Power of His Resurrection!

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Peter and John Before the Sanhedrin

Jesus had promised the disciples that as the leaders had treated him, they would be treated in the same way. And the beginning of this treatment started right away after Peter and John healed the lame beggar. The Sanhedrin was the ruling body of the Jews. They were worried because the healing of this man created quite an uproar. They were worried for many of the same reasons they were worried when Jesus healed people. 

Compounding the matter was the fact that 5,000 people had believed in their message. So they questioned them asking them in what name or power did they do this. Peter says unabashedly, 

"It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed."

Peter also reminded him that they had crucified this same Jesus. Then Peter declares, 

"Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved."

This statement pretty much destroys the idea of "universalism", where all roads lead to God. Jesus had said the same thing when he said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life and no one comes to the Father except through me." 

Some people think this is an exclusive message, and in some sense it is, but Jesus died for all people. He provided a way for all people to be saved. He loved and continues to love all people from all nations. Jesus is the "most inclusive" person that ever lived. 

The Sanhedrin had a problem on their hands. On the one hand Peter and John were preaching the same message that Jesus had and this posed a threat to their leadership. But also the man they healed was right there, so there was no denying that they did it. They also were having their own doubts seeing that ordinary, unschooled men, were doing these things and standing up to their accusations. 

They thought at least they could threaten them. So they ordered them to not speak or teach in the name of Jesus. Here we have that phrase again, "In the name of Jesus". All of their power came from teaching, preaching, and doing miracles of healing in the name of Jesus. Courageously the disciples answer by saying, 

Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

Note their teaching and preaching was not some "pie in the sky theology", but what they had seen and heard. They were not revealing their thoughts or concepts about Jesus, but what they had seen, heard, and experienced. The Sanhedrin could also not deny the clear evidence of the healed man right in front of him. The evidence was clear, and they could not refute it, so they let Peter and John go. 

The Believers Pray

When Peter and James returned to reported what had happened to the community of believers it was the cause of great celebration. It confirmed that Jesus was living and speaking through the apostles, and the religious leaders could not stop it. They lifted their voices in prayer and quoted Psalm 2 from the lips of David, 

"The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed one."

As the authorities and rulers could not stop the kingdom of God coming through Jesus, they could not stop it coming through the early church led by Peter and John. They prayed that despite the opposition, they would fearlessly proclaim Jesus and do the things He did in His name. And the Lord responded by, 

"After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly."

Quite a prayer meeting. I wonder if God would do more in our churches if we met to pray like this in the early church? Just sayin'

The Believers Share Their Possessions

Not only was God working out in the community God, He was working powerfully in the church. Most importantly, 

All the believers were one in heart and mind

What a great thing to say about a church! So many churches do so little in Jesus' name, because they are filled with back biting, gossip, and dissension. God's power is severely limited when our churches are not united in heart and mind. It is a unity that comes from the God himself in the form of the community of God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit.  God is the one who gives us unity and it is our job to protect it by being of one heart and mind. 

The other amazing thing was that all the people shared their possessions in common so that no one among them was needy. One person was so radically generous, he sold his property and laid it at the feet of the apostles' for the church's use. 

One again we see at the heart of the mission and life of the first church was its primary proclamation, "With great power the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus." 

Note that our message is based on a historical reality, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. This is where their power came from, and ours too. The resurrection of Jesus preached in the power of the Holy Spirit is the power of God to rescue lost people from sin, death, and the power of the devil. 

Has our message changed? Are we still testifying to the resurrection of Jesus Christ in the power of His name?