Under Arrest

We’ve had a couple weeks outside this sequence—Palm Sunday and Easter--

Time for a bit of review

Peter and John had healed a man outside the Temple gate

Upon being healed, the man followed the apostles into the area of the temple called Solomon’s Portico

He was pretty excited, to say the least

English Standard Version (Chapter 3)

...walking and leaping and praising God

This set up Peter’s sermon in 3:17-26

As we begin chapter 4, we see the aftermath of that sermon

The priests who were generally Sadducees—were troubled “greatly annoyed”

The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection and it was being preached in the confines of “their’ temple

So, we examine the custody of the apostles, the counsel of priests, and the command apostles

Custody

Backing up the story

It had been late in the day, hour of prayer at 3 PM when it started

The “powers that be” were greatly annoyed

Two reasons are given:

Peter and John were teaching

Probably perceived as a breach of the priestly authority—this was not a synagogue…it was the temple; only the priest taught there

The other reason is that they were teaching about Jesus and His resurrection—they thought they’d taken care of that troublemaker Jesus some time ago…with the help of the Romans

The late time of the arrest made it too late for any form of process that day

The only—so they thought—thing to do was hold Peter and John in custody

It may well have been within the temple itself, not in any Roman-controlled facility

From the perspective of the priests, this was damage control…flexing their muscles to show who “really” ruled in the temple

The Apostles were arrested “while they were speaking”…too late—conversions were rampant

Acts 4:4 ESV

But many of those who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men came to about five thousand.

That’s just the men…likely the women went uncounted—culture again...

Council

First, the members:

Looking at the cast of characters here was something like looking at the list of jurors in The Devil and Daniel Webster—if you’ve not read that, well…it makes for interesting discussion

That story has some flawed theology…as do the members of this council

The council was composed of rulers, elders and scribes—in theory the most honorable of the Jewish nation—and the High Priest’s family Annas, Caiaphas, John and Alexander

Elders were literally the old men of the culture, wise and respected

Likely that among them would be some honorable men, truly seeking the Lord

Scribes were the lawyers of the bunch—generally attached to the Pharisee party

The authority of the High Priest was interesting; the position seems, at this point, to be assigned by edict of the Roman governor; we note 3 holding the role in the book of Acts:

Annas was apparently out of official power (6-15 AD)

Caiaphas, his son-in-law was in power (18-35)

Ananias comes in 47-58—we’ll see him later in the book, dealing with Paul in Jerusalem

Next…its intent

They had multiple concerns

One was legit: were these men teaching anything that was contrary to the Torah—the law

We could cut them some slack with an appeal to Deut 18 20 “But the prophet who presumes to speak a word in my name that I have not commanded him to speak, or who speaks in the name of other gods, that same prophet shall die.’”

That’s the only place we could cut them some slack

The questions they asked, “by what power…what name....” did they heal...

Using “name” is a shortcut for what person

This seems like they are more worried about their traditions, than the law

This opens the door for Peter’s 3rd sermon…all in what appears to be less than 24 hours

“Filled with the Holy Spirit”

,,,as used in Acts, seems to be beyond the understanding of the normal indwelling and empowerment all believers have—this is a special dose for special occasions—this is certainly one.

He lays out the same basic message as he’s done before Acts 4 10

Acts 4:10 ESV

let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.

He lays out the facts of the Gospel message—the good news of Jesus coming to His own

Once again, Peter puts responsibility for the crucifixion squarely on their shoulders

Then, Peter continues with the matter of the....

Cornerstone

Looks back to Ps. 118 22

Psalm 118:22 ESV

The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone.

This concept shows up later, in Paul’s writing, Eph 2:19-22 “So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone, in whom the whole structure, being joined together, grows into a holy temple in the Lord. In him you also are being built together into a dwelling place for God by the Spirit.”

…and in Peter’s, 1 Peter 2 6 “For it stands in Scripture: “Behold, I am laying in Zion a stone, a cornerstone chosen and precious, and whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.””

Command

The lynch pin of this passage, Acts 4 12

Acts 4:12 ESV

And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Seems rather strong to call this a command…but it is an imperative verb form in the original—must sounds strong, but it’s accurate

WITFM?

Observations

First thing to take away could be the fact that the Apostles never tired of speaking the Good News—the Gospel; they had no doubt

When the opportunity came up, they spoke up

Even though it resulted in their arrest and custody—the beginning of a pattern—they held to and proclaimed the truth—even a scathing truth: responsibility for Jesus’ death

We see it again for Peter in 5:17 ff and again in 12:3 ff; tradition has him crucified (upside down), c. 64 AD; may have been other not recorded

As Peter wrote

...whoever believes in him will not be put to shame.

Peter under stood this cornerstone concept, he had it figured out:

Matthew 16:16 ESV

Simon Peter replied, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

It was on this statement he made…not on Peter himself…that the Church would be built

The Church is build on the cornerstone of Jesus being the Messiah, the Son of the Living God—not upon Peter (complex, but convincing linguistics

Implications

Starting at the end, working backwards

We must be saved—and it is only possible through the finished work of Christ on the cross

We must stand up and share our faith

It may be unpopular—and may get us in some hot water

We think we’ve got it bad here…look at what’s happening in Asia, Africa

We can stand on the foundation that has been built…because the cornerstone is solid