First Opposition

Introduction

Peter has connected the healing of the lame man with the resurrection and exaltation of Jesus.

He has called for:

Repentance of their view of Jesus for the erasure of their sins.

He entertains the possibility that:

The kingdom might come if they were to do so.

He teaches that:

God, through the prophets, spoke of a prophet like Moses.

All the prophets from Samuel spoke of “these days.”

God having raised his child sent him forth blessing you all so as to return each from your evils.

None of this was intended to be controversial or aggressive.

It began with benevolence.

Arrival of the Opposition

Luke portrays the arrival of the priestly entourage as during Peter and John’s explanation.

We have a bit of a redundancy on Luke’s part because all three levels of representation come from the priests.

The priests will receive further introduction below.

The strategos of the Temple might refer to the “sagan.”

This individual served as the deputy to the high priest and bore responsibility for maintaining publick order, and he may also have had the authority to arrest.

The captain of the temple (stratēgos) was probably the official whom the Mishna designates the sagan. The sagan had extensive duties, which included assisting the high priest in all ceremonies and serving as his alternate in such capacities. Ranking second in the priestly hierarchy, he was always chosen from one of the families of the priestly aristocracy. Indeed, serving as sagan was viewed as a stepping-stone to appointment as high priest. The sagan’s involvement in this scene is particularly appropriate since he had ultimate responsibility for order in the temple grounds and had the power to arrest. His linkage with the Sadducees here is also quite natural. Representing the priestly aristocracy, he belonged to their ranks.

These priests shared in their anger over two things taking place:

The apostles were teaching the people: this was the role of the priests. Who were these men to teach the people?

They were proclaiming the resurrection of the dead in Jesus.

This could be understood in two ways:

That Jesus was raised from the dead.

Resurrection, generally, is found in Jesus.

They placed Peter and John under arrest and placed them in a prison/cell until the following day.

Introduction Part 2:

We should be astounded at the transformation of the apostles.

Consider the setting where Peter has taught or taken the lead.

Luke 12:11-12 Ὅταν δὲ προσφέρωνται ὑμᾶς ἐπὶ τὰς συναγωγὰς καὶ τὰς ἀρχὰς καὶ τὰς ἐξουσίας, μὴ μεριμνήσητε πῶς ἢ τί ἀπολογήσησθε, ἢ τί εἴπητε· τὸ γὰρ Ἅγιον Πνεῦμα διδάξει ὑμᾶς ἐν αὐτῇ τῇ ὥρᾳ ἃ δεῖ εἰπεῖν.

We see more than the evidence of one act of the Spirit, we see two.

The resurrection should fill us with courage and boldness.

The apostles exemplify that for us.

A Brief Aside

Luke brings the day to a close by listing the number of people who believed and became part of their number.

He may be focusing strictly upon male participation for now.

Those who became part of their number equaled 5k.

They believed and came to be with the apostles.

This will be important later.

An Inquiry

The remainder of the paragraph explains the participants in the inquiry, the question they pose, and Peter’s answer.

After describing the three-fold groups participating in the inquiry, Luke lists the names of the priestly family, or at least some of them.

Annas: Annas was high priest from A.D. 6–15, and at this time (early A.D. 30s) his son-in-law Caiaphas was the reigning high priest. Luke’s attribution of the title to Annas may reflect the actual state of affairs. Annas was the most powerful political figure among the Jews at that time. Five of his sons, one grandson, and a son-in-law all acquired the rank of high priest. He may well have been the power behind the scenes, calling all the shots.

Caiaphas, Annas’s son-in-law, was high priest from A.D. 18–36, the longest tenure of any high priest during New Testament times. He seems to have struck it off well with Pilate, since he survived the entire period of the latter’s term of office.

Luke gives their natural concern over what the apostles were doing in the Temple.

They asked “in what kind of power or name, you all did this.”

The hint is that this was some kind of magic.

The facts of what happened appear not to be in dispute.

Peter challenges, politely, their arrest.

He plays on the idea of salvation.

Jesus is the stone in Ps. 118:22.

The implication is that they are among the rejectors.

Salvation is in none other than Jesus.

The health of the man points to salvation in Jesus alone.

There are no alternatives to Jesus.

They recognize them as those who had been with Jesus, and they found the evidence of the healed man incontrovertible.