Acts 4:13-21

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. "What are we going to do with these men?" they asked. "Everybody living in Jerusalem knows they have done an outstanding miracle, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn these men to speak no longer to anyone in this name."

 

Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God. For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard."

 

After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.

 

Peter and John were let go despite the leaders’ misgivings about them and their message. Why?

 

Was it because of their courage? No. Their courage astonished the religious leaders only because Peter and John were unschooled, ordinary men. Such people did not normally stand up so strongly for a deviant teaching. But these ordinary men boldly proclaimed that Jesus was the only source of salvation – pointing out that the religious leaders were involved in killing Jesus! Ordinary men feared religious leaders and their judgments, but not these men. So the leaders took note that these men had been with Jesus, who had so boldly opposed them until His death. But Peter and John’s courage certainly did not make the religious leaders want to set them free.

 

Was it because of the miracle? No. The religious leaders had arrested Peter and John, after all, following the miracle. They were opposed to Peter and John despite the miracle. The only thing that the miracle did was shut the religious leaders up. They could not deny that Peter and John had worked a great miracle, but they did not want to free them, either.

 

Why were the leaders so opposed to Peter and John, anyway? When we look at their private council, we see that the religious leaders wanted Peter and John to stop glorifying Jesus. They didn’t mind the miracle. But they hated that the Jesus they had helped to condemn was getting the credit for this miracle. They didn’t want Jesus to be honored at all! That was the problem they had with Peter and John.

 

And Peter and John wouldn’t back down! Even after a direct command from the religious leaders not to speak or teach at all in Jesus’ name, Peter and John stayed bold! They could not stop speaking about what they had seen and heard, they said. And they challenged the religious leaders’ authority, saying that the religious leaders were opposing God’s commands.

 

So the religious leaders – the priests and the Sadducees – did not want to let Peter and John go on the basis of their courage. They wouldn’t let them go because they had performed a miracle. Peter and John’s teaching about Jesus was offensive to them, and Peter and John boldly affirmed that they would keep telling everyone about Jesus! So why did the religious leaders let Peter and John go?

 

Because of the people. The people were glorifying God for the amazing miracle of healing given to this crippled man. The religious leaders were there to defend God’s glory, to guide people to worship the one true God. And Peter and John had led the people to do praise the one true God, not just by their miracle but by their teaching about Jesus Christ. The way they told people about Jesus did not oppose the true God; it magnified Him. It made Jesus the Christ, the promised servant of God. It magnified God as the fulfiller of His promises. And so the people, rather than being led away from worshiping the one true God, praised God all the more zealously as Peter and John taught them that Jesus was the source of God’s salvation.

 

The religious leaders could not oppose this. They could not prove that Jesus was not the Christ. They could not say that a wonderful healing had not taken place because of Jesus, and ultimately because of God. And they could not say that the people were being led astray, because they saw the people worshiping God with joy!

 

Father, may I proclaim Jesus in a way that magnifies You! Teach me to be bold and to speak the truth about Jesus no matter what others say. The glory that people will give you because of Jesus Christ and what He has done – that is my goal, my aim, my passion. May it silence any who might oppose me. May they be unable to deny the good that You have done through Jesus. May they note my courage – that it comes from Jesus. But most of all, may they see that teaching about Jesus exalts the true and living God in the midst of His people. Lord God, I honor You.