Acts 4 explained: Courage Before the Council

Arrested for preaching (vv. 1-4)

Temple priests, the officer in charge of the temple police, and the Sadducees (a powerful priestly party that denied any rising from the dead) arrested Peter and John for teaching that Jesus had risen. They were jailed overnight, yet the number of believing men grew to about five thousand.

Peter faces the council (vv. 5-12)

The next day Peter stood before the Sanhedrin, the top Jewish council, which included Annas, a former high priest who was still powerful, and Caiaphas, the high priest who had handed Jesus over. Peter said the healed man stood there by the power of Jesus, the rejected stone of Psalm 118 that became the key stone of the building, and that rescue from God comes through no one else.

The leaders cannot answer (vv. 13-22)

The council was surprised that ordinary men with no formal religious training spoke so confidently, and they could not deny a healing the whole city knew about. Wary of the crowds, they only threatened them, but Peter and John said they had to obey God and could not stop telling what they had seen.

A prayer for courage (vv. 23-31)

The believers prayed using Psalm 2, a poem about rulers plotting against God and his chosen king, and saw it fulfilled in Herod, Pilate and others uniting against Jesus. They asked for boldness and more healings rather than safety, and the meeting place shook as they were all filled with God's Spirit.

Sharing what they owned (vv. 32-37)

The believers treated their belongings as shared, and people sold land or houses and placed the money in the apostles' care, so no one among them went without. One example was Joseph, a Levite (from the tribe that served at the temple) from the island of Cyprus, whom the apostles nicknamed Barnabas, a name the text explains with a word that means both encouraging and urging people on.

Key verse: Acts 4:20

Where Christians differ

Christians differ on whether verse 12's 'no other name' means only those who consciously trust in Jesus can be saved, or that any salvation comes through Jesus even for some who never knew of him.

Something to think about

Have you ever seen or experienced something that felt too important to keep quiet about, even when speaking up could cost you?