Acts 4:5 - Meaning and Application

Here we see Peter and John put on trial before the church rulers for preaching about Jesus Christ and healing in his name. They are charged as criminals for the very things that were their best service to God and to people.

The court was arranged for the next day. It was not held at night, as Jesus’ own trial had been, which suggests they were not pushing this case as hard as before. Even so, they did not want to delay, because they were eager to silence the apostles.

The hearing took place in Jerusalem, the city where Jesus had said his followers should expect suffering. That makes their sin worse, because Jerusalem should have welcomed the promised Redeemer. Instead, many there refused to believe when he came. Jesus had looked ahead to that refusal and wept over the city (Matthew 23:37).

The judges were rulers, elders, and scribes. The scribes were learned men who came ready to argue with the apostles and hoped to prove them wrong. The rulers and elders were men of power, and if they could not answer the apostles, they thought they could still shut them down. If the gospel had not come from God, it could not have stood against both the learning and the power of the world.

Among the chief men were Annas and Caiaphas, the main leaders in this persecution. Annas had been president of the Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, and Caiaphas was the high priest, though the title seems to be used for Annas here as well. They had both been deeply hostile to Christ, and they were equally hostile now to his gospel. Other relatives of the high priest were there too, men who depended on him and were likely to side with him.

Then Peter and John were brought before the council. The Sanhedrin sat in a circle, and the prisoners stood in the middle, surrounded on every side. Scripture had already pictured this kind of scene, where the wicked closed in around the righteous (Psalm 22:16; Psalm 118:12).

The court asked, “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?” In other words, “Who gave you authority to preach this teaching and work this miracle?” They had asked Jesus a similar question before (Matthew 21:23). They knew the apostles were preaching Jesus and the resurrection, but they asked anyway, hoping to trap them and find something to condemn.

Peter’s reply was not mainly to protect himself. It was meant to honor Jesus, because the Lord had already told his followers that trials before rulers would open the door for witness. This answer was given by the Holy Spirit, who supplied Peter with what to say in that moment (Mark 13:11). Christ’s faithful servants will not be left without help when they must speak for him.

Peter addressed the judges as rulers of the people and elders of Israel. Their office did not excuse their wrongdoing, but it did make their guilt greater if they used their power against the truth. They should have known the signs of the times and recognized the Messiah’s kingdom. As leaders over God’s people, they would answer for the harm they caused if they led the nation astray.

Peter then made a clear statement: the healing had been done in the name of Jesus Christ. If they were being questioned about a good deed done to a helpless man, he was ready with the answer. Let all of them know, and let all Israel know, that the man stood whole by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the one they had crucified and God had raised from the dead. That same Jesus now stood in highest honor and power, and the healed man was living proof of his power.

It was a good deed, a kindness to the man who had begged and could not work for his living. It was also a kindness to the temple and to those who went in to worship, since they were now free from the noise and clamour of this common beggar. If they are called to answer for such a good deed, they have no reason to be ashamed, as Peter says in (1 Peter 2:20), (1 Peter 4:14), and (1 Peter 4:16). Let those be ashamed who bring trouble on them for doing good. It is nothing new for good people to suffer badly for doing well. To do good and then suffer punishment is the Christian lot.

Peter then gives all the praise for this good deed to Jesus Christ. It was by Jesus, and not by any power of their own, that this man was healed. The apostles are not trying to build an interest for themselves or win the court’s approval by this miracle. Their concern is that the Lord alone be honored, whatever becomes of them.

He also charges the judges with the murder of Jesus. “It is the one you crucified,” he says, as if to say, “think about how you will answer for it.” In order to bring them to faith in Christ, which is his real aim, he tries to convict them of sin, especially the sin that should have shaken their conscience most, their putting Christ to death. No matter how they take it, Peter will not miss a chance to remind them of it.

He also points to Christ’s resurrection as the clearest proof for Christ and against those who opposed him. They crucified him, but God raised him from the dead. They took away his life, but God gave it back. So any further attack on his cause will do no better. Peter says that God raised him from the dead, and the rulers could not reasonably repeat the foolish story they had spread among the people, that the disciples came by night and stole the body.

He speaks this before all the bystanders, so they can repeat it to their neighbors. He tells every kind of person, from the highest to the lowest, to take notice at their own peril. Let it be known to everyone present, and through them to all the people of Israel, wherever they are scattered, in spite of every effort to hide it. As surely as the Lord God knows all things, all Israel must know that wonders are done in the name of Jesus, not by using it like a charm, but by trusting it as God’s own message of grace and goodwill to people.

From this, he moves to a larger truth. The name of Jesus, by whose authority they acted, is the only name by which we can be saved. This is not just the setting up of one religious group that people may join or ignore at will, like the schools of the philosophers or some Jewish sects. This is a holy and divine institution, confirmed by the miracle and the message. All people are deeply concerned to submit to it and come under it. It is not optional. It is necessary to believe in this name and call on it.

We are bound to do this because of our duty to God and because it fits his purpose, as Peter says in (Acts 4:11). “This is the stone that was rejected by you builders.” He speaks to the rulers and elders of Israel, who should have been building up the church, since the church is God’s building. A stone was offered to them, one that should have been placed in the chief position of the building, the main support the whole structure could rest on. But they rejected it, treated it as useless, and threw it away. Yet this stone has now become the head of the corner. God raised up this Jesus, whom they rejected, and by setting him at his right hand, made him both the cornerstone and the chief stone, the center of unity and the source of power. Peter likely used this Scripture because Christ had used it before, when the chief priests and elders asked about his authority, not long before this, in (Matthew 21:42). Scripture is a tested weapon in spiritual battles, so we should hold fast to it.

We are also bound to trust in Christ for our own good. We are ruined if we do not take shelter in his name and make him our refuge and strong tower. We cannot be saved except by Jesus Christ, and if we are not saved forever, then we are ruined forever, as Peter says in (Acts 4:12): “There is no salvation in any other.” Just as there is no other name by which sick bodies can be healed, so there is no other name by which sinful souls can be saved. Through him alone, by receiving and embracing his teaching, salvation must now be hoped for by all. There is no other religion in the world, not even the one given through Moses, by which salvation can be had for those who will not now come into this way through its preaching.

Our salvation is our main concern, the thing that should be nearest to our hearts. It means rescue from wrath and the curse, and being brought back into God’s favor and blessing. Our salvation is not in ourselves, and it cannot be gained by our own merit or strength. We can ruin ourselves, but we cannot save ourselves. Many names among men claim to save, but do not truly do so. Many religious systems promise to make peace between God and people, but cannot do it. Only through Christ and his name can we expect the blessings from God that are needed for salvation, and only through him can our service be accepted by God.

This is the glory of Christ’s name, that it is the only name by which we must be saved, the only name we can plead when we come before God. This name is given. God has appointed it, and it is a priceless gift freely given to us. It is given under heaven. Christ has a great name not only in heaven, but also under heaven, because he has all power in both the upper and lower world. It is given among people, who need salvation and are ready to perish. We may be saved by his name, by that name, “The Lord our righteousness,” and we cannot be saved by any other. How far those may find favor with God who do not know Christ, and have no active faith in him, yet live according to the light they have, is not for us to decide. But we do know this, whatever saving favor such people may receive is because of Christ, and for his sake alone. So there is still no salvation in any other, even if God has given him a name to those who did not know him, as in (Isaiah 45:4).

This plea put the court in a difficult position in the prosecution, as shown in (Acts 4:13) and (Acts 4:14). Now Christ’s promise was fulfilled, that he would give them words and wisdom that all their enemies could not answer or resist.

They could not deny that the healing of the lame man was both a good deed and a miracle. The man was standing there with Peter and John, ready to confirm the healing if needed, and they had nothing to say against it (Acts 4:14). They could not prove it false or speak badly of it. It was fortunate this was not the Sabbath day, because then they would likely have used that as an objection too.

They also could not, with all their show of power, shut Peter and John down. This was a miracle almost as great as the healing itself. These priests had been fierce and cruel enemies of Christ, enough to make anyone afraid to stand up for him. And these same disciples had recently been very weak and fearful, especially Peter, who had denied Jesus because he was afraid of a servant girl. Yet now they saw the boldness of Peter and John (Acts 4:13).

There was probably something striking and unusual about how they looked. They were not only calm in front of the rulers, they seemed to challenge and unsettle them. Their faces seemed firm, their eyes bright, and their voices strong and commanding, even frightening. They were like the prophet who said his face was set like flint (Isaiah 50:7; Ezekiel 3:9). The courage of Christ’s faithful followers has often shamed their cruel enemies.

We are told what first amazed the rulers: they saw that Peter and John were unlearned and ordinary men. They asked about them, perhaps from the apostles themselves, or from others, and learned that they came from humble backgrounds. They were from Galilee, had been fishermen, and had no formal training. They had not been educated at a rabbinic school, and they had not moved in the circles of courts, armies, or colleges. If you had asked them about natural philosophy, mathematics, or politics, they would have known little or nothing. But when the subject was the Messiah and his kingdom, they spoke with such clarity, strength, and confidence, and knew the Old Testament so well, that even the most learned judge could not answer them.

They were ordinary men, private people with no public rank or office, and that made the rulers wonder all the more that they spoke with such authority. The word can even carry the sense of “untrained” or “unskilled,” and the rulers looked on them with contempt, as if they were simple people with nothing to offer. That is why they were so surprised to see how freely and boldly Peter and John spoke.

What began to explain their boldness was this, the rulers recognized that they had been with Jesus. Perhaps the rulers had seen them with Jesus in the temple and now remembered them. Or perhaps servants or others around the court had told them, since the rulers themselves would not want to seem to notice such lowly men. But once they understood that Peter and John had been with Jesus, had spent time with him, followed him, and learned from him, they knew where their boldness came from.

This is still true. Those who have been with Jesus in fellowship with him, who hear his word, pray in his name, and remember his death and resurrection, should live so that others can tell they have been with Jesus. That kind of life makes people holy, heavenly, spiritual, and cheerful. It lifts them above this world and fills them with another. Like Moses coming down from the mountain, they are known by the shining of their faces.