Boldness Brings Results

Acts 4:13–22
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Here we see very vividly both the enemy’s attack and the Christian defense. It says that the Sanhedrin regarded Peter and John as unlearned and ignorant men (v. 13). The word translated “unlearned” means that they had no kind of technical education. The word translated “ignorant” means that they were laymen with no special professional qualifications. The Sanhedrin regarded them as men without a college education and with no professional status. It is often difficult for the simple man to meet what might be called academic and professional snobbery. 

The Sanhedrin met to discuss what they could do with Peter and John (vv. 14-15). They recognized that since they could not deny the occurrence of the miracle (the formerly lame man was standing before them), their main problem was to keep the doctrine of the Resurrection from spreading (v. 16). They could not help but see the courage and confidence of Peter and John, as well as the power of Peter’s words. All of this posed a dilemma for them. The council hoped to just “let the thing die a natural death,” but threatened the apostles and forbid them to teach and preach in the name of Jesus (vv. 17-18). The apostles’ reply was straight forward and simple: We must obey God and testify of what we have seen (vv. 19-20).

The religious leaders did not want the Gospel message to spread, but that is exactly what happened. From 120 praying people in Acts 1, the church had already increased to over 5,000. Satan’s attempts to silence the Christians only led to a stronger witness for the Lord. We can imagine Peter and John leaving the Sanhedrin determined to go on preaching Christ. Since the council had no real case against them, the only thing they could do was threaten them and let them go (v. 21). After all, when you have a living miracle before you, as well as an approving public around you, you must be careful what you do! The man who was healed by this miracle was more than forty years old, and everyone was praising God for what had happened (v. 22).

Application

Satan is still trying to silence the Christians. Sad to say, he has succeeded with far too many. All I need to do is to follow Peter’s example and make my decisions based on “Is it right?” and not “Is it popular?”