Acts // Part 14 - Peter & John Before The Council

June 10, 2012 Speaker: Phil Baker Series: Acts

Topic: Book Exposition Passage: Acts 4:5–12

For those of you that are new to us, we have been working our way through the book of Acts in a sermon series entitled, “You will be My witnesses”. Our goal has been to examine church history, so that we might become, as a new church, the kind of church that Christ approves, blesses, and uses for His Name’s sake. Last week we studied Peter’s second great sermon in 3:11-4:4. At this point in the historical narrative, Peter and John have been thrown in jail for preaching about the resurrection of Jesus Christ and they are now awaiting a hearing. Please turn to Acts 4:5-12. I’m going to read the text, pray, and then we’ll examine it verse by verse together.

Read Acts 4:5-12

Pray

Examine

Verse

5 On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.

Commentary

The first thing we see is the gathering of religious leaders at Jerusalem. Luke lists 4 groups and four individuals; the rulers, elders, scribes, and members of the high priestly family, and Annas, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander.

The “rulers” represented the 24 priestly orders. The “elders” were the heads of families or heads of tribes. The “scribes” were the law experts (mostly Pharisees). The members of the “high priestly family” were the religious aristocrats. Annas was the former high priest. He had been disposed by the Romans and replaced with Caiaphas. Annas kept himself somewhat active in the religious functions of the Sanhedrin. He spoke his mind, influenced the leadership, and promoted policies, but the power rested on his son in law, Caiaphas. Caiaphas was the acting high priest during Jesus’ tribunal and was responsible for condemning Him to death. John may have been the son of Annas who later replaced Caiaphas after his term ended. Nothing is known of Alexander.

Most, if not all of these individuals, were members of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was comprised of 71 members and it was led by the high priest. The Sanhedrin was comprised of mostly Sadducees with the exception of the Scribes who were Pharisees. The Sadducees were a religious/political group that denied the supernatural. They were rationalists in religion. They believed in God, and in Mosaic Law, but they denied every story of the miraculous.

The Sadducees laughed at the existence of angles, abandoned the idea of spirit, and fully rejected the doctrine of resurrection. This put them at odds with the Pharisees because the Pharisees believed in those things. The Sadducees turned the Hebrew economy into an ethical system of right and moral behavior. And that is exactly what happens to Christianity when the supernatural is removed. It becomes nothing more than a code of conduct guided by a set of principles.

There is a growing contingency of so-called Christians in the world today that does the very same thing. These people believe in God and in Christ, and at the same time reject the miracles of the Bible. They refer to them as metaphorical parables rather than real events. They, like the Sadducees, put all the emphasis on the physical, on the logical, on the rational, and dispose of all that is supernatural. This of course makes them “non-Christian” because Christianity is based upon supernatural events like the virgin birth, God becoming a man (hypostatic union), and the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Interestingly, the Sadducees lead the opposition against the apostles and Christians during the early years rather than the Pharisees who waged war against Jesus. The Pharisees even became somewhat friendly towards Christianity during those times because they believed in supernatural things, and that man had a spirit, and that angle’s existed, and in resurrection. They just didn’t believe that Jesus was the Messiah and that He had been resurrected. But since their beliefs were similar to that of the apostles and the church, they became way less volatile towards them. They may have even saw Christians as theological allies with them against their rivals, the Sadducees.

Now why did such a large group gather in the first place? It’s only Peter and John here, was this a bit of overkill? No it wasn’t. The key religious leaders were required to gather for these types of counsel meetings according to their own law. Homer Kent Jr. wrote a great commentary on this text. He wrote:

“The Mosaic Law specified that whenever someone performed a miracle and used it as the basis for teaching, he was to be examined, and if the teaching were used to lead men away from the God of their fathers, the nation was responsible to stone him to death (Deuteronomy 13:1-5). On the other hand, if his message was doctrinally sound, the miracle-worker was to be accepted as coming with a message of God.”

The religious leaders of our text were summonsed and gathered to evaluate the miracle and teaching of Peter and John. This was standard practice, it was normal, and I might add that it happened at the right time which was during daylight hours. All council meetings or evaluations were to be held during daylight hours. Jesus was, however, not afforded the same legal right as Peter and John were. His meeting was held by the Sanhedrin in the middle of the night and that was a direct violation of their own law. So, at this point in the biblical narrative, we have a very large contingency of wealthy aristocratic Sadducees gathered at Jerusalem for a council meeting with Peter and John. Again, why were they arrested in the first place? They were arrested for “preaching the resurrection of Jesus Christ” in Solomon’s Portico and that was an affront to Sadducean belief. Let’s move to 7:

Verse

7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”

Commentary

The Sanhedrin met in a place called the Hall of Hewn Stone, which is believed to have been in the temple area. At the Hall of Hewn Stone the religious leaders would form a large semi-circle with the high priest in the middle. But in our text it says that Peter and John were placed in the midst or middle. Now we have to imagine what this must have looked like. We have this large meeting room that has been assembled from hand carved stones. And forming a semi-circle we have 71 of Israel’s top religious leaders and aristocrats. They would have been wearing robes made from the finest silks and threads in the Mediterranean with dangling tassels and large phylacteries attached to the front of their head-coverings which held little scrolls of the law in them. The high priest would have been wearing his special vest which was covered in precious jewels. This would’ve have looked more like a gathering of Hollywood elitists at an awards show rather than a gathering of religious leaders at a council meeting.

And then, smack dab in the middle, you have Peter and John who were uneducated Galilean fishermen, clothed in consignment store tunics with Kmart flip flops on their feet, and with them stood the guy who had been healed (verse 10). I suspect that the healed guy went home, the night before, after the arrest, and then came back to be by Peter and John’s side during the meeting. He wasn’t teaching in Solomon’s Portico so it is doubtful that he had been arrested with them. Or, maybe he volunteered to sit in jail with them for the night?

In verse 11 we saw him clinging to Peter and John after being healed. Maybe he clung to them all the way into the temple cell block. We don’t know for sure how it went down but he was there.

And how did the religious leaders begin their evaluation? They did it by asking, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” This question implies that Peter and John were acting as rebels, since the Sanhedrin had not granted them authority to act. Paraphrased their question would sound like this, “Who told you that you could heal and teach in Solomon’s Portico give us the name of the official who authorized this.” Look at what happened next, look at 8:

Verse

8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them…

Commentary

In the Scriptures we see two types of manifestations of the Holy Spirit in believers. We see the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and we see the filling of the Holy Spirit. I’d like to talk about both of them for a moment.

1. The INDWELLING of the Holy Spirit.

The indwelling of the Holy Spirit comes at the moment of true saving faith or perhaps, because of our inability to believe, right before. The indwelling is a onetime deal. It is where God places His Holy Spirit in the new believer who then separates them from the world and brings them into the family of God. Every true believer of Jesus Christ experiences the permanent indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Let’s talk about the filling of the Holy Spirit.

2. The FILLING of the Holy Spirit.

The filling of the Holy Spirit is very different from the indwelling of the Holy Spirit. Ephesians 4:30 states that the Holy Spirit can be grieved. 1 Thessalonians 5:19 says that the Spirit’s activity within us can be quenched. Sin is what causes the grieving and quenching of the Holy Spirit. Sin does not remove the Holy Spirit from us but rather it affects the fullness of His power and presence. The filling of the Holy Spirit tends to come and go and that is primarily due to the inconsistency of our flesh and nature. We are sinners saved by grace. We still have sinful desires and tendencies. So the filling of the Holy Spirit is greatly affected by our behavior and actions.

This is why Paul commanded the Ephesians to be filled with the Holy Spirit rather than with wine (Ephesians 5:18). This was Paul’s way of telling them to engage in the things of God so that they would experience the fullness and power of the Spirit.

When they were filled with wine they engaged in activities that were ungodly and harmful to themselves and others. This grieved and quenched the Holy Spirit. When they exercised discipline and restraint and engaged in the things of God, the presence of the Holy Spirit increased which caused a greater release of power which helped them to better build one another up, lead their families in righteousness, stay on mission, and glorify God in everything they did. The Apostle Paul modeled this very well. He told the Corinthians in 1 Corinthians 1:27 that “Disciplining his body and keeping it under control” was basically the key to maintaining the integrity of his Spirit filled gospel preaching.

The presence of the Holy Spirit becomes deeper and more powerful in a group that is devoted to the things of God rather than one that is divided. When each person obeys the commands of God, each person is filled with a deeper manifestation of the Spirit. When combined, the group becomes a powerful tool for the Lord in their community. This is the distinction that truly set the first generation of Christians apart from all the following generations. The early Christians were insanely devoted to the things of God, they had spiritual tunnel vision, and that caused them to be Spirit filled and lead. And that is why the early church experienced horrendous persecution and exponential growth.

We’ve drawn the distinction between the indwelling and the filling of the Holy Spirit. Our text says that Peter was “filled with the Holy Spirit”. That means that Peter was filled with divine power and divine preparedness to not only face this difficult challenge but to fearlessly overcome it. Remember, Peter and John and the healed man were standing in the midst of the same group that condemned Jesus to death. Their lives were in the hands of the same men who killed Jesus. If there were ever a time to wimp out and run for the hills, this was it! Would the rooster crow as it had before when Peter denied the Lord while warming himself next to a campfire? I don’t think so. Let’s look to see how a man who was filled with the Holy Spirit responded. Look at the rest of verse 8 to the end of 10.

Verse

“Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a crippled man, by what means this man has been healed, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.

Commentary

Peter filled with the Holy Spirit began his retort by showing his interrogators honor and respect. He addressed them as the “rulers and elders of the people”. This is interesting because Rome was the governing body in Israel, they were in charge; they called the shots. The religious leaders, however, still bore the responsibility of managing the religious affairs of the Jewish community because the Romans detested Judaism. They believed that it was an outdated barbaric system filled with troublemaking fanatics and so they joyfully allowed the religious leaders to continue to manage it. The great question to us then becomes:

How will a Spirit filled man or woman respond to an inquisitor, interrogator or accuser? The answer is, respectfully. That is how Peter responded. The Spirit filled person does not respond angrily, sarcastically, contemptuously, or disrespectfully in these situations. God is a God of order and peace which means that His Holy Spirit empowers us to respond in a way that represents His character. Peter then flips their question back on them by saying (paraphrased), “If you’ve arrested us and brought us into this meeting because we’ve done a good deed, let it be known to you…”

This shows that Peter really learned from Jesus as His disciple. Jesus was asked multitudes of questions by all sorts of people, especially the religious leaders. In most cases He answered their questions with questions of His own. And His questions were designed to expose their motives and sinful desires. And Jesus had a tremendous success rate, 100%, at exposing and defusing His foes. Peter did something similar here. He flipped it on them by asking a rhetorical question. He said, “If John and I are in trouble for doing a good deed to a crippled man, I will most certainly answer your question...” These were Israel’s religious leaders. Their lives were to be marked by doing good deeds. Arresting a person for doing a good deed, especially for a crippled man, was the antithesis of Judaism. Six of the Ten Commandments are about loving our neighbors.

Some of the leaders may have been thinking, “He’s made us look like fools, we arrested them for preaching about resurrection, but he’s turned it on our own heads by making it about doing a good deed to a crippled man, how can we possibly continue?” Peter probably could’ve have ended on that note. He had them. They were finished. But Peter saw their interrogation as an opportunity to preach the gospel rather than an opportunity to win a theological debate and then to be freed. That is what the Spirit filled man or woman does. They seek opportunities to spread the good news. They are uninterested in winning arguments or in baffling their enemies or allies with their knowledge of the things of God. They are uninterested in winning verbal exchanges. They are interested in winning souls! Peter probably could’ve walked.

But he chose to take advantage of situation by continuing. After all, he’s been afforded the opportunity of the lifetime which was to preach Christ to the most influential and powerful religious leaders in the land. He probably salivated at the chance to do this. Look at verse 10:

Verse

Let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by him this man is standing before you well.

Commentary

Peter boldly declared in front of his Lord’s murderers, “It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the one whom you executed, whom God resurrected from the dead, that this man standing here has been healed.” Peter brought before them the name of the One in which they held in highest contempt, Jesus Christ of Nazareth! And then he brought before them their most contemptible doctrine, the doctrine of resurrection! By all accounts, Peter may have just signed his own death warrant here. And yet, this is the kind of fearless answer that the Spirit filled man or woman will give in these situations. A bold answer, a truthful answer, and a dangerous answer!

We must remember that the goal of the Holy Spirit is to glorify the Son of God (John 16:14). Therefore, when we are filled with the Holy Spirit we will seek to glorify Jesus in each and every scenario. Even when the scenarios are dangerous and life threatening. And that is exactly what Peter did. He boldly declared before the enemies of Jesus that Jesus was the reason for the miracle. He even pointed to the healed man. He said, “It is by the name of Jesus that this man has been healed, and here’s your proof, look at him standing there restored, He’s not lying on a mat with shriveled legs at the Beautiful Gate, he’s right here on his feet.” Peter continues in verse 11:

Verse

11 This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone.

Commentary

One of the most formidable barriers to the Sanhedrin’s acceptance of Jesus as the Messiah was that He could not prevent Himself from being killed. That did not fit their conception of the Messiah as a political and military deliverer. As he had done on the day of Pentecost, Peter turned to the OT to build his case. In verse 11 Peter quoted Psalm 118:22, applying it to their rejection of Jesus Christ.

As I said before, the responsibility of the religious leaders was to check every prophet to see whether his healings and teachings lead the people away from God. Peter proved that he was not doing so by connecting their Scriptures, the OT, and the God whom they worshipped, to Jesus. Peter identifies Jesus as what the Psalmist called, “the stone that was rejected by them, which has become the cornerstone.”

As he had done in his two earlier sermons, Peter put his hearers in opposition to God. He declared in verse 11 that the religious leaders were the ones guilty of leading the people away from God because of their rejection of the stone, Jesus. He also tells them that even though they rejected the stone, God made Him the cornerstone. This was Peter’s way of letting them know that they had actually fulfilled God’s plans through their sinful actions, rather than messing them up. Verse 11 is a great example of God’s sovereignty. It shows how God uses the plans and actions of the wicked to bring about His purposes.

These men brought Peter and John in for an evaluation; to see if their actions were misleading, but Peter evaluated them and then he showed them their error from their own Scriptures! This is what the Spirit filled man or woman does. They use the Scriptures to not only evaluate others, but to reproof them. The Spirit filled man or woman does not rely on their own wisdom or words, they go directly to the sword of the Spirit, the word of God, take it up, and allow it to cut through all the worldly layers, false motives, and sinful disguises of those who are opposed to Christ. That is what Peter has done. But Peter doesn’t leave them in a state of shock, bewilderment, or maybe even anger. No, in verse 12 he offers them hope. Look with me at one of the great verses in all of Scripture:

Verse

12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Commentary

In verse 12 Peter gives what amounts to a direct invitation to the Sanhedrin to repent and embrace Jesus Christ to be saved. He had already declared that the healing of the lame beggar had been done in Jesus’ name. No he goes further and declares that: “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”

Saved comes from the same Greek verb for healing. After making the Sanhedrin’s error plain to them, he offered them healing from their sins through faith in the cornerstone, Jesus Christ.

And standing next to Peter and John was living proof of the healing power and grace of Jesus Christ, the healed man. Do you know that the same invitation goes out to each and every one of us today? We are living during an era of grace my friends. Jesus is gathering His elect unto Himself during this great time. And He does so through the preaching of the gospel which calls men and women out of darkness into His light. Jesus offers healing for our souls. We are sinners who have defamed God by fashioning idols to satisfy our own desires and lusts. Our hearts are calloused, hardened, and against God.

Friend, if you have yet to have your heart, your soul healed, I beg you to do so today. You know your diagnosis. You know that you’ve sinned. Repent of your sins and call upon the name of Jesus Christ who is the Great Physician that heals us. Let Him save you, let Him heal you at this very moment.

Ending

How did the religious leaders respond to Peter’s sermon and invitation? You can look for yourself this week. Next Sunday we will talk about it in detail.

As we transition into communion, I’d like to remind you that this is for the Lord’s people and that if you are not in Christ, you must sit it out. With that being said, I’d like for you, my brothers and sisters in Christ, to do a little evaluation of yourself. Ask the Lord to show you what you’ve been filled with lately. Ask Him to make it plain. Once you know, ask Him to empty you. Ask Him to remove the junk, the selfishness, pride, lust, anger, or whatever. And then ask Him to fill you with the Holy Spirit and then to give you opportunities in the coming week to share the truth in love, plainly, boldly, and consistently. Let us also be reminded of the blood of Christ. It symbolizes our freedom and it represents the finished work of Christ. When we leave here we can go knowing that our salvation is a finished work and that we don’t have to earn our way with God. Christ did it all, let us rest in His work and grace.