Peter's Holy Spirit's power amazed the educated religious snobs
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| Peter's Denial by Rembrandt, 1660. Jesus is shown in the upper right hand corner, his hands bound behind him, turning to look at Peter. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
It must have been hard for Peter and John to face such snobbishness. But the key to their courage and freedom in speaking was not their own talent or ability. It was, of course, the new fresh filling with the Spirit (as in 4:31). He gave them the words to say.
Then something else struck these Jewish leaders. The phrase “took note” does not mean they inquired further of them. Rather, the Greek simply means they gradually recognized that they “had been with Jesus” (cf. NASB). Perhaps the words of Peter jogged their memory of what Jesus had said (see v. 11). As they thought about their confrontation with Jesus, they remembered He had had disciples with Him. Now they recognized Peter and John as having been among them.
The Jewish leaders must have been shocked, for they had believed they would be rid of Jesus by crucifying Him. Jesus had spoken with authority; and now His disciples, trained by Him, spoke with that same authority. Jesus had done miracles as signs; now His disciples were doing the same. Their use of the name of Jesus was not just repeating a formula. They had known Him personally. Jesus had commissioned them and was with them as He had promised (Matt. 28:20). Later, the sons of Sceva found that simply repeating a formula does not work (Acts 19:13–17).
Now the elders were confronted with something else. The man who was healed was standing erect and strong with Peter and John.49 Suddenly, the priests and elders had nothing else to say. What could they say against such a miracle? (Cf. Luke 21:15.)
The leaders then commanded Peter and John to go out of the room where the Sanhedrin was meeting. The Sanhedrin then engaged in a discussion among themselves. They did not know what to do with Peter and John. They could not deny that “an outstanding miracle” (Gk. gnōston sēmeion, a known supernatural sign) had been done by (through) them, visible to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem.
This could imply that they did not deny the resurrection of Jesus. The thing that bothered them was the fact that the apostles were using it to teach a future resurrection for all believers. In order to avoid this problem earlier, they had bribed the soldiers to say the body of Jesus had been stolen (Matt. 28:12–13). Some, even today, contend that the women and the disciples looked in the wrong tomb. But the women paid special attention to where Jesus was laid (Luke 23:55).
Actually, these Jewish leaders were neither stupid nor unsophisticated. They knew how difficult it is to get rid of a body and, so, would have made an intensive search for the body if they had not known He was risen from the dead. But it takes more than mere knowledge, or a mental acceptance, of the truth of Christ’s resurrection for a person to be saved (Rom. 10:9–10).
Even though they had no logical reply to Peter and John, the Sanhedrin did not return a verdict in line with the facts of the case. Instead, they sidestepped their responsibility and decided the best course was to suppress the disciples’ teaching about Jesus and the resurrection—which the Sanhedrin contemptuously called “this thing.” They knew they could not bribe the disciples. They would therefore threaten them to speak no longer “in [on the ground of, by the authority of] this name” to anyone. By this the Sanhedrin recognized that the name of Jesus included the message of the gospel.52
When they called Peter and John back into the room, they tried to use their own authority to impress the apostles and commanded them “not to speak [open their mouth, utter a word] or teach at all in [or concerning] the name of Jesus.” This probably implied that they were also not to use the name of Jesus in healing the sick.
But these threats did not intimidate the two apostles. Calmly and courteously, but very firmly, they put the responsibility back on the Jewish leaders to “judge” (or decide) whether it was right before God to listen to them rather than to Him. Then Peter and John boldly declared that they were not able to stop talking about what they had “seen and heard.” They were not hearsay witnesses. They were firsthand witnesses (see 1 John 1:1, 3). As He had for Jeremiah, the Holy Spirit made the truth like a fire in their hearts and within their bones, so they could not stop (Jer. 20:9; cf. Amos 3:8). Because they were filled with the Spirit, they were fulfilling Jesus’ command to be His witnesses (Acts 1:8). As Turner points out, “The Spirit is the God who cannot be gagged.”53
The Sanhedrin members wanted to find some way to punish Peter and John. The implication is that they did try to find some punishable offense, but they could not because of the people: Everyone kept glorifying God for what was done, especially since this man who was born crippled was now “over forty years old.”54 Therefore, they simply added more threats to their previous warning and let them go.
This was a big mistake on their part, for it let the people know God could deliver from the Sanhedrin. It illustrated that the Jewish leaders had no case against these apostles, nor did they have any way to refute their message. However, the Jewish elders, chief priests, and teachers of the Law who rejected Jesus (Luke 9:22) remained “uniformly hostile” to the followers of Jesus.55
