Community Bible Study -- Acts Text of Presentation, Lesson 3, Acts 2:42-4:22 Click Here to see Lesson 3 Photos . . . Click Here to return to Acts Home Page

This session is titled “An Undeniable Miracle” . . . which has a double meaning. Peter does a miracle so powerful that no one can deny it: not the ordinary Jews who witnessed it . . . not the Jewish leaders in the Sanhedrin . . .  and not the apostles, who can’t stop speaking of the power of Jesus, even though the Sanhedrin instructs them to “shut up.”

Last week in Acts 2 the 120 followers of Jesus were filled with the Holy Spirit in dramatic fashion: by tongues of fire accompanied by the sound of a hurricane. The first effect was that these Galilean peasants received a temporary power to speak in languages from across the known world . . . the languages of Jewish pilgrims visiting Jerusalem for the festival of Pentecost. Afterward, Peter spoke to these pilgrims, and explained this event in the context of Jewish prophesy of the Messiah and the resurrection of Jesus. As a result, 3000 devout Jews became believers and were baptized in Jesus’ name.

The story of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost spread through Jerusalem like gossip in a small town.  Those who did not witness the event knew people who had. Furthermore, the apostles were dramatically changed.  Before Pentecost they kept to themselves. After Pentecost they were emboldened and empowered by the Holy Spirit to do miracles, and teach openly in the temple. This brought more Jews to believe in Jesus as Messiah . . . and even those who didn't believe had a favorable opinion of the apostles. The Jews have a tradition of prophets and "holy men" like John the Baptist who are thought of as “godly” (Matt 21:25-26) – even if “socially unacceptable” – and the apostles fell into that tradition: the people believe they have a special link to God.

At first the Sanhedrin try to ignore the “Jesus people,” hoping they’ll just go away; but Peter’s undeniable miracle forces them to take action. It happens like this: as Peter and John enter the Jews-only courtyard of the temple through the Gate Beautiful, they pass a crippled beggar.  (The photos on the web site include a model of the Gate Beautiful . . . and the actual sign prohibiting non-Jews from entering this gate.) 

The beggar is over 40 years old, crippled from birth, and has been begging here most of his life.  Peter and John look straight at the cripple. Then Peter says:  “In the name of Jesus of Nazareth, the Messiah, walk” (Acts 3:6), and takes him by the hand to pull him to his feet. But the beggar doesn’t just walk: he jumps around and praises God – still holding on to Peter.  This miracle is significant because the Jews believe the man’s infirmity is caused by sin: by the man or by his forefathers. They believe it’s impossible to heal someone over 40 years old who has been crippled by sin all his life.

Peter – quite rightly – sees this as a special “teaching moment.”  Moving to Solomon’s Colonnade in the spacious Court of the Gentiles, he addresses the crowd.  His speech has the same theme as the one he gave at Pentecost: Jesus is the Messiah – the Christ – predicted by almost 2000 years of Jewish prophesy. This time his proof is this miracle.  “Look,” he says, “at what the name of Jesus did: it performed a healing miracle you all think is impossible! An impossible miracle takes the power of God . . . which means Jesus is the Messiah: the anointed, holy one of God. The proof is this jumping, prancing over-40 former cripple at my side . . . and yourselves as witnesses.”

Peter puts his Jewish brothers on a guilt trip – then brings them hope.  “You Jews demanded the Romans crucify Jesus – even though they found him innocent!  You crucified the Messiah . . . but God raised him from the dead. I know most of you didn’t realize what you were doing . . . and there is still time to be saved.  Repent of your sins, and turn to God for forgiveness.”

Peter then quotes Messianic prophesy from Deuteronomy 18, which foretells the Messiah will be a prophet like Moses.  Why does Peter choose this prophesy?  Perhaps because the Jews all look upon Jesus as a prophet – including those who do not believe He’s the Messiah. Hence Peter takes what they already believe, and adds the God-like miracle they have just witnessed as a powerful argument to bring them to faith.  It illustrates an important principle of successful evangelism, which we often see used in Acts: Peter seeks common ground with the people, and builds from there.  And Peter’s argument is very persuasive, causing 2000 more Jews to become Christians (Acts 4:4).

Moving into Acts 4, the focus shifts from the people to the Sanhedrin: the 71 top Jewish religious leaders. The Sanhedrin is essentially the Jewish Supreme Court, with the responsibility to guard against false doctrine within Judaism; as such, it reviews and verifies claims of miraculous healings. (Today councils of the Roman Catholic Church play a similar role – particularly in the canonization process.)

Since this miracle takes place in the temple – on their “home turf” – the Sanhedrin cannot ignore it. Yet they are on the horns of a dilemma. The facts are that a healing miracle which they believe requires the power of God has been performed in the name of Jesus . . . and there are lots of witnesses. Yet if the Sanhedrin acknowledges this, they essentially acknowledge Jesus as Messiah – just as Peter has so articulately claimed. Yet it was this same Sanhedrin which – less than 2 months before – proclaimed Jesus guilty of blasphemy and sent him to the Romans with a demand for his execution. Can they admit they were wrong? And what will such an admission do to the power structure? The temple and the Jewish high priesthood are controlled by the Sadducee party: wealthy priestly families collaborating with the Romans. If Jesus is Messiah, they might be pressured to turn over the role of high priest to one of His followers in the priestly line! But the Sadducees have consistently put pursuit of power above faithful Judaism, and they’re not going to change now!  But how do they deny the undeniable?

The Jewish religious leaders try to skirt the issue. Rather than open an inquiry to investigate the miracle, they try to intimidate the apostles. They arrest Peter and John . . . presumably on suspicion of preaching false doctrine. But their real reason is to teach the apostles about the power of the Sanhedrin and suggest defiance isn’t smart; they hope a night in jail will make this point.

The next morning they bring Peter and John to a hearing before a court of the Sanhedrin . . . 23 Jewish religious leaders meeting in one of the three locations pictured on the web site – all of which are quite near to where Peter spoke the day before. The high priest, Caiaphas, is there – along with his father-in-law and predecessor, Annas, and his brothers. Normally the high priest wouldn’t participate in such a minor affair . . . but he is – and his family is there to help him! The Jewish hierarchy take this matter quite seriously.

The Sanhedrin probably expects Peter and John to be docile and submissive after a night in jail . . . maybe even renounce Jesus and beg the court for mercy.  But they overlook two things. One is that Peter and John are empowered by the Holy Spirit to speak boldly.  The other is that Peter denied Jesus 2 months ago and was filled with shame afterward; he’s not going to do that again.

The hearing begins with the Sanhedrin trying to get the facts on the record; they ask Peter and John:  “By what power or what name did you do this?” It’s clear they don’t deny that a miracle occurred which is possible only through the power of God; the apostles are being asked to confirm to the court what they told the crowd the day before . . . or not.

To the chagrin of the Sanhedrin, Peter is as bold after a night in jail as he was the day before.  He taunts the court:  “Are you really putting us on trial for healing a cripple?”  Then he confirms what they hoped he would deny:  “The power which performed this impossible miracle was the name of Jesus of Nazareth – whom you in the Sanhedrin caused to be crucified, but whom God raised from the dead.” And to add insult to injury, Peter quotes Messianic prophesy from Psalm 118, that the Messiah will be rejected by the leaders of the Jewish people.

Now the Sanhedrin have a problem. The people saw the man healed in the name of Jesus . . . and they know this man . . . they know it wasn’t faked. The apostles won’t be intimidated, and the people have now heard Peter say the same thing in open court that he said the day before. The Sanhedrin can’t deny the undeniable . . . but it is politically impossible for them to affirm it. The Sanhedrin is trapped . . . and perhaps most galling: they are trapped by peasants whose only religious schooling was in ordinary synagogues in backwater Galilee. But what to do? The Sanhedrin decides to punt.  They make another effort to intimidate the apostles by threatening them with dire consequences if they continue to preach in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John reply with that famous line: "Judge for yourselves whether it is right in God's sight to obey you rather than God" (Acts 4:19).

That brings up an important issue.  Christians are instructed to obey lawful authority, even if that authority is corrupt and/or oppressive . . . yet here Peter and John invoke a “higher authority.”  When is it appropriate to invoke “higher authority”?

This topic has been hotly debated for centuries . . . but the bible provides one and only one unambiguous answer – of which this episode is a clear example. Christians must disobey governmental orders not to preach Jesus . . . and presumably that means we should defy governmental orders that limit our practice of Christianity, such as prayer, baptism, communion, celebration of Easter, etc. Governmental authorities – including school boards – which prohibit public expression of our Christian faith . . . this is what Christians should defy – and we should openly oppose those who call themselves Christians yet support government suppression of expressions of faith.

Like most bullies, the Sanhedrin backs down. They issue “further threats” (4:21) to Peter and John, but they really have no basis to hold them – and they seem genuinely afraid the people will riot if they try to punish them. So they let them go . . . though we might imagine the cleverest minds in the Sanhedrin are now putting a lot of thought into how they might outsmart the Jesus people the next time this happens!

Next week’s lesson covers Acts 4:23-5:16. Released from prison, Peter and John are not intimidated, but strengthened in their resolve. Also included is the story of Ananias and Sapphira. The apostles expect Jesus to return soon, so teaching takes priority over work; hence Acts 2 revealed that believers with assets sold them for temporary support of the community – a misjudgment which we will see later has unfortunate consequences, and which forms the backdrop for the story of Ananias and Sapphira.