And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?” (Acts 4:5-7)

Only a few times in my life have I stood before a judge or before angry people in authority. I have been in court for a few traffic tickets once for small-claims court, but nothing too stressful. It’s hard for me to imagine what Peter and John felt at this moment.

The air was filled with stress and tension when they stood before all kinds of officials and authorities: rulers, elders, and scribes, as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and many from the family of the high priest. Just two humble disciples of Jesus on accused and examined before all these important people!

In 1521, when Martin Luther defended his teachings at the Diet of Worms he stood before some intimidating people: Charles V, the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. There were also 24 dukes; 30 archbishops, bishops, and abbots; 7 ambassadors and papal nuncios. In all there were 206 persons of rank sitting in judgment of Martin Luther. Imagine being judged by so many important people!

In Acts 4, the important men asked Peter and John: By what power or by what name have you done this?It was as if they said, “This miracle is clearly beyond your power – so who was really responsible for this?”

We can say that in itself, this was a perfectly legitimate question to ask. Together, these important men were the guardians of the Jewish faith. It was natural and appropriate for them to be concerned about what was taught on the temple mount. If someone was spreading dangerous lies or deception, it was their job to stop them.

The problem was not with their investigation, but with how they did it. They did it with intimidation and threats instead of an honest search for truth. No one is beyond accountability, and it was not wrong to call Peter and John to account for all the uproar on the temple mount. But how you call someone to account makes a big difference.

These important men also were wrong regarding what they did with the results of their investigation as the rest of Acts 4 will show.

Maybe this week you will be responsible for investigating something or calling someone to account. If so, the do it – but take care to do it in the right way, without dishonest intimidation tactics and lack of concern for the truth.

Maybe this week you will be investigated by someone else or called to account. If so, they keep your eyes on Jesus and answer truthfully and boldly – just like Peter and John did.

Click here to read David’s commentary on Acts 4

For Moses truly said to the fathers, “The Lord your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you. And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.” (Acts 3:22-23)

An excited crowd gathered on the temple mount in Jerusalem, because a familiar beggar was miraculously healed of his paralyzed legs. As the formerly lame man walked, jumped, and praised God, the people ran to see the reason for the excitement. Peter took this opportunity to preach to the crowd, and his sermon had so many remarkable parts:

Peter got their attention: Men of Israel, why do you marvel at this? (Acts 3:12)
Peter gave the glory to God: Why look so intently at us, as though by our own power or godliness we had made this man walk? (Acts 3:12)
Peter preached Jesus: His Servant Jesus (Acts 3:13)
Peter spoke to them of their sin: whom you delivered up and denied (Acts 3:13)
Peter preached Christ crucified: and killed the Prince of Life (Acts 3:14)
Peter preached the resurrection: whom God raised from the dead (Acts 3:15)
Peter preached the continuing work of Jesus: His name…has made this man strong (Acts 3:16)
Peter preached the fulfillment of Old Testament prophecy in Jesus: those things which God foretold by the mouth of all His prophets, that the Christ would suffer (Acts 3:18)
Peter preached repentance: Repent therefore and be converted (Acts 3:19)

After all that, Peter then pointed to a specific prophecy, spoken by Moses in Deuteronomy 18:15 and 18:18-19. The prophecy was that God would send a Prophet like Moses – and if they did not hear that Prophet, they would be utterly destroyed from among the people.

It was important for them to hear that the Prophet predicted by Moses was in fact the Messiah, fulfilled in Jesus Christ. Some in that day thought that it might be someone different from the Messiah, but Peter made it clear that they are one and the same.

Peter also gave them the strong warning: every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed. I suppose that some people would accuse Peter of being a “hellfire and damnation” preacher. Peter told them, “If you reject the Messiah Jesus, the Prophet Moses predicted, there is no eternal hope for you, you shall be utterly destroyed.”

In one sense, this was fulfilled in less than 40 years when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed. But these inspired words from Peter did not primarily concern building or cities, but every soul.

It is an unpopular and sobering thought but love for every soul compels us to say it: all who reject Jesus, who will not hear Him, will be destroyed, and utterly so. Peter loved his hearers enough to give fair warning of an unpleasant truth. May God give us the same love and boldness.

Click here to read David’s commentary on Acts 3

And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all. (Acts 3:16)

As Peter preached to the excited crowd, he felt that he had to explain to them how the man was actually healed. After all, here was a man who was probably a well-known beggar at the temple courts. We don’t know if he was well-liked, but after begging in the same place for many years, he was probably well-known. When the one who could not walk was now walking, leaping, and praising God (Acts 3:8), it demanded an explanation.

Peter told them how the man was healed – in the name of Jesus: His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong. Peter said that it was in the name of Jesus that this man has been made whole. Jesus was the reason he could walk, jump, and praise God.

To say, through faith in His name means more than that Peter said the words, “in Jesus’ name.” Many people have the custom of ending their prayer with the words, “in Jesus’ name.” This is based on the promise Jesus made recorded in John 14:13-14: And whatever you ask in My name, that I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son. If you ask anything in My name, I will do it.

But to do something “in Jesus’ name” means far more than to say those words at the end of our prayer. For Peter, it meant that he consciously did this (Acts 3:1-7) in the authority and power of Jesus, not in the authority and power of Peter. In fact, Peter would not even take credit for the faith that was exercised in the healing (yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness).

In Biblical thinking, a name isn’t just something that you call someone. The name can express a person’s nature or character. There is a sense in which the power of a person is present in their name, and their character is available in the name of the person.

Peter insisted that this amazing miracle was done through faith in His name. This should be a pattern for us in our life for God. When we, as God’s people, really do good in this world, we should do it through faith in His name. We are always tempted to do things trusting in something or someone else.

– We often trust in good intentions.
– We often trust in talents and gifts.
– We often trust in material resources.
– We often trust in reputation and prior success.
– We often trust in hard work or smart work.

Instead, we must always trust in and do good through faith in His name.

Today, make a choice: to live in do good in Jesus’ name, not your own.

Click here to read David’s commentary on Acts 3

The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go. (Acts 3:13)

As Peter preached to the excited crowd, He began by connecting two thoughts. First, he spoke of the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. In this, Peter clearly spoke to them about the God of Israel, described in the Hebrew Scriptures. Then, Peter connected a second idea: This same God had a wonderful Messiah, whom Peter called His Servant Jesus.

– We admire the focus Peter had on Jesus. The greatness of Peter’s sermon is that it was all about Jesus – not on Peter nor on anything he did, but all about Jesus.

– We admire that Peter called Jesus by a glorious title: the Servant of the Lord. The first thing Peter said about Jesus in this sermon drew attention to the idea that Jesus was the perfect Servant of the Lord, the One spoken of in familiar passages such as Isaiah 42 and 52:13-53:12.

– We admire this wonderful title of Jesus: Servant.

Jesus, truly God and truly man, is a person of infinite wonder and glory. John 21:25 tells us that If someone set out to write all His works of goodness and power, the world couldn’t contain the books! With so much good to say about Jesus, if you had to start your description with one word, what would it be? Here in Acts 3, Peter chose the word Servant.

Jesus served in His life and He served in His death. Jesus said in Mark 10:45, even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many.

Peter boldly set the guilt of Jesus’ death where it belonged. Pilate, the Roman governor, was determined to let Him go, but the Jewish mob insisted on Jesus’ crucifixion (as in John 18:29-19:16).

This does not mean that the Jewish people of that day alone were responsible for the death of Jesus. The Romans – Gentiles – were also responsible. The Romans would not have crucified Jesus without pressure from the Jewish leaders, and the Jews could not have crucified Jesus without Roman partnership. God made certain that both Jew and Gentile shared in the guilt of Jesus’ death. Truly, it was not political intrigue or circumstances that put Jesus on the cross; it was our sin. If you want to know who put Jesus on the cross, look at me – or look at yourself in the mirror.

Notice the contrast. In God’s estimation Jesus is the exalted Servant, promised centuries before in the Hebrew Scriptures. In man’s estimation Jesus was only worthy to be delivered up and denied, tortured and crucified.

How do you esteem Jesus? Today, see Him as God’s glorious Servant – the one who serves humanity by laying down His life, and receive the service of His Servant today!

Click here to read David’s commentary on Acts 3

And he took him by the right hand and lifted him up, and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. So he, leaping up, stood and walked and entered the temple with them–walking, leaping, and praising God. And all the people saw him walking and praising God. Then they knew that it was he who sat begging alms at the Beautiful Gate of the temple; and they were filled with wonder and amazement at what had happened to him. (Acts 3:7-10)

Peter had just spoken bold words to a paralyzed man – he told him to “rise up and walk” (Acts 3:6). But it is one thing to say those words, and another thing to boldly take the man’s hand and lift him to his feet! That’s exactly what Peter did: he took him by the right hand and lifted him up.

This wasn’t something Peter did on a whim or as a promotional event; he did it under the specific prompting of the Holy Spirit. We have no reason to believe that Peter made a habit taking every lame man he saw, pulling them up by the hand.

Rather, here God gave Peter the supernatural ability to trust Him for something completely out of the ordinary. I believe that at the necessary moment, Peter received the gift of faith described in 1 Corinthians 12:9 – a supernatural ability to trust God in a particular situation.

God’s blessing was on this, because immediately his feet and bones received strength. Strength did not come to the lame man until Peter said, “rise up and walk,” and not until Peter took him by the right hand and lifted him up.

Once on his feet, the formerly lame man acted as if he would never sit down again! He walked and entered the temple… walking, leaping, and praising God. As soon as he was healed, the formerly lame man did three good things. First, he associated himself with the apostles (entered the temple with them). Second, he immediately started to use what God had restored to him (walking, leaping). Finally, he began to praise and worship God (praising God).

The people who came to worship God at the temple were amazed, because they knew that it was he who sat begging alms. This man was more than 40 years old (Acts 4:22), and he had been crippled since birth. He was a familiar sight at this temple gate (Acts 3:10).

Think about it: Jesus must have passed this particular lame man by many times without healing him. We can say that Jesus, because He knew all things, knew this man would be healed later through Peter’s boldness – but Jesus let the man wait until Peter was ready.

We don’t always know the reasons for God’s timing, but we can always be at peace that when God does something is often just as import as what He does.

If you’re waiting for God to do something, don’t despair – trust God and His timing.

Click here to read David’s commentary on Acts 3