Tuesday
Tuesday
The Outbreak of Persecution
[The authorities] seized Peter and John, and … put them in jail.
Acts 4:3
Luke makes it plain that the persecution of the apostles was initiated by the Sadducees. They were the ruling class of wealthy aristocrats, who had several reasons for resenting the teaching of the apostles. Because they were not expecting a Messiah, they were exasperated by the apostles’ testimony to Jesus. Because they rejected the supernatural, “they were greatly disturbed because the apostles were … proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead” (v. 2). Because they collaborated with the Romans, they feared the subversive influence of the Christian movement, and they were determined to stop it spreading. They regarded the apostles as both agitators and heretics.
So Peter and John were arrested, jailed, and the following morning brought before the Sanhedrin, including Annas and Caiaphas, who had figured prominently in the trial and condemnation of Jesus. Was history to repeat itself? The court’s interrogation began with a direct question to the defendants: “By what power or what name did you do this?” (v. 7). Peter replied without hesitation that it was by the name of Jesus of Nazareth, whom they had killed and God had raised. He then moved on from healing to salvation and declared that Jesus was the one and only Savior (v. 12).
The court forbade Peter and John to preach or teach “in this name,” which they were reluctant even to pronounce (v. 17). But the apostles said they could not help speaking about what they had seen and heard. The court threatened them further and let them go.
Immediately the apostles went to their own people, reported everything that had happened, and then turned to prayer. Having been bold in witness, they were now bold in prayer. Before they uttered any petition, however, they filled their minds with the God they were praying to. They called him Despot
s, “sovereign Lord,” and they then reminded themselves that he is the God of creation, of revelation, and of history. Only now, with their vision of God clarified, and they themselves humbled before him, were they ready to pray, not for their safety, but that they might preach the gospel “with great boldness” (v. 29) and that God would confirm his Word with signs and wonders.
For further reading: Acts 4:23–31