Home / Commentary / Acts / Acts Chapter 4

Acts 4 Commentary

Please choose a passage:

Acts 4:1-4

Peter and John are arrested by the Sadducees for teaching that Jesus was resurrected. But many who heard them preach the gospel believed, and the church grew in size to 5000 men.

Acts 4:5-12

The religious leaders assemble to judge Peter and John. This is the same council that condemned Jesus to death. The leaders ask the apostles how they healed the lame man at the temple.

Acts 4:13-22

The religious leaders are shocked that Peter and John speak so defiantly. They see that the apostles are uneducated but were followers of Jesus during His lifetime.

Acts 4:23-30

The believers gather together and pray that God would give them courage to continue preaching and healing in Jesus’s name.

Acts 4:31-37

God answers the believers’ prayer for boldness by filling them with the Holy Spirit. The church is united in heart and soul. The apostles continue to preach and perform miracles.

Additional Resources

Peter and John are arrested by the Sadducees for teaching that Jesus was resurrected. But many who heard them preach the gospel believed, and the church grew in size to 5000 men. The two apostles sit in jail for the night.

The religious leaders assemble to judge Peter and John. This is the same council that condemned Jesus to death, including the high priests Annas and Caiaphas. The leaders ask the apostles how they healed the lame man at the temple. Peter questions why they are on trial for healing someone, then he boldly tells them the man was healed in the name of Jesus Christ, whom they crucified, but whom God raised from the dead. Jesus was God’s Messiah whom these leaders rejected. They rejected the only way to be made righteous in the sight of God, which is through Jesus.

The religious leaders are shocked that Peter and John speak so defiantly. They see that the apostles are uneducated but were followers of Jesus during His lifetime. They set Peter and John free because the people who witnessed the healing are praising God for the miracle, and the religious leaders can find no grounds for imprisoning them further or executing them. But they warn Peter and John not to preach about Jesus anymore. Peter and John reply that they will obey God, not man. They can’t keep quiet about the things they have seen and heard God do in their lives.

When Peter and John return to the other believers, they all gather together and pray. They reflect on how human rulers have always rebelled against the will of God throughout time, and they observe how a psalm written by King David prophesied that the rulers of earth would gather against God and His Messiah. They ask God to give them courage to continue preaching and healing in Jesus’s name, now that the religious leaders have threatened them.

God answers the believers’ prayer for boldness by shaking the room and filling them with the Holy Spirit. The church (community of believers) is united in heart and soul. The apostles continue to preach and perform miracles. The wealthier believers sell land and properties, then bring their money to the apostles to dole out to the neediest among them. One of these generous men was called Barnabas.