Contemplate these questions as you dwell in Acts 4:1-22:

1. How does Peter emphasize the exclusive role of Jesus in salvation? Why does he assert that there is no other name under heaven by which people must be saved?

2. Why were the high priests astonished by Peter and John's response, considering them as "uneducated common men"? How does their reaction reflect the impact of being in the presence of Jesus?

3. In the face of opposition, why do Peter and John insist on continuing to proclaim the name of Jesus, even when commanded by the high priests to stop? How does their unwavering commitment to their mission align with Jesus' command to be witnesses to the ends of the earth?

Transcript:

 So here we see the continuation of the story of Peter and John healing the lame man. They are taken before the high priests, and they have questions, and they want answers. They want to know by what power, by what name they did this because it's clear that this lame man is now walking.  So, Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit and he answers.

He tells them that it's through the name of Jesus. The name, the name of Jesus of Nazareth whom they crucified, but he was raised from the dead. That's the reason this man is able to stand there.  It's not by their power. It's nothing that they have done. It is through the name of Jesus and this is The Jesus that they killed and by the power of God He was raised a victory was won.

They could not keep him down, right? And so, he proceeds to tell them who Jesus is. This Jesus is the stone that was rejected by you, the builders, but it's become the chief cornerstone. This is the crux of everything. This is what is holding it all together. And it goes even deeper than just this healing of a lame man, because  this isn't just some parlor trick.

This isn't just some, um, side show that the disciples of the apostles are going to do. They're going to run around and heal people. What good does that do if ultimately, they die one day and they don't have salvation, if their, sins aren't forgiven? And so, that is where Peter lands here.

Verse 12, and there's salvation in no one else. There's more to this than just a lame guy walking. We're looking and talking about, looking at and talking about salvation.  There's salvation in no one else. For there's no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved. Why? Why is there this comment of being exclusive?

I can't say the word today. Why is there this claim of Jesus being the way? There's no other name.  Well, because he did what Peter and John are saying he did. He defeated death.  He was appointed by God. He was the chosen one. He was the Messiah.  And he's been raised from the dead. Death could not hold him.

And so, he is the one who holds the power of salvation. And this is what really matters. This is what is at the center of all this. This is why it's the cornerstone. It all holds together because, again, if this lame man could walk, but still die and not have hope of the forgiveness of sins, what difference did it really make?

And so, Peter is getting to what really happens in the name and by the power of Jesus, salvation.  And so, how do, how do the people of the high priests respond? Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were uneducated common men, they were astonished, and they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

These guys should not be able to give us a good answer like this. Um, Whoa, what, what's happened? Oh, they've been with Jesus. And so they see this, they see what has happened, they see the power of the name of Jesus, and they're wondering what can we do to stop this? I mean, look at the people who are coming to faith.

We, we saw this earlier, it was up here a little ways. Verse 4. The number of the men came to about 5, 000 people. People are coming to faith. People are being saved in the name of Jesus.  And they want to sort of squash this down, right? So, they tell Peter and John not to do this anymore. Don't speak or teach in the name of Jesus.

But Peter and John say, Well, it's right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God. You must, you must judge. Uh, that's kind of funny, isn't it? Like, well, God is, we want to do what's right in the eyes of God. You have to judge whether or not we should listen to you or God.  Very interesting response.

But they're basically saying, look.  You, you claim to speak for God, but yet God has done this for Jesus.  Why would we listen to you over God? When he is the one who gives salvation, when he has blessed us with this message. And so, we see that in verse 20, For we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.

They can't be silent because they have seen and heard who Jesus is. They've heard him teach. They have seen the salvation that he brings through his life, death, and resurrection. And so, they have to tell people about it. They're not going to be silenced by the high priest saying, you know, be quiet about this.

Don't teach in the name of Jesus. No, they realize that they have a mission to do, and we've seen that. They're to be the ones who are the witnesses to Jesus. Jesus said that himself at the beginning of Acts.  Be my witnesses to the ends of the earth.  Peter and John intend to do that, don't they? They're going to be obedient to what God has called them to do, to witness to what they have seen and heard.

And God bless those men for having, having done that because they're taking this message to the ends of the earth is the reason that you and I have been blessed to have heard the message and to be given the gift of faith by the Holy Spirit. So let us think about what this means for us. First off, to be like Peter and John, we can't help but speak of what we've seen and heard.

What have we seen and heard? We have seen that our sins have been forgiven. We have heard the message of the gospel. May we be faithful to speak it regardless of what people say we can or can't do. May we faithfully testify and speak to what we have seen and heard. And secondly, look at verse 13 talking about the boldness of Peter and John.

May we be the type of people who when we proclaim the good news about Jesus, they say, Yes, this person understands who Jesus is. They understand his word. May they see that we have been with Jesus through the power of the Spirit working in our lives. And so may we do this today. May we be faithful to speak about what we've seen and heard.

And may people recognize that we know Jesus because he has been Uh, been so gracious to pour out his love on us.