Acts 4:15 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But when they had commanded them to leave the council, they conferred with one another,

NIV: So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together.

NASB: But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another,

CSB: After they ordered them to leave the Sanhedrin, they conferred among themselves,

NLT: So they ordered Peter and John out of the council chamber and conferred among themselves.

KJV: But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves,

NKJV: But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves,

The Sanhedrin, the Jewish ruling council, has arrested Peter and John after they healed a lame man and told a crowd the power to do so came from Jesus. Specifically, they taught the crowd that Jesus rose from the dead (Acts 4:1–2). The Sanhedrin is made up of chief priests, elders of the community, and legal scribes. Most of these are Sadducees while Pharisees hold the minority position. Sadducees do not believe in resurrection from the dead or life after death. They believe people cease to exist when they die.

It's easy to understand why they fear the idea that Jesus rose again. The belief that people can live in a better world after death is very attractive; the more people believe Jesus' disciples, the less power and influence the Sadducees have. Their worldview is that they will never receive anything more than what they have in this life. If they lose their position with the people, they've lost everything.

It's thought that the idea of the Sanhedrin came from God's commandment to Moses to gather seventy elders to handle the smaller issues in the Israelites' camp (Numbers 11:16–17). Although each town was to have judges (Deuteronomy 16:18), the Sanhedrin was the supreme court in Jerusalem. These are not irrational or unintelligent men. They are among the best-educated and most successful in the nation. Proverbs 15:22 says, "Without counsel plans fail, but with many advisers they succeed." But they use their high rank in the religion for their own ends; they are blind to the way God is working in their own community. Despite all their education, they ignore the prophets in their own Scriptures (John 5:39–47; Matthew 23:29–36).

And so the Sanhedrin not only completely misses what God is doing in front of them, they try to keep the truth from the people they are meant to serve and lead (Acts 4:17–18).

Acts 4:13–22 covers the reaction of the Sanhedrin to Peter's convicting assertion: that he and John healed a lame man by the power of Jesus' name. The Sanhedrin is frustrated to learn the followers of Jesus—the man they had killed—are in Jerusalem, healing and preaching and gathering more followers. The Sanhedrin wants them out of the way before they grow too popular. So they start slowly by forbidding Peter and John to teach about Jesus. It's an apparent win-win: either these uneducated commoners will stop telling everyone about Jesus or they will disobey a direct order and be vulnerable to greater punishment.

Acts 4 continues the story started in Acts 3. Peter and John have healed a man born lame and preached that Jesus has risen from the dead. The Sanhedrin orders their arrest for teaching the resurrection. The Jewish officials warn Peter and John to stop speaking in Jesus' name. Peter and John refuse, but, since they have committed no crime, the Sanhedrin releases them. Peter and John return to their friends, and the Jesus-followers pray for boldness in the face of growing persecution. The church continues to grow, sharing all their possessions so that no one is in need.

Acts 4 gives the first hints of the persecution the church will face throughout its history. Peter and John attract attention when Peter heals a well-known lame beggar, and Peter uses the publicity to tell others about Christ. The Sanhedrin cannot allow the apostles to continue teaching Jesus rose from the dead. They arrest, warn, and free Peter and John, but it's just the beginning. Soon, they will arrest and beat all the apostles (Acts 5:17–42). Then a mob will stone Stephen (Acts 7:54–60). And Saul will persecute Jesus-followers in Jerusalem (Acts 8:1–3) and beyond (Acts 9:1–2). The Sanhedrin fails to realize—if you send Jesus-followers fleeing into the world, they will take Jesus' message with them.

The summary of the book of Acts is provided in Jesus' words in Acts 1:8: ''But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.'' In Acts 2:1–13, the Christ-followers receive the Holy Spirit. Acts 2:14—7:60 describes the rapid growth of the church in Jerusalem. Chapters 8—12 find Jewish persecution inadvertently spreading the gospel throughout Judea and Samaria. And in chapters 13—28, Paul and his companions spread the good news throughout the Roman Empire.