Acts 4:28 - Printer Friendly

ESV: to do whatever your hand and your plan had predestined to take place.

NIV: They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.

NASB: to do whatever Your hand and purpose predestined to occur.

CSB: to do whatever your hand and your will had predestined to take place.

NLT: But everything they did was determined beforehand according to your will.

KJV: For to do whatsoever thy hand and thy counsel determined before to be done.

NKJV: to do whatever Your hand and Your purpose determined before to be done.

The Sanhedrin arrested Peter and John for preaching that Jesus rose from the dead. Teaching resurrection isn't illegal—the Pharisees believe in resurrection—so they release the two. Peter and John return to their friends and the group prays (Acts 4:1–24).

Their prayer acknowledges that the persecution of earthly rulers is entirely under God's sovereignty and according to His plan. He gathered a king, a ruler, some Gentiles, and some Jews in the same place at the same time to kill Jesus so that His sacrifice could offer salvation to the world (Acts 4:27). The Jesus-followers are confident that God has a similar purpose for their own trials.

The apostles and other leaders don't ask God to keep them from persecution. They believe that as God predetermined Jesus' crucifixion (Genesis 3:15; 1 Peter 1:13–21), so He planned His followers' trials, deeming them necessary for His plan. Jesus' followers submit to that plan and only asked that God equip them for their part in it. They ask for boldness to continue speaking in Jesus' name and the ability to perform miracles so that the people understand that their message is His message (Acts 4:29–30). As Paul later writes, "For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them" (Ephesians 2:10).

Their selfless request is honored, and the Holy Spirit again fills the place where they are praying (Acts 4:31; see Acts 2:2).

Acts 4:23–31 finds the Jesus-followers praying for boldness in the face of persecution. Jesus promised them they would see serious persecution (Matthew 10:16–25), but this is the first time they've experienced it directly. Peter and John already told the Sanhedrin they will follow God, not their earthly commands (Acts 4:19–20). They now return to the other Jesus-followers to let them know what's coming. The group affirms that everything that happened to Jesus was according to God's sovereign plan, and they pray that they will remain as faithful in their own trials.

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.