Acts 4:19 - Printer Friendly

ESV: But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge,

NIV: But Peter and John replied, 'Which is right in God's eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges!

NASB: But Peter and John answered and said to them, 'Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, make your own judgment;

CSB: Peter and John answered them, "Whether it's right in the sight of God for us to listen to you rather than to God, you decide;

NLT: But Peter and John replied, 'Do you think God wants us to obey you rather than him?

KJV: But Peter and John answered and said unto them, Whether it be right in the sight of God to hearken unto you more than unto God, judge ye.

NKJV: But Peter and John answered and said to them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you more than to God, you judge.

Peter and John are challenging the Sanhedrin—the judges of Judaism—to choose between God and themselves. They're telling the chief priests that their wishes are contrary to the God they claim to worship. They're telling the lawyers that they are ordering Peter and John to break the law. They're telling the religious authorities that they no longer recognize their authority; they now follow God directly.

This is the beginning of a huge paradigm shift among the Jesus-followers. This day, Peter and John willingly obey Jesus, the Son of God, over the priests, elders, and scribes. They not only have the Holy Spirit behind them (Acts 2:1–4), they have the history of God's prophets who affirm that Jesus is who He said He is.

Soon, however, they will have to question their misconceptions about the Law itself. First, they will travel to Samaria where the half-Jews worship hybrid gods. They will watch as the people they least expect repent of their sins and receive the Holy Spirit (Acts 8:14–17). These are people that only recently John and his brother James had offered to consume with fire (Luke 9:51–56).

Soon after, they will have to accept and forgive their worst enemy. Saul is a Pharisee with such zeal for God he makes the members of the Sanhedrin look ambivalent. For a time, he persecutes the Jesus-followers, trying to get them to blaspheme against God (Acts 26:11), and voting for their execution (Acts 26:10). But Jesus meets with Saul, and Saul responds. When he comes to Jerusalem, the disciples are afraid of him. They learn to accept that the man who once flew into a rage trying to destroy them is now a brother in Christ (Acts 9:1–31).

Finally, the apostles will have to forego any idea that Jesus is only for the Jews. Peter will receive a vision releasing Christ-followers from kosher laws and from segregation from Gentiles (Acts 10). This will prove to be a hard transition as the Jewish leadership of the church comes to grips with community with brothers and sisters without a Jewish background (Acts 15).

All these changes—these releases from laws, regulations, and ancient prejudices—start here as Peter and John stand before their governing authorities and reject their authority in favor of God's.

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.