It didn’t take long for the early church to upset the Jewish religious establishment. Whether the crowds that gathered could have provoked Roman fears of rebellion, or the assertions of the resurrection that ran contrary to Sadducean belief (v 2) – whatever the reason, the apostles found themselves in prison (v 3). On trial the next day, the one question aimed at them goes straight for the jugular: the source of their miraculous activity (v 7). Making a lame man walk was clearly beyond natural human capacity. What the religious leaders wanted to know was where the apostles’ ability originated… and so they ask about the power, or the name, behind it.

Names are significant. In biblical times, someone’s name encapsulated and communicated the fullness of their personhood; using their name invoked all that was true about them and employed all their authority. Acting in the name of Jesus brought the beauty of his heart, and all of heaven’s powerful resources, into a broken earthly situation. His authority remains ours to continue using as we minister in his name today. How fully do you appreciate and avail yourself of that? 

Father, grant that we would truly know the power of the risen Christ.

The size of the disturbance at the entrance to the Temple made it inevitable that there would be swift intervention by the authorities. Two things stand out in this text. First, following their arrest, the apostles are taken before the Jewish authorities in Jerusalem (v 6). This group constituted the powerful religious elite in Israel and the Gospels make clear their corruption and compromise with the power of Rome of many in their ranks. When Jesus was on trial they revealed the depths of their apostasy by declaring before Pilate, ‘We have no king but Caesar’.¹ This alerts us to the political context of the story of Jesus and the movement that sprang from Pentecost. Archaeologists have uncovered the remains of the high priests’ houses in Jerusalem, revealing their lavish lifestyle built on the backs of the poor. Little wonder that they should be concerned by the impact of the miracle and by Peter’s proclamation that Jesus, whose crucifixion they had condoned, had been ‘raised from the dead’ (v 10). The resurrection is no mere doctrine to be believed but a reality which poses a threat to the privileges and corruption of the high-priestly class.

The second thing to note concerns the actions of Peter and John. They are described as ‘proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead’ (v 2), but the evidence for this is demonstrated in ‘an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame’ (v 9). The contrast between the greed and corruption of the high priests and the way of life now made possible by the risen Christ, bringing healing and dignity to the poor and oppressed, is striking. So much so that even their accusers realised that these ‘unschooled, ordinary men’ had been with Jesus (v 13). 

Reflect on why faith in the risen Jesus could be seen as threatening to society.

¹ John 19:15