Acts 4:1-31
I don’t know for sure how much time passes between Acts 2 and Acts 4. It could have been a few days, or a few weeks. But while Acts 2 appears to show a church widely accepted by the community, Acts 4 begins to show the resistance by the ancient Jewish power center. Culminating in the priests, the Sadducees, and the captain of the temple locking up Peter and John in custody. What changed? We find the answer not in Acts 4, but in Acts 3.
With such amazing actions, it’s easy to see why 1st Century Jerusalem was showing favor to the early church: after all, God’s people were doing good. Peter didn’t let the moment pass him by: he stood in Solomon’s portico, preaching Christ—and not with easy words: But you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, 15 and you killed the Author of life, whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses. (Acts 3.14-15) While the people marveled, the powerful began to stir, uncomfortably. What would they do about these men and this growing movement? For the answer, we turn the page.
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