We might easily dismiss the community to which John, Peter and the forty-plus year old healed man return.
ACTS of these men at Solomon’s Portico in the Temple had gotten them arrested by Jerusalem’s highest authorities. Yet because so many had witnessed the healing of this lame man, the three return to the growing ‘community’ of believers who have become the constant companions of the Twelve Apostles in Jerusalem. The authority of Jerusalem’s leaders has been overruled by the mighty acts of God!
Apostles, Disciples & Community
As we reminded ourselves previously when these three men sat in prison overnight: Peter, John and others had also been disciples of John the Baptist. It is a TEACHER/STUDENT relationship in the faith. Rabbi, some called Jesus; while others called Him Master, acknowledging their humble servant-role of the religious student learning Scripture from God’s teacher.
The Twelve APOSTLESnow have disciples; that is, followers who become a constant community in Christ by the power of the Holy Spirit.
They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.
Luke’s description of these men and women to whom Peter and John return with their witness barely touches the surface of its depth in our English translations, but let’s take a brief look at ACTS 4:23:
And being let go, they went to their own company.. KJV
they went to their own companions.. NKJV
Peter and John returned to the other believers.. NLT
.. went back to their own people.. NIV
they went to their friends.. ESV
Peter and John went to their fellow believers.. NET
they came to their own company.. ASV
.. unto their own friends.. YLT
Do you get the idea?
The KJV translates Strong’s G2398 in the following manner: his own (48x), their own (13x), privately (8x), apart (7x), your own (6x), his (5x), own (5x), not translated (1x), miscellaneous (20x).
The Twelve Apostles with hundreds of disciples in Jerusalem now kept in constant community with one another.
In his Gospel Luke records:
Peter said, “Behold, we have left our ownG2398 homes and followed You.”
Luke 18:28
It is personally possessive; a constant reminder that turning to follow Christ Jesus both costs us and comforts us.
John reminds us in his Gospel:
“If you were of the world, the world would love you as its ownG2398; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, because of this the world hates you.
Gospel of John 15:19 – Jesus’ possessive claim of believers as the Lord assured His Apostles prior to His Sacrifice
Constant communication in the Spirit
And being let go, they went unto their own friends, and declared whatever the chief priests and the elders said unto them, and they having heard, with one accord did lift up the voice unto God..
ACTS of the Apostles 4:23-24a YLT
LET US THANK THE LORD OUR GOD FOR THE SAFE RETURN OF OUR FRIENDS PETER AND JOHN TO OUR COMMUNITY OF FAITH.
Shout praises to the LORD for the Power of the HOLY SPIRIT who secured their release unto us.
Let us give thanks to God for His mercy.
Lord, it is You who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything that is in them, who by the Holy Spirit, through the mouth of our father David Your servant, said,
‘Why were the nations insolent,
And the peoples plotting in vain?
The kings of the earth took their stand,
And the rulers were gathered together
Against the Lord and against His Christ.’
Why are the nations restless
And the peoples plotting in vain?
The kings of the earth take their stand
And the rulers conspire together
Against the Lord and against His Anointed
..
Serve the Lord with reverence
And rejoice with trembling.
Kiss the Son, that He not be angry and you perish on the way,
For His wrath may be kindled quickly.
How blessed are all who take refuge in Him!
Constant Praise, then Prayerful Petition
The LORD God has saved our friends for this moment, returning their lives safely to the company of believers.
Solomon’s Porch (portico) among the grand columns of HEROD’S temple, lasting project of a previous administration also pretentiously guarding what little power Rome would allow, may have seemed to Jerusalem’s authorities a public square upon which Simon Peter was now placing a Name of a new Authority (that was not them). In their minds he may have well proclaimed to the crowds, this Temple will now become THE APOSTLE PETER’S BASILICA.
As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them.. And they laid hands on them and put them in prison until the next day, for it was already evening.
Their Night in a Familiar Prison
So the powers that be threw Peter, John and the healed lame beggar in jail overnight to be held over for trial the next day. (At least their actions could not be so clandestinely preplanned to hold this hearing at night as these same powers that be had done previously on the eve of Passover.)
Peter, John and the healed beggar lie now in the palace prison, a place familiar to the Apostles from the trials of Jesus and even back to the imprisonment of John the Baptizer. In this dark palace near the Temple they await their trial and fate for preaching the Name of Jesus Christ.
Power Prior to that..
John, Peter and the healed man would know much more of the recent and ancient power struggles for Jerusalem than we do. So allow me to brief you on this first century A.D. ascension of the powers that be in Jerusalem to their positions of political/religious leadership of Jerusalem.
All dates approximate for context of this chronology. The Apostles were Jews well aware of this history.
586 B.C. – Solomon’s Temple destroyed
516 B.C. – Zerubbabel rebuilt Jerusalem’s Second Temple
167 B.C. Antiochus IV Epiphanes ordered an altar to Zeus erected in the Temple
The lands of the former Kingdom of Israel and Kingdom of Judah (c. 722–586 BCE), had been occupied in turn by Assyria, Babylonia, the Achaemenid Empire, and Alexander the Great’s Hellenic Macedonian empire (c. 330 BCE), although Jewish religious practice and culture had persisted and even flourished during certain periods. – source: Wikipediaincl. below
200 BC Seleucid rule over the Jewish parts of the region then resulted in the rise of Hellenistic cultural and religious practices
168 BC
ΒΑΣΙΛΕΩΣ ΑΝΤΙΟΧΟΥ ΘΕΟΥ ΕΠΙΦΑΝΟΥΣ ΝΙΚΗΦΟΡΟΥ (King Antiochus, the divine Epiphanus, Bringer of Victory.)
Enter the Maccabees
In 175 B.C.E. Antiochus IV Epiphanes (“[god] manifest”) took the Seleucid throne.
Then Antiochus attempted to obliterate the Jewish religion by forbidding Temple sacrifices, traditional festivals, Sabbath worship, and the rite of circumcision (the sign of the covenant), upon pain of death.
When Antiochus’ emissary came to the little town of Modein and demanded that the people offer sacrifices, Mattathias, of priestly stock, refused. Seeing one of the Jews about to comply, he rushed forward and slew him at the altar and then killed the king’s emissary, “acting zealously for the law of God, as Phinehas had done” (cf. Num 25:6-15). Then he and his sons fled to the hills and were joined by many others.
At his death, his son Judas Maccabeus took charge and waged a successful guerilla war against the Seleucids, retook Jerusalem, and
164 BC – 63 BC
in 164 restored and rededicated the Temple, giving birth to the Feast of Hanukkah (“Dedication”) or “Lights.” Thus began a long war which, despite great odds, ended in victory and the establishment of the Maccabean, or Hasmonean kingdom, an independent kingdom which lasted until 63 BCE.
source: The Jewish Roman World of Jesus, by Dr. James Tabor [RECOMMENDED further reading]:
the Roman general Pompey was invited to settle a dispute between two Maccabeans
The World of Augustus Caesar
There was in the days of Herod, the king of Judaea, a certain priest named Zacharias..
Gospel of Luke 1:5a KJV
from this point forward, Palestine was considered to be controlled by Rome, and in the reorganization by Augustus it fell under the administration of the imperial province of Syria.
Unlike senatorial provinces, imperial provinces were governed by a military governor called a “Legate” (who, in this case resided at Antioch), and Roman troops were stationed to keep order.
There were also “districts” that were testy enough to be governed directly by the emperor through his “prefect” (later “procurator”).
The chief responsibilities of the governors were civil order, the administration of justice (including the judicial right of life and death), and the collection of taxes.
And it came to pass in those days, that there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be taxed. (And this taxing was first made when Cyrenius was governor of Syria.) And all went to be taxed, every one into his own city.
As you can see and Luke has already referenced in his first account, power and authority in Jerusalem seem historically fleeting. This scene where Peter preaches in ‘Herod’s Temple‘ takes place where political power remains disputed to this very day.
The powers that be send their men to arrest Peter as before they had arrested both Jesus and John the Baptist.
Hērǭdēs; c. 72 BC – (4 or 1 BC), also known as Herod the Great, was a Roman client king of Judea
The Romans assented to Herod’s proclamation as King of the Jews, bringing about the end of the Hasmonean rule over Judea.
Judea proper, Samaria and Idumea became the Roman province of Iudaea in 6 CE. (AD 6)
Herod’s final will, slightly modified by Augustus, divided his kingdom among his three sons. Philip (4 B.C.E. to 33 or 34 C.E.) was named “tetrarch” of the largely non-Jewish regions northeast of the Sea of Galilee.Herod Antipas (4 B.C.E. to 39 C.E.) became tetrarch of Galilee and Perea, an area across the Jordan River.
Herod Antipas is the king of Galilee in the gospel stories (cf. Luke 13:31-33, “that fox”) and is remembered for the execution of John the Baptist (cf. Mark 6:17-29) and for his contemptuous treatment of Jesus (Luke 23:6-12).
The third son, Archelaus, was given Samaria and Judea in the South. He was opposed by his subjects and by his brother, Herod Antipas. Also at this time there was unrest in Galilee caused by a certain Judas the Galilean so that there was soon total revolt in Judea.
The later Herodian rulers Agrippa I (11 BC – AD 44) {ruling AD 39-33}) and
Agrippa II [Marcus Julius Agrippa]
Agrippa was overthrown by his Jewish subjects in AD 66 and supported the Roman side in the First Jewish–Roman War.
Luke/Acts
ALTHOUGH THE EVENTS OF ACTS TAKE PLACE IN THE AD 30’S, LUKE writes both his GOSPEL and ACTS for a later audience in great need of encouragement – THE CHURCH.
On the next day their rulers and elders and scribes gathered together in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.
Acts 4:5-6
Do you recognize these same power brokers who were part of Christ’s crucifixion where Peter had denied knowing Jesus just two months prior to this?
Rulers, elders, scribes, Annas, Caiaphas and more.
John and Peter know them well. In fact, they may know the place in Herod’s palace where they have just been imprisoned for the night – a place where Herod had imprisoned their former teacher, John the Baptist before having him beheaded.
So now Peter and John face this political/religious court known for what they have done previously with both John and especially Jesus, just weeks before.
John the Baptist in prison
head of John the Baptist presented to Herod
John the Baptist
7 When they had placed them in the center, they began to inquire,
“By what power, or in what name, have you done this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them,
Rulers of the people and elders..
Here is the same Simon Peter who cowered by a fire denying Jesus to a servant girl outside this same place.
Now the emboldened Apostle defends John, the healed man and himself formally before their political/religious leaders.
‘By what power,’ they ask? ‘In what name,’ they inquire?
Luke has already testified that the Power of the Holy Spirit speaks through Peter!
Once again, Peter replies:
If we are on trial today answering for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well,
let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the
name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health.
(How these same political/religious power brokers who condemned Jesus must have reacted.)
Referring to the Psalms and Prophets Isaiah and Zechariah, Peter continues:
He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief cornerstone.
And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved.”
Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.
Acts of the Apostles 4;13 NASB – reaction of Jerusalem’s leaders to Peter’s defense
And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply.
A post-conference of the political powers that be
But whenthey had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another, 16 saying,
“What are we to do with these men?
For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it.
But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let’s warn them not to speak any longer to any person in this name.”
Again, just two months earlier Jerusalem’s religious power brokers had quelled the stirrings of the Palm Sunday crowds and managed to turn them against Jesus of whom they had shouted, SON OF DAVID.
What to do with these bold disciples of this man they had nailed to a cross.
And then they had to conspire by false witnesses a way to explain His empty tomb. Of course these politically savvy religious leaders would find a way to dismiss Peter and John to leave them to their comfortable power.
The Sentence of the Court
18 And when they had summoned them, they commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.
That’s it?
A sentence by the Council showing mercy with a, ‘don’t do this again’ warning?
These lowly Galileans now without their Teacher would certainly go home never to be heard from again — or so they hoped.
19 But Peter and John [with a healed lame man standing along side them] 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; for we cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
Acts of the Apostles 4:19b-20 NASB – The Apostle Peter’s challenge to religious leaders who ordered them NOT to witness the miracles of God’s Messiah.
21 When they had threatened them further, they let them go (finding no basis on which to punish them) on account of the people, because they were all glorifying God for what had happened; for the man on whom this miracle of healing had been performed was more than forty years old.
A PostScript on Peter
(Known to most readers of ACTS even in the first century A.D.)
Peter was crucified under the reign of Nero in ~A.D. 64 (most likely in Rome), as were other Apostles and saints of the early Church.
Persecution by the Powers that be (Jewish & Roman)
ACTS OF PERSECUTION by the hand of the powers that be in Jerusalem, Rome and throughout the Empire will certainly impact and martyr the lives of many saints to whom Luke writes.
The dangers (in these early decades of the 60’s of the first century) are real and present as they read Luke’s Gospel and Acts of the Apostles.
As Luke continues not only with Peter’s ACTS and JOHN’s ACTS, but the ACTS of many saints of the early Church, he lifts the persecuted followers of Jesus Christ into understanding by faith that which the APOSTLES all witness.
To be continued...
NEXT: They lifted up their voice to God
Herod the Great left a temple to Jerusalem’s elite where MULTITUDES could enter stadium-sized courts rivaling Rome’s great temples. Jewish religious officials would continue their façade of political power in a city held captive to a tolerant Roman ‘peace.’
Jerusalem was all abuzz. Tongues of fire, Galileans preaching about the Messiah Jesus to men in their own languages, and now a well-known beggar lame from birth STANDING beside Peter and John as they walked to worship in the Temple. The public courts seem more packed than usual and everyone looks for explanations of all this from the Apostles. So multitudes follow Peter to Solomon’s portico.
Simon Peter replies: “Men of Israel,
why do you wonder at this, or why do you stare at us, as though by our own power or piety we have made him walk?
The God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified his servant Jesus, whom you delivered over and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he had decided to release him.
But you denied the Holy and Righteous One,
and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and youkilled the Author of life,
whom God raised from the dead. To this we are witnesses.
And his name—by faith in his name—has made this man strong whom you see and know, and the faith that is through Jesus has given the man this perfect health in the presence of you all.
Do you have a question about the signs of God before your very eyes?
PETER preaches his response to the questions of the crowds who witness what has just happened. And the Apostle takes no credit for this miracle either by his personal power {dynamis} or piety, reverence or respect (eusebeia – often translated as godliness).
Amazed multitudes run to the Apostles, crowd in on them, look to them for an explanation in their response.
Peter replied to their amazement, yet with the same personal conviction AND compassion of his Lord Jesus who offered to those with ears to hear grace when He preached to the crowds.
Luke has already shown our Lord’s gracious encouragement though Jesus’ replies in his Gospel.
And Jesus answeredG611and said to them, “It is not those who are healthy who need a physician, but those who are sick.
And Jesus, answeringG611 them, said, “Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him,
And He answeredG611and said to them, “Go and report to John what you have seen and heard: people who were blind receive sight, people who limped walk, people with leprosy are cleansed and people who were deaf hear, dead people are raised up, and people who are poor have the gospel preached to them.
HOW MANY SIGNS OF THE MESSIAH DO YOU NEED?
Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe [literally, fear was occurring to every soul]; and many wonders and [confirming miracles]signs were taking place through the apostles.
Acts of the Apostles 2:43 NASB20
Luke now shows the Apostles preaching to men wondering about many SIGNS of the day in ACTS of the APOSTLES. Peter replies in effect that ‘JESUS has done this through faith as a sign to you.’
Strong’s Number G611 matches the Greek ἀποκρίνομαι (apokrinomai),
“And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.
Acts of the Apostles 3:16 NASB20
“And now, brothers,
He first addressed them as ‘men of Israel.’ Peter replied to their fear (or awe) more personally now as the Apostle of Jesus calls them brothers.
(Are any already convicted by the Holy Spirit by the signs they have just witnessed?)
Countenances diminish from amazement in their crowd curiosity to faces of men showing humility as they cling to Peter’s words:
“And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. But what God foretold by the mouth of all the prophets, that his Christ would suffer, he thus fulfilled.
Acts of the Apostles 3:17-18 ESV
Like his Lord and Master, Christ Jesus, the Apostle replies with great compassion, ‘I know that you didn’t know what you were doing’ (ignorance).
John had heard such forgiveness even from the foot of the Cross. Peter had experienced it from the risen Christ forgiving his ignorance and denials.
Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.
What does repentance mean once we are no longer ignorant?
“Therefore I will judge you, house of Israel, each according to his conduct,” declares the Lord GOD. “Repent and turn away from all your offenses, so that wrongdoing does not become a stumbling block to you.
Hurl away from you all your offenses which you have committed and make yourselves a new heart and a new spirit! For why should you die, house of Israel?
For I take no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies,” declares the Lord GOD. “Therefore, repentand live!”
The Prophet Ezekiel 18:30-32 NASB20
Peter replied to their ignorance in familiar fashion from the preaching of the Prophets.
And Jesus responded and said to them, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans just because they have suffered this fate?
No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.
Or do you think that those eighteen on whom the tower in Siloam fell and killed them were worse offenders than all the other people who live in Jerusalem?
“No, I tell you, but unless you repent, you will all likewise perish.”
Gospel of Luke 13:3-5 – Jesus preaching on repentance
Peter replied much as Jesus had taught, as well as John the Baptizer had warned and others.
“Repent G3340, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” From that time Jesus began to preach and say, “Repent G3340, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” – Gospel of Matthew3:2; 4:17 NASB20 – Repent – Strong’s G3340
AND notice how frequently in the Bible REPENT follows ‘THEREFORE’
‘Those whom I love, I rebuke and discipline; therefore be zealous and repent.
Revelation of Jesus Christ to John 3:19 NASB20
AND Return
Peter replied also with an implied action required of those with ears to hear his call of repentance. You must now return to God.
You know the LORD God [brothers] and you are not ignorant of God’s requirements in the LAW, the Commandments Moses gave you from the Lord our God.
19 “Therefore, make teshuva (repentance, turning from chet [sin] to G-d) and turn in order that your chatta’im, your averos (sins) may be removed, [TEHILLIM 51:1; YESHAYAH 43:25; 44:22]
to the love for the children (of God, your fellow brothers)
to love wisdom and righteousness (now that you are no longer ignorant of G-d’s Messiah, WHO IS our Savior.)
Peter then proceeds with an amazing invitation to those who not only have rejected their Messiah, but some in the crowd of the Temple gathering at Solomon’s Portico who may have been part of the shouting crowds calling for Jesus’ crucifixion at Jerusalem’s most recent festival.
Revival of the Spirit
And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.. – Ephesians 2:1
Turn your face away from my sins and blot out all my guilt. – Psalm 51:9
Therefore repent and return, so that your sins may be wiped away, in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord.. – ACTS 3:19 NASB
ἀνάψυξις anápsyxis, an-aps’-ook-sis; from G404; properly, a recovery of breath, i.e. (figuratively) revival:—revival.
“The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our ancestors, has glorified his servant Jesus..
You denied the Holy and Righteous One.. You killed the source of life, whom God raised from the dead..
that your sins may be blotted out,
in order that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord;
NO, brothers (and tell our sisters and children as well), we know that God will not and can not have any sinner in His Presence — NO sacrifice is sufficient to blot out our many sins.
and that He may send Jesus, the [Messiah, the anointed one] Christ appointed for you,
whom heaven must receive until the period of restoration of all things,
The Christ, the One Who came to us in body and soul, Who Is now the presence of the Lord, will cover your sins by His Perfect Sacrifice – He has blotted out your sins so that you may in your living spirit be with Him until your body dead to sin is restored with all things.
about which God spoke by the mouths of His holy prophets from ancient times.
Peter replied pointing to Scripture
The Apostle includes Moses with God’s holy prophets, separated to speak the One truth of the Lord God.
For Moses truly said unto the fathers, A prophet shall the Lord your God raise up unto you of your brethren, like unto me; him shall ye hear in all things whatsoever he shall say unto you.
Of course every faithful Jew not only knew the Law of Moses, but also heard the Scripture of Moses WHEN rabbis chose to preach all of the truth of Scripture.
Therefore, many standing at Solomon’s Portico listening to Simon Peter preach knew these thingsSimon [שִׁמְעוֹן] Peter preaches..
“Moshe Rabbenu indeed said, “NAVI KAMOCHA [T. N. i.e., a prophet like Moses] for you Hashem Adonoi will raise up from your achim; to him you will give heed according to everything whatever he may speak to you.” [DEVARIM 18:15,18] ..
Gevurot 3:22 Orthodox Jewish Bible
How are you doing with 'hearing' all this in the native 'tongue' of your birth?
Peter replied to those God chose in the Temple to hear by the Spirit.
You will see shortly that Simon Peter's preaching truth from the Scripture of Moshe will not be received by all, in deference to the great sign Peter has just performed at the Beautiful Gate.
From the back of crowds temple officials begin to push their way to the front where Peter, the Apostles and a formerly lame beggar stand before Jerusalem's largest crowd praising God and the Messiah of Israel.
It is you who are the sons of the prophets and of the covenant which God ordained with your fathers, saying to Abraham, ‘ And in your seed all the families of the earth shall be blessed.’
Acts 3:25
.. God, having raised up his servant, sent him to you first, to bless you by turning every one of you from your wickedness.”
Acts of the Apostles 3:26 ESV – Simon Peter Replies to the jews at Solomon’s Porch by Preaching Christ Crucified & Risen
And in this way all Israel will be saved, as it is written, “The Deliverer will come from Zion, he will banish ungodliness from Jacob” – Romans 11:26
“And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord. “And as for me, this is my covenant with them,” says the Lord: “My Spirit that is upon you, and my words that I have put in your mouth, shall not depart out of your mouth, or out of the mouth of your offspring, or out of the mouth of your children’s offspring,” says the Lord, “from this time forth and forevermore.” – Isaiah 59:20-21
[The true sons of Israel (Jacob) know the true Word of Scripture. – Roger@TalkofJESUS.com Let’s talk.]
You worship what you do not know; we worship what we know, for salvation is from the Jews. – Gospel of John 4:22 – The Messiah Jesus to a woman in Samaria
And why does Peter preach also to those at the Temple who will not be saved along with those who by the Spirit have been blessed with ears to hear?
So I opened my mouth, and he gave me this scroll to eat.. And he said to me, “Son of man, go to the house of Israel and speak with my words to them. For you are not sent to a people of foreign speech and a hard language, but to the house of Israel—
.. But the house of Israel will not be willing to listen to you, for they are not willing to listen to me: because all the house of Israel have a hard forehead and a stubborn heart.
Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads..
If I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, in order to save his life, that wicked person shall die for his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand.
But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die for his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul.
Simon Peter preaches repentance in Jesus Christ to Spirit-called crowds. Yet while the Apostles proclaim the Good News of the MESSIAH from Solomon’s Porch..
authorities of Herod’s religious/political bedfellows of the Sanhedrin (their ‘Congress,’ so to speak) move to oppose the Gospel.
As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, being greatly disturbed
because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead.
Christ, who IS risen, had been arrested by some of these same officials a few weeks back while Peter and the Apostles stood helpless.
And what would these men have just heard as Peter preached from Solomon’s Porch?
“The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, glorified His Servant Jesus, whom you delivered up and denied in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let Him go.
.. “For Moses truly said to the fathers, ‘The LORD your God will raise up for you a Prophet like me from your brethren. Him you shall hear in all things, whatever He says to you.‘ And it shall be that every soul who will not hear that Prophet shall be utterly destroyed from among the people.
ACTS of the Apostles 3:22-23 NKJV
Peter replied differently than in Gethsemane
Behold, I have made your face as hard as their faces, and your forehead as hard as their foreheads. Like emery harder than flint have I made your forehead. Fear them not, nor be dismayed at their looks, for they are a rebellious house.”
The Apostle preached with the power of the Holy Spirit.
Peter is a rock now in the strength of the Word of the Lord. This is no cowering Disciple denying Jesus as he huddled up to a campfire within earshot of false testimonies.
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