Ep 386 – Acts 4:23-31

Peter and John had been arrested and forced to appear before the Sanhedrin. All because they had performed a sign, healing a man that had been lame since birth. The high priest and the Jewish council, not knowing what to do with these two men, commanded them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, threatening them with further action, if they didn't. Upon release, the two apostles made a beeline to their fellow disciples, informing them of all that had happened at Solomon's Portico. And in Acts 4:23-31, Luke provides us with an insider's view of what took place next. You would expect that the news of Peter and John being arrested and interrogated would have sent shockwaves of fear through the rest of the disciples. It would have been normal for these people to go into the early stages of a mild panic, questioning just exactly what was going on. You wouldn't be surprised to read that they began to argue among themselves as to what they were going to do next. But what Luke points out is that they reacted to the news with prayer. They turned to God. And what they had to say to God is also a bit surprising and unexpected. They didn't question Him. They didn't express anger at Him. They didn't demand action from Him. They simply appealed to His sovereignty and asked that He bestow on them the boldness to fulfill the commitment Peter and John had expressed to the Sanhedrin: "We cannot stop telling about everything we have seen and heard."