Acts 4:1-12

Acts 4:1-12

After the crippled man had been cured,

while Peter and John were still speaking to the people,

the priests, the captain of the temple guard,

and the Sadducees confronted them,

disturbed that they were teaching the people

and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.

They laid hands on Peter and John

and put them in custody until the next day,

since it was already evening.

But many of those who heard the word came to believe

and the number of men grew to about five thousand.

On the next day, their leaders, elders, and scribes

were assembled in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest,

Caiaphas, John, Alexander,

and all who were of the high-priestly class.

They brought them into their presence and questioned them,

“By what power or by what name have you done this?”

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, answered them,

“Leaders of the people and elders:

If we are being examined today

about a good deed done to a cripple,

namely, by what means he was saved,

then all of you and all the people of Israel should know

that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean

whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead;

in his name this man stands before you healed.

He is the stone rejected by you, the builders,

which has become the cornerstone.

There is no salvation through anyone else,

nor is there any other name under heaven

given to the human race by which we are to be saved.”

Opening Prayer: Lord God, this entire week I am contemplating the mystery of your Son’s Resurrection. Help me to keep this mystery always before my mind and heart as I journey toward the day of my death and resurrection and my definitive encounter with you.

Encountering the Word of God

1. The Trial of Peter and John: In the Acts of the Apostles, we find Peter proclaiming the truth of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead. He was interrupted by the priests, the captain of the temple guard, and the Sadducees. The Sadducees, in particular, did not believe in a resurrection from the dead. Peter and John were arrested and judged the following day by the seventy-one members of the Sanhedrin. Unlike his timid responses to the servant girl on the night of Jesus’ trial, Peter was fearless and filled with the Holy Spirit. He proclaimed that the crippled man was healed in the name of Jesus Christ. Jesus was the stone, rejected by the elders of Israel, who has become the cornerstone of God's New Temple. Faith in Jesus bestows forgiveness of sins and salvation, and there is no salvation through anyone else. Jesus is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). Jesus is the Lord of all and the judge of the living and the dead. Jesus is the one mediator between God and men. Jesus Christ continues his presence and work of salvation in the Church and by means of the Church, which is his body (See Declaration Dominus Iesus: On the Unicity and Salvific Universality of Jesus Christ and the Church, n. 16).

2. The Sadducees: At the beginning of Acts 4, the Sadducees emerge as the chief opponents of the apostles. The Sadducees were aristocratic priests who controlled the Temple and whose economic and political interests centered on its continued operation. They adhered to a literal interpretation of the Law of Moses and rejected the Pharisees’ more expansive interpretation. The Sadducees likewise rejected the doctrine of the resurrection of the dead (cf. Luke 20:27). Hence, they were doubly offended by Peter’s preaching, since he both proclaimed Jesus as Messiah, whom the Sadducees had rejected, and taught the resurrection of the dead, which they regarded as absurd (cf. Acts 4:2) (see Pimentel, Witnesses of the Messiah, 61).

3. Jesus and Psalm 118: When the Sadducees questioned Peter and John about the healing of the lame man, Peter was “filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 4:8). Peter was filled with the Spirit of wisdom, just as Jesus had promised (Luke 21:15). Peter declares that it was not his own power that healed the lame man. The healing power came from God the Father, God the Son, and God the Spirit. The man was healed “by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead” (Acts 4:10). Peter describes Jesus in terms of Psalm 118:22. The religious authorities are the builders who rejected the stone. Jesus is the stone, who through his bodily resurrection from the dead and ascension into heaven has become the cornerstone of God’s new temple, the Church. “Thus interpreted, Psalm 118:22 prophesies both Jesus’ rejection by the Jerusalem leaders and His subsequent exaltation by God” (Pimentel, Witnesses of the Messiah, 61).

Conversing with Christ: Lord Jesus, you revealed yourself to your disciples and gave them the grace, courage, and strength to proclaim your resurrection to the entire world. Empower me like your disciples with your Holy Spirit to be a bold witness to your resurrection.

Living the Word of God: How can I be more attentive to the action of the Holy Spirit in my life? What gifts of the Spirit do I most need? Can I ask for them in prayer today?