Praying and Speaking with Authority
“What are we going to do with these men?” [the Sanhedrin] asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.” Acts 4:16-17
After spending the night in jail, Peter and John faced all the top Jewish leaders, including the current high priest and others of high priestly descent. “By what power or what name did you do this?” they asked.
Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said, “If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed” (Acts 4:9-10).
Then Peter said something that shocked these men, a statement that is still controversial today: “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved” (v. 12).
The Jewish religious leaders commanded Peter and John not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard” (vv. 18-20).
Their accusers didn’t reply. They recognized these men had been with Jesus, and standing next to Peter and John was the man who had been lame for over forty years until Peter’s prayer in the name of Jesus had healed him (v. 22). The Sanhedrin added more threats, but they had to release the men—or join the people who were glorifying God for the miracle.
What was behind the prayer and miracle? Jesus had told Peter and John that anything—anything they asked in his name—would be done (John 14:13). Emboldened by the Spirit, they prayed in faith combined with Jesus’s authority and victory over life and death.
Are you speaking about what you’ve seen and heard the name of Jesus do? Not yet? Ask the Spirit to give you the boldness to pray in faith for a miracle. Then go tell the world.
DIG DEEPER
What irony do you see when you compare what John is doing here with Peter and what John did earlier as recorded in Mark 9:35-41? What had happened in the meantime? See prior devotion in this series: At the Temple
Read John 18:1-28. John was the only disciple who witnessed Jesus’s trial before the high priest, and Peter went as far as the courtyard. What do you think went through their minds when these two men faced the same religious leaders? What could happen to them?
Jesus warned that his followers would be accused falsely and face authorities. Read the warning in Mark 13:9-11. What did He also promise will happen? Can you describe a time when you needed to claim this promise?
Nancy J. Baker
This devotion is part of series on the book of Acts.