Act 4:13 | KingComments | STEP | The high company amazes at the confidence or boldness of Peter and John. The members of the Council notice that they are “uneducated … men”, that is, that they have not received theological training from rabbis recognized by them. They also notice that these two men are “untrained men” or “simple men”. They do not come from high circles, yet they are not in any way impressed by the distinguished members of the Council. In their eyes, they are lay people, ignorant, because that is the meaning of ”untrained”. Something similar has been said of the Lord Jesus during His life on earth ( ; cf. ). But the power of the Spirit can manifest itself clearly in those who cannot boast of any worldly advantage. The members of the Council are amazed that they know God’s Word so well, even though they do not come from their circles or are otherwise known as taught in the Scriptures. Then the true source of their knowledge emerges. It cannot remain hidden. They recognize that they have been “with Jesus”. Do our neighbors also know us by that, that we live a life with the Lord Jesus? The learned gentlemen would love to lecture these uneducated people, but they are gagged by a visible proof of the right of these lay people. How serious is the position of people who on the one hand cannot deny the truth and on the other hand deliberately do not want to bow to it! They love darkness more than light because their works are evil ( ). They are clearly embarrassed with the situation. This needs to be discussed. That must take place without the presence of either of the apostles. So they are sent away. They consult because they have no grip on the matter. The power of God is manifested outside them and that means that they no longer have authority on their side. Under no circumstances do they want to admit this, but they do not dare to say it openly because they have public opinion against them. The deliberation takes place behind closed doors, but the Holy Spirit mentions what they have discussed. God makes the hidden deliberations public wherever and whenever He wants. He sees in the darkness, for the light dwells with Him ( ). He exposes the work of a hardened conscience. They acknowledge that an undeniable miracle has happened, which they even call a “sign”, as this word also can be translated. A sign indicates more than a miracle that God has something to say with it. The miracle means something. A sign points to a higher reality. For example, a sign points to an escape route. The sign itself is not that escape route. In the case of the healed man it means that God acts for the glory of His Son, the Messiah rejected by them. That Name becomes visible in this miracle which is therefore a sign. The Name of the Lord Jesus should also become more visible in our actions. To witness to Him is our great task. They could not find any argument against the message of Peter and John. If authorities have no arguments to assert their authority, but they still want to be right, they have nothing left but to become authoritarian. All that remains for them is to threaten to stop speaking in the Name of Jesus. In this way, they want this case to fade from memory. If the apostles would keep their mouth shut, after a while no one would talk about it anymore. Too often Christians have succumbed to a lesser threat and have remained silent where they should have spoken.

‏ Acts 4:13

Deliberation of the Council

The high company amazes at the confidence or boldness of Peter and John. The members of the Council notice that they are “uneducated … men”, that is, that they have not received theological training from rabbis recognized by them. They also notice that these two men are “untrained men” or “simple men”. They do not come from high circles, yet they are not in any way impressed by the distinguished members of the Council.

In their eyes, they are lay people, ignorant, because that is the meaning of ”untrained”. Something similar has been said of the Lord Jesus during His life on earth (Jn 7:15; cf. Mt 7:28-29). But the power of the Spirit can manifest itself clearly in those who cannot boast of any worldly advantage.

The members of the Council are amazed that they know God’s Word so well, even though they do not come from their circles or are otherwise known as taught in the Scriptures. Then the true source of their knowledge emerges. It cannot remain hidden. They recognize that they have been “with Jesus”. Do our neighbors also know us by that, that we live a life with the Lord Jesus?

The learned gentlemen would love to lecture these uneducated people, but they are gagged by a visible proof of the right of these lay people. How serious is the position of people who on the one hand cannot deny the truth and on the other hand deliberately do not want to bow to it! They love darkness more than light because their works are evil (Jn 3:19).

They are clearly embarrassed with the situation. This needs to be discussed. That must take place without the presence of either of the apostles. So they are sent away. They consult because they have no grip on the matter. The power of God is manifested outside them and that means that they no longer have authority on their side. Under no circumstances do they want to admit this, but they do not dare to say it openly because they have public opinion against them.

The deliberation takes place behind closed doors, but the Holy Spirit mentions what they have discussed. God makes the hidden deliberations public wherever and whenever He wants. He sees in the darkness, for the light dwells with Him (Dan 2:22). He exposes the work of a hardened conscience.

They acknowledge that an undeniable miracle has happened, which they even call a “sign”, as this word also can be translated. A sign indicates more than a miracle that God has something to say with it. The miracle means something. A sign points to a higher reality. For example, a sign points to an escape route. The sign itself is not that escape route. In the case of the healed man it means that God acts for the glory of His Son, the Messiah rejected by them. That Name becomes visible in this miracle which is therefore a sign. The Name of the Lord Jesus should also become more visible in our actions. To witness to Him is our great task.

They could not find any argument against the message of Peter and John. If authorities have no arguments to assert their authority, but they still want to be right, they have nothing left but to become authoritarian. All that remains for them is to threaten to stop speaking in the Name of Jesus. In this way, they want this case to fade from memory. If the apostles would keep their mouth shut, after a while no one would talk about it anymore. Too often Christians have succumbed to a lesser threat and have remained silent where they should have spoken.