Arrested - Acts 4:1-22

As Peter and John are preaching to the people in the temple, the reaction of those who were listening was intense, on both sides. So powerful was their testimony of Jesus Christ that “many of them which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.” 5,000 men converted today and 3,000 converted a few days ago on the day of Pentecost, not to mention their wives and children and friends and family. The ranks of believers have swelled from 120 to probably close to 10,000 in a few weeks, that’s an incredible feat. Just an interesting commentary on the power of the Holy Ghost to convert and teach.

The negative reaction was equally forceful, because word spread about Peter and John’s message and “the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them” and arrested them and put them in prison overnight. The next morning, all the usual suspects are there, Annas, Caiaphas, the high priests, etc, and they asked Peter and John “by what power, or by what name, have ye done this?” Let’s remember that Peter and John didn’t just preach the gospel to the people, but they also had healed a lame man. It’s an interesting question that they pose to them because the whole time they were preaching they repeatedly told the people that it was through the power of Jesus Christ that they were able to do anything.
Peter again is “filled with the Holy Ghost,” and testifies to all his accusers “that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole… Neither is there salvation in any other: for there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved.” Annas and Caiaphas surely must have heard that Jesus’ disciples were claiming that he was risen from the dead, but I bet that moment when Peter testified of Christ, a shiver went down their spine.
Interesting that the Jewish leadership asked for the name of the authority Peter and John held. When considering the name of Jesus Christ, the IM says “when properly invoked, the name of Jesus Christ is accompanied by power. President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles discussed the importance of Jesus Christ’s name: ‘this is more than just a name we deal with. This relates to spiritual authority and power and lies at the very center of Christian doctrine. The Lord said: ‘Therefore, whatsoever ye shall do, ye shall do it in my name…’ In the Church that Jesus Christ established, all things are done in his name. Prayers are said, children are blessed, testimonies borne, sermons preached, ordinances performed, sacrament administered, the infirm anointed, graved dedicated.’”
This gives us more insight into the grievous nature of taking the Lord’s name in vain. I had always been told that taking the Lord’s name in vain is a problem because it hurts Jesus’ feelings, which is probably true. But if we use a word that carries with it spiritual power and authority and love and goodness and use it to mean negative, then that demeans the power that comes with it. No one uses the Lord’s name in vain in a positive way, I’m trying to think how that would even happen. People use Jesus’ name or God’s name to exclaim “dang it! This is bad” or “this is so unexpected.” It’s like telling an important but powerful truth to everyone, the commonality of it reduces it’s perceived importance.
Peter’s words are also a dig at their holding to the Law of Moses, Jesus was the way to salvation, not a dead law. Part of the Book of Mormon that I was listening to the other day was when, I think it was the priests of King Noah were talking to Abinadi about salvation coming through the Law of Moses. Mosiah 13:27-28 says, “And now ye have said that salvation cometh by the law of Moses. I say unto you that it is expedient that ye should keep the law of Moses as yet; but I say unto you, that the time shall come when it shall no more be expedient to keep the law of Moses. And moreover, I say unto you, that salvation doth not come by the law alone; and were it not for the atonement, which God himself shall make for the sins and iniquities of his people, that they must unavoidable perish, notwithstanding the law of Moses.” Peter is trying to subtly teach the unbelieving Jews that the law of Moses doesn’t absolve us of our sins and allow us to be with God again, that only comes because of the atonement. And clearly there are many that listen, but then again, many that don’t, but we should take the win.
The religious leaders “marveled” because of “the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were unlearned and ignorant men.” Peter and John had implied the deadness of the law of Moses, the sacred and powerful nature of the name of Christ, healed a man who had been disabled since birth, and come out of a night in prison without being deterred in their mission. That is a very commanding position to be in for someone who had been gutting fish their whole lives. The IM comments, “Prior to their calling as Apostles of the Lord Jesus Christ, Peter and John were fishermen- not scribes or rabbis- and were thus considered unlearned by the Jewish leaders. After they were fully empowered by receiving the Holy Ghost, Peter and John spoke with such authority that the Jewish leaders ‘marveled’ at their words. These ‘unlearned’ fishermen are examples showing that ‘by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls’ and that ‘God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the things which are mighty.”
These Jewish leaders were pretty stuck because the man who had been healed was apparently in the room with them and many of the people of Jerusalem knew him and his condition and many had even seen the healing. They wanted Peter and John silenced, but they had just killed Jesus so they probably couldn’t get Pilate to crucify another couple of innocent Jews because they threatened to riot. They couldn’t deny the miracle so they decided to “threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.”
But Peter and John decline their request to stop preaching about Jesus, saying, “we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard.” The IM says, “Peter and John felt compelled to speak of Jesus Christ; such was the powerful impact the Holy Ghost had upon them. Jeremiah recorded similar feelings during a time when he was mocked and derided daily: ‘But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay.’ The prophet Ether also felt the Holy Ghost so intensely that ‘he could not be restrained’ from prophesying to his people.”
What a turn of events for Peter, who only a few weeks ago had refused knowing the Savior because he was afraid of being punished. This complete conversion can be attributed to the Holy Ghost, and because nothing cements loyalty like a betrayal. One thing I did think about was, if John was going to stay on the earth until the second coming, when did he have the change wrought on his body like the three Nephites did? We know that as soon as Jesus granted them permission to remain on earth until the second coming, the three Nephites were taken into heaven and physically changed to where they couldn’t be hurt or die or get sick, etc. So I assumed that the same timeline fit for John, as soon as permission was granted to him, his body was changed also. But if that were the case, then when John and Peter were in prison, then John wouldn’t have felt hunger, he wouldn’t have been cold or hungry or tired. I wonder what that would have been for Peter, to suffer with someone who was unable to feel the same suffering as you. Considering all that, I think that perhaps the change to John’s body happened later on, maybe.
The Jewish leaders see no way to force Peter and John to stop preaching the gospel, and they seem to be unwilling to do so voluntarily, so they let them go “finding nothing how they might punish them, because of the people.” If we remember, the chief priests conned Pilate into crucifying Jesus because the people would have rioted if he had been killed on the pretense of Jewish law breaking. Similarly, Peter and John couldn’t have been put to death for breaking Jewish law, because the people would have rioted, remember that 10,000 new converts they just received in the last couple of weeks, that’s a lot of people. They possibly could have had tried to get Rome to crucify them, but it was hard enough getting Pilate to do that to Jesus, there’s no way that they would have been able to convince him to crucify Peter and John at that point too. So they let them go.