Acts 4:1-22 records the first formal clash between the apostles and Jerusalem’s rulers after the healing of the lame man. The leaders cannot deny the miracle or overturn the apostles’ testimony, so the scene becomes a public vindication of Jesus’ name, his resurrection, and the apostles’ obligation to keep proclaiming him.

This passage records the first official confrontation between the apostles and the Jerusalem authorities after the healing of the lame man. Peter and John are still speaking to the people when the priests, the captain of the temple guard, and the Sadducees arrive and arrest them. The issue is not merely public disturbance. The leaders are disturbed because the apostles are teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. That message especially offended the Sadducees, who denied the resurrection. Even so, opposition does not hinder God’s work. Many who hear the message believe, and the number of the men rises to about five thousand.

The next day Peter and John are brought before the ruling council in Jerusalem, including members of the high-priestly family. The setting is formal and judicial. The council asks, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” They want to know what authority stands behind the healing. Are the apostles claiming divine authority, acting on behalf of someone else, or using some forbidden power? In this setting, “name” means more than a spoken formula. It refers to authority, representation, and effective power.

Peter answers as one filled with the Holy Spirit. Luke states this plainly so that readers understand Peter’s boldness is not self-produced. His testimony is enabled by God. Peter begins by exposing the irony of the trial: they are being questioned for a good deed done to a helpless man. Then he gives a direct answer. The man stands before them healed by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. Peter does not separate the miracle from the gospel. The same Jesus whose authority healed the man is the Jesus whom these rulers crucified and whom God raised from the dead.

Peter then quotes Psalm 118:22: “The stone that was rejected by you, the builders, has become the cornerstone.” The point is unmistakable. The rulers rejected Jesus, but God reversed their verdict. The one they cast aside has become the decisive stone in God’s saving work. Jesus is not peripheral to God’s plan. He is its appointed foundation.

Peter then states the theological center of the passage: “There is salvation in no one else.” Although the immediate context includes physical healing, Peter’s claim reaches beyond bodily restoration. The word “salvation” can refer to deliverance, but here the statement is universal and absolute: “there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” This is not a private religious preference. It is a public declaration that Jesus alone is God’s appointed Savior.

The council is struck by the boldness of Peter and John. They regard them as men without formal rabbinic training and without elite status. This does not mean they were illiterate. It means they were not part of the educated religious establishment. What astonishes the rulers is that such ordinary men speak with unusual authority, and they recognize that these men had been with Jesus.

At the same time, the healed man is standing there before them, and the rulers cannot deny the miracle. This matters greatly. The authorities do not refute the sign; they admit that a notable miracle has occurred and that it is widely known in Jerusalem. Their problem is not a lack of evidence, but a refusal to accept what the evidence shows. Since they cannot deny the miracle, they turn instead to suppression. They order Peter and John not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.

Peter and John respond with a principle essential to Christian witness: when human authority directly forbids what God commands, obedience to God must come first. Their reply is respectful, but firm: “Whether it is right before God to obey you rather than God, you judge.” Then they add that they cannot stop speaking about what they have seen and heard. This is not reckless defiance for its own sake. It is obedience to God’s commission and testimony to facts they know are true.

In the end, the rulers can do little more than threaten them and let them go. Public reaction restrains them, because the people are glorifying God for what had happened. Luke’s note that the healed man was over forty years old underscores the force of the sign. This was not a doubtful or temporary improvement. It was a clear, public, undeniable act of power.

Within Acts as a whole, this event marks an important stage in the advance of apostolic witness in Jerusalem. It should be read as part of Luke’s larger account of how the exalted Jesus, through the Spirit, forms a witness-bearing people and advances the gospel in the face of resistance. The passage is not merely a private lesson about courage. It belongs to the corporate and covenantal unfolding of God’s saving purpose in Acts.

Key Truths: - The apostles were arrested because they proclaimed resurrection in Jesus, a message the Jerusalem authorities opposed. - The healing of the lame man serves as evidence of the present authority of the risen Jesus. - In this passage, “name” means more than a verbal formula; it refers to Jesus’ authority and power. - Peter’s bold defense is explicitly empowered by the Holy Spirit. - Jesus, though rejected by the rulers, has been made by God the cornerstone. - Salvation is found in Jesus alone; no other person or authority can save. - The rulers could not deny the miracle, so they tried to silence the message instead. - When human commands directly conflict with God’s command, believers must obey God rather than men.