As the young church in Jerusalem quickly grew to over 5,000 members, Peter and John healed a lame beggar in the temple gate. This miracle, along with their preaching, earned the ire of the religious establishment. The rulers seized John and Peter, threw them in jail and called them forward the next day to explain their actions.

If a night in jail was meant to intimidate these fired-up preachers, that plan failed. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, trumpeted the name of Jesus and spelled out to the assembled leaders:

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.

The courage and response of these disciples astonished the council, along with the presence of a formerly lame beggar now bouncing around the room. The judges blustered, threatened and cajoled, to which Peter 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.

Indeed, Peter and John never did stop speaking about Jesus. They promoted the truth that salvation is found in no one else to their last breath. Those early church members spread around the ancient world, yielding generation after generation of believers from their witness.

Slowing down Peter and John was like trying to slow down a freight train barreling down the tracks. It ain’t gonna happen anytime soon. Fortunately for us, that train’s still running, and we get to climb aboard.

Acts 4 in Through the Bible in 2024

Photo by Laurent Jollet