Act 4:14-18 “And beholding the man which was healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, Saying, What shall we do to these men? for that indeed a notable miracle hath been done by them is manifest to all them that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it. But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name. And they called them, and commanded them not to speak at all nor teach in the name of Jesus.”
Peter, John, and the lame man who was healed in the name of Jesus of Nazareth had been brought before the high priest and the council. Peter and John’s crime was to perform a miracle of healing through the power of Jesus and then to preach the resurrection in His name. The lame man’s crime was being the recipient of this miraculous power. Obviously, these were not really crimes.
However, if word of this began to spread, the rulers of the Jews at that time feared they would lose their social status as leaders among the people. It did not matter to them that their supposed power was built on a foundation of lies and misrepresentation. They were among those who Jesus’ parable in Matthew 7:26 likened unto a foolish man. Their house was built on a foundation of sand.
The rulers were faced with a situation they could not deny. Proof of the very power of Jesus Christ was standing before their eyes. They could not claim that it was evil or a hoax. As men often do, they conferred among themselves.
Men today are still often confronted with the truth that Jesus Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords. Rather than embracing and proclaiming that truth, we often try to explain it away. The honest thing would be to confess our sins and acknowledge the power of the resurrection. Instead, we set aside the truth and confer among ourselves.
It seems foolish, as we read this account, that these men would want to deny something that was known to all that dwelled in Jerusalem at that time. Before we question how they could do such a thing, we need to look at our own lives and see how many times we may have been faced with the very truth of God’s love and mercy but were afraid to testify to it. Perhaps we thought we would look foolish. Maybe we were concerned with our social status as these men were.
The world is full of threats today to try and prevent us from spreading the good word of God. There are many who would accuse us of hatred, even though we declare the greatest love known to man. Foolish men who build upon the sand never want others to see their foolishness. They do not want others to know about the only name given under heaven among men, whereby we must be saved.
Praise God that, regardless of the commandment of men that His word spread no further, He still sends it to the ends of the earth!
