Mims Chapel Church 

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Lesson 5  Fifth Week

PETER AND JOHN ARRESTED
AND TAKEN BEFORE THE
JEWISH COUNCIL

Background Reading                   Devotional Reading
Acts 4:1-12                                      Acts 4:1-7

Central Verse
"Then Peter, filled with the Holy Ghost, said unto them, Ye rulers of the people, and elders of Israel, if we this day be examined of good deed done to the impotent man, by what means he is made whole."
Acts 4:8-9, KJV

"Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spir­it, said unto them, 'Rulers and elders of our people, we are being ques­tioned today because we've done a good deed for a crippled man?"
Acts 4:8-9, NLT


Key Terms
Jewish Council—This was the highest Jewish court and legislative body in ancient Israel, particularly during the time of Jesus. It was composed of 71 members, including priests, elders, and scribes, and was responsible for interpreting and applying Jewish law, as well as handling both religious and civil matters.
Incarcerated—Confined in a jail or prison.
Enslaved—Held involuntarily and forced under threat of violence or death to work without pay for the profit of another.
Propaganda—An organized spreading of certain ideas.

Introduction

To see a man who had been a beggar, crippled, and helpless get healed should have been a time of great rejoicing. But instead, the leaders were angry and did vengeful things, like putting the two disciples in jail.

However, since Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit, he became bold in his response to the rulers and the elders of Israel. He had just experienced a great move of God through the power of the Holy Spirit. The crippled man who had been brought to the gate of the Temple daily had been healed, and Peter had been able to preach to a group of sinners. Over five thousand souls had been saved and added to the Church because of it. Of course, Satan was angry. He wants as many people as he can get to die and go to Hell with him in the Last Judgement. He comes to steal, kill, and destroy.

Discussion

Peter had angered the leaders because he told them that believing in Jesus Christ and receiving the baptism of the Holy Ghost comes to those who respond to God's grace and are willing to turn from their sins and wicked ways to embrace a holy lifestyle.

So, they were brought before the Jewish Council. The Jewish Council refers to the Great Sanhedrin which consisted of 71 members, centered in Jerusa­lem. But this Jewish Council seemed to have been one of their lesser courts that often was made up of 23 members and 3 judges. They were not happy that Peter and John were preaching the doctrine of the man who had been crucified and was reported to have risen from the dead. For the people to witness a formerly crippled man being healed and hearing that Jesus had healed him was very troubling to the Council. It was against everything that they stood for.

Peter and John had been put in jail, which is not a nice place to be. Jail is a place of confinement for people held in lawful custody. A person in jail is a person whose freedom has been taken away. He has lost the right to make most decisions about his own life. It is a place that puts limitations on a person's life: when to eat or sleep, to go or to come is decided for him. It's a place that separates a person from his family and his friends.

After Peter and John were put in jail, they were asked by the Jewish Council, which included Anna, the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and other relatives of the high priest, by who's authority or in whose name had they healed the crippled man.

Peter responded with the name of Jesus Christ—the Nazarene, the man that they had crucified, and God had raised from the dead. Peter told them
that according to the Scripture, Jesus was the stone that the builders reject­ed. He had become the cornerstone, and there is no salvation for anyone, except in the name of Jesus.

The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John. They recognized that the pair was not educated as them­selves, and they recognized that they were followers of Jesus. Seeing the healed man amid the crowd made them aware that they were limited in what they could do to Peter and John. So, they dismissed them from the Council chamber and talked among themselves.

They asked themselves what could be done with Peter and John. They didn't want the Gospel to spread any farther than Jerusalem, so they called them back into the Council chamber and told them never to speak or teach in the name of Jesus again.

But Peter and John informed the Council that they would rather obey God than obey them. The Council members threatened Peter and John further but knew that if they harmed the disciples, it would have caused a riot, be­cause most of the people were praising God for the miracle of healing this man who had been crippled for more than 40 years.

Conclusion

Yes, Peter and John were put in jail, but they had confidence that God had not forgotten them. Sometimes when people are incarcerated, families and friends forget them. And there are some incarcerated people that no one goes to visit, but they need to know that Jesus never forgets them, and He never leaves them alone. Many believers are in bondage, enslaved by all kinds of struggles, addictions, oppression, and sin. They may not be in a physical jail like Peter and John, but in jail, nevertheless. Jesus came and died to set every one of them free. Not just to give them a pathway to Heaven, but to give them freedom here on Earth. They don't have to feel imprisoned spiritually, because the power of the Holy Spirit can and will break every chain. For He is a bondage-breaker and can open the doors of any prison or jail cell.

Through the Holy Spirit there is hope from rejection, hopelessness, ad­diction, and prison, for the God of hope will restore the heart and the life of anyone who comes to Him in repentance. God wants His children to have confidence in His love and protection. He wants them to know that it doesn't matter how dark the circumstances are and that He can turn the most impossible situations around. Because of the power of the Holy Spirit, Peter was not afraid, nor was he timid, but instead he spoke with the bold­ness and confidence that the Holy Spirit provided.

Questions

Why were Peter and John arrested?
Who arrested them?
How did the people feel about them being arrested?
How did they get out of jail?
Who were the Jewish council? And what did they do to Peter and John?

Essential Thought- "Whatever problem you can have, Jesus can get you out of it."

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