Acts 4:13-17

 

Rachel Workman: ⁸ Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! ⁹ If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, ¹⁰ then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. ¹¹ Jesus is

“‘the stone you builders rejected,
    which has become the cornerstone.’^[a]

¹² Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

Our hope is in Christ alone. I need more Christ and less me.

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John Burnett:  8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers and elders of the people, 9 if we are on trial today for a benefit done to a sick man, as to how this man has been made well, 10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead—by this name this man stands here before you in good health. 11 He is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved.”  Pure truth was spoken by Peter as he was filled with the Holy Spirit.  The Holy Spirit's job is to glorify the Son and He used Peter to do that in this passage.  The cornerstone was the stone used to start the building and Christ is the cornerstone used to build the church.

13 Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were amazed and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. 14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply. 15 But when they had ordered them to leave the Council, they began to confer with one another, 16 saying, “What are we to do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But so that it will not spread any further among the people, let’s warn them not to speak any longer to any person in this name.”  The Priests knew that Peter and John had been with Jesus and that they healed this man in Jesus's name.  The truth of the gospel, Peter and John preached also heals any man of his sin disease.  The world, led by Satan, does everything it can to suppress the truth in its unrighteousness because the world loves its sin more than it loves God.

 

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Tomorrow’s reading for Acts 4:18-33

¹⁸ Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. ¹⁹ But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! ²⁰ As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

²¹ After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. ²² For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.