The Council’s Response:
The members of the council were amazed when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, for they could see that they were ordinary men with no special training in the Scriptures. They also recognized them as men who had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing right there among them, there was nothing the council could say. So they ordered Peter and John out of the council chamber and conferred among themselves. “What should we do with these men?” they asked each other. “We can’t deny that they have performed a miraculous sign, and everybody in Jerusalem knows about it. But to keep them from spreading their propaganda any further, we must warn them not to speak to anyone in Jesus’ name again.”
Acts 4:13-17
We have finished our investigation into Peter’s Response, so I have gone back to Gem 1408 to pick up on the next segment. Here we have the Council’s response to Peter’s reply to their question in Acts 4:7. I am leaving you with this segment to do your own thinking about the passage, before we begin to pull this apart over the next Gems. Time for you to ask your questions before we begin. Once again as I have told you before, if you share your questions with me I will include them in our investigation together. I will share my questions with you in the next Gem. Make sure you pay attention to all the detail Luke has shared with us. Also don’t forget to consider this segment in the context of the flow of all the segments that have gone before. Look at the small details in the light of the big picture.
There is one thing which stands out about this section – the nature of this clandestine council’s response to Peter’s reply to their questions. You have to admit it is curious. Time for you to do some thinking about it before we begin this segment. Send me your questions in the interim.
For those who have been following Gems for a few weeks, you will be aware of the questions I gave you for Peter’s response.
- To what degree is Peter “filled with the Spirit”? And what does it mean?
- What was it that highlighted Peter’s boldness?
- What was he bold about?
- Why don’t the Rulers and Elders respond to Peter’s boldness in other ways? Why do they just marvel?
- Why is the lame man (the one who has been healed) not questioned as he would be in any normal investigation into a healing case?
- Is there any significance to the closing statement of this segment by Luke? “And they recognized them, that they were with Jesus.”
- Does it contrast with the reference to “untaught” or “uneducated” or is it used in another way?
These ones above will either give you some insights to this current segment or are questions which I have deliberately not addressed yet. Ponder these as well.
I look forward to hearing from you.
Your intelligence is determined more by the questions you ask, than by the answers you give.
Ian Vail
The trouble with most of us is that we would rather be ruined by praise than saved by criticism.
Anon
There is nothing noble in being superior to some person. The true nobility is in being superior to your previous self.
Fred Allen
The right direction for success and personal growth is the path that leads us to answers within ourselves.
Dr. Seuss
To change the fruits, you have to change the roots. To change the visible, you must first change the invisible.
William Feather
If you wait until you’re ready, you’ll be waiting the rest of your life.
Ian Vail