sound of a soft breath

Listen to Acts Chapter 3 & 4
or read "Growth & Persecution"

When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. "What are we going to do with these men?" they asked. "Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name."

The Sanhedrin was the council or court of all the rulers, elders, and teachers of religious law. The facts were continuing to stack up and the members of the Sanhedrin were not sure what to do. They had successfully manipulated the people to having Jesus killed to protect their power. They thought it was over with his death, but as they find out it wasn't. Two 'ordinary' men, two nobodies, named Peter and John had just healed a 40 year old man who was lame from birth. These regular guys healed him with just a few words in front of many people.

"In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, get up and walk!" (New Living Translation)

The people were in awe. They watched a man who couldn't walk or even stand - jump. This was a man who had to be carried by others wherever he was to go. For 40 years he was carried around. Now he was jumping. "They were absolutely astounded!" A crowd formed to see this man who was lame and now could walk, run, and jump. They listened to Peter's explanation. "We didn't do this, God did. God did it to bring Glory to his Son Jesus, who you killed just a few weeks ago. Pilate wanted to release him, but you insisted he die."

"You killed the author of life, but God raised him to life. And we are witnesses of this fact!" (New Living Translation)

While they were speaking to the crowd some religious officials came over to listen and were disturbed by what they saw and heard. These guys were claiming that Jesus had been raised from the dead and they, by his authority and power were able to do miraculous things and had just healed the crippled man standing next to them. The religious officials had Peter and John arrested and brought before the council.

Standing next to the once crippled man and before this council of 71 leaders, Peter and John very directly proclaim that this man was healed by the name and power of someone who, the council, just crucified and God raised from the dead. Jesus! The undeniable facts were stacking up and the council had no idea what to do. Face to face with the power of Jesus, they were speechless and out of ideas on how to stop this revolution. A revolution that threatened their power over the people. The council's only response, and a very weak powerless one at that, was to request that they stop teaching and talking about Jesus. Peter and John's response, "we cannot."

Peter, John, and the other believers, had seen Jesus. They had seen him heal people. They had seen him die. They had see Jesus come back to life. A few days prior they witnessed the disciples speaking in foreign languages they knew the disciples didn't know. They watched as a lame man jumped and used muscles that hadn't work for 40 years. The facts were changing them. Perhaps the council could turn there heads from the facts and deny what was happening, but the people couldn't. It was undeniable!