Luke the physician wrote how Peter told the people who gathered together after the lame man at the temple was healed, “You are the children of the prophets, and of the covenant which God made with our fathers, saying unto Abraham, And in your seed shall all the kindreds of the earth be blessed. Unto you first God, having raised up his Son Jesus, sent him to bless you, in turning away every one of you from his iniquities”, and in chapter four and verse one of the book of Acts Luke shared how, “the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them” where we read:
And as they spoke unto the people,
the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them,
The verse begins, “And as they spoke unto the people, ...” Luke began with the words, “and as they spoke” which means “and during the time and while Peter and John made declarations and proclamations” “unto the people” which means “to the people who gathered to them in the temple” the following occurred. Luke shared “while” Peter and John were speaking to the Jewish people who gathered themselves to them, the following event occurred.
The verse goes on to say, “... the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, ...” Luke continued with the words, “the priests” or “the ones who offered sacrifices and in general were busied with sacred rites”, “and the captain of the temple” which means “and the commander or governor of the sacred worship place in Jerusalem”, “and the Sadducees” or “and the religious party at the time of Christ among the Jews, who denied that the oral law was a revelation of God to the Israelites, and who deemed the written law alone to be obligatory on the nation, as the divine authority”, “came upon them” which means “arose and approached Peter and John”. Luke shared how the religious leaders including the “priests, captain of the temple and the Sadducees” approached Peter and John.
When we consider Luke's words in this verse, we see how the commotion caused by the healing of the “lame man” and the subsequent discussion between those who gathered themselves to Peter and John in the temple alerted the “religious leadership”. We shall see their response to this event in our next few verses, but for now, let us acknowledge of the boldness of “Peter and John” to be able to perform this miracle and have the public discussion in the temple with those who rushed toward them. Beforehand they were hiding in the upper room, and now they were openly displaying the “power” of the Holy Spirit within them. God desires to have a personal relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and when they yield their lives to Him, they become His “witness” that draws the attention of people and authorities. Let all who read these words surrender to Jesus and have boldness to share Him with others.
Next time Luke shares how the religious leaders were, “grieved that they taught the people”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.
Until tomorrow…there is more…
Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".
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