Common Men, Uncommon Savior

Day 157: Acts 4:1-37

“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.” - Acts 4:13-14 ESV

How jarring it must have been for these Jewish elites to hear Peter and John claim that it was the name of the resurrected Jesus that healed this man who couldn't walk. They were the same group that tried Jesus at night and strong-armed Pilate into crucifying Jesus. Their worst fears had come back to haunt them. To make matters worse, the Holy Spirit was now starting to do the work through more than just one man. This would have broken Twitter.

There was nothing exceptional about Peter and John. They were fishermen by trade and had nowhere near the education of these religious leaders. Yet, they were again flawlessly quoting the Hebrew Bible (OT) to explain all that was happening.

When you spend time with Jesus, it changes you. When you spend a lot of time with Jesus, others will start to wonder what happened to you. They'll ask for your secret.

This is when we tell them the honest truth: There is salvation in no other name. Jesus has changed the world, and He will continue to do so, one soul at a time.

"The point of v. 13b is that the authorities recognized not only that these men were companions of Jesus, but that in terms of their amazing speech, and lack of training, they were cut from the same cloth."
- Witherington, B., III. (1998). The Acts of the Apostles (p. 196)