Acts 4:5-8 - By what power?

4:5

The religious leaders met to decide what to do. There were three groups: rulers, elders and scribes. The rulers were probably the priestly element in the Sanhedrin. The elders were mostly Sadducees, lay leaders in the community, and ones most concerned with enjoying the comforts of office, and not wanting to upset in apple carts. The scribes were the religious lawyers, mostly Pharisees.

4:6,7

The high priest and members of his family were there. The question they ask of Peter and John is similar to the time in Mark 11:28 when the chief priests and other officials asked Jesus “by what authority are you doing these things?”. When the church is truly led by the Spirit it will do and say things that run counter to the prevailing culture of the day, be that a religious or a civic culture. That culture will then want to know what right we have to do or say such things. In this case there was both deed (the healing of the lame man) and the preaching. The two should always go together.

4:8

Jesus had promised that when the apostles were hauled before councils the Holy Spirit would lead them in what to say (Mark 13:11), and we see an example of that here. Peter addresses the “rulers and elders of the people”. We need to recognise that one aspect of the spread of the gospel is that it is a power clash. Jesus used such language when He spoke of binding up the strong man and ransacking his goods (Mark 3:27). The gospel is not nice. Individuals are bound up by sin, cultures are bound up by false doctrines. There is a power struggle, and we need to be aware of this.