Atos 4

Atos 4

Henry - It is no new thing for good men to suffer ill for doing well. To do well and to suffer punishment is the Christian's lot. Martyn Lloyd-Jones applies the idea of benefit to the church -- All the greatest benefits that humanity has ever known have come through this Gospel. Good deeds! Where did hospitals come from? The Christian church. Where did education come from? The Christian church. Where did relief for the poor and suffering come from? The Christian church. Look at the great missionary enterprise. Look at the light that has been taken to the dark places of the earth. . .Look at the unreasonableness of it all. If the apostles had hit the lame man on the head, I could understand why the authorities threw them into prison. But fancy throwing them into prison because they had healed a man! What is it that makes people do such things? There is only one answer: It is the blindness and the deadness that is ever produced by prejudice. Something in human nature is malignant. Benefit (2108)(euergesia from euergetes = a doer of good from eu = good + ergon = deed) means well doing or good service (1 Ti 6:2 = only other NT use) or benefit. Here in Acts 4:9 it refers to an individual act of kindness (benefit, good deed). In the only Septuagint use it says that Israel "forgot His deeds (Lxx = euergesia ~ God's benefits!) and His miracles." (Ps 78:11) Euergesia is used in secular Greek documents "mentioning “benefits” that increased the welfare of an empire." (Gilbrant) As to how this man has been made well - Or "how he was healed." It is interesting to me as a doctor, that Dr Luke had a choice of some excellent Greek words which describe healing, including iaomai and therapeuo. He opted (of course inspired by the Spirit) for another verb, sozo, described below. It is no accident that he uses the same verb sozo a few verses later in that great declaration in Acts 4:12 describing the only way for a soul to obtain "spiritual healing!" Of course in a sense sozo is a perfect verb to describe the lame man for he had received both physical healing and spiritual healing! Of course the question of the Sanhedrinists was focused solely on the physical, not realizing that they had just opened themselves up to Peter's use of the same verb in the far more important use, spiritual healing! Longnecker on sozo - The double use of the verb sothenai ("to be saved") to mean both "restoration to health" physically and "preservation from eternal death" spiritually allows Peter to move easily from the healing of the cripple to the salvation of mankind and, therefore, from a defensive to an aggressive witness. (Expositor's Bible Commentary – Volume 9: John and Acts) Has been made well (perfect tense = has been made and remains well - indicates continuing results of the completed action)(4982)(sozo) has the basic meaning of rescuing one from great peril. Additional nuances include to protect, keep alive, preserve life, deliver, heal, be made whole. Sozo is sometimes used of physical deliverance from danger of perishing (see Mt 8:25; Mt 14:30; Lk 23:35; saved from drowning in Acts 27:20, 27:31), physical healing from sickness (Mt 9:21, 22 = "made you well"; Mk 5:23, Acts 4:9, Acts 14:9 = to be made well"), and deliverance from demonic possession (Lk 8:36). More often sozo refers to salvation in a spiritual sense as used in Acts 2:40, 47, 4:12. All of Luke's uses of sozo - Lk. 6:9; Lk. 7:50; Lk. 8:12; Lk. 8:36; Lk. 8:48; Lk. 8:50; Lk. 9:24; Lk. 9:56; Lk. 13:23; Lk. 17:19; Lk. 18:26; Lk. 18:42; Lk. 19:10; Lk. 23:35; Lk. 23:37; Lk. 23:39; Acts 2:40; Acts 2:47; Acts 4:9; Acts 4:12; Acts 11:14; Acts 14:9; Acts 15:1; Acts 15:11; Acts 16:30; Acts 16:31; Acts 27:20; Acts 27:31 Acts 4:10 let it be known to all of you and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, Whom you crucified, Whom God raised from the dead--by this Name this man stands here before you in good health. KJV Acts 4:10 Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. let it be known to all of you Acts 13:38; 28:28; Jer 42:19,20; Daniel 3:18 that by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene by Acts 2:22-24,36; 3:6,13-16; Acts 5:29-32 Whom God raised from the dead Acts 2:24; 10:40-42; 13:29-41; Mt 27:63-66; 28:11-15; Ro 1:4 Acts 4 Resources - Multiple Sermons and Commentaries WHO WAS REALLY ON TRIAL? Little did they realize when they asked "by what Name" that they had just tossed Peter a "softball" so to speak and he hits a "grand slam!" Their straight question received a straight answer. What Peter accomplishes with just a few words is to deftly turn the tables and put the Sanhedrin in a semi-circle (enabling them to see each other) on trial! Can you imagine their reaction and their faces? He answers their question (what power? what name? Acts 4:7), but in so doing he turns the tables on them! Let it be - This functions like an imperative or command. Peter's is confident and it shows just as it had with a similar introduction in Acts 2:14+ ("let this be known to you"). In case they were "fuzzy" on how this miracle had transpired Peter says "Let me clearly state to all of you and to all the people of Israel. " (NLT). Known - This is the word gnostos which describes that which is clearly recognizable, that which is made known. The miracle was living proof of the Living Savior! Note that Peter is in repeating the truth he had declared to the temple crowds the previous day in Acts 3:13-16+, truth which resulted in salvation for 2000+! There is no record of any similar impact on the members of the Sanhedrin. To all of you and to all the people of Israel - Think about what God is doing through Peter's message. He is giving the Jews another chance to believe in Jesus as the Messiah. All of you is the very group who had convicted Jesus of blasphemy and delivered Him to Pilate for crucifixion (Lk 27:1)! What do we learn from this statement? In short, but in truth, God is long suffering with sinners! Peter later wrote about God's long suffering attitude toward sinners in his second epistle The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish (EVEN THE MEMBERS OF THE SANHEDRIN!) but for all to come to repentance (2 Pe 3:9+) Matthew Henry - Be it known to you all who pretend to be ignorant of this matter, and not to you only, but to all the people of Israel, for they are all concerned to know it... that precious, powerful, prevailing name, that name above every name, even by him whom you in contempt called Jesus of Nazareth, John Stott - Whether they were preaching to the crowd in the temple or answering accusations in court, their preoccupation was not their own defence but the honour and glory of their Lord. (The Message of Acts) That by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene - Peter takes no credit for the miracle, but transfers all the praise and glory for the good deed to Jesus Christ. Peter is filled with the Spirit and Jesus had said that "He (the Spirit) shall glorify Me" (Jn 16:14), which is exactly what Peter was doing by giving Jesus all the credit. Do we give Jesus all the glory when something clearly supernatural transpires in our life? Note that the "double title" is a confession by Peter that the Man the Sanhedrin knew as Jesus, Whom they illegally tried and gave over to Roman crucifixion, is also the One called Christos, the Anointed One, the Messiah. Recall that the Sadducees had little interest in a Messiah, for they did not want their political position or power to be disrupted by this "Upstart Messiah!" How deceitful sin can be - in them and in us! (cf Heb 3:13). The Name Jesus Christ is used 135x in 132v in the New Testament, only 3 times in the Gospels, with 13 uses in Acts (some prefixed by "Lord" - Acts 11:17; Acts 15:26; Acts 20:21; Acts 28:31) and most by Paul - Acts 2:38; Acts 3:6; Acts 4:10; Acts 8:12; Acts 8:37; Acts 9:34; Acts 10:36; Acts 10:48; Acts 11:17; Acts 15:26; Acts 16:18; Acts 20:21; Acts 28:31 Christ (5547)(Christos from chrio = to rub or anoint, consecrate to an office) means one who has been anointed, symbolizing appointment to a task. It is used here as the title "Anointed One" and is the Greek synonym for "Messiah." Christos is used in the Septuagint describing everyone anointed with the holy oil, especially the priesthood (Lev. 4:5, 16) and it is also a name applied to those who were acting as redeemers like Cyrus (see below). Gilbrant writes that "Hamilton suggests a fourfold significance to such anointing (“māshach,” Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament, 1:530): (1) separation unto God, (2) authorization by God, (3) divine enablement, and (4) the coming Deliverer. In regards to this final use he says, “Though this association with the term māshach is not as prevalent in the OT as often supposed, the prospect of a righteous, Spirit-filled ruler is increasingly discernible in the OT (cf. Isaiah 9:1-7+; Isa1 1:1-5+; Isa 61:1)” (ibid.). It was probably because of his role as a deliverer of God’s people, selected by the Lord for His purpose, that Cyrus, a Gentile emperor, was given the title of “messiah, anointed” (Isaiah 45:1). However, long after Cyrus, God’s people were still promised Messiah the prince, the one to fulfill all of the Biblical promises (Daniel 9:25,26+)." (Complete Biblical Library Greek-English Dictionary) BDAG adds Christos signifies the "Fulfiller of Israelite expectation of a Deliverer" and was used in the Septuagint of the great messianic Ps 2:2 describing the future day when "The kings of the earth take their stand And the rulers take counsel together against the LORD and against His Anointed (Hebrew = Mashiach/masiyah; Lxx = Christos)." The first use of Christos in the Septuagint describes "the anointed (Hebrew = Mashiach/masiyah; Lxx = Christos) priest" (Lev 4:5) carrying out a blood sacrifice, clearly foreshadowing the One Who would come as both the Sacrifice and the Priest! Daniel 9:26+ gives us the incredible prophecy that after 69 weeks (483 years) "the Messiah (Hebrew = Mashiach/masiyah; Lxx = Christos) will be cut off," a specific prophecy of what would happen to Messiah and when it would happen. The Jews could have known and should have known (and some Jews have been saved when they read this prophecy) (See Luke 19:42+) Related Resources: Messiah - Anointed One Related word - messias = Messiah Is Jesus the Messiah? What does Messiah mean? Why do most Jews reject Jesus as the Messiah? Does the Old Testament truly predict a second advent of the Messiah? Put yourself in the place of the members of the Sanhedrin who had thought that crucifixion had put a permanent end to Jesus! The ones that pierced Jesus were now having their hearts pierced by Peter's words! Notice Peter uses the word Christ which is synonymous with Messiah. In so doing he is declaring that the Man Jesus is the anointed One of God, the One Who had been predicted in the Old Testaments. Jesus (2424)(Iesous) is transliteration of Iesous, which in turn is derived from the Hebrew Jehoshua (Yehoshua) or Jeshua (Yeshua) which mean Jehovah is help or Jehovah is salvation. Jesus' very Name depicts His mission! He came "to seek and to save that which was lost.” (Lk 19:10+) Whom you crucified (cf Acts 2:23+ and Acts 3:15+) - Note that again Peter adds the piercing pronoun "you." One can almost see Peter's eyes panning from side to side as he had eye contact with every member in the council chamber! Only a Spirit filled man would have spoken such a scathing accusation against the Sanhedrin. For context, remember that this same group (probably actually the same individuals) led by Caiaphas had declared Jesus guilty of blasphemy and sentenced Him to die only 7-8 weeks earlier. Peter was literally taking his life in his hands. Peter countered fear with faith, because He knew Who really held His life or as Paul said "I also suffer these things, but I am not ashamed; for I know Whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him until that day." (2 Ti 1:12+) So while Peter and John could have died this day, it was not God's will for them to die until they had "finished their testimony" like the two witnesses in Rev 11:7+. Our life as a disciple of Christ is immortal until our work for Him has been accomplished. This is Peter's third "sermon" to the Jews and each time he accused them of killing the Messiah - Acts 2:22–24 ("put Him to death") Acts 3:12–15 ("put to death the Prince of life"). Whom God raised from the dead (similar in Acts 2:23, 24; Acts 3:14, 15) - Now the Sadducees must have begun to "foam at the mouth" so to speak. They did not accept resurrection from the dead and Peter directly confronts their erroneous belief with truth. By this Name this man stands here before you in good health - The saying is "seeing is believing," but that was not the case with these hard hearted religious men. The lame man was standing in front of them giving clear testimony to Peter's words. Warren