No Other Name
TRANSLATION
(1) And as they were speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple guard, and the Sadducees approached them, (2) greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. (3) And they arrested them and put them in custody until the next day because it was already evening. (4) But many who had heard their message believed so that the number of the men grew to about five thousand.
(5) The next day, the rulers, elders, and teachers of the Law gathered in Jerusalem. (6) Annas, the high priest, was there along with Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and others who were members of the high priest’s family. (7) When they had them brought before them, they asked, “By what authority or in whose name have you done this?” (8) Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, answered, “Rulers of the people and elders, (9) if we are being examined today regarding an act of kindness done for a lame man, namely, how this person was healed, (10) let it be known to you and the nation of Israel that it is by the name of Jesus, the Messiah of Nazareth whom you crucified and whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands here before you healed. (11) This Jesus is the stone which you builders rejected who has become the cornerstone. (12) Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name given to us under heaven by which we must be saved.”
(13) Now when they witnessed the boldness of Peter and John and perceived that they were unschooled and ordinary men, they were amazed and acknowledged that they had been with Jesus.
OBSERVATIONS
The healing of the lame man led to the arrest of Peter and John and their subsequent appearance before the leaders of Israel to explain what had happened. Repetitions in this segment include “the people” (vss. 1 & 2), four mentions of “Jesus” (vss. 2, 10, 11, & 13), once defined by “Messiah of Nazareth” (vs. 10), two uses each of “rulers and elders” (vss. 5 & 8) and “high priest” (twice in vs. 6), “name” found three times (vss. 7, 12, & 19) and “salvation/saved” twice (vs. 12). When the Jewish leaders arrested and imprisoned Peter and John for healing the lame man in the name of Jesus and then demanded an explanation for their action, they quickly learned that they were dealing with something far beyond their ability to control.
OUTLINE
I. The Jewish leaders arrested Peter and John for proclaiming the power of the risen Christ. (1-4)
II. When they examined Peter and John, Peter testified boldly about salvation alone in Christ. (5-12)
III. The leaders were amazed at the boldness of these unschooled disciples. (13)
IDEA STATEMENT
When detained and questioned by the Jewish leadership, Peter and John boldly testified that the crucifixion of Jesus had been part of God’s plan to provide salvation for all humanity.
APPLICATION
The inability of the Jewish leadership to take any meaningful steps that might have effectively thwarted the spread of the Gospel is on display in this segment. Having arrested Peter and John and kept them in custody overnight, the High Priest, his family, and the other rulers, elders, and scribes proceeded to conduct an inquiry to find out how the lame man had been healed. To their chagrin, Peter boldly confronted them with the truth that it was by invoking the name of Jesus that they had performed this miracle. And Peter didn’t stop there. He went on to quote Psalm 118:22, “The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone,” identifying the Jewish leaders as the “builders” who had “rejected” the “cornerstone,” namely, Jesus, in whose name alone salvation can be found. This declaration, “no other name under heaven given to us,” became a rallying cry for the church as it spread the Gospel message throughout the world. Those opposed to the Gospel soon realized that they had no other option apart from suppression and violence to try to control a movement that spread like wildfire whipped by the wind.
At the heart of the Gospel lay this delicious irony: the very thing that God’s enemies thought would finally end this movement (executing the Son) was precisely what God intended all along to provide the atoning sacrifice for our sins. They had become unwitting tools in God’s hand to accomplish God’s eternal purpose, the redemption of the human race.