Acts 4:1-37

Arrest of Peter and John

1-22. Arrest of Peter and John. Peter's speech before the Sanhedrin. The proceedings of the Apostles displeased the authorities, (1) because they taught the people (Acts 4:2) without having received the education and ordination of rabbis (cp. Acts 4:13); (2) because they preached the Resurrection, a doctrine particularly distasteful to the Sadducees, the dominant party among the influential members of the priesthood; (3) because they feared that the people would become inflamed with enthusiasm, and that this would lead to collisions with the Romans. It is a mark of historic truth that the chief opposition to the Apostles is here assigned to the Sadducees, who denied the Resurrection. The Pharisees, who affirmed it, were comparatively friendly (Acts 5:34; Acts 23:6), and not a few of them became Christians (Acts 15:5).