Expositor's Bible Commentary Commentary Acts 4

In vv.1–4 Luke both concludes the narrative of the crippled beggar’s healing (by the phrase “while they were speaking”) and introduces the first appearance of Peter and John before the Sanhedrin (cf. “the next day” in vv.3, 5).

Luke shows that the early opposition against preaching the Gospel arose chiefly from priestly and Sadducean ranks—i.e., “the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees.” “The captain of the temple guard” was the commanding officer of the temple police force. He was considered inferior in rank only to the high priest and had the responsibility of maintaining order in the temple precincts (cf. 5:24, 26). The “Sadducees” (GK 4881) were descendants of the Hasmoneans, who looked to Mattathias, Judas, Jonathan, and Simon Maccabeus (168–134 B. C.) as having inaugurated the Messianic Age and saw themselves as perpetuating what their fathers had begun. As priests from the tribe of Levi, they claimed to represent ancient orthodoxy and were uninterested in innovations. Thus they opposed any developments in biblical law (i.e., the “Oral Law”), speculations about angels or demons, and the doctrine of the resurrection (cf. 23:8; Mark 12:18, 11). Likewise, they rejected what they considered to be vain hopes for God’s heavenly intervention into the life of the nation and for a coming Messiah, since, as they believed, the age of God’s promise had begun with the Maccabean heroes and was continuing on under their supervision. For them, the Messiah was an ideal, not a person, and the Messianic Age was a process, not a cataclysmic or even datable event. Furthermore, as political rulers and dominant landlords, to whom a grateful nation had turned over all political and economic powers during the time of the Maccabean supremacy, for entirely practical reasons they stressed cooperation with Rome and maintenance of the status quo. Most of the priests were of Sadducean persuasion; the temple police force was composed entirely of Levites; the captain of the temple guard was always a high-caste Sadducee, and so were each of the high priests.

The priests and Sadducees were “greatly disturbed” about two matters. First, the apostles were “teaching the people,” an activity that those of the Sadducean ranks saw as a threat to the status quo. Like Jesus, Peter and John were rallying popular support and acting unofficially in such a way as to disrupt established authority—an authority vested in their hands. Second, Peter and John were annoying the Sadducees because they were “proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.” This probably means they were attempting to prove from the fact of Jesus’ resurrection the doctrine of the resurrection (cf. 17:31–32; 23:6–8), which the Sadducees denied. So Peter and John were taken into custody by the temple guard and, since it was evening, put into prison until the Sanhedrin could be called together the next morning to judge their case.

The priests and Sadducees were “greatly disturbed” about two matters. First, the apostles were “teaching the people,” an activity that those of the Sadducean ranks saw as a threat to the status quo. Like Jesus, Peter and John were rallying popular support and acting unofficially in such a way as to disrupt established authority—an authority vested in their hands. Second, Peter and John were annoying the Sadducees because they were “proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.” This probably means they were attempting to prove from the fact of Jesus’ resurrection the doctrine of the resurrection (cf. 17:31–32; 23:6–8), which the Sadducees denied. So Peter and John were taken into custody by the temple guard and, since it was evening, put into prison until the Sanhedrin could be called together the next morning to judge their case.

Not everyone agreed with the Sadducees’ view of the activities and message of the apostles. Later in Acts, Luke will speak of the general tolerance of the people, the moderation of the Pharisees, and the desire of Rome for peace in the land as each having a part in restraining the Sadducees from doing all they might have wanted to do to oppose the Gospel and its early missioners. Many who heard the message believed, with the result that the Jerusalem congregation grew to a total of about five thousand.

Though the Sadducees had among them the nation’s titular rulers, they were actually a minority party and could govern only through the Sanhedrin. Thus on the next day, this seventy-member group, composed of “the rulers” or “the high priests” (cf. 23:5), the “elders,” and the “teachers of the law” (most of whom were Pharisees) came together. The Sanhedrin (“council”; GK 5284) was the senate and supreme court of the nation, which had jurisdiction in all noncapital cases—though it also advised the Roman governors in capital cases—and in one case, namely, that of Gentiles trespassing beyond the posted barriers into the inner courts of the temple, could on its own sentence even a Roman citizen to death . The high priest was president of the Sanhedrin. It met in a hall adjoining the southwest part of the temple area.