Acts 4
v.11
He is โโthe stone you builders rejected, which has become the capstone.โ
God salvaged the stone that the builders discarded and built another temple, the end-time temple not made with hands (Ps. 118:22; Luke 20:17). As a spiritual temple, it replaces the leadersโ physical temple as the place where God is present among the people.
v.12
Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved.
The first issue to address is the meaning of salvation. Salvation is a special interest of the author of Luke-Acts. It can mean deliverance from everything from sickness to sin, from political oppression to divine judgement. The lame man in Acts 3-4 had been saved by being healed, while Zechariah speaks of salvation in terms of deliverance from the political enemies of Israel (Lk 1:71). Acts 27:31 refers to rescue from a storm at sea as salvation. But a further issue is one of escaping divine judgement (Acts 2:21, 40). This escape not only is a rescue, but also has a positive side, namely, โthat times of refreshment may come from the Lordโ (Acts 3:19). This last meaning dominates the speeches in Acts. Thus while the author certainly knows many meanings for salvation (for example, that Jesus is the one through whom physical healing comes), the stress in this passage is on what he believes is the most significant meaning, salvation in its fullest sense: deliverance from divine judgement and the release of the blessings of God. This type of salvation, he states, comes only through Jesus Christ.
It is significant that Peter makes this statement in front of Jewish leaders. Their Judaism could not save them. They needed the one โname,โ the name of Jesus. This theme of the exclusiveness of salvation through Christ is repeated a number of times in Acts, but perhaps Paul puts it most starkly against Athenian Greek religion and philosophy when he states, โIn the past God overlooked such ignorance, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent. For he has set a day when he will judge the world with justice by the man [Jesus] he has appointedโ (Acts 17:30-21). In other words, the teaching throughout Acts (and the rest of the New Testament, for that matter) is that there is only one way to escape Godโs judgement and receive his favor, and that is through Jesus. This exclusivity is a consistent claim of the early church.
v.13
When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.
v.19-20
But Peter and John replied, โJudge for yourselves whether it is right in Godโs sight to obey you rather than God. 20For we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.โ
v.24
When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. โSovereign Lord,โ they said, โyou made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.
The church does not complain to God about what happened to Peter and John. Instead, they first turn to Scripture (Ps. 2) to acknowledge Godโs sovereign authority. The maker of heaven and earth is still in control even when enemies rage against Godโs people as they did against Godโs Son.
v.27
Indeed Herod and Pontius Pilate met together with the Gentiles and the people of Israel in this city to conspire against your holy servant Jesus, whom you anointed.
Second, in the churchโs prayer the sufferings of Christian believers are related directly to the sufferings of Christ and inferentially to the sufferings of Godโs righteous servants in the OT. This theme of the union of the sufferings of Christ and those of his own people is a theme that is developed in many ways throughout the NT (cf. esp. Mk 8-10; Ac 9:4-5; Ro 8:17; Col 1:24; 1Pe 2:20-25; 3:14-4:2; 4:12-13). It reaches its loftiest expression in Paulโs metaphor of the body of Christ.
v.28
They did what your power and will had decided beforehand should happen.
v.29-30
Now, Lord, consider their threats and enable your servants to speak your word with great boldness. 30Stretch out your hand to heal and perform miraculous signs and wonders through the name of your holy servant Jesus.โ
v.31
After they prayed, the place where they were meeting was shaken. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke the word of God boldly.
v.32
All the believers were one in heart and mind. No one claimed that any of his possessions was his own, but they shared everything they had.
Theologically, the early believers considered themselves the righteous remnant within Israel. So Dt 15:4 was undoubtedly in their mind, that if they wanted God to bless them, there should be no poor among them.
v.33
With great power, the apostles continued to testify to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus, and much grace was upon them all.
v.36-37
Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus, whom the apostles called Barnabas (which means Son of Encouragement), sold a field he owned and brought the money and put it at the apostleโs feet.
Barnabas is the redeemed rich young ruler. Only with God is this possible.
The field that Barnabas sells recalls the field that Judas bought with the blood money for betraying Jesus (1:18). Barnabas is the antithesis of Judas as one who sacrificially gives up property to serve others. Ananias is Judasโs spiritual match as an example of selfishness. As a Levite, Barnabas is also the antithesis to the Levite who ignored the mugging victim on the roadway and passed by on the other side in Jesusโs parable (Luke 10:32). He shows compassion to the disadvantaged. Levites were not accorded an allotment in the land (Num. 18:20, 24; Deut. 10:9), but Barnabasโs property may have been in his native Cyprus. Regardless of where this property came from, as a Christian, Barnabas fully recognizes that โthe LORD is [his] inheritanceโ (Deut. 10:9), and he does not need this land.