A Study of Acts: Peter and John are Arrested
Acts 4:1-4 - Are you afraid to witness for the Lord?
“As they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees came up to them, being greatly disturbed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them and put them in jail until the next day, for it was already evening. But many of those who had heard the message believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.”
Acts 4:1-4 NASB1995
Transitioning into Acts chapter 4, Peter and John continue speaking to the people. But they are suddenly interrupted by the priests, the captain of the temple guard and a group of Sadducees. As will be seen quite often in Acts, a sign or wonder is performed by the apostles, often accompanied by a sermon, and then there is persecution. The Sadducees were greatly disturbed by the preaching that proclaimed that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. So who were the Sadducees? Here is information about this group from Gotquestions.org:
The Sadducees, sometimes historically called “Zadokites” or “Tzedukim,” are thought by some to have been founded by a man named Zadok (or Tsadok) in the second century BC. Another school of thought is that the word Sadducee is related to the Hebrew word sadaq (“to be righteous”). The Sadducees were an aristocratic class connected with everything going on in the temple in Jerusalem. They tended to be wealthy and held powerful positions, including that of chief priests and high priest, and they held the majority of the 70 seats of the ruling council called the Sanhedrin.
The Sadducees worked hard to keep the peace by agreeing with the decisions of Rome (Israel at the time was under Roman control), and they seemed to be more concerned with politics than religion. Because they were accommodating to Rome and were the wealthy upper class, they did not relate well to the common man, nor did the common man hold them in high opinion. The commoners related better to those who belonged to the party of the Pharisees. Though the Sadducees held the majority of seats in the Sanhedrin, history indicates that much of the time they had to go along with the ideas of the Pharisaic minority, because the Pharisees were more popular with the masses.
Not all priests were Sadducees, but many of them were. The Sadducees preserved the authority of the written Word of God, especially the books of Moses (Genesis through Deuteronomy). While they could be commended for this, they definitely were not perfect in their doctrinal views. The following is a brief list of Sadducean beliefs that contradict Scripture:
1. The Sadducees were extremely self-sufficient to the point of denying God’s involvement in everyday life.
2. They denied any resurrection of the dead (Matthew 22:23; Mark 12:18–27; Acts 23:8). Due to this belief, the Sadducees strongly resisted the apostles’ preaching that Jesus had risen from the dead.
3. They denied the afterlife, holding that the soul perished at death and therefore denying any penalty or reward after the earthly life.
4. They denied the existence of a spiritual world, i.e., angels and demons (Acts 23:8).
Because the Sadducees were basically a political party rather than a religious sect, they were unconcerned with Jesus until they became afraid He might bring unwanted Roman attention. At that point the Sadducees joined with the Pharisees and conspired to put Christ to death (John 11:48–50; Mark 14:53; 15:1). Other mentions of the Sadducees are found in Acts 4:1 and Acts 5:17, and the Sadducees are implicated in the death of James the brother of John in Acts 12:1–2. The historian Josephus also connects the Sadducees to the death of James, the half-brother of Jesus.
Since the Sadducees left no written description of themselves, all we know about what they believed or what they did is what is found in the Bible and secondhand sources. According to most historical records, including those of Josephus, the Sadducees were rude, arrogant, power-hungry, and quick to dispute with those who disagreed with them.
The Sadducees ceased to exist as a group in AD 70, when Jerusalem and the temple were destroyed by the Romans.
The Sadducees sounded like a great group of tolerant and mild-mannered guys (not). For all their pandering to the Roman authorities, they were wiped out as an organization in AD 70. Here is what Charles Spurgeon (who was quite blunt in his truth-telling) had to say about them, as noted in Precept Austin:
The Sadducees, as you know, were the Broad School, the liberals, the advanced thinkers, the modern-thought people of the day. If you want a bitter sneer, a biting sarcasm, or a cruel action, I commend you to these large-hearted gentlemen. They are liberal to everybody, except to those who hold the truth; and for those they have a reserve of concentrated bitterness which far excels wormwood and gall. They are so liberal to their brother errorists that they have no tolerance to spare for evangelicals.
Peter and John were arrested (hands were laid on them - rather forcefully) and they were detained in jail overnight. Apparently, Peter’s sermon was quite long after the healing took place and it was now evening. Peter and John went quietly, without protest. I’m not sure what happened to the man who was healed (if he was also arrested), but he is the focus of the discussion the next day. Peter has indeed been effective, as the number of believers was now around 5,000 men.
The preaching of the resurrection of Jesus and the promise of eternal life was intolerable to the liberal “religious” leaders like the Sadducees. Persecution was guaranteed. Believers today must know that there will be persecution and we should not be surprised by it. Precept Austin has commentary on how this can occur:
So as a believer you can be sure that you will be persecuted in some way for the Name of Christ. You may not be tossed in jail like the apostles, but it may come in the form of verbal attacks such as accusations of being considered "narrow minded" or intolerant. It might come in the form of government restrictions imposed for perceived discrimination against certain people. It could be by being ridiculed, rejected, misunderstood, stared at, ostracized or "cold shouldered" by others. It could be persecution that negatively affects your job and hurts economically. So count on it -- you will experience opposition because of your faith. Are you willing to suffer persecution for the sake of (potentially) winning one lost soul to Christ? Have you taken the "risk" to witness (ever?, this past year? this past week?)?
Yikes! I am a terrible witness for our Lord! So what keeps us from witnessing? Is it peer pressure or fear of looking stupid? Are you looking for “likes” on social media instead of arguments? Are you afraid of losing a job or being penalized at work? Do you struggle with the right words or when to know a situation is ripe for evangelizing? Well, here’s an illustration of true witnessing for the Lord (again from Precept Austin):
What is it that discourages you from witnessing? During China’s Boxer Rebellion of 1900, insurgents captured a mission station, blocked all the gates but one, and in front of that one gate placed a cross flat on the ground. Then the word was passed to those inside that any who trampled the cross underfoot would be permitted their freedom and life, but that any refusing would be shot. Terribly frightened, the first seven students trampled the cross under their feet and were allowed to go free. But the eighth student, a young girl, refused to commit the sacrilegious act. Kneeling beside the cross in prayer for strength, she arose and moved carefully around the cross, and went out to face the firing squad. Strengthened by her example, every one of the remaining ninety-two students followed her to the firing squad. What do I risk in witnessing? Possibly rejection or persecution from someone. Whatever the risk may be, I must realize that nothing done for Christ is ever wasted.
I sincerely pray that this type of persecution never happens in this country, but we should never be surprised at the depths that some will go to suppress the truth, especially the eternal truths of the Bible. Be prepared and witness to others; our limited time is precious!
My next devotional examines Acts 4:5-12 - Peter and John face the religious leaders.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - Fill me with the courage to witness to others about what Jesus did for us. Help me to know when the moment is right and bring me the words I need to bring this hope to others. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Gotquestions.org was accessed on 8/17/2024 to answer the question, “Who were the Sadducees?”
Precept Austin was accessed on 8/17/2024 to review commentary for Acts 4:1-4.