They were now leading a movement of more than 5000 men, Luke tells us in Acts 4. They not only saw the first 3000 join them on the day of Pentecost, but then subsequently, day by day, they continued to add more and more disciples as they went to the temple courts to preach and then meet as the Church, in fact the only church at that time, from house to house. They did this every day as this was the most important thing in their lives.
Of course, as the priests and the other Jewish leaders saw the disciples preaching and teaching the people, most especially in the temple courts, they were disturbed because they were teaching about Jesus, explaining to the people that he was the Messiah, that he had been killed by these same leaders, and that he had been resurrected. That upset the Sadducees, one particular sect of the Jewish leaders who claimed that resurrection was not possible, a position that many Jews had held, at least up until the time after the second temple was built.
Now, the Sadducees have Peter and John arrested as a result of their preaching the resurrection where they will then stand trial before all of the leaders, including the high priest of the time, Caiaphas. These same people that sent Jesus to his death through Pontius Pilate now had Peter and John in their hands and were making their plans on what they can do.
However, they had a challenge on their hands. First, Peter and John had performed a miracle by healing a man who was lame and could not walk. Now this man was walking around.
But second, these were just ordinary guys:
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.
Acts 4:13
So here, in some fashion, God was just using ordinary men who were performing miracles and teaching new teachings about Jesus, whom they had just recently killed. Everything that they were doing, everything that they were teaching, and everything that Peter and John stood for, stood in opposition to these Jewish leaders. God wasn’t using them. He wasn’t using high priest and the leaders. Their words weren’t being confirmed by miracles. And the people weren’t lining up behind them in droves in the same way. How can this be?
What Caiaphas and the other leaders noted was right: They had been with Jesus. They knew him. They taught what Jesus had taught. They did what Jesus had done.
And now, so much more.
What Jesus had done, what Jesus had told them, what Jesus had commissioned them to be and do was all being realized and coming true. It was starting. It was happening. It was moving forward, but it wasn’t happening with the “wise” or the “learned”, but it was happening through the simple. It was happening through the unschooled and the ordinary.
The difference? They had been with Jesus.
We also can do the same. We also receive the Holy Spirit and we can be with Jesus. We can be a people who spend time with him, who learn from him, who become his disciples. And when we do so, we can help others to come alive in Christ. Just as we see Peter and John carrying the message of Christ, the message of resurrection and new life to all of humanity who are spiritually dead in their sins, we also can do the same.
But we must walk with him. We must be with him. This cannot happen on our own. Instead, as Jesus said, we must remain connected to him. He is the true vine. We are the branches.
One way in which we do this here is to do what we call a “band” study and then meet together weekly to encourage one another and walk with one another. We also can walk with Christ, abide with him, and this allows us to be just ordinary people who can take this same message that Peter and John took to the people, also to those around us, such that Jesus would be known and others can live in him.