The Thursday after the Fourth Sunday after Trinity Sunday
Posted on July 17, 2025 by under
Scripture: Acts 4:1-12 (NKJV)
4:1 Now as they spoke to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees came upon them, 2 being greatly disturbed that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they laid hands on them, and put them in custody until the next day, for it was already evening. 4 However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.
5 And it came to pass, on the next day, that their rulers, elders, and scribes, 6 as well as Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the family of the high priest, were gathered together at Jerusalem. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they asked, “By what power or by what name have you done this?”
8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders of Israel: 9 If we this day are judged for a good deed done to a helpless man, by what means he has been made well, 10 let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11 This is the ‘stone which was rejected by you builders, which has become the chief cornerstone.’ 12 Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
Devotion
The priests were likely those who were serving that week in the temple. The captain of the temple guard was a member of one of the leading priestly families, next in rank to the high priest. The Sadducees were a sect whose members came from the priestly line. They did not believe in the resurrection or a Messiah, but held that the Messianic age was the present time period and must be preserved. The high priest, one of their number, presided over the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin was a mixed group, who were always maneuvering with each other for power.
The doctrine being proclaimed by the disciples challenged all of these groups’ authority—and they could not allow it to stand. The fact that 5,000 men believed this “dangerous” Christian doctrine proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah demanded disciplinary action be taken before the teaching spread further. The rulers, elders, and teachers of the Law mentioned represent the three main groups making up the Sanhedrin, Israel’s supreme court. These powerful leaders were not going to allow this challenge to their authority to stand. The Holy Spirit did not allow the blasphemous activity against the Gospel to stand, though. Saint Peter was compelled to boldly proclaim the Christian faith before the entire assembly and teach the only path to eternal salvation that is provided for man by God.
Collect: Grant, O Lord, we beseech Thee, that the course of this world may be so peaceably ordered by Thy governance, that Thy Church may joyfully serve Thee in all godly quietness; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord, Who liveth and reigneth with Thee and the Holy Ghost, ever One God, world without end. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
