Acts 4

This chapter belongs to the opening section of Acts, which recounts the founding of the Jerusalem church. In Acts 3, Peter healed a lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the temple and preached to the people. This chapter continues with the arrest of the apostles as a result of that event.

Outline

• Verses 1–4 The priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, displeased that the apostles are proclaiming the resurrection, put Peter and John in custody. Nevertheless, the number of men who heard the word and believed comes to about five thousand.
• Verses 5–12 The next day the rulers, elders, and scribes, together with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, and others, assemble and ask by what power the apostles have done this. Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, answers that the sick man was healed by the name of Jesus of Nazareth.
• Verses 13–22 The leaders marvel at the boldness of the apostles, who are "unlearned and ignorant men," and after threatening them not to speak in the name of Jesus, they let them go. The man who had been healed was more than forty years old.
• Verses 23–31 When the apostles return to their companions, the company prays with one accord. When they finish praying, the place where they are assembled is shaken, and all are filled with the Holy Spirit.
• Verses 32–35 The company of believers hold their goods in common, selling lands and houses and laying the proceeds at the apostles' feet, so that no one among them is in need.
• Verses 36–37 Joseph, a Levite from Cyprus who is also called Barnabas, sells a field and brings the money to the apostles.

Key Verses

• Acts 4:12 "For there is none other name under heaven given among men, whereby we must be saved" — a representative verse confessing salvation through Jesus.
• Acts 4:20 "For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard" — shows the apostles' resolve not to cease their witness even in the face of prohibition and threats.
• Acts 4:32 "And the multitude of them that believed were of one heart and of one soul" — summarizes the early community's practice of sharing possessions.

People and Places

• Peter and John: the two apostles who stand before the council.
• Annas: a former high priest who, according to John 18:13, was the father-in-law of Caiaphas.
• John and Alexander, mentioned in verse 6, were members of the high priest's family; the text gives no further information about them.
• Barnabas: the Korean Revised Version (Gaeyeok Hangeul) renders the meaning of his name as "one who exhorts and consoles," while the New Korean Revised Version renders it as "son of consolation."
• Cyprus: an island in the eastern Mediterranean.
• The council: the assembly of Jewish leaders. The events take place in Jerusalem.

Points for Reflection

• Verse 11 quotes Psalm 118:22, and the prayer in verses 25–26 quotes Psalm 2:1–2.
• Many Protestant denominations read verse 12 as a basis for affirming the uniqueness of salvation through Christ. By contrast, some proponents of religious pluralism interpret the verse as the confessional language of the early community.
• Verse 19, together with Acts 5:29, is frequently cited in discussions of church and politics concerning obedience to state authority and its limits. In such discussions it is read alongside Romans 13.
• Verses 27–28 present human wickedness alongside God's determined purpose, and the passage features in discussions of predestination.
• Regarding verses 32–35, most interpreters, citing 5:4, regard the sharing as voluntary rather than compulsory. Some Anabaptist communities took this passage as the basis for communal living.
• Barnabas's devotion stands in contrast to the account of Ananias and Sapphira in the following chapter. Barnabas reappears later as a figure who ministers alongside Paul.

In the Korean Church

Verse 12 is frequently cited at evangelistic meetings and in new-believer instruction. Verse 31 is commonly used in sermons at prayer meetings, and verses 32–35 in sermons on relief for the needy and sharing within the church community.