Today Peter and John go to the temple and Peter heals a lame man who laid each day at the gate of the temple. When the people see that the man is healed they are filled with wonder and amazement.
Peter responds to the crowd asking why they marvel. He tells them that this man wasn’t healed by their power but by the power of Jesus Christ, the man they killed. ”But you denied the Holy One and the Just, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you, and killed the Prince of life, whom God raised from the dead, of which we are witnesses. And His name, through faith in His name, has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.” Peter goes on to tell them to repent and be converted so that their sins may be blotted out.
But the Jewish leaders aren’t too fond of this message so they grab Peter and John and put them in custody. “However, many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to be about five thousand.”
When Peter and John stand before the Jewish Council, Peter tells them that the lame man was healed by the power of Jesus Christ. He goes on to say, ”Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
“Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated and untrained men, they marveled. And they realized that they had been with Jesus.” However, the Jewish leaders do not want this message to spread among the people. Therefore they tell Peter and John not to teach anymore about Jesus Christ. But Peter and John refuse to cower to threats by men.
When Peter and John are released, they report back to their companions all that happened. Then they all pray – “Now, Lord, look on their threats, and grant to Your servants that with all boldness they may speak Your word, by stretching out Your hand to heal, and that signs and wonders may be done through the name of Your holy Servant Jesus.”
“And through the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were done among the people…And believers were increasingly added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women…”
This is not good news to the high priest so he throws the apostles in prison where they are later rescued by an angel of the Lord. Then the angel tells them to “Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.” And that is what they do.
When the Jewish leaders find them in the temple they question why they are teaching about Jesus Christ when they were told to stop. “But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: ‘We ought to obey God rather than men.’”
The leaders now want to kill them but Gamaliel, a Pharisee, says, “Keep away from these men and let them alone; for if this plan or this work is of men, it will come to nothing; but if it is of God, you cannot overthrow it—lest you even be found to fight against God.”
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(Mark 16:19-20, Luke 24:50-53, Acts 1:1-2:47)
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Chronological Bible in Layman's Terms 