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Let's pick the story up in Acts where we left off yesterday.

By way of a quick review, we saw that about 3,000 [mostly] Hellenistic Jews were converted after hearing Peter's sermon on the day of Pentecost.

Very shortly after that, Peter and John heal a lame man from birth in the temple courtyard, and this great miracle really got the big crowd excited and caused no small stir. After Peter preached the gospel to this crowd, as well, we are told that at least 5,000 men alone repented and believed his message.

But the big commotion and the gospel message itself "greatly disturbed" the priests and Sadducees, so they had the temple guard arrest our dynamic duo itinerant evangelists. So, let's pick up from this point to see what happened after they were arrested.

Acts 4:5 tells us that the next day, Peter and John were brought before the grand, august religious body called the Sanhedrin to give an account for what happened the previous day. After they recounted what took place, they ordered the two out of the room so that this not-so merry band of religious leaders could confer among themselves. Acts 4 tells us, bascially, that they found themselves between a rock and hard place.

Acts 4:13-14
13 Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John, and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were marveling, and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus. 14 And seeing the man who had been healed standing with them, they had nothing to say in reply.
NASB

Wow! What ya know? They were were speechless. There they had standing before them in flesh and bone and blood the healed lame man. A real man. And a man who was really healed. So, the leaders at this point weren't faced with fake news allegories or fictional stories; they had a genuine problem on their hands, and they were at a loss to know what explanation they could give the people for this real man who was really healed.

In fact, this miracle so shook them up and also excited the crowd in a favorable way toward Peter and John -- and God, for they gave him glory for a great miracle -- so much so that the Sanhedrin could not even decide how to punish the two apostles. Punish them!? Punish them for what: Doing a good deed by healing a lame man from birth? So, what did they decide?

Acts 4:15-18
15 But when they had ordered them to go aside out of the Council, they began to confer with one another, 16 saying, "What shall we do with these men? For the fact that a noteworthy miracle has taken place through them is apparent to all who live in Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 "But in order that it may not spread any further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to any man in this name."
NASB

Now...one of the very big reasons the people were all excited and praising God was not only because of the greatness of the miracle itself, but the man was more than 40 years old (v.22). This is no small detail because this means this previously lame beggar would have been very well known by every one who frequented the temple on a regular basis. Literally, this man would have been known and recognized by thousands of Jews! It was no wonder that the Sanhedrin's hands were tied, and they dared not do anything to John or Peter that would irritate the people.

Another home run for our two itinerant gospel preachers. But there would be, from a human, worldly perspective, serious negative fallout to this great miracle --for all believers; for now the Jewish religious establishment was on high DEFCOM 1 alert, and they would be ready to squash this pesky, rabble-rousing Jesus sect movement like a bug if they got out of hand again...so they thought, at least. But this is a story for my next installment.