Did they cringe when they heard that name again? Was it like nails being dragged on a chalk board to hear His name declared with boldness as the power behind the miracle? They thought they were done with Him. Sure, there was the empty tomb . . . and all the rumors that were flying in the weeks after that fateful weekend . . . but, I wonder, did they think that they were done with Him? But now, they were once again confronted with Jesus Christ of Nazareth . . . it was “deja vu all over again.” Here they were . . . hastily gathered together as a council . . . father-in-law and son-in-law at the forefront . . . current high priest and former high priest . . . learned men . . . men of privilege . . . men of understanding . . . men of influence and power. And before them? . . . Uneducated, common men.

The first part of Acts 4 is a classic showdown. On one side of the room, the religious establishment . . . each holding a degree at “Rabbinical U” . . . PhD’s in the things of God . . . having climbed the ladder and reached the top . . . the movers and shakers of the synagogue movement . . . the top of the food change . . . the big kahunas. And before them, Peter and John . . . blue collar types . . . fishermen . . . laborers . . . high school graduates, at best. They are way out of their natural element . . . instead of being in a boat on the Sea of Galilee, they were arrested on Solomon’s portico at the temple in Jerusalem . . . instead of mending nets, they are preaching the power of faith in Jesus . . . declaring the power of resurrection . . . asserting that a risen Christ is actively engaged with broken people . . . calling for repentance “that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord” (3:20) . . . proclaiming that “there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name given among men by which we must be saved” (4:12).

So there they stand, fishermen before learned men . . . nobodies before somebodies . . . rank and file before the commanders and chief . . .

Now when they saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus. (Acts 4:13 ESV)

They may have been infuriated by hearing the name of Jesus again . . . they may have scoffed at the ridiculous notion of resurrection . . . but they were blown away by the boldness of these men. They marveled . . . even, perhaps, admired the manner with which Peter and John responded to their questioning. Answering with such clarity . . . with such confidence . . . with such conviction. Laymen with nothing more than the basics in Scripture training, referring to the prophets as though it were second nature . . . identifying the risen Jesus as the foretold cornerstone (4:11).

And that was the other thing the council recognized . . . they recognized that these two rag tag commoners had been with Jesus. Perhaps they recalled seeing them with Jesus during His itinerant ministry . . . maybe they remembered their faces during that chaotic day of His arrest, trial, and crucifixion . . . but I wonder if, in addition, there was something about them, as they stood before the council, that just exuded Jesus. After all, disciples become like their teachers . . . servants eventually take on the characteristics of their masters. Yeah, I imagine that there was something about these two fishermen . . . the words they spoke . . . the manner in which they spoke . . . indicators that they were filled with the Holy Spirit (4:8) . . . the evidence, written all over them, that they had spent quality time with Jesus. These uneducated, common men.

O’, that this uneducated, common man might be so bold . . . the he might be so filled with the Spirit of God that the Son of God would be recognized . . . and that it might be for the glory of God . . .