April 22, 2026 | Be Connected
Ordinary People Speaking of Jesus
Scripture: Acts 4:13-22(NIV)
13 When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus. 14 But since they could see the man who had been healed standing there with them, there was nothing they could say. 15 So they ordered them to withdraw from the Sanhedrin and then conferred together. 16 “What are we going to do with these men?” they asked. “Everyone living in Jerusalem knows they have performed a notable sign, and we cannot deny it. 17 But to stop this thing from spreading any further among the people, we must warn them to speak no longer to anyone in this name.”
18 Then they called them in again and commanded them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John replied, “Which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you, or to him? You be the judges! 20 As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
21 After further threats they let them go. They could not decide how to punish them, because all the people were praising God for what had happened. 22 For the man who was miraculously healed was over forty years old.
Devotional
The first thought that comes to mind after reading these verses was Anne Frank. She lived most of her life in seclusion to protect her religious beliefs. She was found and arrested and lived a miserable life due to the Nazi’s. In today’s world, I personally could not imagine needing to hide away to protect my belief in Jesus and all the amazing work He does. Would I do so if I needed to? I would like to say absolutely, but would I?
In these verses, we read of Peter and John speaking about Jesus to the people of Jerusalem, causing them to be arrested by the Sanhedrin telling them “not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus.” Peter and John had successfully converted several thousand people to the belief of Jesus’ work with the healing of the ill man. They were happy to talk of Jesus and all he could do for each and every one of them. The High Priest and his family did not like the ways of the apostles and were very concerned how his people were accepting their words.
In today’s world, being around people that are bothered by “I’ll pray for you” or “God bless you” is very difficult for me. Asking for Jesus to guide them is part of my daily life. I had a friend who I couldn’t show my faith in anyway. She believed in Christ (she said she did) but to offer any prayers of concern just wasn’t something she accepted. Until one day she needed help and prayers and guess what—I was the first person she called for guidance. Her situation wasn’t unique, her prayers took a long time to be answered, and it was not the answer she wanted. Therefore, she went back to not wanting any Jesus in her life. Today, she realized what He did for her was the right thing and she is getting better about letting spirituality into her life.
Anne Frank did her best to keep her Jewish beliefs strong and she died for those beliefs along with her family. Peter and John were arrested for their beliefs but after meeting with the Sanhedrin, they asked the high priests, “which is right in God’s eyes: to listen to you or to Him? You be the judges.” How do you plan to live your life?
