Acts 4:8-12 James McCleery

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: “Rulers and elders of the people! If we are being called to account today for an act of kindness shown to a man who was lame and are being asked how he was healed, then know this, you and all the people of Israel: It is by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified but whom God raised from the dead, that this man stands before you healed. Jesus is

“‘the stone you builders rejected,
    which has become the cornerstone.’

Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved.”

These verses point out in the beginning that it is the Holy Spirit, through Peter, that is addressing the Sanhedrin. Peter quickly points out the fallacy as well as the ridiculousness of the trial based on charges of doing what is right, the healing of a man! What a slap in the face to those in charge, a man is healed and they had the audacity to put the healer on trial, an act of sheer lunacy. Everything about this went against god’s commandment to love your neighbor as you loved yourself. On top of this, the healing was done in the name of the one they crucified and now was raised from the dead, Jesus Christ the Nazarene, a person also falsely accused. Peter goes on to tell them the reason for Jesus’ life and actions as the one true redeemer. Jesus, on whom they rejected to build their lives and teachings on, was no revealed to be the very cornerstone that God intended all men to build their lives on as a living example. Maybe we as Christians who claim Jesus Christ as our own should ask ourselves this question: when presented with the overwhelming evidence of who Jesus is and His intended purpose, are we willing to let the Holy Spirit fill our lives so that we may be ready to answer all men who Jesus Christ is?