Acts 4:1-22 Boldness
4 And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sad′ducees came upon them, 2 annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3 And they arrested them and put them in custody until the morrow, for it was already evening. 4 But many of those who heard the word believed; and the number of the men came to about five thousand.
5 On the morrow their rulers and elders and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem, 6 with Annas the high priest and Ca′iaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family. 7 And when they had set them in the midst, they inquired, “By what power or by what name did you do this?” 8 Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, “Rulers of the people and elders, 9 if we are being examined today concerning a good deed done to a cripple, by what means this man has been healed, 10 be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, by him this man is standing before you well. 11 This is the stone which was rejected by you builders, but which has become the head of the corner. 12 And there is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.”
13 Now when they saw the boldness [parrhesia] of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they wondered; and they recognized that they had been with Jesus. 14 But seeing the man that had been healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. 15 But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred with one another, 16 saying, “What shall we do with these men? For that a notable sign has been performed through them is manifest to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17 But in order that it may spread no further among the people, let us warn them to speak no more to any one in this name.” 18 So they called them and charged them not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. 19 But Peter and John answered them, “Whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge; 20 for we cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard.” 21 And when they had further threatened them, they let them go, finding no way to punish them, because of the people; for all men praised God for what had happened. 22 For the man on whom this sign of healing was performed was more than forty years old.
Here we see two features that will be constant throughout the book of Acts: opposition from religious authorities and boldness from the apostles. While the heroes of this story are the plain-speaking apostles, I must confess that as one who has a church vocation for keeping good order (chancellor), I have some sympathy for the temple rulers.
As Metropolitan John Zizioulas has said, there is always an unresolved tension between the institutional and charismatic elements of church life. The institutional is dedicated to doing things “decently and in good order,” with sobriety, care and in consensus with the Tradition. The New Testament is not anti-institutional, and we see that the apostles had no difficulty continuing their normal, temple life alongside their new faith in the risen Christ. Obedience to authorities is basic to the teaching of the early church (Luke 20:25, Rom 13:1-7). But obedience to God comes first. As The Orthodox Study Bible says, “When the two are in conflict, the believer must follow God and be willing to accept the consequences.”
When confronted, Peter and John could have collapsed in “obedience,” apologized for causing a disturbance, and walked away promising never to speak about Jesus again. Instead they stood up to the authorities, insisted on holding on to what they “had seen and heard,” and respectfully but firmly insisted on obeying God rather than men.
The apostles demonstrate a remarkable boldness that was so absent before Pentecost. Repeatedly, Acts speaks of their parrhesia. This word was famously used in ancient Greece to characterize the freedom of speech which belonged to free men of Athens, “to speak everything,” “to speak freely,” “to speak boldly.”
[It] connotes the freedom and confidence which the divine Spirit gives its spokesmen despite all dangers. It is a hallmark of the apostles’ preaching (2:29, 4:29, 31) and of Paul’s (9:27-28, 13:46), to the point of being practically the last word of Luke’s history (28:31). (The New Jerome Biblical Commentary, 44:34)
Saint John Chrysostom contrasts the fearfulness of the temple leaders with the freedom, boldness and joy of the uneducated apostles who testify not from their learning but from their experience.
Already these as martyrs have borne testimony: set in the battle against all, they said, “We cannot but speak the things we have seen and heard.” …The rulers in perplexity, the apostles in gladness: those covered with exceeding shame, these doing all with boldness: those in fear, these in confidence. For who, I would ask, were the frightened? Those who said, “That it spread no further among the people,” or these who said, “we cannot but speak the things we have seen and heard?” And these apostles had a delight, a freedom of speech, a joy surpassing all; those rulers a despondency, a shame, a fear; for they feared the people. But these apostles were not afraid of those rulers; on the contrary, while these spoke what they would, those did not what they would. Which were in chains and dangers? Was it not these last, the rulers? (On Acts, Homily X)
In our own lives the choices may not always be so clear. But like the apostles, there will be times when we have to ask ourselves, “What have I seen and heard?” And to whom will I listen? To God or to men?
Resource Handbook and Archives
The “Resource Handbook for Lay Ministries” has been collecting the practical experience of parishes for over thirty years, so there is an enormous treasure-trove of parish-tested ministry. If you’re inspired to take some action to serve some need in your parish or community, chances are that the Resource Handbook has something to assist you. Yesterday, the “Resource Handbook Working Group” (part of the Department of Christian Service and Humanitarian Aid) met to plan ways to improve access to this useful set of tools. The meeting brought together Arlene Kallaur, Donna Karabin, Diana Pasca, Father John Shimchick, Deborah Belonick and Denise Jillions. The OCA’s website expert, Ryan Platte, joined them via conference call.
Later in the afternoon architect Josh Frankel (son-in-law of Father Daniel and Tamara Skvir) came to the Chancery to consult on possible directions for housing the OCA’s Archives. He and his firm specialize in designing museum and archive building projects.