THE DOCTRINE OF THE RESURRECTION

Acts 4:1-4 And as they spake unto the people, the priests, and the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees, came upon them, being grieved that they taught the people, and preached through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide. Howbeit many of them, which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand.

We find in the lesson text a continuation of the third chapter of Acts of the Apostles, with Peter and John, by inspiration of the Holy Spirit of God, speaking to the people, telling them the story of the Messiah - Jesus Christ the Son of God. The central message of their teaching was: Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out (Acts 3:19). We know from Acts 2:38 that this conversion included being baptized ...in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, after which the Lord added (them) to the church (Acts 3:47). And as Peter and John continued to speak unto the people, they were confronted by the priests. These were probably the priests that were, on this day, performing the religious ceremonial duties in the temple. Or they could have been priests that were members of the Sanhedrin, which governed the Jewish nation. It seems that the captain of the temple accompanied these priests. The captain represents the military arm of the Jewish leaders. We know that captains accompanied the chief priests at the betrayal scene of Jesus by Judas (Luke 22:4), and they were armed with with swords and staves (Matt. 26:47).

Along with the priests, and the captain of the temple, ...the Sadducees, (also) came upon them. Biblical history tells us that the Sadducees were the most populous sect of the Jewish nation. They generally held the highest and most powerful positions in the Jewish priesthood (See Acts 5:17-18). They also were the most prominent and successful members of the upper class Jewish society. As a religious body, they held to the written Law of Moses - the Pentateuch, more strictly that other Jewish sects. And in doing so, they rejected most of the "secular interpretations" of the Law of Moses written and supported by the scribes and Pharisees, which were referred to as the tradition of the elders (Matt. 15:2; Mark 7:3-5).

The Sadducees especially opposed the preaching of Peter and John for teaching through Jesus the resurrection from the dead. They were adamant in their opposition because the Sadducees maintained that there was no resurrection of the dead. Therefore they rejected the teaching that Jesus was resurrected from His death on the cross of Calvary. Considering it a hoax, they refused to believe the testimony of the apostles and the hundreds of others that confessed to seeing, talking to, and eating with Jesus after his death and resurrection. Therefore, they came upon them (Peter and John), that is, they used their Jewish authority to suddenly, and in a violent manner, accuse, condemn, and apprehend them for the things they were teaching about Jesus in the area around the temple. And they laid hands on them, and put them in hold unto the next day: for it was now eventide. Peter and John were arrested by these Jewish authorities, taken into custody, and imprisoned under guard. Since the hour this took place was now eventide, the hour of prayer, the governing Sanhedrin could not be assembled in order to bring Peter and John to trial.

These two apostles of Christ were teaching that which the Sadducean Jewish leaders adamantly opposed. The authority of this highly respected Jewish sect was being openly challenged before the Jewish nation. And, lest it result in an open rebellion, they wasted little time in quelling the teaching that the promised Messiah was the resurrected Christ Jesus, and the Son of God. However, before the inspired teaching of Peter and John could be stopped, many of them (the Jewish people), which heard the word believed; and the number of the men was about five thousand. Although these two apostles of Christ were taken by Jewish authorities, bound, and imprisoned, the message of salvation through Jesus Christ could not be silenced. It had already been delivered on the Day of Pentecost, and the miraculous healing of the lame man seemed to confirm it to the multitudes that had witnessed it. Indeed, the doctrine of the resurrection had been delivered and confirmed. Those that hard-heartedly refused to accept the gospel message of Christ failed to enter the shelter of the body of Christ, His church. Praise God, five thousand did and the church of Christ grew each time the message of salvation was preached by Christ's Holy Spirit-inspired apostles.