After the healing of the lame beggar in Acts 3, Peter addresses the crowd. Acts 4 then begins with the arrival of the priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees.
The authorities were deeply disturbed “because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead” (Acts 4:2). Their objection is twofold: a claim about Jesus himself and a claim about the destiny of humanity.
Theophylact also observes a shift in their behaviour after Christ’s passion. Before, they acted indirectly, relying on Judas to betray Jesus in secret; now they seize the apostles openly and personally, showing increased boldness and disregard. As he notes, sin often carries a sense of shame while it is still forming, but once it is fully developed, it makes those who commit it increasingly shameless.
Meanwhile, the number of believers rises to five thousand men. St. Bede sees symbolic meaning in this number, linking it to the feeding of the five thousand. He suggests that those fed in the wilderness represent a people formed under the Law and renewed by Christ. In the same way, those instructed by the apostles signify the nations who will come to embrace and live out these same divine mysteries.
Peter initially addressed the Sanhedrin with respect. Once he began his defence, however, he did not hold back from a fitting rebuke. He reminded them that what they were prosecuting was a healing—a “good deed done to a crippled man” (Acts 4:9). The charge is absurd, and Peter made sure they feel it.
Peter then cites Psalm 118:22 and identifies the “cornerstone” as Christ himself. St. Bede explains that the Jewish people, who continually studied the Law and the Prophets, encountered in those Scriptures the promise of a cornerstone uniting two walls—that is, Christ, who would join two peoples into one through his coming in the flesh. Yet, choosing to remain within only one side, they rejected this stone.
Peter then proclaims: “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12). Reflecting on this, St. Bede notes that if salvation is found in Christ alone, then even the fathers of the Old Testament were saved through the same Redeemer’s incarnation and passion. Though the outward signs and rituals differed across times, the underlying faith was the same: through the prophets, they looked forward to the coming of Christ, while through the apostles, we look back on what he has accomplished.
What astonishes the Sanhedrin most is not the words but the speakers. St. John Chrysostom sees in Peter not merely courage, but transformation—from the man who “could not even endure questioning by a servant girl” to one who proclaimed Christ before the highest court in Jerusalem—“another miracle no less great than the earlier one.” Likewise, St. Bede observes that unlettered men were sent to preach so that the faith of believers would not be attributed to eloquence or human learning, but to the power of God.
The Sanhedrin’s question—“What shall we do with these men?” (Acts 4:16)—reveals their own defeat. St. John Chrysostom comments: “See the difficulty they are in and how human fear again does everything… . The more they wished to hinder, the more it prospered.”
They prohibited the apostles from speaking in that name. The reply is one of the most celebrated sentences in the New Testament: “We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard” (Acts 4:20). St. John Chrysostom draws the contrast sharply: “Those in perplexity, these in gladness; those full of shame, these with boldness.”
Released, the apostles prayed for courage. Theophylact of Ohrid comments that they did not ask for vengeance but instead prayed: “Grant Your servants to speak Your word boldly.” When the prayer ended, the place was shaken. St. John Chrysostom understands this as a sign confirming the divine presence.
Acts 4 closes with a portrait of a community so united in love that “not a needy person” remained among them. St. Augustine of Hippo sees in this unity an image of the Trinity: “If love made one soul of so many souls and one heart of so many hearts, how great must be the love between the Father and the Son!” St. Cyprian adds: “Whatever belongs to God belongs to all.”
This is what the Sanhedrin could not stop—not primarily the miracles or the speeches, but the community itself: its unity, its joy, its prayer that moved the ground. One heart, one soul, one Lord—and therefore a life no earthly power can silence.
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無法阻擋的教會
在宗徒大事錄第3章記載的瘸腿乞丐得醫治後，伯多祿向百姓講話。宗徒大事錄第4章隨即描述司祭、聖殿警官及撒杜塞人來到他們那裏。
公議會因「他們教訓百姓，並宣講耶穌從死者中復活。（宗4:2）」而大為惱怒。他們的反對有兩個層面：一是關於耶穌本身的宣稱，二是關於人類終向的宣稱。
特敖斐拉托（Theophylact）亦觀察到，他們在基督受難之後行事方式有所轉變。從前，他們採取迂迴手段，借猶達斯暗中出賣耶穌；如今，他們公開親自逮捕宗徒，顯示出日益增長的膽大妄為。正如他所指出的，罪惡在形成之初往往伴隨羞恥感，但一旦完全成熟，便使犯罪之人愈來愈無恥。
與此同時，信徒人數增至五千人。聖伯達（St. Bede）在此數字中看見象徵意義，將其與五餅二魚餵飽五千人的神蹟相連。他認為，在曠野中得飽食的百姓，代表在法律下成形、並因基督而更新的子民。同樣，受宗徒教導的人，象徵著將要接受並踐行這些神聖奧跡的外邦人。
伯多祿起初以尊重的態度向公議會陳述。然而，一旦開始為辯護，他便毫不退縮地給予適切的斥責。他提醒他們，所受審問的不過是一件善事 - 「向一個病人行善的事」（宗4:9）。這項指控荒謬至極，伯多祿也確使他們深感其荒謬。
伯多祿隨後引用聖詠118:22，並指明「基石」就是基督本身。聖伯達解釋說，猶太民族不斷研讀法律與先知書，在其中看到了一塊聯結兩堵牆之基石的預言 - 即基督，祂將藉著降生成人，將兩個民族合而為一。然而，他們選擇只停留在其中一方，拒絕了這塊石頭。
伯多祿繼而宣告：「除他以外，無論憑誰，決無救援，因為在天下人間，沒有賜下別的名字，使我們賴以得救的。」（宗4:12）聖伯達反思說，指出既然救恩唯在基督裡，那麼舊約時代的先祖們也是藉著同一位救主的降生成人與受難而得救。儘管各個時代的外在記號與禮儀有所不同，其根本信德卻是一致的：藉著先知，他們期盼基督的降臨；藉著宗徒，我們回顧祂所成就的救恩工程。
最令公議會震驚的，不是言辭，而是說話之人。金口聖若望在伯多祿身上看見的不僅是勇氣，更是一種轉化 - 從那個「連婢女的質問都無法承受」的人，變為在耶路撒冷最高法庭前宣揚基督的勇士 - 「這奇蹟不亞於先前的治癒」。聖伯達同樣指出，主選擇未受教育的人去傳道，是為使信徒的信德不歸功於口才或人的學問，而歸於天主的大能。
公議會的問題 - 「對這些人我們可以作什麼呢？」（宗4:16） - 揭示了他們自身的潰敗。金口聖若望評論道：「看，他們所陷的困境，以及人的恐懼如何再次左右一切…。他們愈想阻擋，此事便愈加興旺。」
他們禁止宗徒奉那名字講道。宗徒的回答是新約中最膾炙人口的句子之一：「因為我們不得不說我們所見所聞的事。」（宗4:20）金口聖若望將這兩方的對比描繪得入木三分：「一方困惑不安，一方滿心喜樂；一方充滿羞慚，一方坦然無懼。」
獲釋後，宗徒們祈求勇氣。奧赫里德的特敖斐拉托指出，他們並非求報復，而是禱告說：「賜你的僕人以絕大的膽量，宣講你的真道。」祈禱後，他們聚集的地方震動起來。金口聖若望將此理解為確認天主臨在的記號。
宗徒大事錄第4章以一幅充滿愛德的合一團體的圖景作結，其中「沒有一個貧乏的人」。希波的聖奧斯定在這合一之中看見至聖三位一體的形像：「若愛德能使眾多靈魂合而為一、眾多心靈合而為一，那麼聖父與聖子之間的愛，當是何等之偉大！」聖西彼廉補充說：「凡屬乎天主的，皆屬乎眾人。」
這正是公議會所無法阻止的 - 並非神蹟或講道，而是這個團體本身：其合一、其喜樂、其震動大地的祈禱。同一顆心、同一個靈魂、同一主—因此，這是任何世俗權勢都無法使之沉默的生命。
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