More Than 5,000

After the crippled man had been cured, while Peter and John were still speaking to the people, the priests, the captain of the temple guard, and the Sadducees confronted them, disturbed that they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead. They laid hands on Peter and John and put them in custody until the next day, since it was already evening. But many of those who heard the word came to believe and the number of men grew to about five thousand.

On the next day, their leaders, elders, and scribes were assembled in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly class. They brought them into their presence and questioned them, "By what power or by what name have you done this?" 

Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, answered them, "Leaders of the people and elders: If we are being examined today about a good deed done to a cripple, namely, by what means he was saved, then all of you and all the people of Israel should know that it was in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead; in his name this man stands before you healed. He is the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved." (Acts 4:1-12)

Luke gives us an interesting account of what Peter and John are believed to have said to “their leaders, elders, and scribes assembled in Jerusalem, with Annas the high priest, Caiaphas, John, Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly class.”  Now that’s quite the entourage!  Quite the assembly of prominent figures!  

Peter then gives them a dressing-down. He said: (1) Jesus is the stone rejected by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone, and (2) There is no salvation through anyone else, nor is there any other name under heaven given to the human race by which we are to be saved.  Quite brave words allegedly spoken to those leaders by Peter, especially to Caiaphas, the High Priest of the Temple traditionally portrayed as one of the villains of the Passion story determined to see Jesus executed.

Much if not all of this is fanciful.  It is Luke’s story to highlight for his audience the importance of Jesus and that those who opposed and crucified Jesus must repent of their sins.  

Many of us men and women have heard the word and have come to believe.  Our numbers are far more than five thousand.  There are more than 1.3 billion Catholics worldwide.

Deacon David Pierce