But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition. – Acts 4:14
This is a profound observation that Luke makes. A few verses before this, we are told that the “rulers and elders and scribes” had gathered “with Annas the high priest and Caiaphas and John and Alexander, and all who were of the high-priestly family.” This gathering was a veritable who’s who of religious leaders, and they all came together in order to ascertain “by what power or by what name” did this man get healed? In other words, how in the world was this man, whom everyone knew to be crippled, all of a sudden walk?
I love that they didn’t debate the facts of the case. And that is simply because healing just isn’t something that is debatable. It’s not like anyone could argue with healing. There was a man who couldn’t walk five minutes ago, and now he can. It’s that simple. And clearly, you can’t argue with those facts when the man is standing right in front of you. This is why they had nothing to say in opposition.
This got me thinking… It is easy to have something to say in opposition about ideas, even about good ideas. But it is really difficult to say much in opposition to good actions. These religious leaders had all sorts of things to say in opposition to Jesus. For the most part, these religious leaders would continue to oppose the way of Jesus for the rest of their lives. However, they couldn’t argue with the good things that were done in Jesus’ name.
I’d like to suggest that this is a great way to think about our role of telling people about Jesus; highlight the healing, because people can’t argue with the healing. Now, you might say, “I’ve never experienced a healing.” To that, I want to push back… are you sure? Maybe you haven’t experienced something quite as instantaneous and overtly miraculous before, but I’m guessing that you have experienced miraculous healing, even if it is a bit more subtle. I may not have been healed from crippled legs, but I know that I was healed from a crippled heart. My heart was evil and selfish. It was broken and damaged until Jesus came in and began his healing process. I still have healing to do and Jesus is still performing miracles all the time.
Has Jesus healed your heart? Has he healed your relationships? Let’s highlight the healing. Talk about that and then people won’t have anything to say in opposition.
Josh Rose
Teaching Pastor