What is the meaning of Acts 4:4? But many – The conjunction “But” signals a sharp contrast with the hostility of the priests and Sadducees who had just seized Peter and John (Acts 4:1–3). – Opposition could not stifle the gospel. Just as Joseph told his brothers, “You meant evil against me, but God intended it for good” (Genesis 50:20), so God turns persecution into opportunity. – The word “many” underscores the breadth of God’s saving reach, echoing Jesus’ promise that the kingdom would grow like a mustard seed into a tree where “the birds of the air find nests” (Luke 13:18-19). Who heard the message – Faith begins with exposure to the Word: “Faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17). – Peter’s sermon in Solomon’s Colonnade (Acts 3:12-26) centered on the risen Jesus—exactly what Jesus commanded in Matthew 28:19-20 and Mark 16:15. – Hearing here is more than catching sound; it is attentive listening like Lydia, whose heart the Lord opened to “heed what Paul was saying” (Acts 16:14). Believed – Belief is personal trust in the risen Christ, not mere assent to facts. The same verb appears when the Philippian jailer asked, “What must I do to be saved?” and Paul replied, “Believe in the Lord Jesus” (Acts 16:31). – Salvation remains solely by grace through faith (Ephesians 2:8-9), yet genuine belief produces visible change, as seen in the formerly crippled man leaping for joy (Acts 3:8). – This belief fulfilled Jesus’ promise: “Whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life” (John 5:24). And the number of men grew to about five thousand – Luke records literal figures, just as he did with the three thousand on Pentecost (Acts 2:41). Counting men was common in that culture (cf. John 6:10), so the total crowd—including women and children—was likely much larger. – Rapid growth highlights the Spirit’s power. In only a short span, the church had multiplied from 120 (Acts 1:15) to several thousand, fulfilling Acts 1:8. – Even as leaders jailed the apostles, God was “adding to their number those who were being saved” (Acts 2:47). Resistance intensified, but so did the harvest (Acts 5:14). summary Acts 4:4 shows the unstoppable advance of the gospel. Despite arrests and threats, many who attentively heard Peter’s Christ-centered message placed their trust in Jesus. The church’s ranks swelled to about five thousand men, a literal marker of explosive growth that anticipates the gospel’s spread “to the ends of the earth.” |
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