No Other Name

Observation

Setting. The same afternoon as chapter 3, at Solomon’s portico. The priests, the captain of the temple guard and the Sadducees arrest Peter and John at evening (vv1–3). The next day they stand before the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem — Annas, Caiaphas, John, Alexander and the high-priestly family (vv5–6). Released, they return to the believers, who pray (vv23–31). Luke closes with a summary of the church’s common life and the gift of Barnabas, a Levite from Cyprus (vv32–37).

Structure:

• vv1–4 — the arrest: the leaders are disturbed at the preaching of the resurrection in Jesus (vv1–2); jail until morning (v3); yet many believe — about five thousand men (v4).
• vv5–12 — the answer: the council gathers (vv5–6); “By what power, or in what name?” (v7); Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit (v8): by the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised (vv9–10); the stone rejected by the builders (v11); no other name (v12).
• vv13–22 — the threat: confidence, uneducated men, “been with Jesus” (v13); the healed man standing there — nothing to say (v14); the private conference (vv15–17); “not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus” (v18); “you be the judge … we cannot stop speaking” (vv19–20); more threats, release, the people glorifying God (vv21–22).
• vv23–31 — the prayer: report to their companions (v23); “O Lord, it is You who MADE THE HEAVEN AND THE EARTH” (v24); Psalm 2 (vv25–26); Herod, Pilate, Gentiles, Israel — what Your hand predestined (vv27–28); “take note of their threats, and grant … all confidence” (vv29–30); the place shaken, all filled, speaking with boldness (v31).
• vv32–37 — one heart: one heart and soul, nothing “his own” (v32); great power, abundant grace (v33); no needy person — proceeds laid at the apostles’ feet (vv34–35); Barnabas, Son of Encouragement, sells a field (vv36–37).

Repeated words, with counts:

• “name” ×7 — vv7, 10 (×2), 12, 17, 18, 30.
• “Jesus” ×7 — vv2, 10, 13, 18, 27, 30, 33.
• “speak / speaking / spoke” ×6 — vv1, 17, 18, 20, 29, 31.
• “people” ×6 — vv1, 2, 8, 10, 17, 21 (plus “PEOPLES” v25 and “peoples” v27).
• “God” ×6 — vv10, 19 (×2), 21, 24, 31.
• “heal / healed / healing / well / health” ×5 — vv9, 10, 14, 22, 30.
• “sold / sell / sales / proceeds / money” ×5 — vv34 (×3), 37 (×2).
• “servant / bond-servants” ×4 — vv25, 27, 29, 30.
• “confidence / boldness” ×3 — vv13, 29, 31 (all parrēsia).
• “filled with the Holy Spirit” ×2 — vv8, 31; “Holy Spirit” ×3 — vv8, 25, 31.
• “gathered (together)” ×4 — vv5, 26, 27, 31; “threats / threatened / warn” ×3 — vv17, 21, 29.
• “heard” ×3 — vv4, 20, 24; “elders” ×3 — vv5, 8, 23; “resurrection” ×2 — vv2, 33.
• “laid / lay … at the apostles’ feet” ×2 — vv35, 37; “miracle” ×2 — vv16, 22.

Contrasts: The builders ⟷ the chief corner stone (v11). No other name ⟷ this name (vv10, 12). Uneducated and untrained ⟷ confidence, been with Jesus (v13). Give heed to you ⟷ to God (v19). Speak no longer ⟷ we cannot stop speaking (vv17, 20). The rulers gathered against His Christ ⟷ God’s hand and purpose (vv26–28). Their threats ⟷ Your word with all confidence (v29). Their own companions ⟷ the Council (vv15, 23). His own ⟷ common property (v32). Needy ⟷ distributed to each as any had need (vv34–35).

Shape of the chapter: two halves that mirror each other. In the council chamber the rulers gather, threaten and forbid the name (1–22). In the believers’ room the church gathers, prays and is filled to speak the name (23–31). Then a closing panel shows what that Spirit-filled people looked like on an ordinary day (32–37).

Chapter theme (my words): The name of Jesus cannot be silenced, because it is the only name that saves. When the world threatens, the church prays for boldness, trusts God’s sovereign hand, and loves one another with open hands.

Interpretation

Why were the Sadducees so disturbed (vv1–2)? They controlled the temple and denied the resurrection — Guzik: “they did not believe in the afterlife or the resurrection at all.” Preaching “in Jesus the resurrection from the dead” challenged both their doctrine and their verdict on Jesus. Guzik: “The entire atmosphere was intended to make them afraid.” Henry: “See how God trains up his servants for sufferings by degrees.”

Is it fair to say Jesus is the only way (v12)? Peter says it to the highest religious court of his nation. Guzik: “Peter didn’t merely proclaim Jesus as a way of salvation, but as the only way of salvation.” Sproul names our culture’s creed — “There is no tenet more basic to the secular culture we live in than that of religious tolerance” — and answers that only Christ satisfies God’s justice and mercy together: “If we are offended by what the Lord God Almighty speaks, then the problem is not with Him, but with us.” Henry: “we cannot be saved but by Jesus Christ.”

What does “they had been with Jesus” mean (v13)? The council recognized them as Jesus’ men — the same boldness, the same handling of Scripture. Guzik: “they knew the Scriptures, and they had been with Jesus.” Henry: “One may know that they have been in the mount by the shining of their faces.” Spurgeon: “I behold Christ, and I become like Christ.”

When may a Christian disobey authority (vv19–20)? Sproul is careful: we normally submit, but when men command what God forbids or forbid what God commands, we obey God — never hiding behind “I’m just obeying orders.” But this is not a license for disobedience when we are merely inconvenienced. Peter and John do not riot; they answer respectfully, accept the threat and keep preaching (and 5:29 will say it outright).

Why pray Psalm 2 (vv25–28)? The psalm describes nations and rulers raging against the LORD and His Anointed, and the church sees it fulfilled in Herod, Pilate, the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel. Sproul: “Psalm 2 captures the separation of the state from God in antiquity.” For me there is also a forward look: Psalm 2 ends with the Son ruling the nations with a rod of iron (2:8–9) — a reign still to come. The cross was the rulers’ worst, and it was inside God’s plan.

How can God predestine what wicked men do (v28)? The church simply says both: the rulers “were gathered together against Your holy servant Jesus” (v27) — they are guilty — and they did “whatever Your hand and Your purpose predestined to occur” (v28). Sproul: “Every Christian believed in the sovereignty of God, and they believed in it absolutely.” Spurgeon: “How strangely this doctrine of predestination comes in just there!” — and it is there to comfort a threatened church.

Was the shaking a pattern to seek? Guzik warns: “It is a snare to long to be used to do miraculous things,” and the room did not become a holy place. The point of the filling was speech: “began to speak the word of God with boldness” (v31).

Was verses 32–35 Christian communism? No. Guzik: “It isn’t accurate to see this as an early form of communism.” Sproul: “They were not required to do it.” People still owned houses and land; they gave as needs arose, and Peter tells Ananias his property was his own (5:4). The miracle was the heart — “not one of them claimed that anything belonging to him was his own.”

Why single out Barnabas (vv36–37)? He is the positive example before the negative one of Ananias and Sapphira (Sproul’s “amazing contrast”), and he will be the man who brings Saul to the apostles (9:27) and encourages the church at Antioch (11:23).

Word study (Greek):

• rejected — exoutheneō (G1848): to treat as nothing (v11; Luke 23:11).
• chief corner — kephalē (G2776) + gōnia (G1137): head of the corner (Ps 118:22).
• name — onoma (G3686): person and authority; ×7 in the chapter.
• salvation — sōtēria (G4991): deliverance; “must” — dei (G1163) (v12).
• confidence, boldness — parrēsia (G3954): free, open speech (vv13, 29, 31; 28:31).
• uneducated — agrammatos (G62): without letters; only here.
• untrained — idiōtēs (G2399): layman, not a professional.
• Lord — despotēs (G1203): Sovereign Master (v24; Luke 2:29; Rev 6:10).
• predestined — proorizō (G4309): to mark out beforehand (v28; Rom 8:29–30; Eph 1:5, 11).
• shaken — saleuō (G4531): v31.
• common — koinos (G2839): shared (v32; 2:44).
• Encouragement — paraklēsis (G3874): called alongside (v36).

Key insights to carry (from the Deep Dive):

1. Suffering days, growing days (Henry).
2. The same court, a different Peter (4:6–10).
3. They counted Him as nothing — exoutheneō (4:11).
4. Not a way — the way (Guzik, Sproul).
5. Educated where it counts — the Scriptures and being with Jesus (Guzik).
6. A healed man is an argument (Spurgeon).
7. Obey God — and know what He says (Sproul).
8. They prayed for boldness, not safety (4:29).
9. Sovereignty is a comfort (Spurgeon, Sproul).
10. Not communism, but love (Guzik, Sproul).

Cross-references: Exod 16:18; 34:29–35; Ps 2:1–9; 118:22; Isa 28:16; Matt 10:19–20; 21:42; Luke 2:29; 12:11–12; 20:17; 21:14–15; 23:11; John 14:6; 18:13; Acts 1:8; 2:23, 42–47; 5:1–11, 29; 9:27; 11:22–24; 28:31; Rom 8:28–30; 13:1–7; 2 Cor 8:9; Eph 1:11; 2:20; Phil 2:9–11; 1 Pet 2:7; 1 Tim 2:5.

Application

Example to follow — Peter before Annas. A few weeks earlier Peter cursed and denied Jesus to a servant girl in this high priest’s courtyard. Now, filled with the Holy Spirit, he tells the same men to their faces, “whom you crucified, whom God raised.” Many of the men I serve carry a failure they think disqualifies them. Peter’s story says Jesus restores denied-Him men and sends them back into the same courtyard. I will tell one man this week that his worst failure is not the end of his story.

Truth to confess — there is no other name. I have softened this when it was awkward, as if Jesus were one option among many. He is not. No program, no higher power in general, no amount of trying saves a man — only Jesus. I will say it plainly and kindly when it comes up.

Command to obey — keep speaking. “We cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” I have seen Jesus pull men out of addiction, out of despair, out of prison in their hearts. I will tell one of those stories to someone who needs it.

Promise to trust — God’s hand is over the threats. Herod, Pilate and the mob did only what God’s hand had marked out. Whatever is threatening me this week is inside His lines. So I will pray the way they did: not “take it away” first, but “take note of their threats, and grant … all confidence.”

Example to follow — Barnabas. He sold a field and laid the money down, and the apostles named him for how he lifted people up. I will look for one need in our group I can meet with what I have, and one man I can encourage by name.

Questions for the table (from the Deep Dive):

1. The apostles were jailed and the church grew to five thousand men. Where has a hard season in my life become a growing season? (4:1–4; Rom 8:28) Suffering days have been her growing days (Henry).
2. Peter said there is “no other name under heaven … by which we must be saved.” Why is that claim hard for people today, and how would I explain it to a friend with love? (4:12; John 14:6) Not a way of salvation, but the only way (Guzik).
3. People could tell Peter and John “had been with Jesus.” What would people notice about me this week that shows I have been with Him? (4:13; 2 Cor 3:18) I behold Christ, and I become like Christ (Spurgeon).
4. “We cannot stop speaking about what we have seen and heard.” What have I seen Jesus do that I have kept to myself? (4:19–20) He must speak (Spurgeon).
5. When the church was threatened, they prayed for boldness instead of safety. What would change if I prayed that way about my own threats? (4:24–31) Grant that Your bond-servants may speak Your word with all confidence.
6. Barnabas was called the “Son of Encouragement.” Who needs me to be a Barnabas this week — and what could I give or say? (4:32–37; 9:27) Not required, but freely given (Sproul).

Worship. Sovereign Lord, You made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. The nations raged and the rulers gathered against Your Anointed, and they did only what Your hand had determined. The stone they counted as nothing You have made the chief corner stone, and there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved.

Prayer. Lord Jesus, You restored Peter and sent him back to face the men he feared; restore me and send me too. Let people see that I have been with You. Take note of what threatens me, and grant me all confidence to speak Your word. Fill me with Your Spirit, open my hands to my brothers in need, and make me a son of encouragement. Amen.