In 4:8-12 we have Peter’s testimony. Verses 8 through 10 say, “Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them, Rulers of the people and elders, if we today are being examined regarding a good deed done to a sick man, by what means this man has been healed, let it be known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, in this name this man stands before you well.” In verse 8 Peter was filled with the Holy Spirit outwardly and economically. Then Peter told them that the lame man was healed “in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene.” We have seen that the word “Nazarene” indicates the One despised by the Jewish leaders (John 1:45-46; Acts 22:8; 24:5). In verse 10 “you” is emphatic. Here Peter emphasizes the fact that they crucified the Lord Jesus, but God raised Him from the dead.
In verses 11 and 12 Peter went on to say, “This is the stone which was despised by you, the builders, which has become the cornerstone. And there is no salvation in any other; for neither is there another name under heaven given among men in which we must be saved.” Verse 11 is a quotation from Psalm 118:22. The Lord Jesus also quoted this verse in Matthew 21:42, where He was indicating that He is the stone for God’s building (Isa. 28:16; Zech. 3:9; 1 Pet. 2:4), and the “builders” were the Jewish leaders, who were supposed to work on God’s building. His word unveiled the Jewish leaders’ rejection of Him and God’s honoring of Him for the building of His habitation among His people on earth. By this word Peter learned to know the Lord as the precious stone held in honor by God, as he expounded concerning Him in his first Epistle (1 Pet. 2:4-7). Peter’s quoting of this word indicates that he preached Christ not only as the Savior for the salvation of sinners, but also as the stone for God’s building. It is such a Christ who is the unique salvation to sinners and in whose unique name under heaven, a name despised and rejected by the Jewish leaders but honored and exalted by God (Phil. 2:9-10), sinners must be saved (Acts 4:12).
In verse 11 the Greek word translated “despised” also means rejected (see Matt. 21:42). The stone despised, rejected, by the builders has become the cornerstone. Literally, the Greek words rendered “cornerstone” mean head of the corner. Christ is not only the foundation stone (Isa. 28:16) and the topstone (Zech. 4:7) but also the cornerstone.
After the Sanhedrin’s prohibition (vv. 13-18), Peter and John’s reply (vv. 19-20), and the Sanhedrin’s release of Peter and John (vv. 21-22), we have the church’s praise and prayer (vv. 23-31). Verse 23 says, “And being released, they went to their own people and reported whatever the chief priests and the elders had said to them.” Their own people were the church people, who were made distinct and separate from the Jews by calling on the name of Jesus (9:14).
Verses 24 through 26 continue, “And when they heard this, they lifted up their voice with one accord to God and said, O Lord, You who have made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all things in them, who through the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David Your servant, said, Why did the nations rage, and the peoples imagine vain things? The kings of the earth set themselves in array, and the rulers were gathered together against the Lord and against His Christ.” The Greek word rendered “Lord” in verse 24 is not kurios, the usual word for Lord, but despotes, which denotes the master of a slave, one who has absolute sovereign power, as in Luke 2:29; Jude 4; Revelation 6:10; 1 Timothy 6:1-2. Originally, the word rendered “rage” in verse 25 meant to snort like a horse; hence, to be haughty, insolent.
Verses 27 and 28 continue, “For truly in this city, there were gathered together against Your holy Servant Jesus, whom You did anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate with the nations and the peoples of Israel, to do whatever Your hand and Your counsel predestined to take place.” The word “predestined” in verse 28 may remind us of the “determined counsel and foreknowledge of God” in 2:23. The crucifixion of the Lord Jesus was a purposeful fulfillment of the divine counsel determined by the Triune God.
According to 4:29-31, they prayed for boldness to speak the Lord’s word. “And as they were beseeching, the place in which they were gathered was shaken, and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and spoke the word of God with boldness” (v. 31). Like Peter in verse 8, they were filled with the Holy Spirit outwardly and economically.