Acts 4:23-31
Chapter 4
Prayer of the Community
As soon as Peter and John were released, they went to their friends and told them what the chief priests and elders had said.When they heard it, they all raised their voices together and called out to God:
“Sovereign Lord, maker of heaven and earth, of the sea and everything in them,
you have put these words in the mouth of David our father and your servant through the Holy Spirit: Why did the pagan nations rage and the people conspire in folly?
The kings of the earth were aligned
and the princes gathered together
against the Lord and against his Messiah.
Indeed, in this very city, Herod, along with Pontius Pilate, the pagans, and the people of Israel, conspired against your holy servant, Jesus, whom you anointed.
So, they truly brought about everything your strong will had long decided would happen.
But now, Lord, look on their threats against us; grant your servants the courage to speak your word boldly.
Stretch out your hand to heal and perform signs and wonders through the name of Jesus, your holy servant.”
When they had prayed, the place where they were gathered shook; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak God’s word boldly.
Commentaries
Prayer of the Community.
Luke concludes the episode of the Sanhedrin with the community’s prayer. Peter and John return to it, share what happened, interpret it, and pray. It is a prayer for times of persecution. They do not plan to escape danger or to harm their persecutors. Instead, they prayerfully seek, first, the freedom to keep proclaiming Jesus’ message, and second, that through the power of His Name, healing, signs, and wonders may continue. It echoes another Pentecost: “the place where they were gathered shook, they were filled with the Holy Spirit, and they proclaimed God’s message with boldness” (31).