The different roles the people and their leaders played in the persecution of their Messiah (see 3:17) are again illustrated in the varied response to Peter’s call to repentance (4:1–4). Instead of repenting of their rebellious acts, the Jewish leaders put Peter and John into jail (4:1–3). Many among the people “believed” (4:4), however. This division of the people fulfills yet another prophecy concerning Jesus in Luke’s first volume: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel” (Luke 2:34).

When Peter stands before the Sanhedrin (4:5–22), he faces “the rulers, the elders and the teachers of the law” (4:5), the group that persecuted Jesus (cf. Luke 20:1; 22:66). The earlier reference to the Sadducees (4:1) also identifies a main opponent of the church in Act…