Today we read the first post-ascension confrontation between the disciples are the religious leaders in Jerusalem. They were arrested because they were “proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.” This was an issue because there were two “parties” of Jewish religious leaders. The first were the Pharisees, a more moderate leaning group who believed in the resurrection, but were a group that was very focused on keeping the law of Moses (at least on the outside.) The others were the Sadducees. They were the very conservative group, holding only the first five books of the Old Testament to the Word of God. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection. Hence, they were arrested because of a feud between the religious leaders that stemmed from talk concerning the resurrection.
Notice the change in the disciples. Peter, who denied Jesus three times, is a changed man. Not only does he not deny Jesus or recant his words, but he boldly proclaims Christ crucified, raised from the dead, and the ONLY way to heaven. The Jewish leaders couldn’t understand it. They were uneducated men. They thought the men could easily be intimidated to stop preaching. But they were wrong. Peter and John simply knew they must please God, not man.
The power of the Holy Spirit was evident through the actions of Peter and John. May God grant us HIS Holy Spirit to be as bold of witnesses of Christ!