Acts 4:13 - Now as they observed the confidence of Peter and John and understood that they were uneducated and untrained men, they were marveling and began to recognize them as having been with Jesus.
Context - Peter and John are preaching the good news of the death, burial, and resurrection of Christ. Earlier in this same chapter, we read that the Jewish leaders were “greatly annoyed”(v. 2). Instead of acknowledging the Truth and realizing that God had fulfilled His long awaited promise of the Messiah, they were bothered that their “status quo” was being disrupted. The power and prestige they enjoyed, the control they exercised over the common Jewish people, the comfort they experienced in the predictability of self-sufficiency were all threatened. Instead of a willingness to recalibrate to the Truth, they wanted to quash it.
When the religious leaders saw that hundreds upon hundreds of “their” people were embracing this “alarming” new idea, they panicked. They confronted these Apostles, roughed them up and jailed them. They conferred with each other and decided the best plan was to tell Peter and John not to talk about this anymore. (This actually makes me chuckle - some of these leaders had been present at the “trial” of Jesus and His crucifixion. They had undoubtedly heard the “rumors” that Jesus had risen from the dead and knew that His body was no longer in the tomb. The overwhelming response of “their” people to believe this “crazy” stuff was enough to alarm them…and they thought the answer would be to tell Peter and John to be quiet! Don’t you think that is hilarious???)
But in verse 4 we see truth with significant layers to it. These threatened leaders, who refused to believe, did have their eyes opened: they saw (recognized) that Peter and John had been with Jesus. These insecure, hardhearted men knew enough to realize that these men had actually been with the One they now proclaimed. They recognized that these were untrained, uneducated men - not sophisticated and learned like themselves. Yet here they were…claiming something beyond what was possible. Performing signs and wonders far above what “the experts” could do. Surely having been with Jesus was significant!
When I first read the verse, I thought about what it meant to “have been with Jesus”. What depths of truth lay therein? I knew it meant they were eyewitnesses. They had walked with Jesus, seen His miracles and heard His teachings. They had also experienced the terror of His “trial”, His beating, and His death. And they had seen the empty tomb! They saw Him, touched Him, ate with Him, and felt His love and assurance in His resurrected state.
As I pondered, I thought more about what it means to “have been with Jesus”. Yes, they saw. They heard. They believed. But the most significant thing to me is that they were transformed! They went from arrogant, self-centered men who wanted to claim their “rightful” place in the Kingdom, from weary men who just wanted to rest while Jesus prayed, from fearful, uncertain followers who fled when persecution came…to bold, confident truth tellers! No fear of man, no desire to gain anyone’s approval, no thought of the price to pay - just boldness. Humble confidence in the TRUTH of Who God is and that He will do what He says He will do. Bedrock assurance that whatever He calls us to is worth the cost. And a determination to follow wherever He leads. Godly boldness. Wow.
That’s what it looks like to “have been with Jesus.”
Is that evident in our lives today?