Quick Summary:

The book of ACTS addresses the questions: What does the gospel do, once it has been unleashed into the world? Where does it go? What effect does it have? Whom does it touch?

Peter and John were ordinary, uneducated men—deniers and deserters to boot—when the Spirit of the risen One took hold of their lives and turned them into preachers and healers. When the authorities released them with the command that they speak and teach no longer in Jesus’ name, (4:18-20) Peter and John stood their ground: “Whether it is right in God’s sight to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge;” they say, “for we cannot keep from speaking about what we have seen and heard.”

This story from Acts reminds us that the gospel of resurrection refuses to be hemmed in. It will roll away any stone that seeks to control, contain, or limit it.