not be able to gainsay nor resist.' 'Unlearned,' as ignorant of
Rabbinical traditions, and 'ignorant,' or, rather, 'private,' as
holding no official position, these two wielded a power over hearts
and consciences which not even official indifference and arrogance
could shake off. Thank God, that day's experience is repeated still,
and any of us may have the same Spirit to clothe us with the same
armour of light!

The Sanhedrin knew well enough that the Apostles had been with Jesus,
and the statement that 'they took knowledge of them' cannot mean that
that fact dawned on the rulers for the first time. Rather it means
that their wonder at the 'boldness' of the two drove home the fact of
their association with Him to their minds. That association explained
the marvel; for the Sanhedrin remembered how He had stood, meek but
unawed, at the same bar. They said to themselves, 'We know where
these men get this brave freedom of speech,--from that Nazarene.'
Happy shall we be if our demeanour recalls to spectators the ways of
our Lord!

How came the lame man there? He had not been arrested with the
Apostles. Had he voluntarily and bravely joined them? We do not know,
but evidently he was not there as accused, and probably had come as a
witness of the reality of the miracle. Notice the emphatic
'standing,' as in verse 10,--a thing that he had never done all his
life. No wonder that the Sanhedrin were puzzled, and settled down to
the 'lame and impotent conclusion' which follows. So, in the first
round of the world-long battle between the persecutors and the
persecuted, the victory is all on the side of the latter. So it has
been ever since, though often the victors have died in the conflict.
'The Church is an anvil which has worn out many hammers,' and the