Acts 4:1-4
And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the captain of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, greatly annoyed because they were teaching the people and proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. (vv. 1-2) I’m intrigued by the phrase …greatly annoyed…, or “greatly disturbed” as I found in some translations. I can understand “disturbed” better, in that the Jewish leaders might be troubled at a new “religion” peeling off traditional Jewish adherents. Or with the Sadducees in control of the temple and the Sanhedrin, it could have been that they feared this new “movement” could create trouble with the Roman authorities – leaders with whom the Sadducees were quite friendly. Or the Sadducees could be remembering their own difficulties with Jesus when He proclaimed a resurrection from the dead. See Luke 20:27-40, especially verse 40: For they (the Sadducees) did not have courage to ask Him any longer about anything. Strong!
But, “annoyed”…?? People get annoyed at smaller things, items that are troublesome but not major. So if the Sadducees were “annoyed” at this new group, it seems to me that they were dismissing the Apostles as a fringe group that would soon die out, but who, at the moment were creating a disturbance in the temple at a major gathering area. So Peter and John were an annoyance that they would deal with tomorrow. Stay tuned…!!
Slava Bohu!