1. Acts 4:14 (ESV)
  2. Exposition

Why did the council have nothing to say in response?

Acts 4:14 (ESV)

14 But seeing the man who was healed standing beside them, they had nothing to say in opposition.

What the apostles had done is obvious and cannot be denied.1 The presence (and presumably also the words) of the man who was healed (see Acts 3:1–10) serves to confirm what the apostles had said. If they accepted the testimony of the apostles, it would mean acknowledging that they made a mistake in killing Jesus, that there is a resurrection from the dead (something which the Sadducees in particular were unwilling to do), and it would mean the end of their leadership over the Jewish people.2 The lack of a positive response to the healing and the explanation from Peter shows the council to be hard-hearted. No matter what evidence is presented before them, they would not repent of their previous decisions; nothing would change their negative response toward those associated with Jesus.