Acts 4:10 is Peter telling the religious leaders that the man standing whole in front of them was healed by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, the same Jesus they had crucified and whom God raised from the dead. The verse explains where the healing came from and who gets the credit for it. Peter speaks to the rulers and elders of Israel, and to everyone gathered in Jerusalem, after he and John have been arrested for healing a man who had been unable to walk since birth.
Be it known to you all, and to all the people of Israel, that in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, in him does this man stand here before you whole.
Acts 4:10 (WEB)
What Acts 4:10 Means
Peter begins with “be it known to you all,” which is a formal way of saying “I want you to understand this clearly.” He is not speaking quietly or defensively. He wants the leaders to hear plainly what happened and why. The phrase “to all the people of Israel” shows that the message is not private. The healing happened in public, so the explanation is made in public too.
The heart of the verse is “in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth.” In the ancient world, a name carried authority and identity. To act in someone’s name was to act by their power and with their backing. Peter is saying the healing was not his own skill or holiness. It came from Jesus, whose authority Peter was exercising. The phrase “whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead” then puts the leaders’ own actions beside God’s action. They put Jesus to death, but God vindicated him by raising him up.
The verse does not promise that every prayer in Jesus’ name will produce a visible miracle, and it does not give a formula for healing. What it establishes is the source and authority behind what has just happened. Peter is making a claim about who Jesus is, and the healed man standing there is the evidence he points to.
The Context of Acts 4:10
Acts was written by Luke, who also wrote the Gospel that bears his name, and it is addressed to a readers like Theophilus who want to understand how the good news spread from Jerusalem outward. This passage comes early in that story. Peter and John have just healed a lame beggar at the temple gate in Acts 3, and the healing drew a crowd. Now they are brought before the same council that handed Jesus over to Pilate, and the question is put to them directly: “By what power, or in what name, have you done this?”
Read in that setting, Acts 4:10 is Peter’s answer to the question he was asked in verse 7. The leaders wanted to know whose authority was behind the healing, and Peter answers with the name they had tried to silence. The verses that follow, including verse 11 and 12, go on to describe Jesus as the stone the builders rejected and as the only name by which anyone is saved. Verse 10 is the hinge between the question and that larger declaration.
Key Phrases in Acts 4:10
Acts 4:12
There is salvation in none other, for neither is there any other name under heaven, that is given among men, by which we must be saved!”
(WEB)
Peter continues his argument in this verse, stating that salvation is found in no other name under heaven. It is the natural next step after verse 10 and explains why the name of Jesus matters so much.
Acts 3:16
By faith in his name, his name has made this man strong, whom you see and know. Yes, the faith which is through him has given him this perfect soundness in the presence of you all.
(WEB)
This verse comes just before the events of chapter 4 and makes the same point about the name of Jesus. Peter says the man was made strong through faith in that name, which helps explain the healing that brought the leaders to question him.
A Short Prayer From Acts 4:10
Lord Jesus, you are the name by which we are helped, healed, and saved. Give us the courage Peter had to speak plainly about you, even when the people around us hold power or have already made up their minds. Keep us from taking credit for what you alone have done, and teach us to point to you in every good thing that happens in our lives. Let our words and our actions show that your name is the source of everything we have. Amen.
