Acts 4:15

But when they had commanded them to go aside out of the council, they conferred among themselves, saying, What shall we do to these men? for indeed that a notable miracle hath been wrought through them, is manifest to all that dwell in Jerusalem; and we cannot deny it.

The utter bankruptcy of the Sanhedrin's position is plain in these verses. As Scott said:

We do not find that the council gave any reason why the doctrine of Christ must be suppressed; they could not say that it was either false or dangerous, or of any evil tendency; and they were ashamed to own the true reason, that it testified against their hypocrisy, wickedness and tyranny.[28]

What the Sanhedrin did not do is of epic significance. They did deny the resurrection of Jesus Christ, a fact Peter had boldly affirmed in their presence; and the conclusion must be allowed that the resurrection of Christ was in the same category as the healing of the impotent man before them. They could not deny it! Can any man believe that those unscrupulous unbelievers would not have denied it if there had been any rational basis under heaven for their doing so?

They conferred among themselves ... Commentators who raise a question as to how Luke knew what is related here overlook two things, (1) the Holy Spirit's guidance of the inspired evangelist, and (2) the fact that many of the Pharisees obeyed the gospel and had long been faithful Christians at the time of Luke's probable interview of them (Acts 6:1; 15:5, etc.). We may be certain that what is here related occurred exactly as it is written. Therefore, it is not necessary, as did Bruce, to suggest that "The decision by the Sanhedrin in the absence of Peter and John would be readily inferred from what they said when Peter and John were brought back."[29]

The admissions of the Sanhedrin in these verses "show that in their public proceedings they had been utterly hypocritical and heartless. How they could now look one another in the face is a moral puzzle."[30]

[28] Thomas Scott, op. cit., p. 444.

[29] F. F. Bruce, op. cit., p. 103.

[30] J. W. McGarvey, op. cit., p. 73.