Acts 4:27

For of a truth in this city against thy holy Servant Jesus, whom thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel were gathered together.

Thy holy Servant Jesus ... Certain critics have attempted to deny that Jesus identified himself with the suffering Servant of Isaiah; but, as Hunter declared:

The key to most of the (New Testament) theology is in the Old Testament, especially in the Servant Songs of Isaiah and the seventh chapter of Daniel ... Jesus clearly saw his Messianic ministry from Jordan to Golgotha, as a fulfilling of the prophecies of the Servant of the Lord.[36]

Thus, it is no surprise that in the very beginning of the gospel proclamation by the apostles strong emphasis upon the role of Jesus' sufferings should appear.

We find Peter four times in the early chapters of Acts (Acts 3:13,26; 4:27,30) calling Jesus "God's Servant." A little later, Philip expressly tells the Ethiopian eunuch that Jesus is the fulfillment of Isaiah 53 (Acts 8:26-40).[37]

The fulfillment of the prophecy from Psalms 2:1,2, as quoted in this prayer, is declared by this verse. Herod and Pilate were representatives of kings and rulers who would oppose the Lord, and they were Gentiles. The implication, although not stated so bluntly, is that the Jewish religious leaders in the Sanhedrin were representatives of other rulers and of the children of Israel.

Regarding the question of why the mighty men such as rulers and kings and priests would with nearly unanimous hatred of the Christ unite their efforts to oppose and destroy Jesus and his teaching, the reason for it was deeply embedded in human nature. The Jewish rulers were mortified, disgusted and outraged that one so poor and lowly would claim to be the Messiah. Their pride, ambition and selfishness simply could not accept Jesus as the fulfillment of an expectation they had so long cherished of some spectacular leader on a white horse who would overthrow the power of Rome and restore the defunct Solomonic empire. In the case of the Romans, human nature at last turned upon the new faith with the fury of a vicious animal; and, although at first not opposed to Christianity (because they did not understand it), when it finally became clear to Roman authorities that the new religion was not merely seeking a place ALONG WITH OTHER RELIGIONS, but was exclusive in its claims, the Gentile authorities launched the great persecutions in the hope of exterminating Christianity.

[36] Archibald M. Hunter, Introducing New Testament Theology (Philadelphia: The Westminster Press, 1957), p. 23.

[37] Ibid., p. 37.