ACTS CHAPTER 5:17-42, “APOSTLES
Jailed THEN DELIVERED”
by
1.
INTRO:
1.1.
In this study we will see
that serious persecution now begins to come upon the early church Jerusalem
1.1.1.
Prior to this time the
ruling Sadducees seemed to have thought that this sect of the way (those who
followed Jesus the Nazarene) would surely go by the wayside as all other
movements had done, and that there wasn’t that much to worry about with them
1.1.2.
Now however, we see that the
ruling Sadducees are beginning to get very worried and desperate over the
popularity of this movement, since now several thousand people had become very
zealous in their faith in Christ
1.1.3.
In this section the
Sadducees become very perplexed because it seems that every time they try to
intervene and stop this movement it just seems to get more steam
1.1.3.1.They thought that by having Jesus crucified as an example to those who
would rebel against their authority that they would stop His disciples, however
they found out three days later that His body was missing and all of His
disciples claimed that He had resurrected and that many of them had seen Him
alive
1.1.3.2.Now they will jail the apostles only to have them disappear from the
jail during the night, and when they call for them the next day they find out
that they are in the temple again preaching the resurrection from the dead
through Jesus the Christ
1.2.
All throughout history there
have been rulers and authorities who have tried to extinguish Christianity
however they have each discovered that trying to destroy and eradicate it only
causes it to grow even faster
2.
VS 5:17-18 - “17 But the high priest rose up, along with
all his associates (that is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled
with jealousy; 18 and they laid hands on the apostles, and put them in a public
jail.” (NASB)” - The high
priest and his associates had the apostles place in a public jail
2.1.
This section
of the book of Acts marks the beginning of serious persecution of the early
church, and this will only increase over time throughout the book of Acts. This persecution is again by the ruling body
of Sadducees which was made up of the Sanhedrin. It says in verse 17 that ‘the high priest
rose up, along with all his associates’ in order to persecute the
apostles. The rulers of the Jews were very
concerned about the popularity of this message about the resurrection of Jesus
Christ which was gaining so much popularity among the people.
2.1.1.
As I have mentioned, the rulers
were Sadducees who didn’t believe in the afterlife and the miraculous, and they
were very perplexed because they thought that they had gotten rid of their problem
with Jesus and His following when they crucified Him, and yet now His teaching
just kept on spreading.
2.1.2.
The
miraculous just kept occurring among the church as it had occurred with Jesus,
and this in itself threatened their very existence and power base among the
people, for if there was such a thing as the miraculous, then they were
completely in the wrong in their beliefs.
2.2.
The
underlying motive for the Sadducees persecution of the apostles is also
revealed in verse 17, they were ‘jealous’, for they saw that their power base
was eroding away. Thus, they were filled
with “hatred” for the apostles.
2.2.1.
Remember, it
was their jealousy of Jesus which caused them to crucify Him
2.3.
Realizing
that something of a drastic measure had to be taken to stem this outbreak of
what they considered “heresy” and “treachery”, they had all of Jesus’ apostles
arrested and placed in jail in
2.4.
By the way,
the sin of ‘jealousy’ has been at the root of so many attitudes of those not
only of other religions but also those who call themselves Christians, jealousy
toward other Christians as well as other Christian groups.
2.4.1.
Often, the
real fury created over doctrinal differences stems from nothing but ‘jealousy’
over the success of another Christian group with some differing views.
2.4.2.
However,
‘jealousy’ is a sin which is very heinous in the sight of God, as is all sin,
and it is intimately related to the breaking of the 10th of God’s Commandments
(Thou shalt not covet).
2.4.3.
How do you feel when someone else becomes promoted, successful, makes a
lot of ministry, or gets an opportunity to have a key ministry in the
church? These kinds of questions will
reveal whether or not you are harboring jealously towards someone.
2.4.4.
When they
occur, we Christians must begin to recognize the beginnings of ‘jealousy’ and
‘envy’ in our hearts and turn from those sins when they occur.
3.
VS 5:19-20 - “19 But an angel of the Lord during the
night opened the gates of the prison, and taking them out he said, 20 “Go your
way, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life.” (NASB) -
An angel of the Lord let them out of the gates of the prison
3.1.
In the book
of Acts which chronicles the inception of Christ’s newly acquired church, we
see great power which the Lord was implementing in order to use His people to
preach the gospel and fulfill the Great Commission.
3.2.
We must not
overlook the fact that the apostles and all of the believers were surely
praying fervently for the protection of the apostles at this time, and thus the
Lord was backing them up in their endeavor to preach the gospel.
3.3.
Luke records
that ‘an angel of the Lord’ opened the door in the night and let the apostles
out of the jail, and he did so without waking or disturbing anyone else within
the jail. This a powerful supernatural
operation of the Lord which probably was a greater deliverance than anyone in
the church at this time had the faith to pray for.
3.4.
The angel is
very specific in directing the activities of the apostles upon their release
from the jail: They were to go directly
to the ‘people in the temple’ and courageously ‘stand’ up and declare to them ‘the whole truth of this life’ (preach the gospel and nothing but the
gospel).
3.4.1.
The Lord
shows His great interest that the apostles be about the business of being
witnesses for Him of Christ’s resurrection, the good news of the gospel.
3.5.
The ‘whole
message of this life’ means the gospel message which contains the way in which
people may have ‘life’ [zoa in the Greek, God’s own presence and life] through
accepting Christ as their Lord and savior.
3.5.1.
The Lord
wants believers today to ‘go’ forth to proclaim ‘the whole message of this
life’ to people, telling them how that they can have eternal life through a
personal relationship with Jesus Christ.
3.5.2.
Like the
apostles, we need to be obedient to the Lord in seeking to fulfill the Great
Commission which He has given us to fulfill.
3.5.2.1.We need to always pray for opportunities for the
sharing of the gospel, and we need to take those opportunities to witness when
they open up to us.
4.
VS 5:21 - “21 And upon hearing this, they entered
into the temple about daybreak, and began to teach. Now when the high priest
and his associates had come, they called the Council together, even all the
Senate of the sons of
4.1.
The apostles
were obedient to the command of the angel who had freed them from the jail and
they immediately entered the temple at daybreak in order to witness to those
who were coming for morning worship and prayer of Christ and His resurrection.
4.2.
The Lord must
have delighted to have delivered the apostles from this group of “white-washed
tombs” who were the religious leaders of this day. Men have never been able to destroy and
eradicate Christianity from the earth, and they never will be able to do so,
for no person or country is greater than the Lord, and He will not allow the
church to be eradicated.
4.2.1.
Jesus said
that the gates of hell would not prevail against His church (Matt.
16:18).
5.
VS 5:22-25 - “22 But the officers who came did not find
them in the prison; and they returned, and reported back, 23 saying, “We found
the prison house locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors;
but when we had opened up, we found no one inside.” 24 Now when the captain of
the temple guard and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly
perplexed about them as to what would come of this. 25 But someone came and
reported to them, “Behold, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the
temple and teaching the people!” (NASB)” - When the chief priests and the Sanhedrin were
greatly perplexed when they heard that when the guards went to bring the
apostles to them that they weren’t in jail anymore but were in the temple
preaching again
5.1.
We have to
chuckle just a little as we think of what the faces of these men must have
looked like when they were told that the apostles were no longer in the jail,
and yet the jail still remained secure with guards at the doors, and even more
so when they were told that the apostles were now ‘standing in the temple and
teaching the people’.
5.1.1.
The chief
priests and the Sanhedrin were baffled by their inability to put a stop to this
teaching about Jesus, and plus they were now constantly being confronted with
the supernatural, that concept which threatened all of their credibility and
teachers of
5.1.2.
Luke, in his
gospel account also records that the Sadducees were ‘greatly perplexed’ in
hearing that the apostles were no longer in the jail, and yet the jail remained
secure.
6.
VS 5:26 - “26 Then the captain went along with the
officers and proceeded to bring them back without violence (for they were
afraid of the people, lest they should be stoned).” - The captain and the officers go and bring the
apostles back to the Sanhedrin
6.1.
The Sanhedrin
again had the apostles arrested and brought back so that they could stop them from
continuing to preach the gospel of the resurrection from the dead through Jesus
the Christ.
6.2.
The
popularity of the gospel message was growing so much that the Sanhedrin now
feared doing any unnecessary violence to the apostles for fear that the general
populace would revolt.
7.
VS 5:27-28 - “27 And when they had brought them, they
stood them before the Council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying,
“We gave you strict orders not to continue teaching in this name, and behold,
you have filled
7.1.
In these two
verses we see how that the testimony of Jesus’ resurrection was beginning to
affect the people of
7.1.1.
There is
irony in the apostles being scolded
for continuing to teach the gospel, when the Sanhedrin and temple guard had not
been able to keep the apostles in their jail over night without them
mysteriously disappearing.
7.1.2.
Notice that
the Sanhedrin does not ask the apostles how it was that they could have gotten
out of their secure jail.
7.1.2.1.Perhaps, they were afraid of the answer to that
question, the answer which they already sensed...
7.1.3.
The Sanhedrin
did not even want to speak the name “Jesus”, and consequently they warned the
apostles not to teach ‘in this name’.
7.1.4.
The very
words of the Sanhedrin are that the apostles, ‘have filled
7.1.4.1.They are readily admitting of the success of the
witness of the apostles.
7.1.5.
The Sanhedrin
was at this point even beginning to be concerned for their lives through a
lynching, stoning, etc. and thus they accused the apostles that they were
trying to, ‘bring this man’s blood upon us’.
However, the apostles were not responsible for the actions of these
leaders who had crucified Jesus. Matthew
records in Mat. 27:24-26, that when Jesus had appeared before Pontius
Pilate that he had washed his hands of the matter of Jesus’ being crucified,
however by doing so he was just as guilty of committing murder as if he had
killed Him with his own hands: “24
And when Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but rather that a riot
was starting, he took water and washed his hands in front of the multitude,
saying, “I am innocent of this Man’s blood; see to that yourselves.” 25 And all the people answered and said, “His
blood be on us and on our children!”
26 Then he released Barabbas for them; but after having Jesus scourged, he
delivered Him to be crucified.”
8.
VS 5:29 - “29 But Peter and the apostles answered and
said, “We must obey God rather than men.” - Peter and the apostles tell the Sanhedrin
that they must obey God in the preaching of the gospel, not man
8.1.
Peter and the
apostles are so transformed by the filling and baptism of the Holy Spirit in
their lives that they now are again fearless in their sharing of the gospel.
8.2.
The apostles
were focused intently on fulfilling the Great Commission of Jesus in which they
were commanded that they were to go into all the world and preach the gospel,
teaching men and women to observe all that Jesus had commanded them. The apostles also knew the folly of “fearing
men” instead of “fearing God”. Matt.
10:28 records Jesus saying, “28 “And do not fear those who kill the
body, but are unable to kill the soul; but rather fear Him who is able to
destroy both soul and body in hell.”
8.2.1.
Therefore, in
deep conviction and boldness, they tell the Sanhedrin that they ‘must obey God
rather than men’.
8.2.1.1.Man’s law had conflicted with God’s law and they knew
that they must obey God.
8.2.2.
Many times
Christians live in the ‘fear of man’,
but we must never allow the “fear of man” to keep us from being a bold witness
for Christ to those who are lost.
Rather, we must obey God today and be committed to fulfilling His Great
Commission through our life.
8.2.2.1.In Romans 8:35-39, the apostle Paul teaches us
that nothing can separate us from God for we are overwhelming conquerors
through Christ, “35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall
tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or
sword? 36 Just as it is written, “For Thy sake we are being put to death all
day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” 37 But in all these things we overwhelmingly
conquer through Him who loved us. 38 For I am convinced that neither death, nor
life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come,
nor powers, 39 nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be
able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
8.3.
We likewise
“must fear God” as the apostles feared Him.
They knew that one day they would stand before Him, and they knew that
they must give an account of all of their deeds on the day that they would see
Jesus face to face, and thus they wanted to be faithful to their commission.
8.4.
Sometime back
I read a book by Larry Taylor called, “As Many As I Love”, and in
that book Larry talks about the horrible consequences of his own sin in his
family. His 15 year old son committed
suicide, and Larry writes that He knew that it was his own sin that had
propelled his son to do this horrible and selfish act. And having read this book, I feel more
compelled that I also must do God’s will, and that I must “do everything right”
from God’s perspective in raising the family that God has given me.
8.4.1.
All of us as
Christians must realize that we only get one chance to do God’s will in our
lives. If we are wise, we will store up
rewards in heaven and not blow the opportunities that God gives us here on
earth.
9.
VS 5:30-32 - “30 “The God of our fathers raised up
Jesus, whom you had put to death by hanging Him on a cross. 31 “He is the one
whom God exalted to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant
repentance to
9.1.
Peter now begins his second gospel sermon preached to the Sanhedrin, each
after being arrested by them. The first
sermon which he preached to them occurred when he was brought before them
because of the healing of the lame man at the Beautiful Gate of the
9.2.
Peter again
shows the boldness that he has as a witness for Christ. The difference in his life from before the
baptism of the Holy Spirit until now is obvious, and his boldness can only be
attributable to the filling of the Holy Spirit.
9.2.1.
To this group
of rulers Peter boldly proclaims the solemn truths concerning Christ, even
though he knew that doing this could easily result in his death.
9.3.
These men
were trying to justify themselves in their consciences for what they had done
to Jesus by saying that the apostles were going to bring this man’s blood upon
them, yet Peter will not let them get away with this notion for he boldly tells
them that they took Jesus and had Him, ‘put to death by hanging Him on a
cross’.
9.4.
Peter does
not tell these men that they had put the Lord to death in order to condemn them, but rather He says this so that he can introduce the
good news concerning Jesus to them, the good news about the One, ‘whom God exalted
to His right hand as a Prince and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and
forgiveness of sins’.
9.4.1.
Peter had a
great desire that these men repent of their sins and receive Jesus as their
Lord and Savior, and thus he boldly proclaims the gospel message to them.
9.5.
Peter tells
the committee of Sadducees that they were ‘witnesses of these things; and so is
the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey Him’.
9.5.1.
The Holy
Spirit was performing mighty works of power at the hands of the apostles, as
well as performing His work of convicting the world of “sin, righteousness, and judgment”.
9.6.
Peter
teaches a little Christian doctrine here
for he tells the committee that the Lord gives the Holy Spirit only, ‘to those who obey Him’.
9.6.1.
The Holy
Spirit is not a force which men may conjure up at their will or by any trickery
of men, rather He is in sovereign control, being the second person of the
Trinity, and thus only those who walk uprightly and obediently in the ways of
God will receive Him and His power into their lives.
9.6.2.
We Christians
should allow the Holy Spirit to have His way in our life, and then we too will
have the strong inner conviction that we also ‘must’ obey God in our life no
matter what it may cost us.
10.
VS
5:33 - “Acts 5:33 33 But when they heard this, they were cut to
the quick and were intending to slay them. (NASB)” - The Sanhedrin becomes enraged against the
apostles
10.1.
This group of
Sadducees who heard Peter’s defense of his actions as well as the gospel
message of Jesus Christ were ‘cut to the quick’, however not in godly
sorrow and the conviction that leads to repentance, but rather with murderous
anger which caused them to plot the apostles’ murder.
10.2.
The Sanhedrin
would have had the apostles slain for their faith were it not for their heeding
the counsel of Gamaliel.
10.3.
In reflection I find that we Christians often
react just life these Sadducees. When we
are genuinely in need of rebuke and then when one is given we just become
defensive and annoyed at the person who gave it instead of becoming humbled and
seeking the Lord as to whether or not there might be any truth to the
rebuke.
10.3.1.We as Christians must allow our brothers and sisters
and even the people of this world to rebuke us when we are standing in need of
that rebuke. We must pray about how to
receive any word of rebuke when someone gives it to us. Then, we must react in obedience to the Lord
concerning that rebuke.
11.
VS 5:34-39 - “34 But a certain
Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the Law, respected by all the people,
stood up in the Council and gave orders to put the men outside for a short
time. 35 And
he said to them, "Men of
11.1.
Gamaliel was
a doctor of the law and a member of the Sanhedrin. He represented the liberal
wing of the Pharisees, the
11.1.1.He was a Pharisee and taught in the Jew’s religious
seminary, and he was well respected ‘by all the people’.
11.1.2.He was held in such high honor that he was the first
to be given the title of ‘Rabban’ (‘our
teacher’), a higher title than ‘Rabbi’ (‘my teacher’).
11.1.3.In the New Testament there are only two Sanhedrin
members who appear in a favorable light, Joseph of Arimathea (John 19:38), a
believer in Christ who took away the body of Jesus after His crucifixion and
buried it in his own tomb, and Gamaliel (Acts 5:34-39; 22:3).
11.1.4.Showing the veneration that the Jews had for Gamaliel,
in the Mishnah it is written that, ‘Since Rabban Gamaliel the
Elder died there has been no more reverence for the Law, and purity and
abstinence died out at the same time’, (Sot\a 9.
15).
11.1.5.The apostle Paul wrote that Gamaliel was his teacher
in the Jewish seminary in which he was schooled as a Pharisee (Acts 22:3).
11.2.
Gamaliel was
used by God in this instance because he gave advice which spared the lives of
the apostles.
11.2.1.He should be admired to an extent for the sound advice
of choosing a moderate and cautious approach toward the apostles.
11.2.2.He told them that people have often risen and had zeal
and a following for their unorthodox beliefs, however in each case their
philosophy and influence passed away.
11.2.3.Gamaliel was not sympathetic towards the Christian
church, however he did have an understanding of God’s ways, and thus he told
them that if this teaching was not of God that it would pass away. This is a truth.
11.2.4.He told them that if it did not pass away that perhaps
they would end up having fought against God.
This is true also.
11.3.
Gamaliel’s
fault here was that he had not looked into scripture in order to see if this
word of the gospel which the apostles were preaching might be truth, nor did he
do so now or encourage others of the Sanhedrin to search the scriptures. He should have been searching the scriptures,
and had his heart sincerely looking to the Lord to follow Him, he would have
come to faith in Christ for salvation.
11.3.1.If people will sincerely search through the scriptures
with a willing and open heart to see if they contain truth, the Lord will
always and in every case reveal Himself to them.
11.3.1.1.This principle shows that when people do not believe
in Christ for salvation it is either that they have never heard the truth about
Him or that they have heard but are unwilling to sincerely search out the truth
concerning Him.
11.4.
I don’t know
where Gamaliel will be spending his eternity however I hope that he was open
enough to observe in his lifetime that no one has ever been able to eradicate Christianity
from the earth, and thus followed his own advice and believed in Christ for
salvation.
12.
VS 5:40 - “Acts 5:40 40 And they took his advice; and
after calling the apostles in, they flogged them and ordered them to speak no
more in the name of Jesus, and then released
them. (NASB)” - Wisely, the
Sanhedrin took Gamaliel’s advice
12.1.
After
deciding to take a course of moderation and caution concerning the apostles,
this evil group of men on the Sanhedrin had the apostles flogged instead of
killing them.
13.
VS 5:41 - “Acts 5:41 41 So they went on their way from
the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to
suffer shame for His name. (NASB)”
- The apostles rejoiced that they had
been considered worthy enough by the Lord to suffer for Him
13.1.
This verse
reveals the depth to which the Holy Spirit had changed the lives of the
apostles: They were ‘rejoicing that
they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name’.
13.2.
Do you, oh
Christian, rejoice when you are persecuted for your faith? If not, you should follow the example of the
apostles in this verse. You should be so
thankful for what the Lord went through on your behalf on the cross that you
can ‘rejoice’ if you should be ‘considered worthy’ enough by the Lord to have
the privilege to suffer on His account.
13.2.1.When we consider the extent of His suffereings for us,
our sufferings for Him seem miniscule.
14.
VS 5:42 - “Acts 5:42 42 And every day, in the temple and
from house to house, they kept right on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. (NASB)” – The
apostles went right on preaching and teaching Jesus as the Christ inspite of
being persecuted for their faith
14.1.
This verse
reveals the boldness that continued in the lives of the apostles as well as the
rest of this tight fellowship of believers.
Every single day, in the temple and outside and from house to house they
just kept right on ‘teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ’.
14.2.
We in the
church today need to be bold in our witness just as this early church in
14.2.1.We need also to persevere in our boldness and
preaching the gospel as did this church in
15.
TO
SUMMARIZE:
15.1.
Don’t live
in the ‘fear of man’
15.2.
Remember that the gates of hell will not prevail
against Christ’s church
15.3.
Realize that you are an overwhelming conqueror through
Christ
15.4.
Be focused on fulfilling the Great Commission
15.5.
Be a bold witness for Christ
15.6.
Persevere as a witness for Christ