Acts 5:17-42

The Second Challenge from the Sanhedrin

Verses 17-21a: Note that the most powerful priests (the High Priest and his associates) were the Sadducees, i.e., those who did not believe in the resurrection. They were able to have the apostles put in prison, but the power of God is greater than theirs. God sent an angel to miraculously free the apostles and to tell them to continue preaching in the temple courts. The “full message of this new life” was not to be silenced by those who did not believe in a resurrection life. The apostles did not lose any time: at daybreak they again began teaching the people.

Verses 21b-26: We can see how seriously the High Priest considered the matter: he called together “the Sanhedrin – the full assembly of the elders of Israel – and sent to the jail for the apostles.” Then follows an account of the miraculous escape. In chapter 12 we’ll see another escape like it, of Peter. Indeed, some Christians in modern times have also experienced similar escapes from prison, for example, The Heavenly Man by Paul Hattaway about Brother Yun in Henan province of China.

When the officers told the assembled rulers what they had found, i.e., an empty cell, they were puzzled. Then the report came from “someone” that the apostles were teaching again in the temple courts. The captain and his officers went to arrest the apostles (they did not want to be held accountable for the prisoners’ escape). They knew enough of the mood of the people not to use force; they were afraid that the people would stone them if they used force. The apostles did not resist.

Verses 27-32: Once again, the apostles are questioned. Note that the High Priest said “you … are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” He thereby admits the possibility that they were guilty. He does not use the name of Jesus: he says, “this man,” as if by avoiding his name he can minimize his importance. As in Acts 4:19-20, the apostles state their allegiance and obedience to God, rather than to men. The apostles again preach the resurrection, the complicity and guilt of the crucifixion, and Jesus’ exaltation to God’s right hand. Again, they mention repentance and forgiveness, and obedience to God.

Verses 33-34: The assembled rulers wanted to put the apostles to death (by stoning, no doubt, as they did to Stephen, Chapter 7). They were cut to the quick, infuriated. A Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, stood up to oppose the death sentence. “The Pharisees were in the minority, but they commanded much more popular respect than the Sadducees did, so much so that the Sadducean members of the Sanhedrin found it impolitic to oppose the Pharisees’ demands” (F.F. Bruce). Gamaliel was also Saul’s teacher (Acts 22:3) before he became Paul. Gamaliel was a teacher of very high standing and on this occasion also his words carried much weight. He requested that the apostles were to be put outside for a while so he could speak to the assembled priests and rulers.

Verses 35-37: Gamaliel recalls the history of two uprisings that came to nothing. Theudas may have been one of the many insurgent leaders who arose in Palestine when Herod the Great died in 4 BC He had about four hundred followers, but after he was killed, his movement came to an end. Judas the Galilean “led a band of people in revolt” (against the Roman occupation), in AD 6, when Judea was reduced to the status of a Roman province and a census was held to assess the amount of tribute it should yield for the imperial exchequer. “Judas … inaugurated a religious and nationalist revolt, contending that God alone was Israel’s true King, and that it was therefore high treason against God to pay tribute to Caesar. The revolt was crushed by Rome, but the movement lived on in the party of the Zealots. It had not been so ineffective as Gamaliel’s description suggests” (F.F. Bruce).  

Verses 38-40: Gamaliel’s advice is as follows: “Therefore, in the present case I advise you: Leave these men alone! Let them go! For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail. But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God.” The word translated “fail” means that it will be destroyed, like a falling house. The people were persuaded. They called the apostles in and had them ‘flogged,’ i.e., beaten, which was a punishment for minor offences. See Deuteronomy 25:3 “but the judge must not impose more than forty lashes. If the guilty party is flogged more than that, your fellow Israelite will be degraded in your eyes” and 2 Corinthians 11:24: ^“Five times I received from the Jews the forty lashes minus one.” A big difference from the death penalty they had first envisaged. They once again told the apostles not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go.

Verses 41-42: The apostles left the court in no way disheartened: they rejoiced in the fact that God had counted them worthy of suffering disgrace for the name of Jesus. Jesus had warned them of the suffering to come: Matthew 10:17-20 “Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time, you will be given what to say,for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.” (similarly, in Mark 13:9-11; Luke 12:11-12; 21:12-15; John 15:18-25; 16:2). They continued to ignore the ban on speaking in Jesus’ name and carried on day after day and everywhere, in the temple as well as “from house to house.”

Questions:

Compare Jesus’ attitude to taxes/tribute with that of the Zealots (Matthew 22:15-21). Why, do you think, is Jesus more ‘lenient’ than the Zealots about paying taxes?

Have you had any teachers who have made a decisive difference in your life?

The persecution of believers is a repeated theme in the NT. Has this been neglected (in the preaching) in the so-called Christian West? If so, what are the consequences of such neglect?

Comment:

Hundreds of believers are being killed every year in Nigeria, Sudan, Burkina Faso, Myanmar, North Korea, and many other countries. The response from survivors: “Living or dying is of very little importance now. The most important thing is keeping faith in the Lord.” Pray for the persecuted Church!

– Alida Sewell