In this episode, Wes and Andy talk about the increasing persecution that resulted in the imprisonment of the apostles and their trial before the Sanhedrin.
Wes
Welcome to the Two Journeys Bible Study podcast. This podcast is just one of the many resources available to you for free from Two Journeys Ministry. If you’re interested in learning more, just head over to twojourneys.org. Now on to today’s episode. This is Episode 12 in our Acts Bible Study Podcast. This episode is entitled The Persecution Escalates, where we’ll discuss Acts 5:12-42. I’m Wes Treadway and I’m here with Pastor Andy Davis.
Andy, what are we going to see in these verses we’re looking at today?
Andy
Yeah, we’re going to see the very thing that was in the title, we’re going to see the persecution ramping up. In Acts 4 Peter and John were just threatened and let go. They spent a night in jail, but the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Council, didn’t really know what to do with them. But at this point, they’re ready, they’re organized, and they’re ready to kill them. Gamaliel speaks up and effectively saves their lives, although the outcome is very inconsistent. He persuades them not to kill them, but they do flog them. He warns them that they might be fighting against God, these men actually might be from God.
the journey from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth has been a bloody one.
All right, then let’s just flog them and not kill them, and so we’re going to see that. But again, this is the issue of persecution. And then the next case, in Acts 6 and 7, they will kill Stephen. It’s just going to keep ramping up. A savage persecution then will be unleashed by Saul in Acts 8, and it’s going to ramp up. What we’ve seen is that the journey from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth has been a bloody one. It’s not only bloody, but it has included the blood of martyrs.
Wes
Let me go ahead and read Acts 5:12-42.
Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.
Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” Now, when the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. Someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.
And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men, for before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone. For if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.
Andy, what does verse 12 teach us about the miracles in the early church and why was there such a focus on the apostles here?
Andy
no one ever did the kinds of miracles or the volume of miracles that Jesus did, not even close. Jesus was healing huge populations, and he was healing everybody.
Well, it says that the apostles performed many signs and wonders. We see this also in Hebrews 2 where it talks about those, there were eyewitnesses that did great signs and wonders. Again, this was something that the apostles were groomed to do in the days of Jesus’ public ministry. He gave them authority to drive out demons. He gave them power to heal. People were healed even in the time when they were just beginning their own version of a public ministry. This kind of power continued after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, and so they’re doing signs and wonders. Although, I will say, and it’s important to say, no one ever did the kinds of miracles or the volume of miracles that Jesus did, not even close. Jesus was healing huge populations, and he was healing everybody. These were more limited in number. At any rate, they were doing tremendous miracles. As a result, more and more people were listening to their message.
Wes
What were some reasons for what we read in verse 13, and what’s the relationship between verses 13 and 14?
Andy
All right, well, in verse 13 it says, “No one else dared to join them, though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.” So, what it is I think because of what happened to Ananias and Sapphira and the word got out of what had happened, here are two individuals who lied and dropped dead. No one touched them, they just were struck dead by God. There was a sense of awe and wonder and a sense of the holiness of the church. This also, apart from any supernatural death, but is the evidence of a holy church. When the church according to 1 Corinthians 5 does church discipline, the reputation of the church as a holy place rises in the community and it causes a sense of seriousness, then that’s a serious church.
Well, how much more when there’s a supernatural death like Ananias and Sapphira, so people are afraid to join them. If you join that group, you better have yourself in order because if you lie, you might fall down dead. And so, there’s a sense of seriousness and the reputation of the church. So, what I would say is the connection between these two verses is that there were no casual people trying it out, but rather people who had come to genuine faith in Christ and knew they didn’t want to be anywhere else except where the Lord was working. And so, verse 13, no casual people join them. They are highly regarded by the people, but more and more men and women are genuinely believing the Lord and are coming into the church.
Wes
So those who joined their number were those who had truly counted the cost of what it would mean to follow Jesus.
Andy
Absolutely. And by the way, I think this reminds me of something. When God warned Moses, make certain that you put that barrier around Mount Sinai, so the people don’t force their way in and come up the mountain, and I’ll have to kill them. It’s amazing. You think it’s counterintuitive. Here’s God in His holiness, God in his power, God in his terror coming down, and the ground is shaking. And God says, “You better put a fence or something around there because if they come up the mountain, I’m going to kill them,” or they’re going to have to be killed. You’d think they’d be running the other way, but God knows better. He knows we want to be near God. And so, the idea here is if a holy, majestic, powerful God is preached, people will want to come.
Wes
What do verses 15 and 16 teach us about the extent and nature of the apostolic healing ministry and how does it give us insight into modern faith healing movements?
Andy
Okay, so it shows that at that early stage there were significant healings. Even despite what I just said, that there’s never been a healer like Jesus. Still, it says here, “Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem and all of them were healed.” There were large numbers of people being healed in those days. Now, by the end of the apostolic era that had diminished. For example, Paul says, “I left Trophimus sick in Miletus” (2 Timothy 4:20). He’s not healing everybody. There were no sick people around Jesus. So, at any rate, there’s a widespread healing ministry going on here. It was quite remarkable. Peter’s shadow might fall on some people or just handkerchiefs sometimes were brought from Paul and people were healed. So, it’s a remarkable healing ministry. But again, I think this is like a starter flame or something like that for the fire of the gospel. It’s something that gives credibility to the apostles and gets people to listen to their message.
Wes
So, what does that then teach us about modern faith healing movements that we hear of or that are popular in some circles?
Andy
Well, I think it’s important to test everything. Like it says, test the spirits, don’t believe every spirit. I’m skeptical, very skeptical about any accounts of a faith healer that goes from place to place and heals people. I’ve actually never read accounts of any that I thought were believable or that compared with Jesus certainly or even with the apostles. So, I think we just want to test things and make certain that they are what we’re reading about here in scripture. At any rate, we see the reason for the healing, certainly, it’s a display of compassion that the apostles had and a love for people, but also it gathered a crowd. Huge crowds came and they were ready to hear the word.
Wes
In verses 17-26, we see this arrest, imprisonment and then a miraculous escape. What motives does Luke give for the persecution against the church and how does jealousy factor into the arrest of Jesus, the persecution in Acts and even Paul’s strategy that we’ll see later on?
Andy
Yeah. So, the Jews are filled with jealousy because they see the signs and wonders. They see that God’s favor is with them and not with them. So, it reminds me, back in 1 John talks about this, about the bitterness between Cain and Abel, and not that Abel had any bitterness, but Cain was jealous of his brother because his own brother’s actions were righteous, and his were wicked. And so, their conscience is guilty: they’re in it for the money. I mean these are corrupt people, especially Ananias and Caiaphas. They were like the heads of a religious mafia, and they were evil, and then their henchmen also, I think there was a corruption. But meanwhile, there’s this group of untrained, unlettered people, common people from Galilee of all places, and God is with them, and they’re doing signs and wonders they can’t even imagine. They would love to deny the miracles, but they can’t- everybody’s seen them. And so, they are filled with jealousy, and that’s why they arrested the apostles. Now the second question you asked is, what role does jealousy play in, let’s say Paul’s ministry later.
He actually actively sought to arouse jealousy among the Jews by effectively saying you’re on the outside. In the olive tree analogy, you are branches, fruitless branches that have been stripped off. You’re in trouble. You need to be grafted in, and so I want to make you jealous. I want you to see the wonderful things that are going on among the Gentile converts to this Jewish messiah, Jesus. Their lives are being transformed, their marriages are being transformed. They’re filled with joy and confidence, and their prayers are being answered, and people are being healed, and amazing things are happening among the Gentiles. But this religion started among the Jews. Jesus came to seek and save the lost sheep of Israel. It started with a Jewish messiah. He is our own contribution to the world. And so, you should come when you see all the work that God is doing by the Spirit among these Gentile converts; I want you to be filled with jealousy and know you’re on the outside looking in.
I want to say another thing about this. This is one thing that we do with the Lord’s Supper in our corporate worship. We want people to know that if they’re not Christians, they are not to partake, that they are to refrain, that this is only for believers. This is a feast of joy and celebration and remembrance in anticipation of heaven. That’s for Christians. Now, we want you to participate next time. So, we have it quarterly, so in three months it would be wonderful if you would come to faith in Christ and then be baptized, and then you can join us. We actually want them to feel jealous. They’re on the outside looking in. There’s a beautiful feast going on, and they’re on the outside, but they could come inside if they just repent and believe.
Wes
Yeah. We mentioned in this passage that there’s this miraculous escape that’s affected by the power of God. Why does God sometimes affect miraculous escapes for his servants, but sometimes lets them languish in prison for years?
Andy
Yeah, we’re going to see that definitely later with James and with Peter, where James is executed, the brother of John is executed, but Peter is delivered. He escapes. God’s ways are not our own. One of them, he gives up to martyrdom. The other one, he will give up to martyrdom later, but at that point he wants them to continue to minister. God’s ways are not our ways. He is able sovereignly to control these things. So, we see our brothers and sisters being incarcerated in places like China, North Korea or Islamic countries or other places where the gospel’s illegal. Some of them are in prison for a long time according to the rule of God, but they know the Book of Acts. They know that God can cause a deep sleep to fall on their captors. And the prison doors fly open, and the angel commanding them to get up and walk out and it’s not a vision, it’s real. They know that God could still do that if he chooses to. He has his own purposes.
We also know that it was God’s purpose to put Paul in front of Caesar and in front of many tribunals so that he would give a testimony to Christ. It’s the very thing Jesus said would happen. “On my account you’ll be arrested and brought before tribunals and kings and governors and don’t worry ahead of time what to say, the Holy Spirit will give you at that time what to say” (Luke 12:11). So in this case we’ve got two phases. First, they’re arrested, and then they’re set free without anything else. They just walk out. And they go back there into downtown Jerusalem and keep preaching. Then they’re arrested again, and that time they’re beaten. So, God has different purposes. He could deliver them at any point from any beatings. In this case, there are these two phases.
Wes
So, God does have them released for a purpose, and that purpose is that they would speak all the words or the full message. What is the significance of that command that he gives to them upon their escape from prison?
Andy
The full message of this new life so that the whole gospel, don’t hold anything back. We’ve organized, noted that a four-part outline of the gospel is beneficial: God, man, Christ, response. In the God section we talk about God as the Creator, and the King, and the lawgiver, and judge. And then we line that up with the man section, we’re created by God the Creator. We’re under the authority of God the King, but we have broken the laws of God the Lawgiver, and we’re under the judgment of God the Judge. And therefore, we need God the Savior, and that is Christ.
If you’re going to tell the full message, you need to tell the truth about the law and the fact that people are lawbreakers – they’re guilty, they’re sinful. And that Jesus is the Son of God, also, Son of Man, lived a sinless life, died an atoning death, his blood shed on the cross, his atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. And that all you have to do is repent and believe, and your sins will be forgiven. That’s the full message. Don’t pull back from anything. Don’t hide anything, as they will say later, “I’ve not shrunk back from proclaiming anything that will be helpful to you, the full message of this new life” (Acts 20:20).
Wes
So, what were the apostles doing the next morning then? And what effect did the miraculous deliverance from prison have on the Jewish leaders and temple guards?
Andy
So, at daybreak, they entered the temple courts and began to preach. The angel told them to preach, and they did what they were supposed to do. And it’s the very thing they wanted to do, the thing they said that they were going to do. Peter and John said, “Judge for yourselves, whether it is right in the sight of God to obey you rather than God, for we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” We’re going to preach. Jesus told us to do this right before he ascended to heaven, so we are going to do this.
They were going to do it in any case, but the angel told them to keep on doing it. And so, they went there and preached. What was the effect on their enemies? Total consternation. They went to get these men and to bring them to trial, but the men were gone. The officers didn’t find them there. They go back and report this miracle. We found the jail securely locked, and the doors and gates bolted and barred, but when we looked inside, there was no one there. It’s a miracle. They had no explanation. In verse 24, it says that they were puzzled. They were in total consternation; they had no explanation.
Wes
Now, you can imagine walking up to a locked room that you were expecting to find something inside, you open the door and-
Andy
They’re gone.
Wes
… they’re not there. What happened?
Andy
There is no explanation.
Wes
I like that, puzzled, they’re confused.
Andy
Yes, absolutely.
Wes
To say the least, I’m sure. Before we move on to the accusation that’s leveled against them and Peter’s response, I wonder if you could comment on how passive and fearful and reactionary these leaders have become as well as why the guards were afraid to use force on the apostles as it says in verses 25 and 26.
Andy
Well, it was already happening in Jesus’ time. Again and again his enemies wanted to kill him, but they’re afraid of the crowd. Wanted to arrest him, but they’re afraid of the crowd. They’re obviously totally afraid of the crowd as every government should be. In the end, the government only rules by the consent of the people. If enough people rise up, there’s nothing the government can do; they don’t want to slaughter all the people. Fundamentally, there is a vulnerability here, and it’s even worse in that they’re crooked, wicked people. So, their conscience is defiled, and they’re fearful. Actually, as Gamaliel is going to put his finger on the soft spot, you may find yourself fighting against God.
They were in a reactionary state. They were not strong, clear leaders, and so they don’t know what to do. They’re being led rather than they are leaders here. They’re very afraid, we’ve already seen that in chapter 3, where the guards had to be very careful in their arresting of Peter and John who had just done a miracle. Like, “Hey, if you wouldn’t mind coming with us, there’s just some questions that the leaders would like to ask.” Something like that, some gentle approach because they’re afraid that the crowd’s going to stone them. Here again, as you yourself have said, Wes, they are very passive and weak compared to the power of the Holy Spirit.
Wes
So as passive and weak as they are, they do manage to get Peter and these apostles back in front of their council. What accusation do these Jewish leaders make toward Peter and the other apostles? And what is implied in the statement that the apostles intend to bring this man’s blood upon us?
Andy
Yeah. So, they do go, and they bring them in. They’re afraid. They don’t use force. They’re afraid of being stoned. They bring in the apostles before the Sanhedrin, and they’re on trial. This is a trial. This is what they say, the Sanhedrin says, the high priest says, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, the name of Jesus. We told you not to, yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching.” My translation says, “They’re determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood or bring his blood on our heads.” Now, what’s so bizarre about this is in Matthew’s gospel, Matthew 27, this is the very thing they willingly took on themselves. When Pilate was washing his hands of them, of Jesus and said, “Look, it’s on you. I want to set him free, but you’re forcing me.” They said, “Let his blood be on us and on our children.”
Now, this is a very important point that Peter makes earlier in Acts 3:13, in which he said, “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers has glorified a servant Jesus, you,” the Jewish population, “handed him over to be killed. And you disowned him before Pilate, though Pilate had decided to let him go.” It’s not ultimately Pilate’s fault. In one sense it is, he’s responsible. He should have resisted, but they were going to riot if Pilate let Jesus go. He didn’t want a riot to start, and so he felt he had no choice, they were going to go over his head and tell Caesar. So, they were guilty. Pilate would’ve released Jesus. He tried to let him go. He said, “He’s done nothing wrong. He’s innocent.” He again and again tried to let him go. Now, he’s still in charge, and he’s responsible, but ultimately, it is their fault that Jesus was condemned. Now, it’s important that we know some of the history of this. In the centuries that precede us, there’s a long and ugly history of antisemitism based on the Jewish people being accused as Christ killers.
Here’s the thing, what we need to understand is we all killed Jesus. It was our sins that put him to death. God orchestrated the death of Jesus so that Jews first, and then Gentiles were responsible. Pilate wouldn’t have even dealt with Jesus if the Jews hadn’t handed him over to them. That’s why Jesus said to Pilate, “You would have no power over me if it were not given you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of the greater sin” (John 19:11). That would be Ananias. They knew better. They should never have handed their brother Israelite over the Gentiles to be executed. But God orchestrated the circumstance – Jesus’ trials, and it was multiple trials, so that both Jew and Gentile alike were responsible for his death.
Wes
So that’s the accusation that the council levels against Peter and the other apostles. What explanation does Peter give for their disobedience of a command not to preach in Christ’s name? And why does Peter rehearse the facts of the gospel again to the Jewish leaders?
Andy
Okay, so the first question is just a restatement of what they had said in Acts 4:19-20, “Judge for yourself whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God, for we cannot help speaking about what we’ve seen and heard.” He says the same thing here, “We must obey God rather than men.” In other words, we’re not going to obey you when it directly contradicts what God has told us to do. And he has told us to fill Jerusalem with this gospel. Indeed, he’s told us to fill the whole world with it. So yes, we’re going to keep preaching. There’s nothing you can do to stop it. So, we have to obey God rather than men. By the way, I just want to say this is vital for us as evangelists. We need to fear God more than we fear men. We need to yearn to please God more than we please men. This is one of the great hindrances to evangelism is when we put man above God and fear of man above fear of God. But Peter didn’t and he’s ready to go.
I just want to say this is vital for us as evangelists. We need to fear God more than we fear men. We need to yearn to please God more than we please men. This is one of the great hindrances to evangelism
Of course, remember Peter’s story and how he denied even knowing Jesus. Well, he has been absolutely cured to that by the power of the Holy Spirit. And then he rehearses, as you mentioned in the second part of your question, the facts of the gospel. “The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.” So, this is going to lead right into what Gamaliel is saying, “You’re fighting against God. You’re working at cross purposes with God. God raised from the dead the one you had killed.” It says he had him killed, so they orchestrated his death, but it was by Roman soldiers that he was killed. “You had him killed by hanging him on a tree.” All of these are the basic facts of the gospel. And then God raised him from the dead. The apostles always were referring to the resurrection.
They always mention it. “God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior so that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.” That is a very succinct gospel presentation. Now, this one who you have fought against, he’s at the right hand of God in the heavenly realms. That’s who you’re fighting against. For all of that, despite your rebellion and all of your wickedness, the forgiveness of sins is offered to you. Through repentance and faith in Christ your sins can be forgiven.
And we’re telling you, we’re witnesses, and the Holy Spirit also. This is one of those great joint verses here where Jesus said in John 15 or 16, I think, he said, “You are witnesses of these things. You must testify in the Holy Spirit; also, the counselor will testify.” There’s a cooperation. You get this in the last book of the Bible, also, Revelation 22, “The Spirit and the bride,” the church, “say come.” So, there’s this invitation going on here, this evangelistic effort. We are witnesses and so is the Holy Spirit. How is he? Through the miracles.
Wes
Yeah, it’s amazing. Peter on trial, once again in front of this council, seems to have always before him this sense of their need and a desire to proclaim the gospel even to those who he lays the blame for what has just taken place in Jesus’ death at their feet. He still desires that they would hear, repent and believe.
Andy
Yeah, always a desire for repentance. He’d love to see them change. Also, I love this word, obey. The Holy Spirit will be given if you’ll just obey. The gospel is predominantly something to be obeyed, believed, and obeyed. So, we believe the gospel. We obey the gospel. It’s the summons from God the King. If you’ll obey him, he’ll give you the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Wes
Now, we want to look at Gamaliel’s speech, which really is the balance of this chapter. But 33 almost seems like the spark that ignites Gamaliel’s speech to the council.
Andy
Oh yeah.
Wes
What brought such an extreme reaction from the leaders to Peter’s speech in verse 33?
Andy
Well, I think whenever there’s carnal anger there’s some idolatry at the heart of it. Their idolatry is their own lives as powerful, wealthy men. Its self-worship, but specifically they are idolizing their money and their powerful position over Israel. They cannot stand this kind of bold defiance; it enrages them. So, this is the typical tyrannical response, a tyrant responds to this kind of independence, and confident independence, by rage and a desire to use the power at their disposal to put them to death. Keep in mind, they could not execute Jesus. They had to hand him over to Pilate to be killed. That was the rule, but they’re ready to kill these guys right here and there, here and now.
Wes
All right, so who is Gamaliel and how would you summarize his speech and the advice he gives concerning the apostles in verses 33-39?
Andy
Right. In one sense, he could be called the teacher of Israel. He’s one of these great rabbinic leaders. Saul of Tarsus, who we know as the apostle Paul, sat at Gamaliel’s feet and was taught the scripture by him. That was something that could be boasted about, but not concerning Christ. And so here is this great teacher of Israel and he speaks up. He’s a Pharisee. He’s designated here as a Pharisee and a well-known teacher of the law. It says, “Who is honored by all the people.” And because he’s successful in his persuasion they listen to him. He’s got a practical, pragmatic wisdom here that we need to weigh and try to understand. All right, so let’s walk through what Gamaliel’s practical wisdom is. First of all, he wanted the guys put out so that he could address them privately. And he says, “You need to be very, very careful what you do with these men.” Well, absolutely they do, but not for the reason Gamaliel thinks. To some degree, yes, but he doesn’t understand the zeal that Almighty God will have to defend his people.
If we look at Revelation 16, when the angel is turning the water, the drinking water of planet earth into blood, he’s celebrating it, saying, “You are right in doing this because they have shed the blood of your people and you’re giving them blood to drink. It is what they deserve.” God takes very seriously people who will beat on his people or kill them. So, they do need to consider very, very carefully what they intend to do to this man. Then he goes over some recent history. Now, this gives us some insight into the religious life of the Jews back then. There were always these individuals popping up, claiming to be somebody. That’s what it says about Theudas. Theudas appeared claiming to be somebody. In other words, as Jesus himself would say, “False Christs and false prophets will appear and deceive many people.” This is always going on. Very religious people and there would be people that would go out like John the Baptist did out in the desert and then come back and they’d gain a following.
So this happened again and again and Jesus said, “Watch out for it. Watch out that this happened.” This man Theudas did, and about 400 people rallied to him. But when he was killed, it all ended, and it went away like nothing. Just cut off the head of the snake and the snake dies. That was the mentality. And then another guy, Judas, the Galilean appears in the days of the census. That was back when Jesus was born, the census under Caesar Augustus. And the same thing happened, again. He led a band of people in revolt and he too, was killed and all his followers were scattered. So, here’s the thing, Jesus has now been killed. It’s probably going to go to the same way. Nothing is going to happen to this. So just step back, leave him alone, let them go. Because here’s the thing, if their purpose or activity is from human origin, as we’ve seen with these other two, it’s going to fail.
It’s going to be like the morning mist, like dust in the wind. But if it is from God, you’re going to find yourself fighting against this massive work of God. Now, here’s the problem I have with Gamaliel’s speech. What about Islam? Muhammad died. Died of old age. He wasn’t executed, but did Islam die out when he died? No, it gets stronger and stronger every hundred years. So just because something’s not from God doesn’t mean it’s not going to be very, very popular. I think you got to take Gamaliel’s practical wisdom here with a grain of salt. I do give him some credit for at least acknowledging the possibility that the gospel may be from God. So, I don’t know if you have anything to say about that.
Wes
Well, I think it seems that for the rest of them that hadn’t even entered their mind. They were just thinking just like those, these men need to be done away with because we don’t want them to also lead the people astray that we are trying to instruct and teach. And so, Gamaliel enters in with this practical wisdom. But again, like you said, there’s some flaws to it as well.
Andy
There are some flaws, but along with it, there’s at least a certain glimmer of humility. We might be wrong.
Wes
It’s possible, right?
Andy
It’s at least possible.
Wes
Yeah.
Andy
They never thought of it that way. The Pharisees were so cocky and confident in their own righteousness. They had simplistic rules about Jesus. He doesn’t keep the Sabbath, he’s not from God. I don’t care what he does as a man born blind. It doesn’t matter. Yeah, it’s incredible, I don’t have an explanation, but I’m just telling you, “He doesn’t keep the Sabbath. He’s not from God.” Or they have these other simplistic things. We know where this man comes from. When the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from. Or doesn’t the scripture say that the Messiah will come out of Bethlehem? Look into it and you’ll see that no prophet comes out of Galilee. Well, they were wrong on both counts. Yes, the Messiah came out of Bethlehem, and Jesus came from Bethlehem. Furthermore, a prophet does arise, a light does shine out of Galilee, read about it in Isaiah 9. They had these simplistic ways of eliminating Jesus. And so, they thought, he’s not from God. He doesn’t keep the Sabbath. Gamaliel is willing at least to admit, “Hey, we might be wrong. Maybe he is from God.”
Wes
Yeah. Now, you mentioned the contradictory of their response. The end of verse 39 says, “So they took his advice.” But then immediately in verse 40 we read when they had called in the apostles, “They beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go.” What explanation do you think they would’ve given for this response, even though it says they took the advice of Gamaliel?
Andy
Well, at least we didn’t kill him.
Wes
Right. We could have done worse.
Andy
It’s like a political answer. They’re splitting the difference. We’re not going to let them go. We got to do something. But it’s the same thing that Pilate did. He said, “I’m going to bring you out. I’m going to have him flogged, and then I’m going to release him to let you know I find no fault in him.” It’s like, well then why flog him? Again, if you might be fighting against God, God will not take it kindly if you beat his messengers. If you look at the parable of the vineyard and the absentee landowner, and he sends messengers to get his share of the crop at harvest time, the initial reaction is to beat the messengers. Jesus covered this very thing. It’s very twisted in their thinking, it’s like, “Oh, his speech persuaded them, maybe they’re from God. So, I’ll tell you what, instead of killing them, we’ll just beat them,” et cetera. And then they order them again not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus and let them go.
Wes
It’s a powerful response though, that the apostles have, because even though they do endure this beating, they leave rejoicing. What enabled the apostles to joyfully endure this kind of suffering in verse 41? And what does verse 42 teach us about the apostolic ministry of evangelism?
Andy
Yeah, it’s just a great honor. It’s a great honor to be beaten for the name of Jesus, very few people are. The overwhelming majority of redeemed people in heaven will not have been physically beaten or martyred for the gospel. That’s why Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven from the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11). They’re fulfilling Jesus’ command. They are rejoicing and are glad that they are counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the name of Christ. We learn just this apostolic boldness. They are fearless.
They’re not afraid to be beaten, and they’re not afraid to die. There’s a certain mark of honor, as Paul will say in one of his epistles, “Let no man cause me trouble for I bear in my body the marks of Jesus” (Galatians 6:17). There is that scourging. Paul was beaten eight times and stoned. That’s nine savage attacks on his body, at least for the gospel. So, we think about that, these men had won, and they were rejoicing.
Wes
It’s powerful to think of them having their minds set on things above as Christ had commanded them, to be mindful of that reward that awaited if they would endure and be faithful with the gospel. Andy, any final thoughts for us today as we conclude this episode and Acts 5?
Andy
I’ll just read the final verse. “Day after day in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the gospel that Jesus is the Christ.” What that says to me is we need to be faithful. We have our own generation to reach. These apostles cannot reach 21st century America. That’s our calling, and so we need to be faithful day after day in various settings. It says in the Temple Court, so for us it would be in the church, and then from house to house, and in the marketplace, different places, that we would never stop proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. And secondly, that we would not be afraid of what might happen to us. Not be afraid of beatings, verbal beatings or physical beatings, not be afraid of any persecution. I believe, or perceive, that Christianity will become less and less popular in American culture generally. It’s already happening. For us to be willing to stand up boldly and count the cost and be willing to proclaim the name of Jesus, that’s the takeaway for me in Acts 5.
Wes
Well, this has been Episode 12 in our Acts Bible Study Podcast. We would invite you to join us next time for Episode 13 entitled The Seven Servants and Stephen, where we’ll discuss Acts 6:1-15. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys Podcast and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
Wes
Welcome to the Two Journeys Bible Study podcast. This podcast is just one of the many resources available to you for free from Two Journeys Ministry. If you’re interested in learning more, just head over to twojourneys.org. Now on to today’s episode. This is Episode 12 in our Acts Bible Study Podcast. This episode is entitled The Persecution Escalates, where we’ll discuss Acts 5:12-42. I’m Wes Treadway and I’m here with Pastor Andy Davis.
Andy, what are we going to see in these verses we’re looking at today?
Andy
Yeah, we’re going to see the very thing that was in the title, we’re going to see the persecution ramping up. In Acts 4 Peter and John were just threatened and let go. They spent a night in jail, but the Sanhedrin, the Jewish Council, didn’t really know what to do with them. But at this point, they’re ready, they’re organized, and they’re ready to kill them. Gamaliel speaks up and effectively saves their lives, although the outcome is very inconsistent. He persuades them not to kill them, but they do flog them. He warns them that they might be fighting against God, these men actually might be from God.
the journey from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth has been a bloody one.
All right, then let’s just flog them and not kill them, and so we’re going to see that. But again, this is the issue of persecution. And then the next case, in Acts 6 and 7, they will kill Stephen. It’s just going to keep ramping up. A savage persecution then will be unleashed by Saul in Acts 8, and it’s going to ramp up. What we’ve seen is that the journey from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth has been a bloody one. It’s not only bloody, but it has included the blood of martyrs.
Wes
Let me go ahead and read Acts 5:12-42.
Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.
Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” Now, when the captain of the temple and the chief priest heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. Someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.
And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them saying, “We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men, for before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone. For if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.
Andy, what does verse 12 teach us about the miracles in the early church and why was there such a focus on the apostles here?
Andy
no one ever did the kinds of miracles or the volume of miracles that Jesus did, not even close. Jesus was healing huge populations, and he was healing everybody.
Well, it says that the apostles performed many signs and wonders. We see this also in Hebrews 2 where it talks about those, there were eyewitnesses that did great signs and wonders. Again, this was something that the apostles were groomed to do in the days of Jesus’ public ministry. He gave them authority to drive out demons. He gave them power to heal. People were healed even in the time when they were just beginning their own version of a public ministry. This kind of power continued after Jesus rose from the dead and ascended to heaven, and so they’re doing signs and wonders. Although, I will say, and it’s important to say, no one ever did the kinds of miracles or the volume of miracles that Jesus did, not even close. Jesus was healing huge populations, and he was healing everybody. These were more limited in number. At any rate, they were doing tremendous miracles. As a result, more and more people were listening to their message.
Wes
What were some reasons for what we read in verse 13, and what’s the relationship between verses 13 and 14?
Andy
All right, well, in verse 13 it says, “No one else dared to join them, though they were highly regarded by the people. Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number.” So, what it is I think because of what happened to Ananias and Sapphira and the word got out of what had happened, here are two individuals who lied and dropped dead. No one touched them, they just were struck dead by God. There was a sense of awe and wonder and a sense of the holiness of the church. This also, apart from any supernatural death, but is the evidence of a holy church. When the church according to 1 Corinthians 5 does church discipline, the reputation of the church as a holy place rises in the community and it causes a sense of seriousness, then that’s a serious church.
Well, how much more when there’s a supernatural death like Ananias and Sapphira, so people are afraid to join them. If you join that group, you better have yourself in order because if you lie, you might fall down dead. And so, there’s a sense of seriousness and the reputation of the church. So, what I would say is the connection between these two verses is that there were no casual people trying it out, but rather people who had come to genuine faith in Christ and knew they didn’t want to be anywhere else except where the Lord was working. And so, verse 13, no casual people join them. They are highly regarded by the people, but more and more men and women are genuinely believing the Lord and are coming into the church.
Wes
So those who joined their number were those who had truly counted the cost of what it would mean to follow Jesus.
Andy
Absolutely. And by the way, I think this reminds me of something. When God warned Moses, make certain that you put that barrier around Mount Sinai, so the people don’t force their way in and come up the mountain, and I’ll have to kill them. It’s amazing. You think it’s counterintuitive. Here’s God in His holiness, God in his power, God in his terror coming down, and the ground is shaking. And God says, “You better put a fence or something around there because if they come up the mountain, I’m going to kill them,” or they’re going to have to be killed. You’d think they’d be running the other way, but God knows better. He knows we want to be near God. And so, the idea here is if a holy, majestic, powerful God is preached, people will want to come.
Wes
What do verses 15 and 16 teach us about the extent and nature of the apostolic healing ministry and how does it give us insight into modern faith healing movements?
Andy
Okay, so it shows that at that early stage there were significant healings. Even despite what I just said, that there’s never been a healer like Jesus. Still, it says here, “Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem and all of them were healed.” There were large numbers of people being healed in those days. Now, by the end of the apostolic era that had diminished. For example, Paul says, “I left Trophimus sick in Miletus” (2 Timothy 4:20). He’s not healing everybody. There were no sick people around Jesus. So, at any rate, there’s a widespread healing ministry going on here. It was quite remarkable. Peter’s shadow might fall on some people or just handkerchiefs sometimes were brought from Paul and people were healed. So, it’s a remarkable healing ministry. But again, I think this is like a starter flame or something like that for the fire of the gospel. It’s something that gives credibility to the apostles and gets people to listen to their message.
Wes
So, what does that then teach us about modern faith healing movements that we hear of or that are popular in some circles?
Andy
Well, I think it’s important to test everything. Like it says, test the spirits, don’t believe every spirit. I’m skeptical, very skeptical about any accounts of a faith healer that goes from place to place and heals people. I’ve actually never read accounts of any that I thought were believable or that compared with Jesus certainly or even with the apostles. So, I think we just want to test things and make certain that they are what we’re reading about here in scripture. At any rate, we see the reason for the healing, certainly, it’s a display of compassion that the apostles had and a love for people, but also it gathered a crowd. Huge crowds came and they were ready to hear the word.
Wes
In verses 17-26, we see this arrest, imprisonment and then a miraculous escape. What motives does Luke give for the persecution against the church and how does jealousy factor into the arrest of Jesus, the persecution in Acts and even Paul’s strategy that we’ll see later on?
Andy
Yeah. So, the Jews are filled with jealousy because they see the signs and wonders. They see that God’s favor is with them and not with them. So, it reminds me, back in 1 John talks about this, about the bitterness between Cain and Abel, and not that Abel had any bitterness, but Cain was jealous of his brother because his own brother’s actions were righteous, and his were wicked. And so, their conscience is guilty: they’re in it for the money. I mean these are corrupt people, especially Ananias and Caiaphas. They were like the heads of a religious mafia, and they were evil, and then their henchmen also, I think there was a corruption. But meanwhile, there’s this group of untrained, unlettered people, common people from Galilee of all places, and God is with them, and they’re doing signs and wonders they can’t even imagine. They would love to deny the miracles, but they can’t- everybody’s seen them. And so, they are filled with jealousy, and that’s why they arrested the apostles. Now the second question you asked is, what role does jealousy play in, let’s say Paul’s ministry later.
He actually actively sought to arouse jealousy among the Jews by effectively saying you’re on the outside. In the olive tree analogy, you are branches, fruitless branches that have been stripped off. You’re in trouble. You need to be grafted in, and so I want to make you jealous. I want you to see the wonderful things that are going on among the Gentile converts to this Jewish messiah, Jesus. Their lives are being transformed, their marriages are being transformed. They’re filled with joy and confidence, and their prayers are being answered, and people are being healed, and amazing things are happening among the Gentiles. But this religion started among the Jews. Jesus came to seek and save the lost sheep of Israel. It started with a Jewish messiah. He is our own contribution to the world. And so, you should come when you see all the work that God is doing by the Spirit among these Gentile converts; I want you to be filled with jealousy and know you’re on the outside looking in.
I want to say another thing about this. This is one thing that we do with the Lord’s Supper in our corporate worship. We want people to know that if they’re not Christians, they are not to partake, that they are to refrain, that this is only for believers. This is a feast of joy and celebration and remembrance in anticipation of heaven. That’s for Christians. Now, we want you to participate next time. So, we have it quarterly, so in three months it would be wonderful if you would come to faith in Christ and then be baptized, and then you can join us. We actually want them to feel jealous. They’re on the outside looking in. There’s a beautiful feast going on, and they’re on the outside, but they could come inside if they just repent and believe.
Wes
Yeah. We mentioned in this passage that there’s this miraculous escape that’s affected by the power of God. Why does God sometimes affect miraculous escapes for his servants, but sometimes lets them languish in prison for years?
Andy
Yeah, we’re going to see that definitely later with James and with Peter, where James is executed, the brother of John is executed, but Peter is delivered. He escapes. God’s ways are not our own. One of them, he gives up to martyrdom. The other one, he will give up to martyrdom later, but at that point he wants them to continue to minister. God’s ways are not our ways. He is able sovereignly to control these things. So, we see our brothers and sisters being incarcerated in places like China, North Korea or Islamic countries or other places where the gospel’s illegal. Some of them are in prison for a long time according to the rule of God, but they know the Book of Acts. They know that God can cause a deep sleep to fall on their captors. And the prison doors fly open, and the angel commanding them to get up and walk out and it’s not a vision, it’s real. They know that God could still do that if he chooses to. He has his own purposes.
We also know that it was God’s purpose to put Paul in front of Caesar and in front of many tribunals so that he would give a testimony to Christ. It’s the very thing Jesus said would happen. “On my account you’ll be arrested and brought before tribunals and kings and governors and don’t worry ahead of time what to say, the Holy Spirit will give you at that time what to say” (Luke 12:11). So in this case we’ve got two phases. First, they’re arrested, and then they’re set free without anything else. They just walk out. And they go back there into downtown Jerusalem and keep preaching. Then they’re arrested again, and that time they’re beaten. So, God has different purposes. He could deliver them at any point from any beatings. In this case, there are these two phases.
Wes
So, God does have them released for a purpose, and that purpose is that they would speak all the words or the full message. What is the significance of that command that he gives to them upon their escape from prison?
Andy
The full message of this new life so that the whole gospel, don’t hold anything back. We’ve organized, noted that a four-part outline of the gospel is beneficial: God, man, Christ, response. In the God section we talk about God as the Creator, and the King, and the lawgiver, and judge. And then we line that up with the man section, we’re created by God the Creator. We’re under the authority of God the King, but we have broken the laws of God the Lawgiver, and we’re under the judgment of God the Judge. And therefore, we need God the Savior, and that is Christ.
If you’re going to tell the full message, you need to tell the truth about the law and the fact that people are lawbreakers – they’re guilty, they’re sinful. And that Jesus is the Son of God, also, Son of Man, lived a sinless life, died an atoning death, his blood shed on the cross, his atoning sacrifice for the sins of the world. And that all you have to do is repent and believe, and your sins will be forgiven. That’s the full message. Don’t pull back from anything. Don’t hide anything, as they will say later, “I’ve not shrunk back from proclaiming anything that will be helpful to you, the full message of this new life” (Acts 20:20).
Wes
So, what were the apostles doing the next morning then? And what effect did the miraculous deliverance from prison have on the Jewish leaders and temple guards?
Andy
So, at daybreak, they entered the temple courts and began to preach. The angel told them to preach, and they did what they were supposed to do. And it’s the very thing they wanted to do, the thing they said that they were going to do. Peter and John said, “Judge for yourselves, whether it is right in the sight of God to obey you rather than God, for we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.” We’re going to preach. Jesus told us to do this right before he ascended to heaven, so we are going to do this.
They were going to do it in any case, but the angel told them to keep on doing it. And so, they went there and preached. What was the effect on their enemies? Total consternation. They went to get these men and to bring them to trial, but the men were gone. The officers didn’t find them there. They go back and report this miracle. We found the jail securely locked, and the doors and gates bolted and barred, but when we looked inside, there was no one there. It’s a miracle. They had no explanation. In verse 24, it says that they were puzzled. They were in total consternation; they had no explanation.
Wes
Now, you can imagine walking up to a locked room that you were expecting to find something inside, you open the door and-
Andy
They’re gone.
Wes
… they’re not there. What happened?
Andy
There is no explanation.
Wes
I like that, puzzled, they’re confused.
Andy
Yes, absolutely.
Wes
To say the least, I’m sure. Before we move on to the accusation that’s leveled against them and Peter’s response, I wonder if you could comment on how passive and fearful and reactionary these leaders have become as well as why the guards were afraid to use force on the apostles as it says in verses 25 and 26.
Andy
Well, it was already happening in Jesus’ time. Again and again his enemies wanted to kill him, but they’re afraid of the crowd. Wanted to arrest him, but they’re afraid of the crowd. They’re obviously totally afraid of the crowd as every government should be. In the end, the government only rules by the consent of the people. If enough people rise up, there’s nothing the government can do; they don’t want to slaughter all the people. Fundamentally, there is a vulnerability here, and it’s even worse in that they’re crooked, wicked people. So, their conscience is defiled, and they’re fearful. Actually, as Gamaliel is going to put his finger on the soft spot, you may find yourself fighting against God.
They were in a reactionary state. They were not strong, clear leaders, and so they don’t know what to do. They’re being led rather than they are leaders here. They’re very afraid, we’ve already seen that in chapter 3, where the guards had to be very careful in their arresting of Peter and John who had just done a miracle. Like, “Hey, if you wouldn’t mind coming with us, there’s just some questions that the leaders would like to ask.” Something like that, some gentle approach because they’re afraid that the crowd’s going to stone them. Here again, as you yourself have said, Wes, they are very passive and weak compared to the power of the Holy Spirit.
Wes
So as passive and weak as they are, they do manage to get Peter and these apostles back in front of their council. What accusation do these Jewish leaders make toward Peter and the other apostles? And what is implied in the statement that the apostles intend to bring this man’s blood upon us?
Andy
Yeah. So, they do go, and they bring them in. They’re afraid. They don’t use force. They’re afraid of being stoned. They bring in the apostles before the Sanhedrin, and they’re on trial. This is a trial. This is what they say, the Sanhedrin says, the high priest says, “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, the name of Jesus. We told you not to, yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching.” My translation says, “They’re determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood or bring his blood on our heads.” Now, what’s so bizarre about this is in Matthew’s gospel, Matthew 27, this is the very thing they willingly took on themselves. When Pilate was washing his hands of them, of Jesus and said, “Look, it’s on you. I want to set him free, but you’re forcing me.” They said, “Let his blood be on us and on our children.”
Now, this is a very important point that Peter makes earlier in Acts 3:13, in which he said, “The God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, the God of our fathers has glorified a servant Jesus, you,” the Jewish population, “handed him over to be killed. And you disowned him before Pilate, though Pilate had decided to let him go.” It’s not ultimately Pilate’s fault. In one sense it is, he’s responsible. He should have resisted, but they were going to riot if Pilate let Jesus go. He didn’t want a riot to start, and so he felt he had no choice, they were going to go over his head and tell Caesar. So, they were guilty. Pilate would’ve released Jesus. He tried to let him go. He said, “He’s done nothing wrong. He’s innocent.” He again and again tried to let him go. Now, he’s still in charge, and he’s responsible, but ultimately, it is their fault that Jesus was condemned. Now, it’s important that we know some of the history of this. In the centuries that precede us, there’s a long and ugly history of antisemitism based on the Jewish people being accused as Christ killers.
Here’s the thing, what we need to understand is we all killed Jesus. It was our sins that put him to death. God orchestrated the death of Jesus so that Jews first, and then Gentiles were responsible. Pilate wouldn’t have even dealt with Jesus if the Jews hadn’t handed him over to them. That’s why Jesus said to Pilate, “You would have no power over me if it were not given you from above. Therefore, the one who handed me over to you is guilty of the greater sin” (John 19:11). That would be Ananias. They knew better. They should never have handed their brother Israelite over the Gentiles to be executed. But God orchestrated the circumstance – Jesus’ trials, and it was multiple trials, so that both Jew and Gentile alike were responsible for his death.
Wes
So that’s the accusation that the council levels against Peter and the other apostles. What explanation does Peter give for their disobedience of a command not to preach in Christ’s name? And why does Peter rehearse the facts of the gospel again to the Jewish leaders?
Andy
Okay, so the first question is just a restatement of what they had said in Acts 4:19-20, “Judge for yourself whether it is right in God’s sight to obey you rather than God, for we cannot help speaking about what we’ve seen and heard.” He says the same thing here, “We must obey God rather than men.” In other words, we’re not going to obey you when it directly contradicts what God has told us to do. And he has told us to fill Jerusalem with this gospel. Indeed, he’s told us to fill the whole world with it. So yes, we’re going to keep preaching. There’s nothing you can do to stop it. So, we have to obey God rather than men. By the way, I just want to say this is vital for us as evangelists. We need to fear God more than we fear men. We need to yearn to please God more than we please men. This is one of the great hindrances to evangelism is when we put man above God and fear of man above fear of God. But Peter didn’t and he’s ready to go.
I just want to say this is vital for us as evangelists. We need to fear God more than we fear men. We need to yearn to please God more than we please men. This is one of the great hindrances to evangelism
Of course, remember Peter’s story and how he denied even knowing Jesus. Well, he has been absolutely cured to that by the power of the Holy Spirit. And then he rehearses, as you mentioned in the second part of your question, the facts of the gospel. “The God of our fathers raised Jesus from the dead whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree.” So, this is going to lead right into what Gamaliel is saying, “You’re fighting against God. You’re working at cross purposes with God. God raised from the dead the one you had killed.” It says he had him killed, so they orchestrated his death, but it was by Roman soldiers that he was killed. “You had him killed by hanging him on a tree.” All of these are the basic facts of the gospel. And then God raised him from the dead. The apostles always were referring to the resurrection.
They always mention it. “God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior so that he might give repentance and forgiveness of sins to Israel. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.” That is a very succinct gospel presentation. Now, this one who you have fought against, he’s at the right hand of God in the heavenly realms. That’s who you’re fighting against. For all of that, despite your rebellion and all of your wickedness, the forgiveness of sins is offered to you. Through repentance and faith in Christ your sins can be forgiven.
And we’re telling you, we’re witnesses, and the Holy Spirit also. This is one of those great joint verses here where Jesus said in John 15 or 16, I think, he said, “You are witnesses of these things. You must testify in the Holy Spirit; also, the counselor will testify.” There’s a cooperation. You get this in the last book of the Bible, also, Revelation 22, “The Spirit and the bride,” the church, “say come.” So, there’s this invitation going on here, this evangelistic effort. We are witnesses and so is the Holy Spirit. How is he? Through the miracles.
Wes
Yeah, it’s amazing. Peter on trial, once again in front of this council, seems to have always before him this sense of their need and a desire to proclaim the gospel even to those who he lays the blame for what has just taken place in Jesus’ death at their feet. He still desires that they would hear, repent and believe.
Andy
Yeah, always a desire for repentance. He’d love to see them change. Also, I love this word, obey. The Holy Spirit will be given if you’ll just obey. The gospel is predominantly something to be obeyed, believed, and obeyed. So, we believe the gospel. We obey the gospel. It’s the summons from God the King. If you’ll obey him, he’ll give you the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Wes
Now, we want to look at Gamaliel’s speech, which really is the balance of this chapter. But 33 almost seems like the spark that ignites Gamaliel’s speech to the council.
Andy
Oh yeah.
Wes
What brought such an extreme reaction from the leaders to Peter’s speech in verse 33?
Andy
Well, I think whenever there’s carnal anger there’s some idolatry at the heart of it. Their idolatry is their own lives as powerful, wealthy men. Its self-worship, but specifically they are idolizing their money and their powerful position over Israel. They cannot stand this kind of bold defiance; it enrages them. So, this is the typical tyrannical response, a tyrant responds to this kind of independence, and confident independence, by rage and a desire to use the power at their disposal to put them to death. Keep in mind, they could not execute Jesus. They had to hand him over to Pilate to be killed. That was the rule, but they’re ready to kill these guys right here and there, here and now.
Wes
All right, so who is Gamaliel and how would you summarize his speech and the advice he gives concerning the apostles in verses 33-39?
Andy
Right. In one sense, he could be called the teacher of Israel. He’s one of these great rabbinic leaders. Saul of Tarsus, who we know as the apostle Paul, sat at Gamaliel’s feet and was taught the scripture by him. That was something that could be boasted about, but not concerning Christ. And so here is this great teacher of Israel and he speaks up. He’s a Pharisee. He’s designated here as a Pharisee and a well-known teacher of the law. It says, “Who is honored by all the people.” And because he’s successful in his persuasion they listen to him. He’s got a practical, pragmatic wisdom here that we need to weigh and try to understand. All right, so let’s walk through what Gamaliel’s practical wisdom is. First of all, he wanted the guys put out so that he could address them privately. And he says, “You need to be very, very careful what you do with these men.” Well, absolutely they do, but not for the reason Gamaliel thinks. To some degree, yes, but he doesn’t understand the zeal that Almighty God will have to defend his people.
If we look at Revelation 16, when the angel is turning the water, the drinking water of planet earth into blood, he’s celebrating it, saying, “You are right in doing this because they have shed the blood of your people and you’re giving them blood to drink. It is what they deserve.” God takes very seriously people who will beat on his people or kill them. So, they do need to consider very, very carefully what they intend to do to this man. Then he goes over some recent history. Now, this gives us some insight into the religious life of the Jews back then. There were always these individuals popping up, claiming to be somebody. That’s what it says about Theudas. Theudas appeared claiming to be somebody. In other words, as Jesus himself would say, “False Christs and false prophets will appear and deceive many people.” This is always going on. Very religious people and there would be people that would go out like John the Baptist did out in the desert and then come back and they’d gain a following.
So this happened again and again and Jesus said, “Watch out for it. Watch out that this happened.” This man Theudas did, and about 400 people rallied to him. But when he was killed, it all ended, and it went away like nothing. Just cut off the head of the snake and the snake dies. That was the mentality. And then another guy, Judas, the Galilean appears in the days of the census. That was back when Jesus was born, the census under Caesar Augustus. And the same thing happened, again. He led a band of people in revolt and he too, was killed and all his followers were scattered. So, here’s the thing, Jesus has now been killed. It’s probably going to go to the same way. Nothing is going to happen to this. So just step back, leave him alone, let them go. Because here’s the thing, if their purpose or activity is from human origin, as we’ve seen with these other two, it’s going to fail.
It’s going to be like the morning mist, like dust in the wind. But if it is from God, you’re going to find yourself fighting against this massive work of God. Now, here’s the problem I have with Gamaliel’s speech. What about Islam? Muhammad died. Died of old age. He wasn’t executed, but did Islam die out when he died? No, it gets stronger and stronger every hundred years. So just because something’s not from God doesn’t mean it’s not going to be very, very popular. I think you got to take Gamaliel’s practical wisdom here with a grain of salt. I do give him some credit for at least acknowledging the possibility that the gospel may be from God. So, I don’t know if you have anything to say about that.
Wes
Well, I think it seems that for the rest of them that hadn’t even entered their mind. They were just thinking just like those, these men need to be done away with because we don’t want them to also lead the people astray that we are trying to instruct and teach. And so, Gamaliel enters in with this practical wisdom. But again, like you said, there’s some flaws to it as well.
Andy
There are some flaws, but along with it, there’s at least a certain glimmer of humility. We might be wrong.
Wes
It’s possible, right?
Andy
It’s at least possible.
Wes
Yeah.
Andy
They never thought of it that way. The Pharisees were so cocky and confident in their own righteousness. They had simplistic rules about Jesus. He doesn’t keep the Sabbath, he’s not from God. I don’t care what he does as a man born blind. It doesn’t matter. Yeah, it’s incredible, I don’t have an explanation, but I’m just telling you, “He doesn’t keep the Sabbath. He’s not from God.” Or they have these other simplistic things. We know where this man comes from. When the Messiah comes, no one will know where he is from. Or doesn’t the scripture say that the Messiah will come out of Bethlehem? Look into it and you’ll see that no prophet comes out of Galilee. Well, they were wrong on both counts. Yes, the Messiah came out of Bethlehem, and Jesus came from Bethlehem. Furthermore, a prophet does arise, a light does shine out of Galilee, read about it in Isaiah 9. They had these simplistic ways of eliminating Jesus. And so, they thought, he’s not from God. He doesn’t keep the Sabbath. Gamaliel is willing at least to admit, “Hey, we might be wrong. Maybe he is from God.”
Wes
Yeah. Now, you mentioned the contradictory of their response. The end of verse 39 says, “So they took his advice.” But then immediately in verse 40 we read when they had called in the apostles, “They beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go.” What explanation do you think they would’ve given for this response, even though it says they took the advice of Gamaliel?
Andy
Well, at least we didn’t kill him.
Wes
Right. We could have done worse.
Andy
It’s like a political answer. They’re splitting the difference. We’re not going to let them go. We got to do something. But it’s the same thing that Pilate did. He said, “I’m going to bring you out. I’m going to have him flogged, and then I’m going to release him to let you know I find no fault in him.” It’s like, well then why flog him? Again, if you might be fighting against God, God will not take it kindly if you beat his messengers. If you look at the parable of the vineyard and the absentee landowner, and he sends messengers to get his share of the crop at harvest time, the initial reaction is to beat the messengers. Jesus covered this very thing. It’s very twisted in their thinking, it’s like, “Oh, his speech persuaded them, maybe they’re from God. So, I’ll tell you what, instead of killing them, we’ll just beat them,” et cetera. And then they order them again not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus and let them go.
Wes
It’s a powerful response though, that the apostles have, because even though they do endure this beating, they leave rejoicing. What enabled the apostles to joyfully endure this kind of suffering in verse 41? And what does verse 42 teach us about the apostolic ministry of evangelism?
Andy
Yeah, it’s just a great honor. It’s a great honor to be beaten for the name of Jesus, very few people are. The overwhelming majority of redeemed people in heaven will not have been physically beaten or martyred for the gospel. That’s why Jesus said, “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you, and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven from the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you” (Matthew 5:11). They’re fulfilling Jesus’ command. They are rejoicing and are glad that they are counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the name of Christ. We learn just this apostolic boldness. They are fearless.
They’re not afraid to be beaten, and they’re not afraid to die. There’s a certain mark of honor, as Paul will say in one of his epistles, “Let no man cause me trouble for I bear in my body the marks of Jesus” (Galatians 6:17). There is that scourging. Paul was beaten eight times and stoned. That’s nine savage attacks on his body, at least for the gospel. So, we think about that, these men had won, and they were rejoicing.
Wes
It’s powerful to think of them having their minds set on things above as Christ had commanded them, to be mindful of that reward that awaited if they would endure and be faithful with the gospel. Andy, any final thoughts for us today as we conclude this episode and Acts 5?
Andy
I’ll just read the final verse. “Day after day in the temple courts and from house to house, they never stopped teaching and proclaiming the gospel that Jesus is the Christ.” What that says to me is we need to be faithful. We have our own generation to reach. These apostles cannot reach 21st century America. That’s our calling, and so we need to be faithful day after day in various settings. It says in the Temple Court, so for us it would be in the church, and then from house to house, and in the marketplace, different places, that we would never stop proclaiming the good news that Jesus is the Christ. And secondly, that we would not be afraid of what might happen to us. Not be afraid of beatings, verbal beatings or physical beatings, not be afraid of any persecution. I believe, or perceive, that Christianity will become less and less popular in American culture generally. It’s already happening. For us to be willing to stand up boldly and count the cost and be willing to proclaim the name of Jesus, that’s the takeaway for me in Acts 5.
Wes
Well, this has been Episode 12 in our Acts Bible Study Podcast. We would invite you to join us next time for Episode 13 entitled The Seven Servants and Stephen, where we’ll discuss Acts 6:1-15. Thank you for listening to the Two Journeys Podcast and may the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with you all.
