Acts 5v17to42 bible study

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The Acts of the Apostles Chapter 5:17-42 Suffering for Christ's sake 5.17. Now the high priest rose up, and all those with him (that is, the religious party of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy.

The reason given here why the apostles and Christians are persecuted is first of all that the high priest and his supporters the Sadducees were jealous of them and secondly because they were teaching the resurrection. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection and vehemently opposed all those who did (Matthew 22:23).

5.18. They laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public jail.

They were prepared to go to any length to stop them bearing witness to Jesus Christ so for the second time they are arrested and thrown into the common prison that is, the place where thieves, murderer's etc, were placed (Luke 21: 12).

5.19. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison, led them out, and said, This time God took a supernatural hand in delivering them by sending an angel to set them free.

5.20. Go and stand in the temple courts and proclaim to the people all the words of this life."

The purpose in this was to give them the command to go to none other place than the centre of Jerusalem and the most public place, the Temple, to proclaim the way of salvation in Christ. The very reason they had been thrown into prison for!

5.21. When they heard this, they entered the temple courts at daybreak and began teaching. Now when the high priest and those who were with him arrived, they summoned the Sanhedrin — that is, the whole high council of the Israelites — and sent to the jail to have the apostles brought before them.

They did not stop to count the cost of doing this but went straight to the Temple and although it was very early in the morning began to teach the people. Being unaware of what was happening the high priest and those with him called the Sanhedrin together in order to deal with the apostles that they had imprisoned.

5.22 - 23. But the officers who came for them did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, "We found the jail locked securely and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside."

When the officers went to get them from prison there was no trace of them. The prison doors were still securely shut and the guards were still standing outside unaware that the prisoners were not within or anywhere to be found!

5.24 - 25. Now when the commander of the temple guard and the chief priests heard this report, they were greatly puzzled concerning it, wondering what this could be. But someone came and reported to them, "Look! The men you put in prison are standing in the temple courts and teaching the people!"

When this was told to the chief priests and captain of the Temple guard they could not understand how the prisoners could get out of jail and pass the guards without being seen. As they began to wondered what the outcome could be someone came and told them that the very men they were looking for were in the Temple doing the very thing they had been put into prison for! Can you imagine how silly this made those in authority look?

5.26. Then the commander of the temple guard went with the officers and brought the apostles without the use of force (for they were afraid of being stoned by the people).

So once again the captain with his men went to arrest the apostles but this time they played it safe and asked them to accompany them to the Sanhedrin for they feared the people would come to their rescue by using violence.

5.27 - 28. When they had brought them, they stood them before the council, and the high priest questioned them, saying, "We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name. Look, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood on us!"

Being brought before the council they were first of all charged with what would be called today contempt of court because they had dared to disobey the court order not to speak in the name of Jesus. The other accusation was that they had filled the whole city with the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ and also of blaming them for His death (Acts 2: 23). In fact when Pontius Pilate symbolically washed his hands before the people and said that he was innocent of the blood, that is the death of Jesus, the people cried “His blood be upon us and on our children� (Math. 27: 25).

Obedience to God above all else 5.29. But Peter and the apostles replied, "We must obey God rather than people.

Peter with the others again with Holy Ghost boldness tell them that they refused to obey the authorities because they were under orders from an higher Authority, God. The apostles realized

that they were no longer their own for they had been bought with a price the life of Christ and that He was now their Lord and Master (1 Cor. 6: 20). They were fully committed and had dedicate their lives to obeying and serving Him even if it cost them their lives.

5.30 - 31 NKJV. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree.

Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.

Apart from the fact that He had given His life a ransom for theirs here we have six other reasons for obedience. 1. They were serving a ’Risen Saviour’ not someone who was rotting in the grave. 2. God had exalted this same Jesus to His own right hand (Phil. 2: 9) 3. He is the Prince of Peace (Isaiah 9: 6) the one who made peace possible between God and the sinner (Eph. 2: 15 - 17). 4. The Saviour who saves us from our sins and the penalty of them. 5. He had given them repentance, for although all men everywhere all called to repent it is given by the grace of God (2 Tim. 2: 25). 6. Forgiveness of sins is obtained through Jesus Christ.

5.32. And we are witnesses of these events, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him."

The apostles were a living testament to all this so is the Holy Spirit who had empowered them to bear witness to it (Acts 1: 8) and who convicts of sin (John 16:8). Note the Holy Spirit is only given to those who are obedient that is to those who respond to the Gospel message and believe and receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.

5.33 - 34. Now when they heard this, they became furious and wanted to execute them. But a Pharisee whose name was Gamaliel, a teacher of the law who was respected by all the people, stood up in the council and ordered the men to be put outside for a short time.

The members of the Sanhedrin became furious because they had accused them of murdering the Lord Jesus Christ (V30) and were set to do the same to the apostles until a Pharisee named Gamaliel who was a highly respected teacher intervened. This is the same Gamaliel whom Paul said he was taught by (Acts 22: 3). The Lord used this man to deliver His people from the hands of the enemy although as far as we know he never came to accept Jesus as his Saviour.

5.35. Then he said to the council, "Men of Israel, pay close attention to what you are about to do to these men.

First of all he warns them to be careful as to what they do to the disciples.

5.36 - 37. For some time ago Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and about four hundred men joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and nothing came of it. After him Judas the Galilean arose in the days of the census, and incited people to follow him in revolt. He too was killed, and all who followed him were scattered.

In support of his argument he uses two previous incidents when two men, one called Theudas and another called Judas had raised themselves up claiming to be leaders who would deliver the country from the hand of Israel's enemies whom many had followed. As soon as they had been killed it all fell apart and those who had followed them was scattered. Nearly two thousand years later the

Church of Jesus Christ is still growing! Why? because their leader the captain of their salvation although He died rose again and is alive forevermore!

5.38a. So in this case I say to you, stay away from these men and leave them alone, His second warning was that they should withdraw from the apostles and leave them alone.

5.38b - 39. because if this plan or this undertaking originates with people, it will come to nothing, but if it is from God, you will not be able to stop them, or you may even be found fighting against God." He convinced them, The reason for this was that if their teaching was of men then it will fail and come to nothing but if it was of God then there was nothing at all they could do about (Luke 21: 15). For if they resist it then they could find themselves fighting against God whom they professed to worship.

5.40. and they summoned the apostles and had them beaten. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus and released them.

Although they agreed with Gamaliel they still could not resist beating the apostles and ordering them not to continue to speak in the name of Jesus.

5.41. So they left the council rejoicing because they had been considered worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.

What did the disciples do? They rejoiced in that they had been counted worthy to suffer for the sake of their Lord and Saviour (Math. 5: 10 - 12). They were able to rejoice because of their obedience to God rather than men.

5.42. And every day both in the temple courts and from house to house, they did not stop teaching and proclaiming the good news that Jesus was the Christ.

They did not stop preaching the Gospel message but went straight back to the Temple and taught and preached every day! © Derek Williams 2014 Bible Studies Online UK www.biblestudiesonline.org.uk You may copy, print or distribute our studies freely in any form, just so long as you make no charges. Sign up today for our FREE monthly Bible study magazine “Living Word” Scriptures taken from the NET Bible www.bible.org