Acts 5:21-42

Introduction

"The facts recorded in these verses are filled with irony: (1) The guards were carefully keeping empty jail cells secured (Acts 5:21b–23). (2) The highest powers of Israel were gathered to judge prisoners they did not have. (3) While the frenzied leaders were deliberating as to what had happened to the men who had been in their custody, they were told the apostles were preaching in the courts of the temple." (BKC)

The Sanhedrin’s perplexity v.21-28

The narration of the miracle. Acts 5:24 “Now when the high priest and the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these things, they doubted of them whereunto this would grow.”

It is easy to see why they wanted to squash the name of Jesus. If the name of Jesus was squashed, there would not be any more miracles

If the name of Jesus is squashed, there would not be any tension between their system and truth.

They were perplexed on how to cover this miracle up

They would have to come up with another ridiculous story.

They are being embarrassed by nobodies - They were fishermen, tax collectors, and uneducated people

Motivated by fear Acts 5:26 “Then went the captain with the officers, and brought them without violence: for they feared the people, lest they should have been stoned.”

Fear is both the method and reward for tyranny.

By the Apostles defiance Acts 5:28 “Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”

You have broke our rule

Straightly commanded is the same word twice

"We commanded (paraggello) you with a commandment (paraggelia)." This doubling of similar words ("paraggelia pareggeilamen") is a Semitic idiom which is used for emphasis

You are blaming us fro Jesus crucifixion.

Which they did

Acts 2:23 “Him, being delivered by the determinate counsel and foreknowledge of God, ye have taken, and by wicked hands have crucified and slain:”

Acts 2:36 “Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made that same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ.”

Acts 3:15 “And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.”

Acts 4:10-11 “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole. This is the stone which was set at nought of you builders, which is become the head of the corner.”

They still felt justified in the slaying of Jesus.

They viewed Jesus as a malefactor but the Apostles were changing the narrative to murder.

Why were they fearful of being blamed?

Matthew 27:22-23 “Pilate saith unto them, What shall I do then with Jesus which is called Christ? They all say unto him, Let him be crucified. And the governor said, Why, what evil hath he done? But they cried out the more, saying, Let him be crucified.”

Matthew 27:25 “Then answered all the people, and said, His blood be on us, and on our children.”

Their hatred for the name of Jesus - They refused to say his name.

Acts 4:17 “But that it spread no further among the people, let us straitly threaten them, that they speak henceforth to no man in this name.”

Acts 5:28 “Saying, Did not we straitly command you that ye should not teach in this name? and, behold, ye have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.”

Contemptuous slur and refusal to call the name of Jesus

The Apostles stayed on point - Acts 5:29-32

Acts 5:29–32 KJV 1900

Then Peter and the other apostles answered and said, We ought to obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.

Liberation - amazing to be liberated from a forced belief system that is dead and in opposition to God.

Daniel 3:16-18 “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.”

Questions to ask yourself

Am I living consistently in view of what I know about Christ?

Am I living a life that is in accord with what I am learning in the scriptures?

Am I refusing to do what I know He wants?

Am I refusing to share my faith becasue of fear of rejection or appearing nonintellectual or uncultured or any other reason?

The Apostles stayed on point. in staying on point, they would have busted the Sanhedrin’s justified bubble.

We have to obey God

Consistency in Peter’s answer

How do we arrive where Peter and the Apostles were?

God is more important

Early in the Book of Acts, the Apostles agenda appeared to conflict with Jesus’ agenda for them. We cannot get to where they are in Acts 5 without submitting to the right agenda.

If we view our life as a sentence God has the be the subject, the Holy Spirit is the verb, we are the direct object, and who we impact will be the indirect object.

God’s word nullified the Sanhedrin’s ruling.

God’s word is not just a theological treaty.

It is a theological treaty that transitions to help us with everyday life situations.

The Apostles implemented the theological truth of God’s word in a real-world scenario that gave proof of the reality of the theological truth.

Peter and the 11 in essence reply that their response (continuing to teach in the Temple) was not optional for them but that they were under compulsion to do this because God (He is implied) had commanded them to “Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life.” (Acts 5:20)

They had principles. And their ruling principle was that in all circumstances obedience to God must come first. They never asked: ‘Is this course of action safe?’ They asked: ‘Is this what God wants me to do?’ (Acts of the Apostles)

Twenty-six people died because they would not step on a picture of Jesus. In the 17th century some Christians were faithfully serving Jesus on an island in Japan. According to missionary Tim Johnson, a provincial leader, called a shogun, decided that these believers were a threat to the traditional culture, so he devised a fiendish trap. He placed a picture of Jesus on the street and demanded that the Christians in his province step on the picture in renunciation of their faith. When the test was finished, 26 people had refused. They were crucified at the water’s edge for all to see.

The Gospel is preached - Acts 5:30-31 “The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom ye slew and hanged on a tree. Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.”

Throughout the Gospel sermon Peter repudiates the Sanhedrin’s authority and feeling justified in killing Jesus.

He starts with the resurrection.

You may have felt justified in killing Jesus, but what God did in resurrecting Jesus from grave put a spotlight on your corrupt motives.

Jesus not being in the grave proves who was innocent and guilty.

He mentions the Fathers

Abraham, Isaac and Jacob identified with Jesus

Acts 3:13 “The God of Abraham, and of Isaac, and of Jacob, the God of our fathers, hath glorified his Son Jesus; whom ye delivered up, and denied him in the presence of Pilate, when he was determined to let him go.”

The hypocrisy in their religion.

God’s exaltation

Acts 2:24 “Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.”

Acts 3:15 “And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.”

Acts 4:10 “Be it known unto you all, and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom ye crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by him doth this man stand here before you whole.”

Acts 5:31 “Him hath God exalted with his right hand to be a Prince and a Saviour, for to give repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins.”

Luke 22:67-71 “Art thou the Christ? tell us. And he said unto them, If I tell you, ye will not believe: And if I also ask you, ye will not answer me, nor let me go. Hereafter shall the Son of man sit on the right hand of the power of God. Then said they all, Art thou then the Son of God? And he said unto them, Ye say that I am. And they said, What need we any further witness? for we ourselves have heard of his own mouth.”

In the Sanhedrin lifting Him up on the cross, God exalted Him by His right hand.

God’s power was not in what you did but what He did.

The sum of the Gospel is:

Prince - Acts 3:15 “And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.”

Prince - chief leader.

The originator or pioneer of something

strictly speaking is the One Who goes first on the path and hence is the source, the leader, the pioneer Who blazes the trail, in this case the "trail" of salvation leading to eternal life.

Savior - A deliverer.

How does Jesus death and resurrection deliver people?

Repentance - We get an idea of what repentance is in the next verse - Acts 5:32 “And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.”

Forgiveness of sins

Why did God exalt Him?

To grant repentance and forgiveness of sins

Luke 24:46-47 “And said unto them, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem.”

A good definition of repentance 1 Thessalonians 1:9-10 “For they themselves shew of us what manner of entering in we had unto you, and how ye turned to God from idols to serve the living and true God; And to wait for his Son from heaven, whom he raised from the dead, even Jesus, which delivered us from the wrath to come.”

CHS - When a man attempts to convert his fellow-man, he gives him a sham repentance, or perhaps he tells him that there is no need of any repentance at all.

Forgiveness - means to separate

We are witnesses - Acts 5:32 “And we are his witnesses of these things; and so is also the Holy Ghost, whom God hath given to them that obey him.”

We are witnesses

Acts 2:32 “This Jesus hath God raised up, whereof we all are witnesses.”

Acts 3:15 “And killed the Prince of life, whom God hath raised from the dead; whereof we are witnesses.”

These things - The word “things” speaks of words - They are witnesses of the words they preached.

Holy Spirit - the Holy Spirit was corroborating their testimony by supernaturally enabling them to preach with boldness and to perform miracles.

The Holy Spirit is the supernatural witness, Who takes the truth about Jesus and applies it to the heart of the hearer. In the Upper Room the night before His crucifixion, Jesus had promised His disciples that John 15:26 “But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me:”

The early church was known as a group of people that obeyed Him!

God’s Providence Acts 5:33-42

The Sanhedrin wanted to kill the Apostles - Acts 5:33 “When they heard that, they were cut to the heart, and took counsel to slay them.”

They need to hear

The sermon should have terrified them with punishment or allured them with the hope of salvation - instead they were cut to the heart and ready to kill them.

They were cut by the word of God.

The word cut means “swan through.”

They were convicted but not converted.

The High Priest and Sadduccees were enraged

The Apostles had denied their doctrine by preaching about the resurrection

They had defied the Sanhedrin’s authority by preaching after they had ordered them to stop.

By asserting the Sanhedrin murdered Jesus, they had attacked their spirituality

By winning large numbers of Jews, they had threatened the Sanhedrin’s domination over the people.

They listened to Gamaliel

They were flogged

They were released - Acts 5:41 “And they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for his name.”

“And they departed” a phrase that has an idea of a mission.