Worthy of Dishonor - Acts 5:33-42

Last week, we looked at the second trial of the apostles held by the Sanhedrin. If you remember the first trial from chapter 4, the Council’s hands were tied. An undeniable miracle had been performed, and though they wanted to make any sort of charge stick to the apostles, what could they do? The first sign of persecution was a fairly mild one. Today is a different story. Today, the apostles weren’t on trail for healing a fellow Jew (even though Annas was provoked due to the masses being healed in the streets). They were on trial because they disobeyed direct orders from the Council concerning the content of their preaching. That is something they could work with. By punishing the apostles for insubordination, they could further solidify their seat of power in the eyes of the people.

Today, we will see how that trail ended.

Outline & Passage

Acts 5:33–42 ESV

33 When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. 34 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. 35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 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. 37 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. 38 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; 39 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, 40 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. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.

I - The reaction of the Council

II - Gamaliel’s advice

III - The Council’s Sentence

IV - The apostle’s reaction

I - The reaction of the Council

Enraged

The Council as a whole reacted about how you think they would have. If they conspired together to have Jesus tried, arrested, and killed, then it’s not a far stretch to think they would act in a similar way to his followers.

After hearing Peter speak the blunt truth to them a second time, they got the worse case of heartburn yet. Their jealous hearts provoked them to anger, rage, and murderous intent. The word enraged literally means to be torn through. These guys fuming! The text says the wanted to kill the apostles. It was the burning desire of their heart.

It is important for us to see that it was entirely possible for them to succeed in the death penalty. They were kicking a tiger that was no longer in a cage. This was a very real threat to the lives of the apostles. Their message of life was being threatened by the possibility of death.

Gamaliel shows reason

Fortunately, not every person on the Council thought the same way. As the various members of the Sadducees and Pharisees were gnashing their teeth and tasting blood, one of them had the sense to speak up and suggest that they might be overreacting.

This man’s name was Gamaliel, and he was a prominent and beloved rabbi. He came from the school of Hillel, which was important, and Paul boasts of Gamaliel being his rabbi in Acts 22:3. Because he is respected and held in high regards, he has enough authority to suggest a brief commercial break and have the apostles sent outside while he addresses the council. In doing this by what he says next, he becomes the apostle’s unlikely ally.

Never discount God’s ability to rise up help in helpless circumstances. One man out of 71 changed the course of the story.

II - Gamaliel’s advice

Whether it was the vicious nature of the Council’s reaction, compassion for the apostles, or a desire to simply stop further bloodshed, clearly Gamaliel was bothered by the discussion or he wouldn’t have taken a withdrawal from the trust bank of the Council.

In response, he have a compelling, 3-part monologue that effectively save the lives of the twelve apostles.

Be cautious

Gamaliel’s opener was to be cautious. “Take care what you area bout to do with these men.”

They had just lived through the ordeal of Jesus’ crucifixion and professed resurrection, and no doubt, this started to further attract the attention of Rome. Attention can be good, but not this type of attention!

At this point, he seems to channel his inner Solomon, because he calls for wisdom by looking at the past and learning from it. That’s a great thing for a leader to suggest. We are doomed to repeat the failures of the past if we don’t learn them.

He is effectually saying, “hey fellas. Pump the breaks for just a minute and let’s think this through. Let’s at least ask if we are going down the right path before we make a terrible judgment call.”

The underlying advise he is trying to give the Council is this: if they go down this road and push for the death penalty, they might be spinning their wheels for nothing.

While his pursuit falls flat at the end, let’s at least take this one play from Gamaliel’s playbook. We can glean this bit of wisdom to be cautious in our decisions and use wisdom as we assess situations based on similar past events. That is good, sound advise for practical living for you and me.

So, what exactly does he mention? Gamaliel points to two figureheads in recent history and reminds the Council how those uprisings played out.

Remember past revolts

1. Theudas

There isn’t much known about this man. Pretty much all info we have is found on him is here in the text. The Jewish Historian, Josephus, mentions a man by this name, but his story takes place after these events, so it’s likely not the same person. What we know is that Theudas was a messianic-type figure who led a revolt, collected roughly 400 followers, but when he was killed, his movement fizzled and failed. Even though we don’t know much more than this, the Council members would have and would have gotten the gist.

2. Judas the Galilean

This other messianic figure was also mentioned by the Jewish Historian Josephus (and likely the same person referenced by Gamaliel) and was a Galilean who led a revolt against paying Roman taxes in 6 AD. It’s even speculated that this could have even been the soil that the Zealots grew out of, which is a group that Simon belonged to. The mention of the census is likely due to Luke’s historical precision and accuracy, so readers could ground themselves in those events they would have easily understood.

So, his point was to simply leave them alone and let things play out. Don’t get caught up in it. If you don’t add fuel to the fire, it will eventually die out.

So far, I like this guy. He is practical and level-headed.

You may be fighting against God

But he doesn’t stop at that one point. He takes his advise one level deeper, by addressing the influence behind the action.

First, he says “if this undertaking is of man, it will fail.” Human volition will only go so far. You have to remember, Gamaliel believes the Sanhedrin represents God’s will. They are the religious leaders who speak on God’s behalf and make His will known to the people. They are on the right side of this fight, and if the apostles are on the other side, then it won’t amount to anything. It will end the way the other revolts ended. They will end up destroying themselves if they are trying to make this happen under their own power. In the end, they will condemn themselves and we will be justified.

BUT...

If they are the ones who have God’s backing, then we are the ones who are fighting in vain. Gamaliel is not admitting that, but he is asking the Council to at the very least consider the possibility. However slim of a chance that may be, if it is even remotely possible that the apostles are right and they are wrong, then they must consider the ramifications of such a harsh punishment. And what’s worse, the religious leaders will be the ones opposing God himself! He saw the irony in that, and thankfully, he had enough sense to verbalize it and not let his pride and jealousy blind his eyes and lock his mouth. Gamaliel is certainly more diplomatic than his student - Saul of Tarsus, who we know as Paul - the great persecutor of Christians prior to his conversion. So, at least we have that.

Yet, for all is wisdom, he failed in one area. The one thing he didn’t do, which would have been the most effective course of action, was to investigate with enough diligence to see if the claims were actually true. Maybe then, if they considered the apostles teaching instead of blindly fighting against it… if they searched the scriptures and examined their own traditions and presuppositions… them maybe they would have joined them!

Isn’t that also true of ourselves and our culture? We live in a sound-bite generation where other people do our thinking for us, don’t we? I know it sounds offensive when I say it that way, but if we are honest with ourselves, it I think we can admit that we would rather have others do the hard work of research and we just listen and accept their conclusions. I do that. There are other preachers I listen to and trust, and many times, I don’t question their conclusions. I appreciate the fact that you trust me and likely take me at my word. But also know that I encourage you to investigate for yourself. I will never expect you to blindly trust what I say. I am human and therefore flawed. I won’t get it right 100% of the time. If something I say sounds off to you, then read and study it and let’s have a conversation. That is a good rule of thumb to live by.

III - The Council’s Sentence

Physical violence

Because of Gamaliel’s wisdom, the Council did reconsider their verdict, but they also didn’t fully receive his advise, either. Gamaliel said to leave them alone instead of killing them.

But, as you can imagine, the Council wanted to make an example of the apostles. They had zero grounds for any sort of punishment the first time, but this time, they could punish them for disobeying their direct orders. If the Council did nothing, they look weak and may even elevate the apostle’s status of religious authority closer to their own, and there is no way they would let that happen, so they had to do something.

Once they had agreed to a punishment, they had the men beaten, and it wasn’t a slap on the wrist or a spanking like our parents gave us when we were little. They were likely given the judicial punishment outlined in about Deut. 25:3 and discussed in 2 Cor. 11:24, which was 39 lashes with a 3-corded leather whip. The victim’s shirt would be removed, and they would recieved 2 strikes to the back and one to the chest. Then, this would repeat 13 times. It was a horrendous and extremely painful punishment.

Prohibited teaching the gospel

After the physical punishment, the Council once again prohibited the men from speaking in the name of Jesus and let them go.

Now, if this was a movie, this would be a crossroads moment for the apostles, and maybe even the climax of the story because the decision they make in this moment will forever alter the course of their lives and the message they carry. And this decision is under the threat of death. They were let of easy (considering the alternative), but if they disobeyed the direct order of the governing power again, the death threat could easily be implemented. Will they succumb to the mounting pressure or will they stay true to the message they profess? You can see how Hollywood could really milk this scene for all its worth.

But Luke doesn’t write it that way. Are those pressures there? Absolutely they are. But, there was no decision to be made here. The apostles didn’t leave scratching their heads about what to do next. Nor did they get angry with God and shake their fists at Him asking, “why me?! If you were a good God, you wouldn’t let bad things happen to your children!”

Instead, we see them act in the opposite way normal humans would expect, which is emblematic of God’s Kingdom, by the way.

IV - The apostle’s reaction

Rejoiced

What did they do in response to this horrible beating and chastisement? The left the Council chambers rejoicing!

This is the Greek word chairō, which is an expressive, communal jubilation! The same sort of enthusiastic joy we see in Luke’s parables where the lost sheep and lost coin were found. Rejoice with me because what was lost is found!

Or maybe you’ve experience the incredible phenomena when two women who are best friends haven’t seen each other in a really long time and when they reconnect, they wiggle in odd ways and emit a strange squeal-ish noice. They are visibly and audibly thrilled to see one another. That’s chairō.

Could you imagine receiving the worst beating of your life, and your reaction is chairō?

That’s what the apostles did and do you want to know why? Because they considered that experience an honor. It was an honor to suffer dishonor in Jesus’ name.

Have you ever had a person believe in you? Like in sports or for a special project, where you didn’t think very highly of your skills or ability to perform whatever the task at had was, but someone in authority, like the team leader or head coach saw something in you and gave you that responsibility? If that has happened to you, what was your response? You probably said something like, “wow, what an honor. It would be a privilege!”

That is what they felt. There was an overwhelming sense of gratitude to be considered worthy to carry out this responsibility for the mission, even though the ‘honor’ was to be verbally stripped down, publically humiliated, and severely beaten.

Peter reflects on times like these in his first epistle:

1 Peter 4:13–16 ESV

13 But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. 14 If you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed, because the Spirit of glory and of God rests upon you. 15 But let none of you suffer as a murderer or a thief or an evildoer or as a meddler. 16 Yet if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but let him glorify God in that name.

How would it change your witness if, instead of dreading negative reactions and mistreatment, you expected it and considered it a badge of honor? Do you think you would be more willing to go out and tell people about Jesus?

Continued the mission

So, not only did they rejoice, but they immediately went back to business as usual. The apostles were completely unfazed by their punishment from the Sanhedrin. And they didn’t do it just one more time out of spite. They preached Jesus every day - in the Temple and from house to house. Everywhere they went, they made it known that Jesus is the long-awaited Messiah.

This should refute any idea that suffering is always a result if being outside of God’s will… that if you are being persecuted or mistreated, that you are being punished. Don’t swallow the sugary lie that God will only bring blessings and prosperity to His children. It tastes so good, but it will turn your life sour, because Jesus made it clear that it is a blessing:

Matthew 5:10 ESV

10 “Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness’ sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

...and if you expect only good, happy things, you will live a very bitter life.

Conclusion

Part of living out this aspect of our faith is to display perplexing spiritual fruit during times where the opposite is expected. The Kingdom of God is often called the Upside Down Kingdom, because of how Jesus often turned cultural norms on their head.

The first shall be last

to find true life, you have to lose it

power is made perfect in weakness

the least shall be the greatest

God selects foolish things to shame the wise

a true leader is the servant to all

spiritual maturity and joy is found in suffering

The point of the passage today is that we can experience true joy in our lives because of our relationship with Jesus. Even if our external circumstances are less than ideal and people think poorly of us because of our faith, we can have chairō, because it is given by the Spirit from within. We can rejoice in any circumstance, because if God has allowed it to happen to us, then we have been considered worthy to bear it in the name of our King.

Related Media

Related Sermons