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22 But when the officers came and did not find them in the prison, they returned and reported, 23 saying, “Indeed we found the prison shut securely, and the guards standing outside before the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside!” 24 Now when the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these things, they wondered what the outcome would be. 25 So one came and told them, saying, “Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!” 26 Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned. 27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, 28 saying, “Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!” 29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: “We ought to obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. 31 Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.” ~ Acts 5:22-32
Today, we continue our study of Acts 5 where the religious leaders of first century Israel have jailed the apostles for preaching about the Lord Jesus Christ at the Temple in Jerusalem. Unbeknown to them, the apostles had been set free from the prison by an angel of the Lord. This is the picture of the gospel when believed upon by the sinful human heart. It is set free from the clutches of sin and death and it now sees anew. Oh, it doesn't see completely and perfectly anew. But, having been made alive to God by His indwelling Holy Spirit, the believer in Christ has now been set on a path that is lit by the truth of God.
In v.22-23 of today's passage we read, "22 But when the officers came and did not find them in the prison, they returned and reported, 23 saying, 'Indeed we found the prison shut securely, and the guards standing outside before the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside!'"
When the officers arrived at the prison they discovered it was, as always locked up tight. They found the guards on duty keeping their watch over their subjects. But, when they entered the bowels of the prison, they discovered the apostles were not there. Not only had every physical measure remained secure, the guards were completely unaware of any change in the status of the apostles in the cell. The apostles had been taken into the cell, the guards had been posted, and they remained stationed all night just where they were posted. And yet, the apostles were not inside. The utter impossibility of getting out of such a place, especially in just a few hours, did not even seem a possibility. And yet, the dungeon where they had been was empty. This means that the apostles had been supernaturally transported out of the prison.
In v.24-28 of today's passage we read, "24 Now when the high priest, the captain of the temple, and the chief priests heard these things, they wondered what the outcome would be. 25 So one came and told them, saying, 'Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!' 26 Then the captain went with the officers and brought them without violence, for they feared the people, lest they should be stoned. 27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest asked them, 28 saying, 'Did we not strictly command you not to teach in this name? And look, you have filled Jerusalem with your doctrine, and intend to bring this Man’s blood on us!'"
While the religious leaders had been home safely sleeping all night, the apostles had been brought out of a locked and guarded cell. And instead of running home or fleeing to Galilee, the apostles stood in the temple that the religious leaders were responsible for. Luke’s narrative of these events is certainly precise, but it was almost like a comedy. These were the leaders of the religious life of the people of Israel. They had the authority of the law of Moses behind them. And yet, they were completely unaware of what was happening and ineffective in controlling what was going on.
As a result, the religious leaders were at their wits end at the news that the apostles could not be found in the prison. Deep in their hearts they knew they would not be able to stop the advancement of the gospel. Their every effort to stop the apostles and their message had failed. In Matthew 16 the Lord Jesus Himself reminded us: "Upon this rock I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it." Gates are known to provide a defense for the encroaching armies. Every unbelieving heart has a gate guarding their heart of unbelief. Even though there will be many who will resist the precious truth of the Gospel, there will be many who will willingly lower the gate so that their heart can go from unbelief to belief.
After the sun had risen, the religious leaders learned that the apostles were "standing in the temple." The word "standing" paints a picture of fearlessness. It was Zig Ziglar who once said, "FEAR can be either: 'Forget Everything And Run' or 'Face Everything And Rise.' We must choose." Interestingly, the apostles did not run for safety. No, they like their Savior they rose to the occasion. They could not deny the joy of obeying the One who laid down His life for them. It was then that cooler heads prevailed for the moment. Even though the religious leaders were ready to rip the apostles apart limb from limb, they put a lid on their violence. The only reason they weren’t violent was because they knew the people were listening to the apostles, and they could imagine them stoning them.
Back in Acts 4 the religious leaders had made their first charge against the apostles which was they were not to speak in the name of the Lord Jesus anymore. In today's passage, they made their second charge that the apostles accused them of the death of Christ. The religious leaders delivered not even one question about the miracle of the apostles' escape. They didn’t dare mention it, because the apostles would have told them the details and they didn’t want to hear about it. The religious leaders were sick of the miracles of the Lord Jesus. This is what unresolved guilt and shame does to us. The religious leaders had created religious practices that looked holy but undermined God’s Word. Their sacrifices served their image, their system, and their flesh, but not the heart of God. It was the Lord Jesus who said their worship was in vain because they elevated man-made practices over obedience to God.
In v.29-32 of today's passage we read, "29 But Peter and the other apostles answered and said: 'We ought to obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus whom you murdered by hanging on a tree. 31 Him God has exalted to His right hand to be Prince and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are His witnesses to these things, and so also is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey Him.'"
The apostles’ appeal was to the higher authority. Once we have come to realize there is much more to this life than the temporal, we can't help but invest in the eternal. Instead of focusing on the fact that the people had just two months before demanded Pilate crucify the Lord Jesus, the Apostle Peter turns their attention to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. If there was no proof of the resurrection, the teachings of the apostles would have been laughed at and ignored. This is where our power to turn from our will to God's comes into the picture. There is no forgiveness apart from repentance. We would never be saved until we had turned from our sin. That doesn’t mean we become sinless; it means we have turned away from the self-life. And now that we have the very life of God in our lives, we live with Him as our primary audience.
