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40 And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. 42 And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. ~ Acts 5:40-42
Today, we complete our study of Acts 5 which began with the tragic story about Ananias and Sapphire who died due to their deceit. Their sin was not that they didn't give all of their money from the sale of some of their land, their sin was they made it appear that they gave all of the money but they held back some of it for themselves. From that tragic story our attention was turned to the opposition of the religious leaders of Israel to the gospel of the Lord Jesus and His apostles abilities to heal. Their opposition was so great the religious leaders wanted to disobey God's Word and murder the apostles. After an angel freed the apostles from prison, Gamaliel admonished his colleagues to leave the apostles alone for if their message was not of God they would come to nothing.
In v.40 of today's passage we read, "And they agreed with him, and when they had called for the apostles and beaten them, they commanded that they should not speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go."
The religious leaders of Israel agreed with Gamaliel to leave the apostles alone based upon the assumption that if their movement was simply the work of man, it would die out. But, they still could not let the apostles go away without a demonstration of their authority. Hence, they beat the apostles with rods. In Deuteronomy 25:1-3 which reads, "If there is a dispute between men, and they come to court, that the judges may judge them, and they justify the righteous and condemn the wicked, 2 then it shall be, if the wicked man deserves to be beaten, that the judge will cause him to lie down and be beaten in his presence, according to his guilt, with a certain number of blows. 3 Forty blows he may give him and no more, lest he should exceed this and beat him with many blows above these, and your brother be humiliated in your sight."
Along with their beating, the apostles were also given the charge to not speak in the name of the Lord Jesus again. This was the same command the religious leaders had previously given to Peter and John. Unlike their charge in Acts 4, this time the directive of the religious leaders of first century Israel came with a beating in order to hopefully ensure the compliance of the apostles. In addition, the apostles were shamed and humiliated. As they endured that humiliation the apostles no doubt pondered the greatest humility ever to be put on display, the humility of Christ as He hung on His cross.
In v.41 of today's passage we read, "So they departed from the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name."
The apostles had been beaten but not for wrongdoing. Even though they had been disgraced through the beatings, the apostles went away joyful. They had been undeservedly beaten and yet the truth of the gospel was valued and held high. This incident informed Peter's later writing in 1 Peter 3:15-17 which reads, "But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear; 16 having a good conscience, that when they defame you as evildoers, those who revile your good conduct in Christ may be ashamed. 17 For it is better, if it is the will of God, to suffer for doing good than for doing evil."
The apostles rejoiced because they knew the truth which had been substantiated by the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. As a result they had set apart the Lord to be the God of their hearts. They fulfilled the command the Lord Jesus had left them in Acts 1:8 which reads, "When the Holy Spirit comes to you, you will receive power. You will be my witnesses—in Jerusalem, in all of Judea, in Samaria, and in every part of the world."
The apostles counted it worthy to suffer shame for the Lord. The word "counted" means that had concluded precisely after careful calculation. It was the resurrection of the Lord Jesus that enabled them to conclude as they did. Given the reality of the resurrection, the value system of the disciples had been altered. Before the resurrection death was the end. After the resurrection death is now the beginning. The resurrection of the Lord Jesus makes sense out of His cross. I love the words of Max Lucado who said, "Never were those arms opened so wide as they were on the Roman cross. One arm extending back into history and the other reaching into the future. An embrace of forgiveness offered for anyone who’ll come."
The word "worthy" is a contraction of two Greek words meaning "to deem entirely deserving." The root word for this Greek word is the word from which we get our English word "axis" which connects us to the concept of balancing a scale. The greatest axis ever was provided at a place they called "the skull" where the Lord Jesus Christ was humiliated and crucified. The God of the Bible is the only One who has ever given Himself up for His creation. It is He who forgives His enemies. It is He who makes strength out of weakness, who brings life out of death.
In v.42 of today's passage we read, "And daily in the temple, and in every house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ."
This chapter closes with the apostles keeping their resolve to obey God rather than men. Convinced of its utter truthfulness, the apostles kept preaching the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ everywhere they went. In the end, they signed their resolve with their own blood. They loved sharing the gospel more than they hated getting a beating for it. There is no greater validation of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus than the fact that all but one of the apostles were martyred for their faith. And the one who wasn't, he is known as the disciple whom Jesus loved.
