Click here for the Acts 5:17-21 PODCAST
17 Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation, 18 and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison. 19 But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.” 21 And when they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning and taught. But the high priest and those with him came and called the council together, with all the elders of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. ~ Acts 5:17-21
Today, we return to our study of Acts 5 where God continues to show His power through the yielded lives of His apostles. After Pentecost many who had been brought to the apostles with ailments and who had been demon possessed were all healed and delivered. They were delivered from the temporal effects of sin and death and they were delivered into a personal relationship with God who healed them in response to their faith in Him. To God, faith is the most important thing about us because it makes our heart vulnerable to Him. God brings our attention to faith at least 850 times in the Bible. In addition, He draws our attention to our hearts more than 1,000 times! "Faith" and "heart" go hand in hand to provide you and me with the fuel that attracts the attention of God to our lives.
In v.17-18 of today's passage we read, "17 Then the high priest rose up, and all those who were with him (which is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with indignation, 18 and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in the common prison."
Since the people were increasingly believing in the message of the apostles, the religious leaders grew in their jealousy of them. In fact, they were jealously angry at them. As a result, they put the apostles in a common jail. Oddly, the religious leaders had seen the healings and they had seen the multitudes praising God for the healings. In this, their jealousy at their own inability to have the same effect on the people led them to stop the apostles by throwing them deeper and deeper into jail. This was one of six imprisonments of the apostles mentioned Acts, three of which involved the Apostle Peter.
In v.19-20 of today's passage we read, "19 But at night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 'Go, stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.'"
In order to get the apostles out of jail, God sent the angel of the Lord. He didn’t use an earthquake as He did at another time. No, this time He sent an angel because the Sadducees, a sect of the Jewish religious community, didn't believe in angels. The very being the Sadducees did not believe existed, God mercifully used to release the apostles. All of this just highlights the fact that the Gospel is unjailable and God is willing to go to the greatest lengths to draw sinners to Himself.
With each arrest the apostles went further and further into deeper custody. By the time they were released they were in a dungeon, the place of darkest bondage. Initially, they were put in public custody. Then, they were put into bonds. And, the angel of the Lord didn’t just walk into a public custody and usher them out, he loosed them from their bonds, delivered them from the guards, and didn’t stop to sign them out at the front desk.
After being delivered out of the jail, the disciples obeyed God's call on their lives to share the gospel with whomever would listen. The apostles' faith had emboldened their hearts to the point of obedience to God which led to their lives being at risk. Their message was filled with the words of life which reminded their hearers that the Lord Jesus came into this world to give life to those who had all of their lives lived condemned by their dead spiritual state before God.
In v.21 of today's passage we read, "And when they heard that, they entered the temple early in the morning and taught. But the high priest and those with him came and called the council together, with all the elders of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought."
One would think opposition would have stopped the apostles from sharing the gospel with the crowd who showed up everyday, but it delivered the opposite effect. These once scared out of their pants followers of the Lord Jesus were now quick to risk their lives for the Lord. Ironically, it was persecution that caused the church to grow. All of this just underscores the fact that nothing can stop the advancement of the gospel which is God’s power for salvation for everyone who believes.
Like the Jewish religious leaders, people resist the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Good News that He came to this earth to awaken us to the Father after redeeming us on His cross. Sadly, the religious leaders of first century Israel missed Him when He came because they trusted in themselves more than they did the truth of God. It is not until we have come to the end of ourselves that we will even consider the Lord Jesus to be our Savior. Once we do, with a growing and greater understanding of what life is really all about, the more we will be invested in that truth. Our investment in the truth is best seen in our obedience to it and our sharing of it with others, even at the risk of being thrown into the lowest jail.
