Act 5:17-32 Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.” At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people. When the high priest and his associates arrived, they called together the Sanhedrin—the full assembly of the elders of Israel—and sent to the jail for the apostles. But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to. Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” At that, the captain went with his officers and brought the apostles. They did not use force, because they feared that the people would stone them. The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. “We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
In this passage the apostles experience the price of preaching the Good News. Persecution and restraint were their reward for following Jesus’ command to preach his words to all people. Jesus experienced in his walk on earth the likeness of men and women, yet was without sin. We have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are—yet he did not sin. (Hebrews 4:14-15) For humans to be right with a righteous and eternal God, God gave Jesus Christ, his Son, as a sacrificial lamb, to satisfy God’s wrath on the waywardness of mankind. Jesus was ransomed for the souls of sinful men and women. Jesus' resurrection placed him by God as the eternal priest for mankind, forever advocating the perfection of mankind through his work on the cross. In the above passage, we see the apostles restrained in a jail because they were preaching this Good News of life eternal through Jesus Christ to the people in the Temple. The religious elite of Israel killed Jesus because He was a threat to their position of deference and authority within the Jewish community. They supposedly got rid of Jesus by his death on the cross, but to their consternation, the name of Jesus had not disappeared from the people’s lips, but was alive and well through the ministry of the apostles. They imprisoned the apostles, but not for long because an angel came to them and released them from confinement. Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life. The apostles had this commission on their lives to preach the new life to all people, starting in Jerusalem and then on to the world. “Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned. (Mark 16:15) They were in the midst of carrying out this commission, but they were stymied by the religious elite of Jerusalem. But the works of God are yea and nay; God will do what he desires, so an angel is sent to release the apostles from jail. The angel does not tell them to run and hide somewhere in Jerusalem, but he tells them to go back to the Temple and preach the gospel. Even though threatened by the powerful in Israel, they go back under God’s command and commence ministering the new life in Jesus’ name. As children in the household of God, they were under orders. As Paul says to the Romans, The Spirit himself testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children. Now if we are children, then we are heirs—heirs of God and co-heirs with Christ, if indeed we share in his sufferings in order that we may also share in his glory. (Romans 8:16-17) As children of the Living God, the apostles would suffer much in their lives while propagating the Good News. The new life, being right with God, would be challenged everywhere by the devil and his demonic cohorts. Every testimony of a new life would meet with resistance from somebody, but God freed his disciples from prison to challenge the old order of sin and death. No longer would humans have to be bound by the old order of works to know God, for now eternal life had come to the world through faith in Jesus Christ and his works alone.
The apostles were rearrested by the Temple guards. They were brought to the Sanhedrin, consisting of the religious leaders of Israel. They were people of power, expecting their commands to be followed. We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name,” he said. “Yet you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and are determined to make us guilty of this man’s blood.” They feared the animosity of the people for many had followed Jesus Christ during his lifetime. The people knew they had snuffed out Jesus’ life by having the Romans place him on a cross. To quiet any discontent of the people, they needed the remembrance of Jesus to disappear. But Peter tells them outright that they will not obey the Sanhedrin’s orders, for they serve a higher authority than the Sanhedrin’s authority. We must obey God rather than human beings! The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. Peter directly confronts them with pointing out their wicked deed of killing Jesus. Peter was carrying his cross of Jesus, his responsibility to Jesus, in front of this powerful group of rulers. “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters—yes, even their own life—such a person cannot be my disciple. And whoever does not carry their cross and follow me cannot be my disciple. (Luke 14:25-27) The cost of following Jesus might be his life. He was now putting his life and the apostles’ lives in danger of being murdered. The messages of God to the world have always been costly to the people who deliver them. The prophets of old were often ostracized, persecuted and even killed for speaking the words of God. But as the angel commanded, go back to the Temple and spread the Good News regardless of the consequences. In a dying and sick world, the voice of God must be heard. In Jesus’ teaching He often says, “God says.” God’s words should be expressed regardless of whether the people are listening or not, whether the teller receives good from saying God’s words or trouble. God's words must be said to a rebellious world. Ezekiel had to learn this fact. And you, son of man, do not be afraid of them or their words. Do not be afraid, though briers and thorns are all around you and you live among scorpions. Do not be afraid of what they say or be terrified by them, though they are a rebellious people. You must speak my words to them, whether they listen or fail to listen, for they are rebellious. (Ezekiel 2:6-7) We see Paul in Lystra, after being stoned outside of the city, get up and go back into the city and stay the night there before going on to Derbe. Expressing what God says is sometimes very dangerous. In the above focus we see Peter in a very precarious place, but his trust is in God’s faithfulness and not in his own ability to extricate himself from this dire entanglement with the authorities of Israel. Peter, the man who once ran away from the authorities, denying he even knew Jesus, was now face to face with death, and he would not back down: for him the powerful name of Jesus should be spread everywhere regardless of the consequences.
Jeremiah thought that he could bottle up the name of the Lord inside of him, for he experienced only trouble when he expounded the words of the Lord. The authorities were against him; the people ridiculed him. He was a voice in the wilderness that was not attended to or respected. The word of the Lord has brought me insult and reproach all day long. But if I say, “I will not mention his word or speak anymore in his name,” his word is in my heart like a fire, a fire shut up in my bones. I am weary of holding it in; indeed, I cannot. (Jeremiah 20:8-9) Jeremiah could not hold back the name of the Lord for it was part of him, his word is in my heart like a fire. We who are Christians should have this same fire in our spirits. Each of us are part of the body of Christ. Each of us has a duty to carry out--in this world of darkness, we are to be lights. Peter knew he and the disciples were an intricate part of the body of Christ on earth. He understood the gift of the Holy Spirit was given to them for a purpose, to spread the Good News to everyone, everywhere. When Jesus taught God’s words, He proclaimed over an over, “The Lord says.” Now Peter and the apostles knew they had a responsibility to teach God’s words. They had a fire in their bones that would not quit. Persecution would happen but the fire still abides. Only their martyrdom would snuff out the fire within them. Their assignment was to express the Good News to a sick and dying world. Peter said, we must obey the fire within us, not man. We have seen God’s fire expressed before: Daniel would not recant, even before the lion's den. He would not be cowered by the threats of men. The men thrown into the hot furnace would not back down, but championed the words: “God says” because of the fire inside of them Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego replied to him, “King Nebuchadnezzar, we do not need to defend ourselves before you in this matter. If we are thrown into the blazing furnace, the God we serve is able to deliver us from it, and he will deliver us from Your Majesty’s hand. But even if he does not, we want you to know, Your Majesty, that we will not serve your gods or worship the image of gold you have set up.” (Daniel 3:16-18) Peter now tells the Sanhedrin, even if God does not rescue us from your hands, we will not serve your orders. The Holy Spirit had placed in the heart of the apostles his abiding fire. I baptize you with water for repentance. But after me comes one who is more powerful than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. (Matthew 3:11) The task of the living body of Christ on earth: the church, is to express in love the Good News to people that Jesus saves. Jesus will make people right with God through repentance. God will forever forgive people of their sins in and through the cross. The work of the cross makes it so nothing can separate believers from God’s love, no hardship, no trouble, no ridicule. God through Christ binds himself to us for all eternity. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? As it is written: “For your sake we face death all day long; we are considered as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. (Romans 8:35-37) Peter and the disciples were more than conquerors in the above focus. Because they already had won the name of God’s children, they were already wearing the crown of righteousness. Nothing could ever depose them from their position with God as children of the Most High. So death was no threat to them, for they had already won the victory of eternal life in the domain of the eternal Father. Amen! So whether you find yourself in a prison or preaching in the Temple courtyard, you are a child of God, free in him.
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