The apostles have been doing the good works of healing the sick and preaching the gospel. This stirs up jealousy against them among the religious leaders. Just as Jesus predicted, persecution is beginning to come against His followers, "If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated Me first. If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you: 'A servant is not greater than his master.' If they persecuted Me, they will persecute you also." (John 15:18-20a) We who believe on the name of Christ are not true citizens of this earth but are citizens of heaven. (Philippians 3:20) We are foreigners and strangers on the earth. (Hebrews 11:13) As such, we are often treated as unwelcome aliens by those who despise the name of Christ. Because there are those who love the world more than they love the things of God, they consider us strange and even dangerous.
Persecution won't always take the form of death or bodily harm, though in some countries that is still the case. Persecution in free countries is more likely to take the form of being excluded from certain activities and events, or being passed over for promotions, or being ridiculed, or being rejected for friendship, or not being a part of the popular "in" crowd. Satan hopes to use the disapproval of others to make us unfruitful workers for the kingdom of Christ by stirring up prejudice against us. We must stand firm, caring more for the approval of God than for the approval of man.
As thousands come to the apostles for help and healing, Luke tells us, "Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy." (Acts 5:17) The apostles Peter and John have already been warned to stop preaching in the name of Jesus and now the high priest finds them disobeying his orders. Furthermore, the Sadducees don't believe in a resurrection, so the gospel of a risen Christ is an abomination to them. It's even more of an abomination to them that people are flocking to the apostles in droves to hear the gospel instead of coming to them---the religious elite---for instruction.. The Christian movement is becoming so popular that the religious leaders see their authority over the citizens slipping away.
"They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail." (Acts 5:18) Apparently all of the apostles are arrested this time, not just Peter and John.
"But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out." (Acts 5:19) I wish more details were given to us about this angel and about how he released the apostles from jail, but the Bible never shines a very bright spotlight on angels. The Lord knows that mankind has a tendency to worship anything and everything that has a connection to the divine, so He purposely steers us away from a "worship of angels", a thing which the Apostle Paul warns us against. (Colossians 2:18) The faithful angels always point man's worship toward God, not toward themselves, and it's important not to get too caught up in the study of these created beings. It's ironic that the Lord uses an angel, another thing the Saduccees don't believe in, to rescue the apostles.
The only thing Luke tells us about this angel is what he says. "'Go, stand in the temple courts,' he said, 'and tell the people all about this new life.'" (Acts 5:20) He reminds the apostles of their commission. They are to keep on doing what Christ instructed them to do. The lost world needs to hear about the Savior. The apostles immediately go out and take up where they left off. "At daybreak they entered the temple courts, as they had been told, and began to teach the people." (Acts 5:21a)
At daybreak their enemies intend to heap more threats and abuse on them. Imagine their surprise when they find the apostles missing! "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." (Acts 5:21b-24)
I can just picture these men conferring with each other in extreme confusion, saying, "It's bad enough we couldn't keep the body of Jesus contained in a sealed and guarded tomb. Now we can't even keep His apostles contained behind bars! What is going on here? How are we going to handle this? How can we explain such a thing? What can we expect next from these Christians?"
We can't help wondering why these men don't catch on to the fact that God is in the ministry of the apostles. We wonder why they don't become believers and why they don't submit their lives to Jesus and worship Him. To find the answer we have to refer again to John 15, part of which we quoted at the beginning of today's study. When warning His followers of the persecution to come, Jesus said, "They will treat you this way because of My name, for they do not know the One who sent Me." (John 15:21) Jesus and the apostles were hated because their persecutors did not truly know God. Their persecutors did not have a relationship with God, but instead trusted in a religious system (a system by which they profited greatly financially and politically and socially). Jesus told the men who would soon be preaching His gospel, "The religious leaders hate Me because they don't love the Father either. If they knew and loved Him, they would recognize Me for who I am. But they are going to reject Me and, because you are going to preach in My name, they will reject you too. Whoever hates you hates Me. Whoever hates Me hates Almighty God who sent Me."
While the high priest and the Sadducees and the Sanhedrin fret anxiously and pace the floor, even more unwelcome and upsetting news comes to them. "Then someone came and said, 'Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.'" (Acts 5:25) Not only are the apostles missing from the jail, but they are back on the job telling the good news of the gospel! What a wonderful example this is to us to keep on keeping on with the kingdom work of our Lord. The world desperately needs the hope of the gospel. The world needs to hear about the love of Christ. We have been commissioned by the Lord to share His message of hope and love. This is serious work, for lives and souls are at stake. Let us be about the Lord's business, not allowing anything to stop us.
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