Acts 5:17-32 New International Version (NIV)
17 Then the high priest and all his associates, who were members of the party of the Sadducees, were filled with jealousy. 18 They arrested the apostles and put them in the public jail. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the jail and brought them out. 20 “Go, stand in the temple courts,” he said, “and tell the people all about this new life.”
21 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. 22 But on arriving at the jail, the officers did not find them there. So they went back and reported, 23 “We found the jail securely locked, with the guards standing at the doors; but when we opened them, we found no one inside.” 24 On hearing this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss, wondering what this might lead to.
25 Then someone came and said, “Look! The men you put in jail are standing in the temple courts teaching the people.” 26 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.
27 The apostles were brought in and made to appear before the Sanhedrin to be questioned by the high priest. 28 “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.”
29 Peter and the other apostles replied: “We must obey God rather than human beings! 30 The God of our ancestors raised Jesus from the dead—whom you killed by hanging him on a cross. 31 God exalted him to his own right hand as Prince and Savior that he might bring Israel to repentance and forgive their sins. 32 We are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
The high priest and the Sadducees were angry because they had told the apostles not to speak in Jesus’ name any more. But the apostles had not obeyed them. The Sadducees did not like the apostles’ message about Jesus’ resurrection. They were jealous because the people liked the apostles. Large crowds came to see the apostles. So, this time, the Sadducees arrested all the apostles.
But God helped the apostles to escape. He sent an angel to open the prison doors. The Greek word for ‘angel’ (aggelos) means someone who brings a message. This angel told them to go back to the Temple. They had to preach there again. The apostles obeyed immediately. They were very brave. They knew that this was a dangerous thing to do. It was dangerous because the Sadducees would probably put them into prison again. But they knew that they must obey God.
‘This new life’ (verse 20) means the new life that only Jesus can give to us. We can have this new life if we believe in him.
Everyone expected that the apostles would be in the prison. The doors were not open. The guards had not seen anyone go. The apostles’ escape was a surprise. The men in the Sanhedrin were worried. And they did not understand how the apostles could have escaped.
The apostles were not hiding. They were in the Temple again! They were teaching the people. So, the officer and his men arrested them again. But the officer and his men were afraid of the crowd. They did not want to make the people angry. So, they were polite to the apostles and they did not hurt them. They did not use that method to make them come.
The men in the Sanhedrin did not want people to hear about Jesus. The apostles were spreading the good news. The Sanhedrin could not stop them. However, the Sanhedrin did not want the Romans to know that. The Romans let the Sanhedrin rule over their own people (the Jews). But the Romans might not allow this to continue because the Sanhedrin could not control the people. The Sanhedrin could not stop the good news about Jesus’ resurrection. All the people in Jerusalem knew about it.
The high priest said ‘in this man’s name’. Because he did not want to say the name ‘Jesus’, he called him ‘this man’. Perhaps he knew that the Sanhedrin really caused Jesus’ death. Perhaps he felt guilty. Some people today do not like to say the name ‘Jesus’. But Christians should be happy to say it. And they should be proud to say it. It is the most beautiful name.
Peter spoke for the whole group. They were only doing what God had told them. Sometimes, when we obey God, people do not like it. We must not worry about this. We must always obey God.
Again, Peter repeated the message that the apostles were preaching. It had 5 parts.
1. God had sent Jesus. God was ‘our fathers’ God’. ‘Our fathers’ were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. They had started the nation called Israel.
2. The Jewish leaders had killed Jesus, the person whom God had sent.
3. God had put Jesus up in a high position, so that Jesus was now sitting at God’s right side. Jesus was now Ruler and Saviour.
4. Now, people would have to repent. If they did that, God would forgive them. That was because of what Jesus had done.
5. The apostles knew that this message was true. They had to tell it to everyone. People would have to believe the message and they would have to repent. Then they would receive the Holy Spirit.