Acts 5:12-42 "We Must Obey God Rather than Men" May 27, 2007 We are working our way through part one of the book of Acts the apostles' witness to the resurrection of Jesus in Jerusalem. Pentecost Signs and First Arrest Ananias and Sapphira Signs and Second Arrest Stephen Introduction: Signs and wonders (5:12-16) The believers are gathered together in Solomon's Portico. When it says that none of the rest dared join them it is saying that unbelievers did not dare to join them. Since the following verse makes it clear that many new believers did join them! There is a clear distinction between those who belong to Christ, and those who do not. But as the apostles do signs and wonders, it becomes evident to the people that the Lord is with them. Verse 15 is especially interesting: they laid the sick out on the streets, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. This sounds superstitious! But verse 16 makes it clear that everyone who was brought to Peter was healed They were all healed. Why did God give Peter and the apostles this ability to heal? As we have seen, the book of Acts is about what Jesus continues to do and to teach through the apostles. And so the apostles are continuing the ministry of Jesus. They are teaching "in his name" and so God is demonstrating that the power of Jesus is at work in and through them. But it is also important to note that this gift of healing is not indiscriminate. Paul will be unable to heal himself of his "thorn in the flesh," and he will write that he left Trophimus "sick at Miletus" (2 Tim 4:20). The power of healing in the name of Jesus is not a power to be used selfishly. The purpose of these healings in the book of Acts is to demonstrate the power of the name of Jesus to the nations. The signs and wonders done in Jerusalem are there to demonstrate that the apostles are bearing true witness to the resurrection of Jesus. And you see this in how the second arrest plays out. 1. The Apostles' Arrested and Freed (5:17 21) We have seen several times already that the apostles and believers have been filled with the Holy Spirit in order to bear witness to the resurrection of Jesus. But the high priest and his followers are filled with jealousy. And so they arrest the apostles and put them in prison. So often throughout the Old Testament you see power contests between the prophet of Yahweh and the gods of the nations. There was Moses vs. Pharaoh (Yahweh vs the gods of Egypt) There was the ark of the covenant captured by the Philistines (Yahweh vs Dagon) There was Elijah at Mt Carmel (Yahweh vs Baal) and Daniel's three friends before Nebuchadnezzar (Yahweh vs the gods of Babylon) and others. Now the High Priest in the temple of Yahweh has arrested the prophets of God. Now it is Yahweh against those who claim to be his priests! There is a power encounter pitting the LORD and his Anointed against the high priest of God's own temple. And so during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people the words of this Life. And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach. Throughout the Old Testament the angel of the LORD frequently speaks with the voice of God himself. Some have seen in the angel of the LORD a reference to the pre-incarnate Christ. This may be true, but that does not mean that every time you see reference to the angel of the LORD that it is referring to the pre-incarnate Christ. After all, Acts makes reference to an angel of the Lord several times, and while you definitely hear echoes of the OT appearances of the angel of the Lord the angel of the Lord here is definitely NOT Christ. Rather, the angel of the Lord is the messenger of God who brings the word of the Lord to his people. And here he brings the word of the Lord to the apostles, commanding them to preach. They had prayed in Acts 4 that God would give them boldness to preach Christ. Now they have been arrested a second time, imprisoned for preaching in the name of Jesus. They asked God for boldness, and he gave it to them, and so they go and preach Christ. I have a friend who has been imprisoned many times for preaching Christ. But he continues to proclaim the gospel, because there is no other name under heaven by which we must be saved. He must speak to the people the words of this Life. 2. The Council's Confusion (5:22-26) Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council and all the senate of Israel and sent to the prison to have them brought. But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison. So they reported, We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside. The God who protected Daniel's friends in the fiery furnace, who closed the mouths of the lions, has delivered the apostles from the hands of the high priest. And someone came and told them, Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people. Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. This helps us understand a part of why God gave the apostles the ability to heal. It has the effect of protecting them from the council. After all, if Peter and the apostles were merely teaching about Jesus, the people might have been curious, but it would have been easy to shut them down. But when you have wonder workers, who have all the people eating out of their hands, it is much more difficult to turn the people against them. It had taken considerable machinations to turn them against Jesus the first time, and now that the apostles are preaching and healing in the name of Jesus, it will be even more difficult to shut them down! After all, the Jesus movement had only attracted a few hundred devoted followers. Now there are thousands. 3. Peter's Response (5:27-32) So the high priest questioned them, We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us. In chapter 4 we heard about the first arrest, where the council ordered Peter and John not to teach in the name of Jesus. Their last line has a certain irony to it: you intend to bring this man's blood upon us Of course they mean by this, "you are trying to make us guilty of his death," but if you think of the meaning of the blood of Jesus, they are indeed trying to bring the blood of Jesus upon them! The apostles would like nothing better than for the blood of Jesus to be applied to them, so that they might be cleansed from their sin! At their first arrest, the council ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and Peter and John had replied, "whether it is right in the sight of God to listen to you rather than to God, you must judge." (4:19) Now Peter and the apostles respond: We must obey God rather than men. What does it mean that we must obey God rather than men? I think sometimes we think of this purely in terms of ethics. If God says to do things one way, but the magistrate says to do something different, well, then, we must obey God rather than men! And certainly that is true. But that is not really the apostles' point here. And to understand the apostles' point, we need to keep in view the next statement: The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. (5:30-31) Peter and the apostles have been commanded not to speak in the name of Jesus. Back in 4:20 Peter had said, "We cannot but speak of what we have seen and heard." And here his point is the same: We are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him. The point is the gospel. As we will see throughout the book of Acts, if submitting to an unjust magistrate will further the preaching of the gospel, the apostles will submit. It is not a matter of trying to be "nice" or "friendly" or trying to "fit in" with the culture. If anything, Peter's response is abrasive and blunt: The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed... Peter is not trying to make the council "like" him. But the issue at stake is not some minor aspect of conduct. The issue at stake is whether Peter will preach Christ. Christian "civil disobedience" should never be focused around minor issues. If the magistrate comes and says "spanking is equal to felony assault, though we may or may not enforce it" (as he has in New Zealand) we should not quote Peter and say, "We must obey God rather than men!" God certainly approves of spanking as a disciplinary measure but he also approves of physical punishment for adults. But he nowhere requires it as something necessary for life and godliness. When Peter says "We must obey God rather than men," his point is that we must preach the gospel of Jesus Christ. No one and nothing may silence us. And yet too often the Christian church is tragically silent. We are plenty noisy about matters of culture and politics, but when it comes to preaching the gospel, we are silent. If you want to know how to speak boldly and faithfully in the name of Jesus, listen to Peter and the apostles. God has raised Jesus from the dead and exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior. The message is very simple: God has exalted Jesus, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. Remember that at this point the apostles are still in "part one" of the book: they are Jesus' witnesses in Jerusalem. They have not yet taken the gospel to the ends of the earth it has not yet been clearly revealed how the Gentiles fit into this. And since Peter is speaking to an entirely Jewish audience, he focuses on what God has done for Israel. But the message will be the same to the Gentiles: God has raised up Jesus from the dead, therefore repent and believe the gospel! 4. Gamaliel's Advice (5:33-40) When the council heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. But a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law held in honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while. Gamaliel reminds the council that there have been lots of messianic pretenders. He reminds them of Theudas and Judas the Galilean their movements amounted to nothing. He wisely notes that if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail. Gamaliel takes a very practical approach. He does not appear to have any sympathy with the message of the apostles, but he recognizes that they have a lot of popular support. He also probably knew that Pilate, the Roman governor, was under a lot of pressure from Rome. But Gamaliel also reveals that he has a good theology of divine providence: because if this movement is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God! So the council took his advice, and they beat the apostles and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Jesus had said, Blessed are you when others revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account. Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so they persecuted the prophets who were before you. (Mt 5:11-12) Conclusion: Preaching Jesus as the Christ (5:41-42) The apostles remember that, and Luke tells us that they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. In the OT "the name" was Yahweh. To this day in Judaism they will not pronounce "the name" of Yahweh. Instead they will say, "hashem" which means, "the name." But now "the name" is the name of Jesus. It is his name that is the blessed name. And so the apostles rejoice that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ. The council had warned them! The council had beaten them! But they did not fear the council. They continued to preach Jesus as the Christ as the Messiah. Slowly but surely, God is making it clear that the temple is no longer the place where his name dwells. Now the name of God dwells in Jesus. And there is no other name under heaven, by which we must be saved. There are nations today where you will likely be beaten, imprisoned, and perhaps killed for preaching Jesus as the Christ. My friend, ZA, knows this well. He, too, rejoices to be counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name of Jesus Pray for those who suffer for Christ's sake! And remember that while we do not suffer direct attacks like they do, we still face the assaults of the world, the flesh and the devil. And we must let nothing interfere with our calling to seek first the kingdom of God. For we must obey God rather than men. We must preach Jesus as the Christ.