Dissension Deja Vu (Acts 5:12-42) | 3/13/22
Acts 5:12-42 | 3/13/22 | Will DuVal
In high school, my favorite radio station – *“105.3, alternative rock” – they used to do this segment called “Stupid Criminals”.
There was the drunk driver who tried to hide the smell of alcohol on his breath by inhaling an entire can of Axe body spray.
Then there was the man detained at Home Depot for a suspected bomb threat after he warned fellow customers to leave the restroom because he was (*quote) “Fixin’ to blow it up”. [Some of you will get that one later]
But one of my favorites has to be the guy who got caught trying to rob the SAME bank two days in a row! They say criminals always return to the scene of the crime…
Well, this morning in Acts ch5, we’re gonna read about a few criminals who return to the scene of their crime, but it’s not out of stupidity, but rather, out of submission to God. Two weeks ago, we read in Acts ch4 that “ the priests… and the Sadducees arrested [the apostles in the Temple because]… they were proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection from the dead” (4:1-2). They were ALSO jealous, mind you, of the apostles’ miraculous power to heal the sick. But being unable to deny that power, the Temple leaders ordered the apostles not to speak of Jesus again, and released them.
Well, guess where they turned back up, first thing out of jail, in the very next chapter? RIGHT back in the Temple – in Solomon’s Portico – resuming their ministry of physical and spiritual healing. And this morning in ch5, we’ll see them get arrested not once but TWICE this time, because an angel of the Lord comes to break them out of prison, only to send them BACK to the Temple a THIRD time to keep on preaching.
I struggled to figure out how I was going to preach this text, for TWO reasons. First, it’s just so foreign to our everyday experience as Christians today. Here’s a preview of our passage for this morning:
*the apostles perform miraculous healings,
*for which the church is “held in high esteem” by the world; unbelievers are attracted to the church in DROVES,
*then the apostles are LOCKED UP, TRIED, and BEATEN for their faith,
*there’s the aforementioned supernatural intervention by an ANGEL
*and perhaps as extraordinary as ANY of it: the oppositionthey encounter only inspires the apostles to even moreBOLDNESS, indeed, REJOICING in their suffering for Christ.
Miracles, angels, beatings, boldness and burgeoning church growth? We can easily begin to feel 2,000 years removedfrom a story like this.
But secondly, I ALSO struggled to prepare because Acts 5 really is SO repetitious of chs 3 & 4! Consider all the similarities I’ve outlined in your bulletins:
*The Apostles Heal & Attract crowds.
*The Sadducees Envy & Arrest them, then Arraign & Charge them.
*The Apostles nevertheless Defy & even Witness to them.
*So the Sadducees Fear & Warn them.
*But the Apostles just go on Praying & Preaching.
The plot line of Acts 5 is nearly identical to chs 3 & 4! How do I preach this without just repeating what we’ve already discussed the past 3 weeks now?
Well, that question led me to a deeper question: Why IS the text so repetitious anyway? Obviously, for one thing, because this all really HAPPENED! These are TRUE stories! The apostles were actually arrested just a few weeks after Pentecost… and then againonly a few days later.
But upon closer examination, I think there may be an even DEEPER reason for Luke’s detailed repetition here. How many of you remember from junior year, AP English the literary device Juxtaposition? Juxtaposition is “placing two things side by side for rhetorical effect, so as to highlight their differences.” Usually in literature, it’s two CONTRASTING things – Cinderella’s beauty is accentuated by her stepsisters’ ugliness – but sometimes, as here in Acts 5, the more SIMILAR the two stories are, the more their slight DIFFERENCES stand out. And if we look a little closer at Acts ch5, we discover 6 subtle yet significant differences from the previous 2 chapters. And I think those differences hold the KEY to unlocking what the Lord wants us to glean from this passage. So underneath each of those 6 plot line repeats in your bulletin, I want to highlight 6 new additions to the story, in ch5. And even more importantly, I want to tease out what each of these 6 new developments in the narrative teaches about the gospel.
The GOSPEL is the heart of the Christian faith, the good news that the apostles keep getting in trouble for preaching here: that Jesus Christ died and was raised for the forgiveness of sins for everyone who would repent and trust in Him. And we’re going to discover 6 important things about the gospel here.
Would you stand with me… Acts 5:12-42:
“Now many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. 13 None of the rest dared join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them. 16 The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.
17 But the high priest rose up, and all who were with him (that is, the party of the Sadducees), and filled with jealousy 18 they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20 “Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this Life.” 21 And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.
Now when the high priest came, and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. 22 But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, 23 “We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them we found no one inside.” 24 Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what this would come to. 25 And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” 26 Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.
27 And when they had brought them, they set them before the council. And the high priest questioned them, 28 saying, “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.” 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. 30 The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.”
33 When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them. 34 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. 35 And he said to them, “Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men. 36 For before these days Theudas rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him. He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing. 37 After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census and drew away some of the people after him. He too perished, and all who followed him were scattered. 38 So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail; 39 but if it is of God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You might even be found opposing God!” So they took his advice, 40 and when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. 41 Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. 42 And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus.” This is the word of the Lord… Let’s pray…
#1 – The first repeated motif here is the Apostles miraculously Healing, which in turn Attracts a large crowd. (vv12-16; cf. 3:1-4:4)
Back in ch3, it was just one guy – the lame beggar at the Temple gate. But by ch5, we hear that “many signs and wonders were regularly done among the people by the hands of the apostles.” Folks are even getting healed by “Peter’s shadow”. So what is newhere is the sheer SCALE of the apostles’ ministry. Not only are the miracles growing, but so too is their REACH. V14 says, “more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women”; so many new converts they stopped even trying to COUNT them all! All we know is they must have exceeded the 3,000 believers added to the church in ch2 or the 5,000 added in ch4! “More than ever”! And v16 adds, “The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem”. Remember Jesus’ great commission? “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in ALL Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”” (Acts 1:8) For 4 chapters, their witness has been confined to Jerusalem. But this is the first mention of the gospel expanding OUTSIDE of Jerusalem, to the surrounding towns.
So the first thing to note about the gospel here is that it is GROWING. There’s a reason that in Jesus’ parables, his favorite metaphors for the gospel, the good news of the Kingdom of God, were all ORGANIC. “The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed… that when planted, it GROWS” (Lk 13:18-19). “The Kingdom of God is like leaven”, that EXPANDS as it’s worked into the dough (Lk 13:20-21).
What’s the application for US? If the gospel’s not growing WITHIN you, and expanding OUT FROM you, then you might have planted the wrong seed. According to the Bible, the gospel – the good news about Jesus – isn’t like other ordinary news; it’s not just an inanimate FACT like “Russia invaded Ukraine” or “The Vols upset Kentucky yesterday”. No, the gospel is ALIVE. And living things, HEALTHY living things, they GROW.
The elders asked me 3 years ago, almost to the day, when I transitioned into the lead pastor role here, “You say you want to see West Hills GROW; but what if it DOESN’T? What if God’s plan is that we STAY a church of 175 or so?” And my reply was: “Well, if we lived in one of the tiny little towns OUTSIDE St. Louis, a town OF 175 people, then I think I’d be content with that. But when 100,000 people drive by our church building every single DAY, and more than THREE-QUARTERS of them don’t regularly attend church, then NO – if West Hills is still a church of 175 people… 5 years?… 10 years into my ministry here, then something’s wrong, and if it’s ME, then as elders, y’all are gonna need to seriously rethink my employment here as Lead Pastor.” Because the gospel was meant to GROW.
And that’s true not just on the corporate, church level, but on a PERSONAL level as well. The gospel that SAVED you the moment you first believed is the same gospel that has to SANCTIFY you, day by day, from one degree of glory to another. The gospel’s got to continue to grow within you. Living things don’t stay stagnant; they’re either growing or they’re [WHAT?] dying.
And the gospel ought to grow not only WITHIN us; it’s got to grow OUT FROM us as well. From Jerusalem to Judea, to Samaria, and beyond. We can’t be LAKE Christians. You know the difference between a “Lake Christian” and a “River Christian”? Lakes are stagnant. If they grow at all, the water level may rise an inch or two, and then subside. But rivers are DYNAMIC. Because they’ve got a constant SOURCE from which they are being FED, and just as importantly, they’ve got a source INTO which they are constantly pouring out. We’ve gotta be RIVER Christians; gospel INPUT, gospel OUTPUT. Discipleship: growing IN the gospel; Missions: sending OUT the gospel.
#2 – Second repetition: the Sadducees Envy & Arrest the apostles (vv17-21a; cf. 4:1-3)
They were jealous and “greatly annoyed” in ch4; here again in vv17-21, they rise up, “filled with jealousy,” and arrest the apostles.
But what’s NEW here in ch5? You tell ME this time – or should I say, “WHO’s new”, in v19?
The ANGEL. “During the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out,” and sent them RIGHT back to the Temple to preach some more. Can you imagine the look on the Sadducees’ faces, when they went to fetch the apostles the next morning for their trial? It’s even funnier when you learn the Sadducees were the theological liberals of their day who didn’t believe in all that “supernatural” stuff like bodily resurrection or ANGELS!
But I think the presence of the angel here is intended to assure us that the gospel we preach is BOLSTERED; it is “supported, upheld, sustained, strengthened, backed”; and supernaturally so! Imagine how INVINCIBLE the apostles must have felt, walking out of that prison! No WONDER they could say to the Jewish leaders in v29 with such boldness, “We’re gonna obey GOD, not y’all”. You can do your WORST, but if GOD is on our side, and HE wants us to keep witnessing for Him, then we’re confident that he can break us out of prison, he can shut the mouths of lions, he can protect us in the fiery furnace, part the Red Sea, drop a giant with a single ROCK – THAT’s the God who’s backing OUR gospel message!
And Psalm 91:11 promises that God “will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways.” The whole idea of “guardian angels” – it’s BIBLICAL; Hebrews 1:14 identifies angels as “ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation”; that’s US, believers!
How would it have changed things if the last time you had the opportunity to share the gospel with someone but chickened out, if instead you had had the spiritual eyes to see the host of ANGELS surrounding you, cheering you on? Jesus said the angels throw a giant PARTY every time a sinner repents and trusts in Him (Lk 15:7). If only we had the eyes to SEE them; how might it BOLSTER our evangelism?
There’s a story in the OT, where the king of Syria is mad at the prophet Elisha and he summons his entire ARMY to go attack him; Elisha’s servant cries, “Master! What shall we do?”” And Elisha calmly replies, ““Don’t be afraid, for those who are with us are more than those who are with them.”” And then Elisha prays that God would open his servants’ eyes to see the MULTITUDES of angel armies surrounding the enemy’s camp.
Friends, the Bible reminds us that you and I are engaged in a SPIRITUAL war; it’s a war for people’s SOULS. And we have a real Enemy who wants nothing more than to distract and deceive and drag every last person that you and I love in this life down with him to the pit of HELL. But those who are WITH us are MORE than those who are with HIM. And “he who is in you is GREATER than he who is in the world.”
So we can witness with BOLDNESS, because our gospel message is BOLSTERED.
#3 – Third Repetition: The Sadducees Arraign & Charge the apostles (vv21b-28; cf. 4:5-7)
Eventually, after a lot of “perplexity” and embarrassment, the high priest, the council, the entire Jewish “senate” – they manage to track down the missing apostles in the least likely but most public of places: the Temple. So they bring them in AGAIN, but THIS time – unlike ch4, where the council asked, “By what power or by what name did you do this?”” – this time they already KNOW the answer to that question, and now they’re not as concerned about the source of the apostles’ power, as they are the THREAT it poses to their OWN power: ““We strictly charged you not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled [all] Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us!””
The new element here is the OFFENSE, the personal offense taken by these Jewish leaders. It’s personal now for TWO reasons: 1) because you didn’t OBEY us and respect our authority, when we told you to shut up about Jesus (v28a); but moreover, 2) now you’re trying to blame His death on US! v28b: “You intend to bring his blood on us”! Again, ironic, considering they are the sameleaders who just weeks earlier at Jesus’ crucifixion exclaimed: “His blood be on us and on our children!” (Mt 27:25).
But it points us to a deeper truth: that the gospel is OFFENSIVE. We lament that it seems like Christianity is the only religion that’s NOT “politically correct” anymore – our society doesn’t seem to have a problem with Judaism, Hinduism, Buddhism, even Islam. But Christianity is deemed “offensive”. But we fail to realize WHY. All those other religions are considered “safe” in our society because they’re really about US performing externalities; but the gospel is all about GOD transforming internalities. Here’s what I mean:
In our society, the 2 cardinal sins are 1) anything that threatens my autonomy, and 2) anything that questions my identity. I MUST run my own life, and I MUST be myself and live my own truth.
Now, most religions don’t really threaten that; they essentially just instruct you to: “Do good.” Not even “BE good”; they focus moreon one’s behavior. So you still get to call the shots, and things don’t get too PERSONAL, because religion is really just about your actions. Do good.
But not Christianity. The gospel is an OFFENSE, to both our autonomy and our identity. The gospel demands that you relinquishyour cherished right to self-governance. Jesus has the nerve to suggest that the only thing your personal freedom to run your own life the way that YOU see fit has ever gotten you is TROUBLE. Sinful rebellion, against the One who’s REALLY in charge: God. But the gospel’s offense goes even further than that to claim that the REASON you have failed as CEO of your own life is because there is something DEEPLY wrong with you, at the personhood level. You sin because you’re a SINNER. THAT is your identity.
And worst of all, the gospel says there’s not a thing that YOU can do to fix it. You’re the problem; the solution’s got to come from elsewhere. But here’s the GOOD news: that “God shows his LOVE for us in this: that while we were YET sinners, Christ died for us.” (Rom 5:8). You need a NEW Lord of your life – you’ve failed – and you need a NEW identity – you’re broken. But friend: Jesus offers you BOTH. He’ll be your Lord AND your Savior, if you will but let him. If you’ll simply surrender your life to Him, in faith.
This is the offense of the gospel: “the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. ” (1 Cor 1:18)
#4 – The Apostles’ RESPONSE to the council is much the same, in both chs4 and 5: they not only Defy the Sanhedrin’s direct orders; then they Evangelize them! (vv29-32; cf. 4:19-20, 8-12)
The Jewish leaders say in v28: “Didn’t we tell you not to teach in this name?” (they can’t even bring themselves to SAY Jesus’ name; that’s how hard their hearts are!) But I love the apostles’ reply in v29: “And didn’t WE tell YOU that we were gonna keep preaching Jesus anyway!?” We told you that the FIRST time you warned and released us, back in ch4, that you were just gonna have to keep on arresting us, because we have no INTENTION of being quiet about Jesus – “we cannot BUT speak of what we have seen and heard” (4:20).
And then in BOTH chapters, the apostles proceed to WITNESS DIRECTLY TO the very people trying to silence them. “The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Savior, to give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins.”
But then they add a new twist to their gospel presentation here in v32: “And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.””
They exult: “we’ve got the HOLY SPIRIT!” (v32)
And brothers and sisters, the same Spirit that lived in them, now lives inside US, if we truly belong to Christ. And that means our gospel ministry is EMPOWERED. Remember: “you will receive power… [WHEN?] when the Holy Spirit has come upon you” (Acts 1:8)
God’s not just behind this gospel movement, bolstering it, supporting it, helping it along… He’s personally IN it! Inspiring and animating the advancement of His Kingdom in word and in deed, through His people, the Church.
You have all the power of the Resurrected Jesus living right inside of you. Now if we could just manage not to QUENCH it, who knows, we too might be healing folks, hanging out with angels… moving MOUNTAINS, according to Jesus.
Church: may we know the fullness of God’s POWER, made available to us through His SPIRIT for the sake of the Great Gospel COMMISSION Jesus has left us with; “You’ll receive my power when the Holy Spirit comes… [WHY?] SO THAT you can be my witnesses to the ends of the earth”. The Holy Spirit offers us POWER for a PURPOSE. And the purpose is gospel ministry.
#5 – In BOTH chs 4 and 5, the Sadducees Fear what might become of their own power and prestige if the gospel breaks out, so they Warn the apostles to keep quiet (vv33-40; cf. 4:13-18).
But what’s NEW in ch5 is the RAGE these Jewish leaders express; v33 says when the apostles defied and tried to evangelizethem, many “were enraged and wanted to kill them.” So much so that they have to be argued OUT of murder by the wiser, cooler-headed Gamaliel. Gamaliel was the grandson of the famous Rabbi Hillel, but even more significantly, we’ll learn later in ch22 that Gamaliel mentored a certain young “Saul of Tarsus”, before his conversion and christening as PAUL, the apostle responsible for half our New Testament. As a matter of fact, some scholars believe that “Saul” may very well have been ON this angry council here in ch5. Later in ch26, Paul’s going to confess that “I not only locked up many of the saints in prison in Jerusalem… but when they were put to death I cast my vote against them.” (v10) This is likely that voting council to which Paul referred.
But in any case, they are ENRAGED. Even AFTER Gamaliel’s wise warning – “Hey: if this gospel thing is of MAN, it’s gonna fail anyway; but if it’s of GOD, we won’t be able to stop it. So just let them be” – they take his advice, but they’re STILL so mad, they just can’t help themselves; they call the apostles in and BEAT them this time, before releasing them. So just take note of that as well: the gospel’s not the ONLY thing growing; so too is the OPPOSITION to the gospel. In ch4 it was a verbal warning, here in ch5 it’s a BEATING, and already by ch7, Stephen will become the first MARTYR, killed for the faith.
Because not only is the gospel offensive, point #3; it’s also THREATENING. The gospel threatened these Jewish leaders in the exact same way it still threatens us today; in 2 ways:
First, it threatens to OUT us, as the sinners we truly are. Like the Sadducees and Pharisees, we try and “dress up” our sin, hide it from others so we can feel superior; but the gospel exposes our sin.
And Second, the gospel threatens to OUST us. To remove us from our position at the center of our own tiny, narcissistic little universes. The gospel says, “Believe it or not, all of creation and human history is NOT about you; in fact, your own LIFE isn’t even about you – everything, yourself included, exists for the glory of GOD!”
This is why the nations rage, why the Sadducees rage, why WE rage, against the gospel. Until, we finally give in, and surrender, and realize what good news – what GLORIOUSLY good news – it is that we don’t HAVE to pretend like we have it all together when we know deep down we don’t… when we realize what good news it is that we’re NOT the center of the universe (what a saduniverse that would be!), but rather God’s centrality means that you and I are caught up in, that we get to play an integral ROLE in, the Greatest Story Ever Told. That our lives have INFINITELY more meaning and purpose and JOY with GOD at the center than with US there.
Friend: if you HAVEN’T realized that yet, I would just paraphrase the words of Gamaliel for you here: that “if YOUR plan [for your life]… is of man, it will fail”. You don’t want to “be found opposing God”; stop resisting Him, and surrender to Him this morning.
Finally, #6 – both encounters end, in chs 4 and 5, with the Apostles Praying to God & Witnessing FOR Him all the more (vv41-42; cf. 4:23-31)
At the end of ch4, they were filled with BOLDNESS as they “continued to speak the word of God”. But here in ch5 now, they’re filled with something NEW.
V41: “Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing”; they are filled with JOY.
Why? Because “they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name” of Jesus.
Like the martyrs of the Protestant Reformation, of whom John Foxe writes, “Although they suffered in their bodies, yet rejoiced in their spirits… some professed they were never so merry before in all their lives, some leaped for joy, some for triumph would put on their… wedding garments, going to the fire; others kissed the stake, embraced the [flames], clapt their hands, sang psalms” (John Knott, “John Foxe and the Joy of Suffering”, https://www.jstor.org/stable/2544014).
Or Richard Wurmbrand, the founder of Voice of the Martyrs, who was imprisoned for over 14 years in a Romanian cell for smuggling gospel tracks into Soviet Russia in the wake of WWII, even evangelizing the Communist troops. In his memoir, “Tortured for Christ”, he recalls being beaten so severely that chunks of his flesh would be ripped from his body, they burned holes in him with a fire poker. Then he was locked in solitary confinement for weeks, sometimes months. But they couldn’t break him. And when the guards came to bring him food, they would always find him praying, sometimes singing hymns and dancing around his cell for joy.
Why? Because friends, the gospel is WORTHY.
All these rejoiced to be counted “worthy” to suffer for Jesus, because they realized that the GOSPEL was uniquely worthy of their hearts, their minds, their souls, their strength… their LIVES!
Jesus said, “A disciple is not above his Master; if they persecuted me, they WILL persecute you.” (Jn 15:20) But he said, “ Rejoiceand be glad, when others revile you and persecute you… on my account, for your reward is great in heaven”. The apostles rejoiced because they knew they were storing up treasures in HEAVEN, where moth and rust can’t destroy. So before he was crucified upside down, because he didn’t consider himself WORTHY to be crucified in the same manner as Jesus, the apostle Peter exhorted his church to “rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.” (1 Pet 4:13) The apostle Paul, before he was beheaded for Christ, wrote “we rejoice in our sufferings” (Rom 5:3), because “this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison” (2 Cor 4:17). He said, “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not even worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.” (Rom 8:18)
Brothers and sisters, let’s not pretend like what you and I experience today can in any sense be called “persecution”; we are blessed to live in a country where we AREN’T persecuted for our faith… YET. But we do, we should, we WILL suffer “dishonor” for the name of Jesus; America is NOT a Christian nation, and that’s becoming clearer every day. Will we REJOICE, trusting that the GOSPEL is worthy of it all.