Acts 5:17-21a 17But when the high priest rose up and all who were with him, which were the party of the Sadducees, they were filled with jealousy 18and laid their hands on the apostles and put them in a public prison. 19But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, 20“Go and, standing in the temple, speak to the people all the words of this life.” 21And when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.
Things seemed to be going so well, but as often happens, opposition rose up against the new movement. The Jewish leaders became jealous of the apostles, who attracted large crowds and performed many miracles. Luke mentions two specific entities that were against the apostles. The high priest was Caiaphas. He had an aristocratic group of Sadducees around him, possibly his inner circle of advisers. The Sadducees were especially concerned about keeping peace with the Romans and influence over the people. Jealousy (zēlou) can be translated as “zeal” and implies some degree of passion or push for an agenda. Their zeal could have been religious, but likely more political. The word also has a negative sense of envy. These religious/political leaders wanted to keep their positions of influence and power over the people and feared they were losing control.
Verse 18 indicates that the high priest and the leading Sadducees arrested the apostles. The number of apostles is not indicated, but the previous story implies that all twelve were involved in the healing and teaching ministry in the temple, so it is possible that all of them were put into prison. The prison was public, which meant it would have been obvious to people what happened. It was a great opportunity to witness, though not in a pleasant or easy way. Jesus had predicted that the apostles would experience this type of treatment (Luke 21:12).
Just as God’s word cannot be kept confined or hidden, so the witness of the apostles could not be stopped. In this situation, the Lord (likely referring to Jesus) sent angels to open the prison doors and let the apostles out. The account is brief with a simple description of the miraculous escape given in verse 19. The angel gave a surprising command for them to go back to the temple and speak to the people. They were to return to the very place and do the very thing that got them in trouble. The miraculous release by the angel would be a tremendous boost to their faith. Yet, it would also take faith to obey and go back to the place of danger. Ironically, Sadducees did not believe in angels, so the Lord used a method to free the apostles that would challenge the Sadducees to expand or correct their theology.
They had no hesitation at all in obeying the Lord’s command through the angel. Verse 20 indicates that they went back to the temple as soon as it was light. Whereas the religious leaders had a form of zeal that moved them to get rid of the apostles, the apostles had their own form of zeal that motivated them to return to the same place where they had gotten in trouble. Significant in all this is the message they taught about the words of this life. They had what people needed. Nothing could stop them from proclaiming the good news of Jesus. When we have the wonderful words of life, do we have the same zeal to bring this good news to those desperate and searching for it?
For older posts, click here.