Acts 5:17, commentary and pictures

The high priest and those with him were filled with indignation at the apostles' bold, Spirit-empowered witness proclaiming Jesus' resurrection and continuing His words and works after being ordered to stop. The Sadducees were especially enraged because this preaching that Christ had risen and ascended directly contradicted their denial that there is any resurrection of the dead. They feared that continued preaching and miracles in Jesus' name would discredit their doctrine, bring their sect to extinction, and expose them as guilty of His death before the people. Their indignation was prejudice, hatred, and rejection of light and evidence, unwilling to admit they had misunderstood and misapplied the Scriptures while questioning the right of fishermen to teach contrary to their doctrines. In their anger they seized the apostles and put them in the common prison, but an angel opened the doors and sent them back to preach in the temple, proving that God is constantly working with guarding care in behalf of His people.

Setting and Causes of Indignation

The verse marks the rulers' opposition to the apostles' bold, Spirit-empowered witness that proclaimed Jesus' resurrection and represented the words and works of their Teacher. The high priest and those with him became indignant as that work and testimony about Christ gained attention. They were provoked because the apostles continued preaching Jesus after being ordered to stop, performed wonders in His name, lived in unity, and added converts to the church.

The Sadducees were especially enraged because the apostles preached that Christ had risen and ascended. That testimony that they had seen the risen Jesus and that He had ascended to heaven directly contradicted their denial that there is no resurrection of the dead and that the dead would not rise. They feared that continued preaching of a risen Saviour with miracles in His name would discredit their doctrine and bring their sect to extinction. The rejection of that doctrine would follow from continued preaching and miracles, ending their sect.

The miracles and healings in Jesus' name confirmed that the crucified Jesus was the Messiah and strengthened the apostles' testimony. The healing brought relief to the sick, yet the rulers opposed it because it proved the testimony and exalted Christ above the priests and rulers, endangering their doctrines. The leaders feared the preaching would expose them as guilty of Jesus' death and bring the people's condemnation upon them. They opposed even relief to the sick because it multiplied converts, and with converts multiplying after former efforts to suppress the teaching had failed, they determined the work must be stopped. The Pharisees were also angry because the teaching undermined the Jewish ceremonies and made the sacrificial offerings of no effect and ineffectual.

Their indignation reflected prejudice, hatred, and rejection of light and evidence despite healings and miracles and the release of God's servants from prison. Blind to their failure as depositaries of truth and unwilling to admit they had misunderstood and misapplied the Scriptures, they called their anger righteous indignation and questioned the right of fishermen to teach contrary to their doctrines. In their indignation they laid violent hands on Peter and John, seizing the apostles and putting them in the common prison. They did this at a time when all parties of the nation were gathered for a great occasion, arresting and imprisoning them for preaching the resurrection.

Opposition, Judgment, and Deliverance

The indignation of Acts 5:17 did not remain feeling but became action, for the high priest and the Sadducees with him seized the apostles and put them in the common prison because they kept preaching Jesus after being ordered to stop. Their course illustrates how religious and civil authorities may resist God's work when it conflicts with their demands.

What follows the verse shows that God has a work to accomplish on earth so that truth shall triumph, and He will just as surely punish deceptive and unjust dealings in His work. That punishment reaches oppression, using lawyers to take advantage of circumstances, injustice, hindrance to the work, exacting exorbitant prices, connivance at fraud, and diverting His means into a wrong channel. The leaders' arrest of the apostles came as hostility grew over continued gospel preaching, wonders performed in Jesus' name, converts added to the church, the believers' unity, and the judgment of Ananias and Sapphira. Yet an angel opened the prison doors and sent them back to preach in the temple. When the authorities tried to stop their mouths they refused to be silenced because they had a message to bear.

The deliverance came after the disciples, left by Christ, had assembled together and prayed earnestly for the Holy Spirit, received the Spirit, healed the sick, and then were shut up in prison at a time when all parties of the Jewish nation were gathered for one of their great occasions. Angels of God opened the prison doors and set them free from their enemies, coming right into the prison house and taking them out of the hands of the enemy. This proves that God is constantly working in behalf of His people, with His angels coming in and going out and guarding and watching over men. Fathers and mothers should tell their children and families how it happened to teach them this guarding care. The same earnest united prayer, with the kindness of Christ and tenderness, sympathy, and love for souls, brings power for missionary work.