Acts 5:40, commentary and pictures

The council agreed with Gamaliel to spare the apostles' lives and release them, yet still had them beaten with rods and commanded again and again not to speak or preach in the name of Jesus. They yielded very reluctantly, restrained from killing by fear of the people, while prejudice and hatred of God's work after clear evidence of His power vented itself in punishment. This beating and prohibition were hindrance, oppression, and injustice against God's work that will surely meet divine punishment and judgment. The apostles were not stopped but rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name, turning shame into glory, and kept teaching and preaching Jesus daily in the temple and in private houses.

Setting and Council Action

Acts 5:40 belongs to the apostles' bold public witness in Jerusalem to Jesus' work, crucifixion, resurrection, and ascension, given clearly under the power of the Holy Spirit despite opposition from those who had rejected him. That witness was accompanied by signs and healings that drew many people to faith and praise. The witnesses were humble disciples without earthly honor or weapons who went forth in Christ's strength with the word of God and triumphed over opposition.

The council agreed with Gamaliel's counsel to refrain from the apostles, leave them alone, and release them rather than carry out its plan to kill them. They saw the reasonableness of his views, yet did so very reluctantly because prejudice and hatred could hardly be restrained. Fear of the people kept the rulers from killing the apostles. Hatred of God's work and continued prejudice even after evidence of God's power and miraculous works led them to vent their anger in punishment.

Although agreeing to let them alone, the council still had the apostles beaten with rods and ordered them again and again not to speak or preach in the name of Jesus, and then released them. They charged them again at the peril of their lives to preach no more in the name of Jesus, with their lives to pay the penalty for further boldness. Their agreement to let the apostles alone did not prevent the rulers from punishing and trying to silence them. The beating and command not to speak in Jesus' name were hindrance, oppression, and injustice against God's work. God has a work to accomplish in the earth in order that the truth shall triumph, and for every hindrance, every deceptive and oppressive dealing, every exorbitant price exacted, every connivance of fraud, and every diverting of His means in a wrong channel, He will just as surely bring punishment and judgment upon the actors as in the case of Ananias and Sapphira in the same chapter.

Being beaten for helping God's servants need not cause pain, for God can sustain the sufferers so that they scarcely feel the stripes.

Faithful Suffering and Witness

The order not to speak in Jesus' name and the beating with rods did not stop the witnesses and did not overthrow them. They kept teaching and preaching Jesus daily after they were released. They taught Jesus Christ publicly in the temple and secretly in private houses at the request of believers who dared not openly confess for fear of the Jews. Even repeated charges to preach no more in that name, backed by the threat that further boldness would be paid for with their lives, failed to silence them.

They rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer shame for His name. They praised God for that honor. By faith and courage they turned shame into glory and pain into joy. They did so for the sake of their Master, who had borne humiliation and agony before them. Their beating after imprisonment for preaching in Jesus' name marked their suffering as an honor. It stands as the example of the self-sacrificing ministry of Jesus' disciples, who faced persecution and could ultimately die for their work.