Acts 5:41, commentary and pictures

After the council was persuaded not to put them to death, the apostles were beaten and charged on pain of death to preach no more in the name of Jesus before they were released. They left rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer disgrace and public dishonor for his name. To be so counted is an honor and privilege to be received with joy and gratitude rather than complaint, valuing the cause of Christ above life itself. Their suffering did not silence them, for they went on daily teaching and preaching Jesus Christ in the temple and in every house. They rejoiced because such suffering gave them fellowship with Christ in the path he trod, turning shame into glory and pain into joy before men and angels.

Events Before the Council

The verse belongs to the account in Acts 3-5 of bold witness in Jerusalem through the power of the Holy Spirit. Despite deep prejudice against Christ, the disciples preached His work, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension. That preaching was accompanied by signs and miracles, and the number of believers grew. Priests and rulers combined against Christ's followers, bringing them before councils and thrusting them into prison.

After Gamaliel persuaded the council not to put them to death, the priests very reluctantly, with prejudice and hatred hardly restrained, saw the reasonableness of his counsel and were obliged to agree. They still had the apostles beaten, in one account beaten with rods, and repeatedly charged them at peril of their lives and on pain of death to preach no more in the name of Jesus before releasing them. The apostles' work was not finished at that release, because they were still to be brought before kings to witness to the name of Jesus and to testify to what they had seen and heard.

Meaning of Counted Worthy

They departed from the council rejoicing and praising God that they were counted worthy to suffer shame, disgrace and public dishonor for the name after being beaten and ordered not to speak in Jesus' name. The beating was with rods, joined to repeated charges at peril of life and on pain of death to preach no more in the name of Jesus, and the release came only because Gamaliel had persuaded the council not to put them to death, whose counsel the priests very reluctantly saw as reasonable and were obliged to agree to, with prejudice and hatred hardly restrained. To be counted worthy to suffer for Christ in this way is an honor and privilege to be received with joy and gratitude rather than complaint or murmuring. They valued the cause of Christ more than their own lives.

They turned shame into glory and pain into joy for their Master, who had endured humiliation and agony before them. Their joy was joy to prove before men and angels that they recognized the glory of Christ and chose to follow Him at the loss of all things, even when priests and rulers combined against them and they were brought before councils and thrust into prison. Their joy in suffering reflects the cross, an instrument of shame and torture that brought hope and salvation. Strengthened by Christ and armed with God's word, they faced opposition without earthly honor or recognition.

They accept suffering rather than fear adversaries, uphold His name, and present His cross as their argument against false teaching. Their poverty, abuse, disgrace and even death for the truth did not make them ashamed. Such things were not reasons to abandon their work, but sacrifices accepted in loyalty to Him, including poverty, disgrace, abuse and even death for the truth.

Witness That Would Not Stop

The beating and the order at peril of life not to speak any more in the name of Jesus did not silence them, but they left rejoicing to be counted worthy to endure disgrace for that name and answered prohibition with continued witness. Daily in the temple and in homes they went on teaching and preaching Jesus Christ, continuing the mission in every house where they were invited. Their work was not finished at that release, for they were still to be brought before kings to witness to the name of Jesus and to testify to what they had seen and heard.

Because they continued despite threats and punishment, the word of God grew and multiplied. Their bold witness in Jerusalem pressed on despite deep prejudice against Christ, proclaiming his work, crucifixion, resurrection and ascension with accompanying signs and miracles. In that course the number of believers grew and the number of disciples grew.

When hearts and lives are controlled and governed by the truth, love for Christ and his cause turns suffering for the truth into joy. Those so governed need not be daunted or stopped by prison or the threat of martyrdom. Shame, prison and even martyrdom cannot deter them from their work.

Fellowship With Christ's Sufferings

Those who testify to the truth under persecution can receive disgrace for Christ's name with joy as an honor, because their suffering gives them fellowship with Christ in his sufferings. They follow the path Jesus trod, and may share in his glory, so reproach and mistreatment for his sake can be borne cheerfully with hope of a heavenly reward. The same lesson belongs to Christians who endured imprisonment, torture and death for the truth, rejoicing that they shared in Christ's sufferings.

The first Christians rejoiced when they suffered for Christ, counting it an honor to suffer for the one who was crucified for them. Their endurance through exile, imprisonment, hunger, cold, torture and martyrdom provides comfort and encouragement to God's people when they face the future time of trouble and the coming time of trouble.

Believers can face torture and death with joy because they are counted worthy to suffer for Christ. Their courage contrasts with Jesus' agony at Calvary, where he suffered not chiefly from fear of death or bodily pain but from the burden of sin and the horror of its malignity and deep hold on the human heart. Their songs of triumph amid persecution express faith that Christ and the angels see and approve their steadfastness, because suffering shame for his name for the truth is an honor and their reward is in heaven.

Same Joy in Later Sufferers

The same rejoicing at being counted worthy to suffer disgrace for Christ was seen at Philippi, where Paul and Silas thanked God for that honor even under extreme torture in utter darkness and desolation, cold and hungry, with lacerated and bleeding backs against the rough stone floor and feet raised and fastened in the stocks in an unnatural painful position. They did not groan or complain but talked with and encouraged each other, and with thankful hearts cheered by deep and earnest love for the cause of their Redeemer they prayed and sang praises to God instead of murmuring. Their prayer and singing in pitch darkness astonished the guards and fellow prisoners, who were used to hearing only shrieks and moans and cursing and swearing break the night silence from that gloomy cell, and who marveled how men so afflicted, cold, hungry and tortured, could still rejoice.

For Paul the joy included devout thankfulness that his eyes had been opened to see and his heart to feel the power of the glorious truths of the gospel of the Son of God, and gratitude that he was privileged to preach the teaching he once despised and opposed after having helped bring and heap persecution on the disciples of Christ. The Waldenses illustrated this same joy by gathering to sing and praise God because they were counted worthy to suffer for Christ despite persecution, homelessness, hunger, cold, loss and even the deaths of their children, without giving up their religion. They encouraged one another, valued God's love and favor above earthly comfort and riches, and found consolation and hope in looking forward to their reward.

The same joy in suffering seen in apostolic days continued after the death of Wycliffe among those maintaining a calm, devout, earnest, patient protest against prevailing corruption of religious faith, who freely sacrificed worldly possessions for the cause of Christ, gladly received into their homes brethren banished from home and kindred, and when themselves driven forth accepted the lot of the outcast with rejoicing. The first Christians counted it an honor to suffer for the one who was crucified for them, and their endurance through exile, imprisonment, hunger, cold, torture and martyrdom provides comfort and encouragement to God's people when they face the future time of trouble and the coming time of trouble.

Call to Enduring Faithfulness

The apostles did not carry out their mission in their own power but in the power of the living God, and their work was not easy but attended by hardship and bitter grief, privation, calumny, and persecution. They counted not their lives dear to themselves and rejoiced that they were called to suffer for Christ, with no irresolution, indecision, or weakness of purpose, but willing to spend and be spent. The consciousness of the responsibility resting on them purified and enriched their experience, and God worked through them with the might of omnipotence to make the gospel triumphant.

Willingness to endure reproach, trial, and hardship for his sake is a fruit of genuine spiritual renewal. Love for Christ and his cause makes suffering for the truth a joy, so that when God's truth fills and governs the heart even prison or the threat of martyrdom cannot daunt or stop the work. Those who willingly suffer for Christ find more joy in suffering for him than even in knowing that he suffered for them to show his love. Faith that costs little is yielded easily and will not sustain in trial or comfort in affliction, while sustaining faith is made strong by effort and pure by sacrifice, and those who win heaven put forth their noblest efforts and labor with all long-suffering to reap the fruit of toil.

To be counted worthy to suffer shame for his name is shared by those who suffer in a holy cause and defend truth from the Scriptures before rulers and councils, for which a person may be grateful to God. Christ counts his servants worthy to suffer for a holy cause, and his disciples accept suffering rather than fear their adversaries, upholding his name and presenting his cross as their argument against false teaching. Their joyful faithfulness can impress hearers and win protection. The apostles endured such disgrace and persecution in their ministry, a suffering ultimately sealed by martyrdom.

Those who faithfully expose error and stand for God rejoice in the Lord when threatened, pursued, and beaten for Jesus' name, counting the disgrace a privilege. God sustains them in the disagreeable work and gives solemn joy mixed with weeping even while in danger. He lessens the pain so that those whipped for helping his servants scarcely feel the blows.