Commentary - Acts 5:12-16

Bird's-eye view

Following the stunning judgment on Ananias and Sapphira, the early church is marked by two seemingly contradictory responses: a holy fear that keeps outsiders at a distance, and an explosive growth fueled by undeniable signs and wonders. This passage in Acts 5 shows us the raw power of the Holy Spirit at work. The apostles, particularly Peter, are conduits of such potent grace that even a shadow can bring healing. This is not a tidy, manageable, seeker-sensitive church growth program. This is the kingdom of God breaking into the world with disruptive power. The result is that the church is both feared and magnified, both separated and swelling with new believers. This is what happens when God is manifestly present among His people.

Luke is showing us the nature of authentic revival. It is not just about numbers, though the numbers are impressive. It is about the manifest presence of God, which produces both awe and attraction. The same power that struck down liars in the church is the power that healed the sick in the streets. This is a package deal. A holy church is a powerful church, and a powerful church will be a growing church. The world, when it sees this kind of reality, cannot remain neutral. It will either recoil in fear or be drawn in by a desperate need for the very thing it fears.

Outline

Clause-by-Clause Commentary

v. 12a Now at the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were happening among the people,

Right on the heels of the great fear that fell on the church because of Ananias and Sapphira, Luke immediately pivots to the great power that was flowing through the church. The two are directly connected. When the church takes holiness seriously, God is pleased to grant power. These signs and wonders were not random acts of spiritual pizzazz. They were attestations to the truth of the gospel, just as they were in the ministry of Jesus. The apostles had asked for boldness and for signs and wonders to be done in Jesus' name (Acts 4:30), and God was answering their prayer in spades. The word for "signs" points to the meaning behind the miracles, and the word for "wonders" points to the effect they had on the observers. They were meaningful wonders, and wondrous signs. They pointed to the reality that the kingdom had come, and Jesus was reigning from on high.

v. 12b and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s Portico.

This is not just a geographical note. Solomon's Portico was a large, public colonnade on the east side of the Temple mount. For the believers to be gathered there "with one accord" means they were unified and they were visible. They were not hiding in an upper room anymore. They were taking the gospel to the most public square available, right in the heart of Jewish religious life. This unity is a recurring theme in Acts. The Holy Spirit does not just save individuals; He creates a new community, a new humanity. Their unified presence in such a public place was a powerful testimony in itself. It was a visible display of the kingdom they were proclaiming.

v. 13 But none of the rest dared to associate with them; however, the people were holding them in high esteem.

Here is the paradox. The manifest presence of God creates a division. "None of the rest" likely refers to the unbelieving Jews who were observing all this. They saw the power, they saw the unity, but after what happened to Ananias and Sapphira, they knew this was not a club to be joined lightly. There was a holy "hands off" quality to the church. The fear of the Lord was a protective boundary. You did not trifle with this group. And yet, this fear did not lead to contempt. The people "were holding them in high esteem." They magnified them. The world respects authenticity, and it respects power. Even if they were not ready to join, they knew they were witnessing something real. A church that is not feared by the world is a church that will not be respected by the world. We have this backwards today. We think we must remove all fear to win a hearing. The apostles operated on the opposite principle: the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

v. 14 And more than ever believers in the Lord were added to their number, multitudes of men and women,

The fear did not drive everyone away. In fact, it seems to have purified the motives of those who did come. Luke says "more than ever" believers were added. The fear of God acted as a filter, keeping the half-hearted and the hypocrites out, while the genuine seekers were drawn in like moths to a flame. This was not a trickle; it was "multitudes." And Luke is careful to note it was both "men and women." The gospel was creating a new family, breaking down the social and gender barriers of the old world. This growth was the direct result of the holy fear and the manifest power. When the church is clearly the church, it is the most attractive thing on the planet to those whom the Spirit is calling.

v. 15 to such an extent that they even carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, so that when Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on any one of them.

The esteem mentioned in verse 13 now spills over into this remarkable scene. The demand for healing was so great that the logistics became overwhelming. People were desperate. They believed so strongly in the power flowing through the apostles that they thought even Peter's shadow could be a conduit of God's grace. Is this superstitious? Perhaps a little, but God is gracious and meets people in their faith, however imperfectly expressed. This is not about the magical properties of shadows. It is about the overwhelming, pervasive, ambient power of God that was centered on the apostles. God's presence was so thick that it was, in a sense, leaking out. Peter was so saturated with the Holy Spirit that the very space he occupied was charged with divine energy. This demonstrates the sheer scale of the revival that was taking place.

v. 16 Also the multitude from the cities in the vicinity of Jerusalem were coming together, bringing people who were sick or afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all being healed.

The revival was not contained to Jerusalem. Word had spread, and people were flooding in from the surrounding towns. This is the beginning of the gospel radiating outwards, just as Jesus had commanded. Notice the categories of affliction: the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits. The gospel brings holistic restoration. It heals the body and it exorcises demons. The kingdom of God is at war with the kingdom of Satan, and here we see a major offensive with decisive victories. And the result? "They were all being healed." Every last one. There were no failures, no partial successes. This was a demonstration of the absolute triumph of the name of Jesus over every sickness and every demon. This is a foretaste of the final victory, a down payment on the new creation. This is what the gospel, in power, looks like.

Key Issues

The Fear of the Lord

In our day, we have tried to make the gospel palatable, friendly, and entirely non-threatening. We have stripped the lion of his teeth and claws and presented him as a housecat. But the Bible knows nothing of this. In Acts, the presence of the Holy Spirit brings with it an intense and holy fear. It fell on the church and all who heard about Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:5, 11). This fear was not a cowering terror but a profound sense of awe and reverence in the face of a holy God who will not be trifled with. It is this very fear that made the church so potent.

This fear did two things. First, it kept the church pure. It raised the cost of entry, filtering out those who were not serious. Second, it made the church compelling to the outside world. A God who is not to be feared is a God who is not to be worshiped. The world is dying for a glimpse of transcendence, and a church that walks in the fear of the Lord provides that glimpse. They may not like it, but they cannot ignore it. This fear is the foundation for true worship and effective witness. As Proverbs says, the fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge (Prov. 1:7). It is also the beginning of revival.

Application

We need to repent of our desire for a tame and manageable God. We have traded the power of the Holy Spirit for programs and marketing techniques. This passage calls us back to the foundational connection between the holiness of the church and the power of God in our midst. We should pray for a fresh outpouring of the fear of the Lord upon our congregations. When we begin to take our own sin as seriously as God does, we may once again see the world take our Savior seriously.

We must also recover our confidence in the public proclamation of the gospel. The early believers did not retreat into holy huddles; they took their stand in the public square. We are called to do the same, to be "with one accord" in our public witness. And as we do, we should pray for God to confirm His word with signs following. We serve a risen and reigning Christ who has all authority. Let us ask Him to display that authority, to heal the sick, to cast out demons, and to add to His church daily those who are being saved. Let us ask for a revival that makes the church both feared and magnified in our land.