The Uncaged Word
Introduction: Two Kingdoms in Conflict
We come now to a passage that lays bare the fundamental conflict of all human history. It is the collision of two kingdoms, two authorities, two ultimate allegiances. On the one hand, we have the kingdom of man, represented here by the high priest, the Sadducees, and the entire Sanhedrin. This is the kingdom of earthly power, of control, of institutional preservation, and of deep-seated fear. On the other hand, we have the kingdom of God, represented by a handful of fishermen who have been turned into lions by the Holy Spirit. This is the kingdom of resurrection power, of divine authority, of joyful proclamation, and of unshakeable obedience to a higher throne.
The issue at stake is simple: who gets to define reality? Who sets the terms? The Sanhedrin believed it was their job. They were the established religious authority, the guardians of the status quo. But the resurrection of Jesus Christ had detonated a new reality in their midst, and it was a reality they could not control. The gospel is never a polite suggestion to be debated in committee. It is an invasion. It is a declaration that a new King is on the throne, and therefore, the old powers are obsolete. What we see in this chapter is the predictable reaction of all obsolete powers when confronted with the living God: first jealousy, then coercion, then confusion, and finally, impotent rage.
This is not just a story about something that happened two thousand years ago. This is a paradigm for the church in every age. The world system, whether it is religious like the Sanhedrin or secular like our modern state, will always try to put the Word of God in a cage. It will command, it will threaten, it will imprison. And the church will always be faced with the same choice Peter articulates here: "We must obey God rather than men." Let us pay close attention, because the principles at work in this Jerusalem jailhouse are the same principles that must govern us today.
The Text
But the high priest rose up and those with him (that is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy. And they laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public jail. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison, and taking them out, he said, “Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life.” Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and began to teach.
Now when the high priest and those with him came, they called the Sanhedrin together, even all the Council of the sons of Israel, and sent orders to the jailhouse for them to be brought. But the officers who came did not find them in the prison, and they returned and reported back, saying, “We found the jailhouse locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors, but we opened it and found no one inside.” Now when the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them as to what would come of this. But someone came and reported to them, “The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!” Then the captain went along with the officers and proceeded to bring them back without violence (for they were afraid of the people, that they might be stoned).
And when they had brought them, they stood them before the Sanhedrin. And the high priest questioned them, saying, “We strictly commanded you not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” But Peter and the apostles answered and said, “We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you put to death by hanging Him on a tree. This One God exalted to His right hand as a Leader and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God gave to those who obey Him.
(Acts 5:17-32 LSB)
Jealousy's Jailhouse (vv. 17-18)
The conflict begins with the motivation of the establishment.
"But the high priest rose up and those with him (that is the sect of the Sadducees), and they were filled with jealousy. And they laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public jail." (Acts 5:17-18)
Notice the engine driving this persecution. It is not theological purity or a zeal for righteousness. It is raw, green-eyed jealousy. The Greek word is zelos, and it describes a burning envy. Why were they jealous? Because the apostles had what they were losing: the attention and allegiance of the people. The Sadducees were the theological liberals of their day; they denied the resurrection, angels, and spirits. The apostles were preaching a resurrected Jesus, and the power of their message was being confirmed with signs and wonders. The Sadducees were offering a sterile, political religion, a religion of death. The apostles were offering "this Life," and the people were flocking to it.
Jealousy is the rage of the impotent. When you cannot compete in the marketplace of ideas, you resort to force. When your arguments fail, you use your fists. And so, they do what the state always does when it feels threatened by a higher authority. They "laid hands on the apostles and put them in a public jail." This was an act of intimidation. The public jail was meant to be a public humiliation, a clear message to everyone else: this is what happens when you defy us. They thought that by locking up the men, they could lock up the message.
The Angel and the Imperative (vv. 19-21a)
But the kingdom of man has a very short reach, and its locks are no match for the keys of the kingdom of heaven.
"But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison, and taking them out, he said, 'Go, stand and speak to the people in the temple the whole message of this Life.' Upon hearing this, they entered into the temple about daybreak and began to teach." (Acts 5:19-21a)
Here we have one of the great "buts" of Scripture. Man jails, but God frees. The authorities thought they had solved their problem. They went to bed satisfied that the disturbance had been contained. But God works the night shift. An angel, a messenger of the King, simply opens the doors. This is not a covert escape; it is a sovereign release. It is a divine mockery of human power. The strongest prison of man is an open door to God.
And notice the command that comes with this freedom. The angel does not say, "You're free! Now go hide in Galilee and write your memoirs." He says, "Go, stand and speak." Their freedom was not for their own comfort or safety. It was for the sake of the proclamation. They were freed in order to be faithful, not in order to be safe. And where are they to go? Right back to the temple, the headquarters of the opposition, the very place they were arrested. And what are they to speak? "The whole message of this Life." Not a partial message, not a toned-down, seeker-sensitive message. The whole counsel of God. The gospel is not a philosophy; it is Life itself, because it is about the resurrected Lord of Life. This stands in stark contrast to the Sadducees, who were peddling a religion of death that denied the resurrection.
The apostles' response is immediate and unhesitating obedience. At daybreak, they are right back at it, teaching in the temple. This is holy courage. This is what it looks like to fear God more than man.
The Baffled Bureaucrats (vv. 21b-26)
What follows is a scene of high comedy. The curtain rises on the Sanhedrin, assembled in all their religious finery, ready to sit in judgment.
"We found the jailhouse locked quite securely and the guards standing at the doors, but we opened it and found no one inside." (Acts 5:23)
This is a picture of the world's predicament. They have all the instruments of control. The locks are secure, the guards are at their posts, the system is functioning perfectly. But the cage is empty. The reality they thought they had contained has vanished. This is the empty tomb all over again. The world's best efforts to contain Jesus, whether in a tomb or in a prison through His followers, are utterly futile. The Word of God is not bound (2 Tim. 2:9).
Their reaction is telling: they were "greatly perplexed." The world does not know what to do with the power of God. It does not fit their materialistic, cause-and-effect worldview. They are baffled. And then the report comes, rubbing salt in the wound: "The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!" The problem has not only escaped; it has gone public again, right in their own front yard.
Notice their fear in verse 26. They bring the apostles back "without violence," not because they had a sudden change of heart, but because "they were afraid of the people." Their authority is a house of cards, built on public opinion. They are not principled men of God; they are politicians managing their constituency. They fear the stones of the crowd more than they fear the judgment of God.
The Unavoidable Accusation (vv. 27-32)
The confrontation is now direct. The high priest lays out the charge.
"We strictly commanded you not to continue teaching in this name, and yet, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and intend to bring this man’s blood upon us." (Acts 5:28)
The first charge is insubordination. "We gave you a direct order." The second is, ironically, a testimony to the apostles' effectiveness: "you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching." It is a confession of their own failure to contain the message. The third charge is rich with irony: "you intend to bring this man's blood upon us." These are the same men who stood before Pilate and screamed, "His blood be on us and on our children!" (Matt. 27:25). They were eager to claim responsibility for His death when it served their political ends, but now they recoil from the guilt. They want to be rid of Jesus, but they do not want to be held accountable for murdering Him. But the gospel confronts us with this blood. It is either the blood of guilt that condemns us, or the blood of atonement that cleanses us. There is no third option.
Peter's response is one of the pinnacle statements in all of Scripture.
"But Peter and the apostles answered and said, 'We must obey God rather than men. The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you put to death by hanging Him on a tree. This One God exalted to His right hand as a Leader and a Savior, to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins. And we are witnesses of these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God gave to those who obey Him.'" (Acts 5:29-32)
First, he lays down the foundational principle of all Christian civil disobedience: "We must obey God rather than men." This is not a justification for anarchy. It is a declaration of ultimate allegiance. When the command of the state contradicts the command of God, the Christian's duty is clear. Our citizenship is in heaven, and we answer to a higher throne.
Second, he preaches the gospel to them, directly and without flinching. He identifies the God they claim to serve as the one who "raised up Jesus." He then lays the blame for His death squarely at their feet: "whom you put to death by hanging Him on a tree." The use of the word "tree" deliberately invokes the curse of Deuteronomy 21:23. You treated Him as one cursed by God. But God reversed your verdict. The one you murdered, God has "exalted to His right hand as a Leader and a Savior." He is the Prince of Life and the only one who can save.
And what is the purpose of this exaltation? In an act of breathtaking grace, it is "to grant repentance to Israel, and forgiveness of sins." He is offering the very gift they need to the very men who murdered Him. Even in this hostile courtroom, the offer of the gospel is extended. Finally, Peter rests his case on a twofold testimony: the eyewitness testimony of the apostles ("we are witnesses") and the divine testimony of the Holy Spirit, who is given, he says, "to those who obey Him." This last phrase is a sharp jab. It connects right back to verse 29. The reason you, the Sanhedrin, do not have this Spirit is because you are living in disobedience. The apostles, by obeying God, are living in the flow of His power. Obedience is the pipeline through which the Spirit's witness comes.
Conclusion
The lessons for us are sharp and clear. First, the Word of God cannot be chained. Every human system that sets itself up against the gospel will ultimately find itself perplexed, holding onto an empty cage. Whether it is a first-century Sanhedrin or a twenty-first-century secular state, God will mock their efforts to silence His truth.
Second, we are constantly faced with the same choice: God or men. The pressures to compromise, to soften the message, to be silent about the exclusive claims of Christ, are immense. We are told not to "bring this man's blood" into the public square. We are commanded to keep our faith private. Peter's response must be our response: "We must obey God."
Third, our freedom in Christ is not for the purpose of safety, but for the purpose of proclamation. Like the apostles, we have been sprung from the ultimate prison of sin and death. And the command to us is the same: "Go, stand and speak... the whole message of this Life." We are not called to huddle in fear, but to stand in the public square and declare that Jesus is the exalted Leader and Savior.
And last, the power to do this does not come from us. It comes from the Holy Spirit, whom God gives to those who obey Him. The path of obedience is the path of power. When we choose to obey God rather than men, we find ourselves filled with a Spirit who cannot be contained, and armed with a message that cannot be defeated.