Acts of the Apostles chapter 5 explanation. bible online

b. Lies of Ananias and Sapphira (5:1-11)

This story is reminiscent of the story of Achan recorded in Jos. N. 7 (compare Num. 15:32-36; 16:1-35).

Acts. 5:1-2. The sin of Ananias and his wife Sapphira is explained in verses 3-4, 9. They could, of course, keep for themselves part of the proceeds from the sale of property, but, having agreed among themselves, they preferred to lie to the apostles, saying that they were giving them all the proceeds, while part he was hidden. What they laid at the feet of the apostles, they laid with a lie; the use of the highlighted phrase in the case of Barnabas (4:35,37) and in their case emphasizes the contrast of feelings and motives that guided the "son of comfort" and this couple.

Acts. 5:3-4. Peter blames Ananias for allowing Satan to put the temptation of lying into his heart. This was all the more tempting, since there was no need for this lie, for Ananias and his wife had the right to dispose of what belonged to them at their discretion. They lied to the Holy Spirit (verse 3) by giving in to the enemy's suggestion. In verse 4, Peter says that Ananias lied to God. Thus, in the context of verses 3 and 4, the Deity of the Holy Spirit is confirmed.

Acts. 5:5-6. Hearing these words, Ananias fell dead. As Peter would write later, judgment had to "begin at the house of God" (1 Pet. 4:17). In that setting, what Aiania and Sapphira committed was "a sin unto death" (1 John 5:16). The severity of the judgment is explained by the fact that this crime and the punishment that followed it was destined to become an example in the conditions of the New Testament, just as the fate of Achan became an example for the Old Testament Israel (1 Cor. 10:6).

Acts. 5:7-10. Saphira, unaware of her husband's sudden death, lied after him.

But Peter said to her, Why did you agree to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? "Testing the Spirit of the Lord" (or the Holy Spirit) means trying to figure out how far a person can go without being judged by the Spirit (compare Deut. 6:16; Matt. 4:7).

Acts. 5:11. At the news of the punishment that befell Ananias and Sapphira, great fear seized the whole church and all who heard it (that is, believers and unbelievers). This is mentioned twice (verses 5 and 11). Speaking about this incident, Luke pursued several goals: 1) to show the unacceptability of sin for God, especially the sin of deceit, dishonesty within His Body - the Church; 2) to show the difference between the Church and Israel, where they have forgotten how severe punishment God can resort to for educational purposes.

The word church is used here in the book of the Acts of the Apostles for the first time. Here, as in 9:31, and also in 20:28, it is used of the Church as the Body of Christ; in 11:26 and 13:1 the word refers to the local community of believers; 3) by the example of the sad fate of Ananias and Sapphira, Peter showed that God began to act in a new human association created by Him.

3. PROSPERITY OF THE CHURCH (3:12-42)

A. Apostles present "certificate" of themselves (1:12-16)

By what is reported in this section, readers are prepared for what follows.

Acts. 5:12. Again and again God worked through the Apostles...many signs and wonders; it is curious that the place of constant meetings of those who made up the first church in Jerusalem was the temple, more precisely. Solomon's covered gallery in the temple.

Acts. 5:13. Outsiders, that is, unbelievers, did not dare to approach (out of curiosity, not having the same feelings as they do) these unusual people - out of reverent fear of them. Especially after the incident with Ananias and Sapphira!

Acts. 5:14. But there were more and more people who believed in Christ. And they - many men and women - "did not fear" to join the Lord. It was a phenomenal occurrence - such a rapid numerical growth of the original Church (2:41,47; 4:4; 6:1,7; 9:31).

Acts. 5:15-16. The miracles performed by the apostles were primarily aimed at confirming the truth of God's word. People were convinced that they were given an extraordinary healing power. They thought (and perhaps they were convinced of this by experience, although, according to some theologians, this was a manifestation of superstition) that those who were overshadowed by the shadow of the passing Peter were also healed. One way or another, the apostles restored health to the sick and cast out unclean spirits from the possessed. All this they did as the Lord promised them (Matt. 10:8; Mark 16:17-18).

b. The second imprisonment of the apostles and their release (5:17-20)

Acts. 5:17-20. For the second time, they were detained and imprisoned in ... dungeon ... The apostles, apparently, all 12, but the Angel of the Lord who appeared to them supernaturally released them, commanding them to continue the public proclamation in the temple (obviously, in its courtyards, close to those places where members of the community gathered) all these words of life (literally - "this life"; an unusual designation of the Gospel). in the Acts of the Apostles, this is the first of three "prison miracles" (compare with Peter; 12:6-10, and also with Paul and Silas; 16:26-27).

f. The test of the apostles and their defense (5:21-32)

Acts. 5:21a. Obeying God's messenger, the apostles appeared in the temple in the morning and began to teach.

Acts. 5:21b-25. The following description is full of irony. 1) We see ministers searching the dungeon, which turned out to be empty, despite being locked and guarded from the outside by guards. 2) Before us are the Jews in power, gathered to judge those whom they did not have at their disposal. 3) And now they, in anger, asking each other where these people have gone, they are told that they are standing in the temple and teaching the people.

Acts. 5:26-27. Without resorting to force for fear of the people, the head of the guard ... with the ministers ... brought the apostles and placed them before the Sanhedrin to interrogate. (On the Sanhedrin commentary on 4:15.)

Acts. 5:28. Haven't we forbidden you ... to teach about this name? - sounded the question of the high priest. And after that, the accusation: you--want to put that Man's blood on us.

Acts. 5:29. Here Peter again proclaims a fundamental principle for the apostles (compare 4:19-20). It is also true that Christians should obey their civil authorities, as long as it does not involve them in sin against God (Rom. 13:1-7; 1 Pet. 2:13-17).

Acts. 5:30-31. In the original, the words of Peter ... you killed, hanging on a tree ... sound with special force as an accusation against the "judges", reproaching the apostles that "they want to bring the blood of That Man on them." Peter again, as representative of the apostles, repeats what he said before: "you ... killed, but God raised him up" (compare 2:23-24; 3:15; 4:10), in order to give Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins (compare 2:38; 10:43; 13:38; 26:18).

Acts. 5:32. The apostles were perfectly aware of their responsibility before God, as follows from the words of Peter: We are His witnesses in this, and the Holy Spirit - in the sense that He strengthened their testimony, giving the apostles supernatural power, which manifested itself both in their bold preaching and in performing miracles. Peter says that the Holy Spirit is given to all who obey God, that is, those who believe in Jesus Christ (Rom. 8:9).

d. Deliverance of the Apostles (5:33-42)

Acts. 5:33. Furious, the religious leaders plotted to kill them. Everything was repeated according to the same "scheme" that a few weeks before in relation to Christ. As resistance to Him grew, so it grew now towards His disciples.

Acts. 5:34-35. Gamaliel, a Pharisee ... and a teacher of the law, who enjoyed universal respect, tried to influence the members of the Sanhedrin so that they would not persecute the apostles. Guided not by sympathy for the church, but by a sense of spiritual intuition, he feared to interfere with God's work on earth (verse 39).

Acts. 5:36. Nothing is known about this Theeudes with his 400 rebels, whose rebellion did not lead to any result. The Jewish historian of the 1st century, Josephus Flavius, records a rebellion led by Theudas, but it took place later and took on a much larger scale. And besides, it took place earlier than the one that Judas led (verse 37).

Acts. 5:37. About the rebellion led by Judas the Galilean, which Gamaliel cites as a second example, Josephus wrote in some detail, talking about the execution of Judas, and that these riots added fuel to the fire of new rebellions.

Acts. 5:38-39. Gamaliel ends his speech impressively. This newly emerging movement will itself show whether it is from men or from God, he declared. And in the first case, it will end as ingloriously as the rebellions raised by Theevdas and Judas the Galilean. But if it is from God, then your resistance to it is meaningless and beware that you do not turn out to be ... God's opponents. It is curious that Gamaliel's speech was, in a sense, an apology for the Church of Jesus Christ, which came from the mouth of someone who was in the camp of its opponents.

Acts. 5:40. And the members of the Sanhedrin released… The Apostles, however, not satisfied with one more warning, they first subjected them to scourging (and… beat them). Letting go, they repeated their previous prohibition to them to speak about the name of Jesus (regarding the "name of Jesus" interpretation at 3:16).

Acts. 5:41-42. And so, despite the painful physical punishment, the apostles left the Sanhedrin rejoicing. (The “joy theme” again, characteristic of the book of the Acts of the Apostles; interpretation on 2:46-47.) Disgrace ... for the name of the Lord, the apostles considered honor for themselves. Later, Peter would urge Christians to "rejoice" in their participation in the "sufferings of Christ" (1 Pet. 4:13; compare 1 Pet. 2:18-21; 3:8-17). Despite the repeated prohibition, the apostles did not stop teaching and preaching about Jesus Christ. However, Luke's writing in Acts. 5:17-42 was meant to show that Israel as a whole continued on the sad path of rejecting Jesus as the Messiah.

1 And a certain man named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, sold his estate,

2 He concealed from the price, with the knowledge of his wife, and brought some of it and laid it at the feet of the Apostles.

3 But Peter said, Ananias! Why did you allow Satan to put into your heart the thought of lying to the Holy Spirit and hiding it from the price of the earth?

4 What did you own, was it not yours, and what was acquired by sale was not in your power? Why did you put this in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.

5 Hearing these words, Ananias fell lifeless; and great fear seized all who heard it.

Death of Ananias. Painter Masaccio 1425

6 And the young men got up and prepared him for burial, and carried him out and buried him.

7 About three hours after this, his wife also came in, not knowing what had happened.

8 But Peter asked her, Tell me, how much did you sell the land for? She said: yes, for so much.

9 But Peter said to her, Why did you agree to test the Spirit of the Lord? behold, those who buried thy husband enter at the door; and they will take you out.

10 Suddenly she fell at his feet and gave up her spirit. And the young men went in and found her dead, and carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

Death of Sapphira Painter Nicolas Poussin 1652

11 And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard it.

12 And by the hands of the apostles many signs and wonders were wrought among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch.

13 But none of the strangers dared to join them, but the people glorified them.

14 And believers more and more joined the Lord, a multitude of men and women,

15 So they carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and beds, so that at least the shadow of Peter passing by might overshadow one of them.

16 Many of the surrounding cities also converged to Jerusalem, carrying the sick and those possessed by unclean spirits, who were all healed.

17 And the high priest, and with him all who belonged to the heresy of the Sadducees, were filled with envy,

18 And they laid their hands on the apostles, and shut them up in the prison of the people.

19 But the angel of the Lord opened the prison doors by night, and bringing them out, said:

20 Go and stand in the temple and speak to the people all these words of life.

21 And having heard, they went into the temple in the morning and taught. Meanwhile the high priest, and those who came with him, called the Sanhedrin and all the elders of the children of Israel, and sent to the prison to bring the Apostles.

22 But when the servants came, they did not find them in the prison, and when they returned, they reported,

23 saying, We found the prison shut with all precautions, and guards standing before the door; but when they opened it, they found no one in it.

24 When the high priest, the captain of the guard, and the other high priests heard these words, they wondered what it meant.

25 And someone came and told them, saying, Behold, the men whom you have put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.

26 Then the captain of the guard went with the servants and brought them without compulsion, because they were afraid of the people, lest they stone them.

27 And having brought them, they appointed them to the Sanhedrin; and the high priest asked them, saying:

28 Have we not strongly forbidden you to teach about this name? and behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you want to bring the blood of that Man upon us.

29 And Peter and the apostles answered and said, You must obey God rather than men.

30 The God of our fathers raised up Jesus, whom you put to death by hanging on a tree.

31 God exalted him at his right hand to be the Leader and Savior, in order to give Israel repentance and the forgiveness of sins.

32 We are his witnesses in this, and the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.

33 When they heard this, they were torn with anger and plotted to kill them.

34 Standing up in the Sanhedrin, a certain Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, ordered the Apostles to be brought out for a short time,

35 But he said to them, Men of Israel! think with yourselves about these people, what you should do with them.

36 For not long before this, Thewdas appeared, pretending to be someone great, and about four hundred people adhered to him; but he was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and disappeared.

37 After him, Judas the Galilean appeared at the time of the census, and drew away with him enough people; but he perished, and all who obeyed him were scattered.

38 And now, I say to you, depart from this people and leave them; for if this enterprise and this work are of men, then it will be destroyed,

39 but if from God, you cannot destroy it; beware lest you turn out to be enemies of God.

40 They obeyed him; and calling the apostles, they struck them, and forbidding them to speak of the name of Jesus, let them go.

41 And they left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that for the name of the Lord Jesus they were worthy to receive dishonor.

42 And every day in the temple and from house to house they did not cease to teach and proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ.

Ananias and Sapphira (1–10). Further successes of the Church of Christ and the Apostles (11-16). The new persecution of the Sanhedrin: the imprisonment of the Apostles in prison, the liberation by an angel, a sermon in the temple, an answer before the Sanhedrin (17-33). The wise counsel of Gamaliel (34–39). First wounds for the name of Christ (40–42)

. And a certain man, named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, having sold their property,

"Selling the estate", Greek. επώλησε κτῆμα, more correctly Slav.: “I sold the village” - I sold the village (according to the 8th verse - the village - τό χωρίον, i.e. land, town, field).

. He hid from the price, with the knowledge of his wife, and brought some part and laid it at the feet of the Apostles.

"Hidden from the price" and by itself The "soothing" of the truth constituted an unseemly act. But here it was even more criminal, because Ananias said that he brought All that was received by them for the land. This was not only an expression of shameful self-interest, but also a deliberate conscious lie and hypocrisy. Deceiving the entire Christian society with the Apostles at the head, they wanted to present themselves as selfless in favor of the poor, like others, but in fact they were not: they served two masters, but wanted to seem to serve one. Thus, instead of truthfulness and sincerity, here two qualities most repugnant to him appear in the holy society of Christians - the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and the love of money of Judas.

. But Peter said: Ananias! For what you admitted put Satan in your heart thought lie to the Holy Spirit and hide from the price of the earth?

"Peter said," learning about this lie and hypocrisy, not from anyone else, but from the Holy Spirit who filled him.

"Why did you allow Satan?", Greek διά τί επλήρωσεν ο σατανᾶς τήν καρδίαν σου ψεύσασθαί σε , more precisely glorious: “May satan fill your heart with lies”. Thus, it would be more accurate and better to express the beauty of the original as follows: “How has Satan filled your heart (to) lie to the Holy Spirit and hide from the price of the village”?

In the act of Ananias, Peter reveals the work of Satan - the "father of lies" (.) and the original enemy of the Holy Spirit and the work of the Messiah, which is why he prevents the invasion of this dangerous evil with such a decisive and strict measure. It is possible that selfishness, falsehood and hypocrisy manifested themselves in Ananias and Sapphira not without their preliminary secret development, as in Judas, that their inner life was not particularly pure before, that the seed of evil took root in them long ago and only now brought its bad fruits.

“Some say that if Satan filled the heart of Ananias, then why was he punished? For the fact that he himself was the culprit of the fact that Satan filled his heart, since he himself prepared himself to accept the action of Satan and to fulfill himself by his power ”(Theophilus).

The concealment of the price of the village is interpreted here as a lie to the Holy Spirit, because Peter and the other Apostles, as representatives of the Church, were primarily the bearers and organs of the Holy Spirit who acted in the Church.

. What did you own, was it not yours, and what was acquired by sale was not in your power? Why did you put this in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.

"Wasn't your possession left?", Greek. ουχί μένον, σοί έμενε, Slav. "what is yours, isn't it yours"? it would be more accurate to translate - "did not stay (with you) with you?" Ananias could dispose of his estate as he pleased, even if he did not sell it at all. “Was there any need? Are we forcing you? (Chrysostom)". And if Ananias decided to sell it, then again the money was in his full possession, and he could dispose of it as he liked, he could give All to the cashier for the poor, could give Part, could Nothing don't give. Neither the one, nor the other, nor the third is of such importance here as the fact that, having brought only Part money, he represents this part for all the proceeds amount. “Do you see,” says Chrysostom, how he is accused of having made his money sacred, and then took it? Couldn't you, he says, having sold the estate, use them as your own? Who hindered you? Why do you admire them after you promised to give them back? Why did you say you did it? Did you want to keep it? It was necessary to hold back at first and not make promises.

“I lied not to men, but to God”- above it is said - "To the Holy Spirit". A lie before the "Holy Spirit" is thus a lie before "God" - one of the clearest evidences of the Divinity of the Holy Spirit as a certain Divine Person.

. Hearing these words, Ananias fell lifeless; and great fear seized all who heard it.

"Ananias fell lifeless", Greek πεσών εζέψυζε, more precisely Slav.: "Falled out" - having fallen, gave up the spirit, died. It was not a natural nervous shock from Ananias' strong shock from the revelations of his act, but God's miraculous direct punishment of the criminal. “Three miracles in one and the same case: one was that Peter knew what was done in secret; the other is that he determined the mental mood of Ananias, and the third is that Ananias lost his life at a mere command ”(Theophylact). - The severity of the punishment is commensurate with the severity of the guilt of the offender against the Holy Spirit, since this is Judas, who, moreover, threatened the whole society with a sin and therefore demanded an exemplary punishment, "so that the execution of two was a science for many" - (Jerome).

"Great fear seized all who heard this"- the matter took place, apparently, in a general solemn, perhaps, liturgical meeting, and the “young men” mentioned below were probably ordinary ministers who carried out various assignments for a fairly well-organized society, similar to those who were at the synagogues. Therefore, these young men, as soon as they saw the one who had fallen lifeless, got up from the meeting and, without special demand, as they saw their duty in it, proceed to the lifeless one and carry it away for burial. In fear or, perhaps, haste and uncertainty of the whereabouts of the wife, or, rather, according to the Divine dispensation, the latter is not notified of what has happened and is, as an accomplice in the husband's sin, to share his punishment.

. About three hours later, his wife also came, not knowing what had happened.

"Three Hours"- the accuracy of determining the time indicates the accuracy and complete reliability of the narration. These three hours passed in the burial of Ananias, with all the preparations for it, especially if the place of burial was not close. The speed of burial - three hours after death - is nothing strange for the East.

"His wife also came", ειςῆλθεν - more precisely Slav. "inside" - "entered", i.e. to the house, to the place of the meeting, which, apparently, had not yet had time to disperse, so that Peter, asking Sapphira, "For how much" they sold the land, probably pointed to the money still lying at the feet of the Apostle. “Peter did not call her, says Chrysostom, but waited for her to come herself. And none of the others dared to tell (her) what had happened; it is the fear of the teacher, it is the respect and obedience of the students. Three hours later - and the wife did not recognize and none of those present said about it, although there was enough time for the news to spread. But they were afraid. This is what the writer says with amazement: "not knowing what happened".

. Peter asked her: Tell me, did you sell the land for that much? She said: yes, for so much.

"For how much?" “Peter,” says Theophylact, “wanted to save her, because her husband was the instigator of sin. That is why he gives her time to justify herself and repent, saying: tell me, for how much?

"Yes, for so much." The same lie, the same hypocrisy, the same selfishness as Ananias.

. But Peter said to her, Why did you agree to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? behold, those who buried thy husband enter at the door; and they will take you out.

"Tempt the Spirit of the Lord", i.e. how to tempt him by deceit, is he really omniscient?

"Here they come", Greek. ιδού οι πόδες τῶν θαψάντων ... επί τῆ θύρα, more precisely Slav.: "behold the feet of those who buried thy husband at the door".

The young men who buried Ananias were returning at this time, and Peter takes this opportunity to say the same execution on the wife as the husband was subjected to: "And they'll take you out!", i.e. dead for burial. Whether Peter meant to strike Ananias in his own words (v. 4), or whether it was a direct action of God independent of Peter's will and intention, is not directly evident from the text. But when Ananias was already struck by death, the Apostle, speaking to Sapphira the words quoted, could already be sure that it would be the same with her as with her husband, according to their similarity, and utter a formidable - "and they'll take you out"!

. Suddenly she fell at his feet and gave up her spirit. And the young men went in and found her dead, and carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

“She gave up her spirit” not by the natural effect of a blow, but by a special act of God, like her husband (v. 5). “Pay attention (Theophylact says here) to the fact that among their own Apostles are strict, and among strangers they are kept from punishment; both are natural. The latter was necessary so that they would not think that they were forcing people against their desire to turn to the true faith through fear of punishment; the first is so that those who have already converted to the faith and have been rewarded with heavenly teaching and spiritual grace are not allowed to become contemptible people and blasphemers, especially at the beginning, because this would serve as a pretext for reviling their preaching.

. And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard it.

"And great fear seized the whole"– τήν εκκλησίαν . This is the first name of the society of Christians "Church". A secondary indication of the feeling of fear speaks of its extraordinary nature. From the amazing effect of God's punishment, fear, which at first seized some witnesses of what happened, now spread to "the whole", i.e. on the whole Christian community, and on "all who heard it", i.e. those who were outside the Church, to whose ears this news only reached.

. By the hands of the Apostles, many signs and wonders were performed among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch.

Intending to move on to the story of the new persecution of the Apostles by the Sanhedrin, the descriptor makes several general remarks about the state of the Church of Christ at that time. And above all, he mentions the multitude of signs and wonders performed not only by Peter, but by the Apostles in general. These signs and wonders were performed "among the people" who did not yet believe in Christ, and, obviously, to attract them to this faith.

"All with one accord were in Solomon's porch". This favorite place of the Apostles - a large covered gallery, at the main entrance to the temple, was obviously a particularly convenient place for their meetings.

. Of outsiders, none dared to stick to them, and the people glorified them.

“No one from outsiders dared to pester them”. So strong was the feeling of some reverent fear and bewilderment before them, as extraordinary people, especially when they saw them in a unanimous reverent and prayerful mood.

. so they carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and beds, so that at least the shadow of Peter passing by would overshadow one of them.

With the multitude of miraculous healings performed in general by the hands of the Apostles, the descriptor notes the special amazingness of the healings of Peter, in whom even a shadow, overshadowing the sick, granted them healing. True, the descriptor does not speak about this directly, but makes it clear enough from the fact that the sick were taken out into the street to be shaded by the passing Peter. Obviously, the people were convinced of the healing power of Peter's shadow, and they were convinced only after the experiments of healing from this shadow. Just as one touch on the garment of Christ, even without other actions of Christ, was accompanied by the healing of those who touched it (and others), so one overshadowing of Peter's shadow produced healing. “Great is the faith of those who come,” says Chrysostom on this occasion, even more than it was under Christ. Under Christ, it was not that the sick received healing on the pillars and from the shadow. Why did this happen? From what Christ foretold, saying (): “he who believes in me, the works that I do, he will do also, and greater than these he will do”. Thus, “surprise towards the Apostles increased from all sides: both from the side of those who believed, and from the side of the healed, and from the side of the punished, and from the side of their boldness during the sermon, and from the side of a virtuous and impeccable life” (Theophylact).

. And the high priest, and with him all who belonged to the heresy of the Sadducees, were filled with envy,

As can be seen from the previous depiction of the internal state of Christian society and the attitude of the people towards it, Christ's flourished internally and was glorified by the people. It is natural that the murderers of the Lord, out of envy, among other things, for His glory, were filled with envy for His disciples, who are so glorified by the people.

"High Priest"- probably Caiaphas, who was then ruling, and therefore not named.

“And with him all who belonged to the heresy of the Sadducees.”. Greek καί πάντες οί σύν αυτῶ (η οῦσα αίρεσις τῶν σαδδουκαίων ), more precisely Slav. "and all who are with him, the sheer heresy of the Sadducees"; this shows that the high priest himself belonged to the heretical sect of the Sadducees and was its representative. Flavius ​​directly says that one son of Anan or Anna (father-in-law of Caiaphas) ​​belonged to the Sadducean sect (Archeol. XX, 9, 1). It was possible at this time of national decay that the High Priest himself was deviated into heresy, perhaps even though it was unspoken and with certain precautions.

. and laid their hands on the apostles, and shut them up in the prison of the people.

"They laid their hands on the apostles"- used violence, treating them like criminals.

. go and, standing in the temple, speak to the people all these words of life.

“Standing in the temple, speak”, σταθέντες λαλεῖτε εν τῶ ιερῶ , more correctly glorious: “Speak up in the Church”.

The more stubbornly the persecution of enemies becomes, the more clearly the Lord renders His help to the persecuted, partly to instruct and frighten the persecutors, but in general to spread and establish the newly established Church. The angel commands to speak "in the temple" - boldly, fearlessly, not afraid of threats and persecution.

"All these words of life", Greek πάντα τά ρήματα τῆς ζωῆς τάυτης , more precisely glorious: "all the words of this life"- all verbs this life, i.e. true, eternal, grace-filled, in which you yourself abide.

. After listening, they entered the temple in the morning and taught. In the meantime the high priest, and those who came with him, called the Sanhedrin and all the elders of the children of Israel, and sent them into prison to bring apostles.

"All Elders" beyond the members of the Sanhedrin. The work of the Apostles seemed so important, or they wanted to lead it so persistently and resolutely, that not only the Sanhedrin in its entirety, but also all the elders of Israel were gathered together so that the decisions of the Sanhedrin would take on special force.

"Sent to the dungeon". Consequently, the miraculous release of the apostles and the fact that they were already teaching the people in the temple was not yet known: obviously, the meeting took place early in the morning, as on matters of the most serious, urgent.

. When the high priest, the chief of the guard, and others the chief priests wondered what that meant.

The only place in the entire New Testament where "high priest" for some reason it is simply called ιερούς, and not αρχιερεύς. Next are mentioned, especially from this, and more "high priests". They were probably retired, since, according to I. Flavius ​​(Arch. III, 15), the high priests then changed very often, and the replaced ones continued to be called high priests and remained members of the Sanhedrin. It is also possible that here the first priests of each of the 24 series, into which David divided all the priests, are called high priests (; ; ).

. Then the chief of the guard went with the servants and brought them without compulsion, because they were afraid of the people, lest they stone them.

"Brought them without coercion", i.e., obviously, having invited the Apostles voluntarily, without laying hands on them, to appear at the invitation of the Sanhedrin. Undoubtedly, the sympathy of the people for the Apostles was now such that open violence against them was extremely dangerous.

. And having brought them, they appointed them to the Sanhedrin; and the high priest asked them, saying:

. Have we not firmly forbidden you to teach about this name? and behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you want to bring the blood of that Man upon us.

From the circumstances of the whole affair, the miraculous deliverance of the Apostles from prison was clear; it is all the more surprising that this circumstance is completely hushed up in the Sanhedrin, and a formality is put forward in accusation against the Apostles, which loses all significance in the general chain of events. Such are these true formalists and hypocrites, familiar enough to us from the Gospel and the formidable denunciations of the Lord ( "straining a mosquito, but swallowing a camel" ()).

"Do not teach about this name". What petty contempt for the very name of Jesus: he avoids even naming it, proving by this, however, that "no one can call on this Most Holy Name, except by the Holy Spirit."

"You want to bring the blood of that person on us", i.e. Divine punishment for its innocent spill. They themselves once shouted: “His blood is on us and on our children!”(). And now they want to blame the Apostles for everything! In what bitter irony over themselves the unfortunate murderers of the Lord get entangled! And how inexorably the wise truth of God leads them to clean water!

. But Peter and the Apostles said in reply: One must obey God rather than men.

To the accusation of the Sanhedrin, Peter answers the same as before (), but already more decisively and indisputably. “Great wisdom in their words, and such that from here the enmity of those against God (Chrysostom) is revealed.”

. The God of our fathers raised Jesus, whom you killed by hanging on a tree.

“Killed”, διεχειρίσασθε - they killed with their own hands, a strong expression in order to indicate the guilt of the judges themselves, to eliminate the accusation that the apostles want to bring on them, members of the Sanhedrin, the blood of that person.

"hung on a tree", again an enhanced expression, borrowed from the law of Moses, where the concept of a curse is combined with the concept of hanging on a tree (cf.). This again raises the guilt of the crucifiers of the Messiah to terrifying proportions.

. He exalted him with His right hand to be the Head and Savior, in order to give Israel repentance and the forgiveness of sins.

“I exalted him with His right hand to be the Leader and Savior”, Greek: τοῦτον ο Θεός αρχηγόν καί σωτῆρα ύφοσε . The Slavic translation better preserves, so to speak, the “flavor” of the original: “Exalt this leader and Savior by Your right hand”. This expression makes one feel that Jesus was previously our “Chief” and “Savior” (His royal and high-priestly dignity and ministry), but that was, as it were, hidden and humiliated by the state of His voluntary reduction to the rank of a slave. With the resurrection and ascension of Him, Jesus, His dignity as our Head and Savior was manifested in all glory, fullness and power. The Russian translation loses this "flavor" of the original, and is expressed as if Jesus had not previously been what He later exalted Him into.

. We are His witnesses in this, and the Holy Spirit, whom He gave to those who obey Him.

"Witnesses to Him in this"(more precisely Slav.: "the verb of these" - τῶν ρημάτων τούτων - all that has been said about him "we and the Holy Spirit". The testimony of the Apostles and the testimony of the Holy Spirit about the said exaltation - the resurrection and ascension of the Lord - are exactly the same in content (cf.). The comparison and separate indication of them here, as in the Gospel of John, has the meaning that the Apostles were not unconscious instruments of the Spirit acting through them, but, being under His influence, remained together and independent, personally free figures; in particular, as eyewitnesses of His deeds and direct listeners of His teaching from the very beginning of His public activity, they, as if independently of the Spirit, could be reliable witnesses of Him as the Messiah - the Son of God.

"To those who obey Him", i.e. not only to the Apostles, but to all believers.

. Standing up in the Sanhedrin, a certain Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, ordered the Apostles to be brought out for a short time,

"Gamaliel", mentioned here as a member of the Sanhedrin, a Pharisee and a teacher of the law respected by the people, is a well-known Jewish rabbi in the Talmud, the son of Rabbi Simeon and the grandson of another famous Rabbi Hillel. He was also a teacher to Ap. Paul (), and later, like his disciple, he also became a Christian and a preacher of the Gospel, for which the Holy One gave him the name Equal-to-the-Apostles (Chet. Min., Jan. 4 and Aug. 2).

. and he said to them, Men of Israel! think with yourselves about these people, what you should do with them.

. For not long before this Theevdas appeared, posing as someone great, and about four hundred people stuck to him; but he was slain, and all who obeyed him were scattered and disappeared.

. After him, during the census, Judas the Galilean appeared and carried away with him quite a crowd; but he perished, and all who obeyed him were scattered.

On the advice of Gamaliel, it is best for the Sanhedrin not to interfere in the cause of Christianity, but to leave it to the natural course of things in the confidence that, if it is not the work of God, it will collapse of itself. To prove this, Gamaliel cites two recent cases when two great deceivers of the people died without any intervention of the Sanhedrin, along with all their work. These are the Revolts of Theevdas and Judas the Galilean. This mention of the descriptor, however, raises important bewilderments: firstly, Gamaliel's speech refers to the time before the actual performance of the historical Theevda (not earlier than 44 years according to R. Chr.):, and, secondly, this Theevda appears as if earlier Judas the Galilean who rebelled "in the days of writing", i.e. "during the census" – "Fevda ... according to this Judas". In order to reconcile these inaccuracies, many learned interpreters allow two rebels with the name of Theevdas; others explain this inaccuracy simply by a mistake in the writer’s memory (similarly) and believe that under the name of Theevda, some other rebel was presented to his thoughts, who really lived at the time indicated by Luke (before Judas the Galilean).

"Posing as Somebody Great", obviously, for a prophet or Messiah. Theeuda, mentioned by Flavius, closely resembles the one described in Acts, although the time of his appearance indicated by the descriptor does not allow him to be identified in both cases. About Judas Galilean, Flavius ​​also preserved very curious news, confirming the historical reality of this event. Flavius ​​calls Judas the "Gavlonite" (Arch. XVIII, 1, 1), since he was from Gamala in the lower Gavlonitida (on the eastern shore of the Lake of Galilee), he also calls the Galilean (Arch. XX, 5, 2; about the war) . He revolted the people and drew many people with him on the basis of dissatisfaction with the census carried out at the command of Augustus in Judea (). Seeing in this census the final enslavement of the "chosen" people to the "pagan", he urged the people not to obey Caesar's decree on the census, crying out: "we have one Lord and Master God"!...

"He died" . - Flavius ​​actually tells about the death of only the children of this Judas, while Gamaliel mentions the death of himself - two legends that do not exclude, but rather complement one another.

. And now, I say to you, depart from these people and leave them; for if this enterprise and this work are of men, then it will be destroyed,

"The Case of the People", (cf.), that is, of human origin and character, with only human goals and aspirations, without the will and blessing of God.

. and if from God, then you cannot destroy it; beware so that you do not turn out to be the enemies of God.

"And if from God". According to the interpretation of Chrysostom: “as if to say: wait! if these also appeared of their own accord, then without any doubt - and they will disperse ... If this is a human matter, then there is no need for you to worry. And if it is God’s, then even with all your efforts you will not be able to overcome them.”

It can be said with certainty that such advice as Gamaliel gave could only be given by a person disposed to see in Christianity precisely the power of God; for, while true in general, this proposition, when applied to the activity of people in their relation to events, cannot always be unconditionally true, since if this proposition is unconditionally applied, it would generally seem superfluous to argue against the development of evil principles in life, sometimes allowed by God, that contrary to the laws of conscience and the Law of God. In the mouth of a person who is disposed to see the power of God in Christianity, this proposition has its full force, assuming that the power of God here will certainly be revealed in subsequent events in a more obvious and convincing way. In this case, Gamaliel's advice also loses the character of indifference and a frivolous attitude to events, for which it is all the same whether it is true or not. - In any case, a favorable attitude towards Christianity in the council of Gamaliel is undoubted (cf. Chrysostom and Theophilus). This can also be seen from Gamaliel's further threat to the members of the Sanhedrin that they might turn out to be "God-opponents" (Greek and Slavic stronger - "God-fighters" - θεομάχοι - rebelling against God, fighting against Him).

. They obeyed him; and calling the apostles, they beat their and having forbidden them to speak of the name of Jesus, they let them go.

The strong speech of Gamaliel impressed the Sanhedrin and persuaded them to obey good advice - in the sense that the plan to kill the Apostles (v. 33) was left without execution. This did not rule out, however, the possibility of a hostile attitude towards them on the part of those who were not disposed, following Gamaliel, to suspect the power of God in their work. The apostles were subjected to corporal punishment (scourging), probably under the pretext of disobedience to their previous determination of the Sanhedrin, now renewed with the same force. “The irrefutable justice of the words (of Gamaliel) they could not resist; but, despite this, they satisfied their fury, and, moreover, again hoped in this way to eliminate the Apostles (Chrysostom) ...

. They left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that for the name of the Lord Jesus they were worthy to receive dishonor.

. And every day in the temple and from house to house they did not cease to teach and preach the gospel about Jesus Christ.

“Rejoicing that for the name of the Lord Jesus they were deemed worthy to receive dishonor”. They considered this dishonor a special mercy to them of their Lord and Teacher; for what could be more rewarding and dearer for a loving heart in relation to the Beloved Lord and Teacher, than the readiness and opportunity to lay down for Him at least one’s soul!

Of course, the preaching of the Gospel, and after that, went on in its own way, without ceasing or weakening in the least, but even more intensifying: and "in the temple and at home", “every day”, - i.e. incessantly, incessantly, both privately and publicly.

5:1,2 And a certain man, named Ananias, with his wife Sapphira, having sold their property,
2 He concealed from the price, with the knowledge of his wife, and brought some of it and laid it at the feet of the Apostles.
The desire of Ananias and Sapphira to look no worse than others against the background of the rest and fit into the general picture of Christians who give everything for the common use - ruined them.
Depicting the nobility of a Christian who sacrifices his own for the good of his neighbors, each of them forgot that God cannot be fooled by external signs of decency.
But they could well not hide the true price of what was sold, but honestly say that, for example, “we sold the estate for 100, but decided to give 50, and we will keep the rest for ourselves”
No one would blame them for this decision: they had every right to dispose of their own in their own way. Just against the backdrop of those who give everything - they would have faded a little. Did not want. Shine wanted. I wanted to look better than they really were. They paid for it with their lives.

The desire to look good is, in general, normal for a Christian. Only the methods by which someone strives to look good can be vicious.

5:3 -6 Naturally, Peter, with the help of the holy spirit, easily figured out their methods: lying is a bad way to present oneself beautifully.
Peter said: Ananias! Why [did you allow] Satan to put into your heart [the thought] to lie to the Holy Spirit and hide from the price of the earth ? What did you own, was it not yours, and what was acquired by sale was not in your power? Why did you put this in your heart? You have not lied to men, but to God.
Peter said a lot in this text:
1) Satan intervened in the life of Ananias and offered an impure thought to lie;
2) Ananias gave him the opportunity to intervene in his life ( [you allowed] Satan to invest )
How? Just warming up an impure thought ( put it in my heart ) instead of driving it away from him, for the holy spirit always enables the Christian to distinguish between pure thoughts and impure ones. But for whether a Christian chooses for himself a pure or impure thought, the holy spirit is not responsible. Ananias chose an impure thought to guide his action;
3) Ananias did not lie to the man Peter and not to the members of the congregation, but by lying to them, he actually lied to God. For God watches over His congregation from heaven and always easily knows who is lying and who is telling the truth. Lying to God is life-threatening.

It is interesting that God punished Ananias with death for such a small thing, it would seem. And the wicked king Manasseh, for example, managed to do much more evil for many years. Why such injustice? (as it may seem at first glance)
Yes, because Manasseh did not even try to pretend to be a believer: he was frankly cold and God was waiting for a chance for him to "get hot". And Ananias pretended to be a Christian and disguised himself as a righteous man. That's the whole difference.
If they were worldly, the demand from them would be different. Well, from those who declare themselves as a subject of the heavenly King - and demand as a subject of the heavenly King.

5 Hearing these words, Ananias fell down without breath; and great fear seized all who heard it. 6 And the young men got up and prepared him for burial, and carrying him out, buried
It is clear that it was not Peter who killed Ananias, but according to the judgment of God, this retribution for a deliberate and planned lie was accomplished - through Peter, for it was God who worked miracles with the hands of the apostles (Acts 14:3; 19:11)

5:7-10 Ananias' wife had the opportunity to tell the truth and not perish, for Peter gave her the opportunity to name the true price of what was sold:
tell me, how much did you sell the land for?
However, Sapphira chose to support her husband's deceit instead of pleasing God and telling the truth.

that you agreed to tempt the Spirit of the Lord? It seems that Ananias and Sapphira, knowing that a lie is not pleasing to God, nevertheless for some reason decided that God would not punish them for this trifle. Hoping for "maybe it will carry over"?
It didn't. Both were punished by death:
10 Suddenly she fell at his feet and gave up her spirit. And the young men went in and found her dead, and carried her out and buried her beside her husband.

5:11 And great fear seized the whole church and all who heard it
The fear of losing life so easily, having found out WHY others lost it, is not the worst start for acquiring the skills to do the right thing and be honest - Proverbs 1:7.
And learning from the mistakes of others is not the most wasted thing in life.

5:12-16 By the hands of the Apostles, many signs and wonders were performed among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon's porch. 1 3 But none of the strangers dared to join them, but the people glorified them. 14 And more and more believers joined the Lord, many men and women, 15 so that they carried the sick out into the streets and laid them on beds and beds, so that at least the shadow of Peter passing by overshadowed some of them. 16 Many also converged to Jerusalem from the surrounding cities, carrying the sick and those possessed by unclean spirits, who were all healed.
So, God through the hands of the apostles performed many miracles, all of which helped the apostles to establish the Christian faith of the young congregation in the den of Judaism.
None of the outsiders could join them, for the example of Ananias and Sapphira showed that just pretending to be a Christian would not work. And sincere believers - it became more and more, and the congregation of God's people - grew.

5:17-21 And the high priest, and with him all who belonged to the heresy of the Sadducees, were filled with envy, 18 and laid their hands on the Apostles, and shut them up in the people's dungeon.
Such a success of the apostles inevitably gave rise to envy and irritation among the priesthood of Judea: before their eyes, their flock was openly lured!!! And at the same time they were not afraid of anyone.
Although on the other hand - what did you envy? After all, if you figure it out, then the leaders of the people themselves could have obtained such a successful result by following Christ, distributing their possessions, devoting all their strength and time to the cause of God, wandering and receiving blows from their fellow Jews.

But the problem is that people very often want to get the same result as a neighbor, for example, but at the same time they do not want to make the same efforts that a neighbor makes and endure the same hardships with persecution that a neighbor suffers.
If, thinking that someone has received great blessings from God, imagine how much he had to work hard and endure hardships, then envy may not arise.

However, the priesthood of Judea did not bother with such reflections, so the apostles were arrested for success, but God freed them and gave them the opportunity again openly and directly in the temple to "call fire" of the indignant priesthood on themselves. For what?
For the priesthood to reflect on what, in fact, is the matter? They should be in jail!

It is difficult for us today to understand why they did not OBVIOUSLY notice that they cannot do without the help of God? Although it happens that we ourselves don’t want to see a lot of OBVIOUS if it’s unprofitable to see:
19 But the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison by night, and bringing them out, said: 20 Go, and standing in the temple, speak to the people all these words of life. 21 Having heard them, they went into the temple in the morning and taught. Meanwhile the high priest, and those who came with him, summoned the Sanhedrin and all the elders of the children of Israel, and sent to the dungeon to bring [the apostles].

5:22-24 This call of fire by the apostles on themselves openly had an effect: the brains of the priesthood were nevertheless forced to stir, the priesthood began to reflect on what this would mean?
But the servants, when they came, did not find them in the dungeon, and returning, they reported, 23 saying: We found the dungeon shut with all precautions, and guards standing before the door; but when they opened it, they found no one in it.24 When the high priest, the chief of the guard, and the [other] high priests heard these words, they wondered what it meant.
Well, what conclusions they came to - now we'll see.

5:25 And someone came and reported to them, saying, Behold, the men whom you have locked up in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.
At all times, with the birth of a class of revolutionaries, a class of scammers is also born. If it weren't for them, many people's sleep would be calmer. But it is also more fun to live with them: it often happens that it is difficult to convey some information to those who need it. And therefore, in the belief that there are scammers everywhere and always, they throw this important information to the masses and that’s it. You can be sure that the one for whom it is intended will certainly receive it. They also informed on the apostles, who came out of prison with the help of God.

5:26-28 Then the chief of the guard went with the servants and brought them without compulsion, because they were afraid of the people, lest they stone them. and the high priest asked them, saying:28 Have we not strongly forbidden you to teach about this name?
The deed is done, about the preachers in the temple - they learned "upstairs", which was required, the mental activity of the priesthood began to stir, but did not come up with anything better than to call the apostles "on the carpet" to the authorities again.
Only now they had to do it kindly, without violence - and this is the result of the activity of the mind, suggesting that something is wrong here and it is better not to anger the masses.
The apostles, for their part, did not incite the public to stand up for them in a civilized manner, or to throw a stone at those who came after them, or to organize a rally against the violation of freedom of religion. But obediently followed "on the carpet" to the authorities at the invitation.

and so, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you want to bring the blood of that Man upon us.
As you can see, the priesthood did not specifically want to be accused of the murder of Christ, for if it turns out from the preaching of the apostles that Christ is God's, then they, it turns out, are notorious scoundrels. The priesthood could not come to terms with this idea.

Although, it is clear that the one who kills or contributes to this, and not the one who talks about it, induces blood on himself.
This kind of people have an interesting wisdom: if someone does not accuse them LOUD publicly, it seems that they did not kill, it turns out, and not guilty, it turns out, for nothing.

5:29-33 Peter and the Apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.”30 The God of our fathers resurrected Jesus, whom you put to death by hanging on a tree.31 God exalted Him at His right hand as Leader and Savior, in order to give Israel repentance and the forgiveness of sins. 32 We are his witnesses in this, and the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.33 When they heard this, they were torn with anger and plotted to kill them.
Once again, an opportunity opened up for Peter to preach that obedience to God is more important than His representatives on earth, in this case, the priesthood of God's temple. That is why the apostles have no intentions to stop preaching about Christ, doing the will of God.
And once again they had to be reminded that they did crucify the messenger of Jehovah.

It would seem: take it and repent from the preaching of Peter, what is difficult, if true? So no. It's easier to kill Peter. Than admitting to being wrong. Especially in the presence of the public.
And who will deliver us from this body of death, in which there is so little common sense?

5:34-39 Standing up in the Sanhedrin, a certain Pharisee named Gamaliel, a teacher of the law, respected by all the people, ordered the Apostles to be brought out for a short time, 35 and he said to them: Men of Israel! think with yourselves about these people, what you should do with them.
But fortunately, there was one sane Gamaliel in the Sanhedrin, who enlightened them so that they would stop fussing over the apostles: if they do the work of God, then it will not be destroyed by the efforts of the priesthood.

But to suffer because of this for resisting the cause of God is very easy. To defend your ambitions is one fuss. And the life that belongs to God is still more precious.
It turned out to be easier for the priesthood to accept admonition from their own rank - than from Peter, a peasant - a lapotnik. That is life. Well, there is no difference from WHOM to come to their senses, IF, of course, to come to their senses.

36 For shortly before this, Thewdas appeared, posing as someone great, and about four hundred people stuck to him; but he was killed, and all who obeyed him were scattered and disappeared. but he perished, and all who obeyed him were scattered.
As you can see, to drag the people along with them is not a tricky thing, but the apostles did not drag the people after themselves, and not stick to themselves, but to the truth of God and to God, therefore, even after their death, their cause did not disappear, and the sermon about the great the works of God - did not stop.

And the Pharisee Gamaliel understood that if God stands behind the apostles, their work cannot be destroyed by any human effort:
38 And now, I say to you, depart from this people and leave them; for if this enterprise and this work are from men, then it will be destroyed, 39 but if from God, then you cannot destroy it; [beware] lest you turn out to be opposers to God.

5:40 They obeyed him; and calling the apostles, they beat [them] and, having forbidden them to speak of the name of Jesus, let them go.
So that it would not seem to anyone that the court was going in vain - they took and beat the apostles, like - the apostles nevertheless turned out to be guilty and the judicial punishment was suffered properly and fairly.
Performances for the audience to play - it is always necessary for the authorities to maintain a decent reputation in the eyes of their subjects, otherwise it is impossible to control the people, a damaged reputation cools the desire to obey.

I recalled Saul, who himself caused trouble, and asked the prophet to take care of the king's own reputation in the eyes of the people and not to drop it before him. And what about a prophet? He did not refuse, as we see, he respected the request of the king and his concern for the royal reputation: there is no need to spoil the king in the eyes of his subjects -1 Sam.15:30,31

5:41,42 They left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that for the name of the Lord Jesus they were worthy to receive dishonor.42 And every day in the temple and from house to house they did not cease to teach and preach the gospel about Jesus Christ.
Not that, of course, the apostles rejoiced that they were beaten. But the fact that they were beaten for doing the will of God. These events only strengthened the determination of the apostles to defend the Christian faith in the den of Judaism.

Comments on Chapter 5

INTRODUCTION TO THE ACTS OF THE HOLY APOSTLES

PRECIOUS BOOK

In a sense, the Acts of the Holy Apostles the most important book of the New Testament. Were it not for this book, apart from the information extracted from the epistles of the Apostle Paul, we would not have known anything about the development of the early Church.

Historiography knows two methods. One of them tries to follow the course of events day by day, week by week, and the other, as it were, opens a series of windows on important moments and great personalities of this or that time. It was this second method that was applied in the writing of the Acts of the Apostles. .

We call it the Book of the Acts of the Holy Apostles. In fact, the book does not pretend to give an exhaustive account of the deeds of the Apostles. In addition to Paul, it mentions only three apostles. IN Acts. 12.2 it is said in one short sentence that James, brother of John, was put to death by Herod. John is mentioned, but he doesn't say a word. Only about Peter the book gives certain information, but soon he, as an outstanding person, leaves the stage. The title of the book in Greek is "The Acts of the Apostle Men". It is obvious that the author sought to capture in it some typical deeds of the heroic and courageous leaders of the early Christian Church.

BOOK AUTHORITY

Although the book does not say anything about it, Luke has long been considered its author. We know very little about Luke himself; in the New Testament his name is mentioned three times: - Qty. 4.14; Phil. 23; 2 Tim. 4.19. From these we can conclude two things with certainty: firstly, Luke was a doctor and, secondly, he was one of Paul's most valuable assistants and his most faithful friend, because he was with him even during his last imprisonment. . We can conclude that he was from the Gentiles. Qty. 4.11 ends the list of names and greetings from the circumcised, that is, from the Jews; verse 12 begins a new list that gives the names of the Gentiles. From this we draw the interesting conclusion that Luke is the only author in the New Testament who comes from a Gentile background.

The fact that Luke was a doctor can be guessed from the fact that he instinctively uses medical terms. IN OK. 4.35 talking about a man in whom there was an unclean spirit, he used the exact medical term "convulsions" by the expression "and throwing him down in the middle of the synagogue." IN OK. 9.38, drawing a portrait of a man who asked Jesus: "I beg you to look at my son," he uses a typical word meaning a visit by a doctor to a sick person. The most interesting example is given in the statement about the camel and the eye of a needle. All three authors - weather forecasters lead him (Matthew 19:24; Mark 10:25; Luke 18:25). Matthew and Mark use the Greek word rafis, common word for a tailor's or housewife's needle. Only Luke uses the Greek word belone, denoting the surgeon's needle. Luke was a doctor and the medical lexicon quite naturally came out from under his pen.

TO WHOM THE BOOK IS INTENDED

And his gospel, and the Acts of the Apostles Luke wrote for Theophilus (Luke 1:3; Acts 1:1). We can only guess who Theophilus was. IN OK. 1.3 he calls him "Venerable Theophilus," which actually means "Your Excellency," and designates a person of high rank in the service of the Roman Empire. There are several possible explanations for this name.

1) Maybe Theophilus is not the name of a real person at all. In those days, being a Christian was dangerous. The name Theophilus is composed of two Greek words: Theos - that is God And filen - to love. Perhaps Luke was writing to a God-loving man, and, for security reasons, does not give his real name.

2) If Theophilus was a real person, then he must have been a high-ranking official. Probably Luke wrote to him to show that Christianity is a wonderful religion and Christians are pious people. It is possible that he wanted to convince a government official not to persecute Christians.

3) The third theory, more romantic than the previous ones, is based on the fact that Luke was a doctor, and in ancient times doctors were mostly slaves. It was conjectured that Luke was the doctor of the seriously ill Theophilus, who was restored to health by the medical art and care of Luke, and in gratitude he gave Luke freedom. And, perhaps, as a token of gratitude for this, Luke wrote down to his benefactor the most precious thing - the story of Jesus.

THE PURPOSE OF LUKE IN THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

A person who writes a book has some goal in front of him, and maybe more than one. Consider Why Luke Wrote Acts .

1) One of its purposes is to recommend Christianity to the Roman government. Luke shows more than once how courteous the Roman judges were to Paul. IN Acts. 13.12 Sergius Paul, governor of Cyprus, believed in Christ. IN Acts. 18.12 the proconsul Gallio in Corinth remained completely indifferent to the demands of the Jews to punish Paul. IN Acts. 16.35 and further, the judges at Philippi, realizing their error, made a public apology to Paul. IN Acts. 19.31 the rulers in Ephesus were concerned that Paul should not be harmed. Luke pointed out that in the past the Roman government had often shown decent disposition towards Christians and had always been fair to them.

Luke tries to show that Christians are pious and faithful citizens and that they have always been considered as such. IN Acts. 18.14 Gallio states that Paul has no thought of offense or malice. IN Acts. 19.37 an Ephesian official gives Christians a commendable characterization. IN Acts. 23.29 Claudius Lysias declares that he has nothing against Paul. IN Acts. 25.25 Festus says that Paul did nothing to deserve death, and in the same chapter, Festus and Agrippa agree that Paul could have been released if he had not turned to Caesar.

Luke wrote his book at a time when Christians were hated and persecuted, and he put it in such a way as to show that the Roman judges were always fair to Christians and never looked at them as evil people. It was even made a very interesting suggestion that Acts - an anthology compiled for the defense of Paul in the imperial court of Rome.

2) Another intention of Luke was to show that Christianity is a creed for all people of all countries.

It was this thought that the Jews could not accept. They considered themselves God's chosen people, and that God did not need any other people. Luke wants to prove otherwise. It shows Philip preaching to the Samaritans; Stephen, who made Christianity universal and died for it; and Peter, who accepted Cornelius into Christianity. It shows Christians preaching to the Gentiles in Antioch, and Paul traveling around the ancient world and persuading people to accept Christ; V Acts. 15 it shows that the Church has come to an important decision to accept the Gentiles on equal terms with the Jews.

H) But these were not his main intentions. The main goal of Acts Luke captured in the words of the resurrected Christ in Acts. 1.8: "Ye shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." He intended to show the spread of Christianity as a religion that originated in a small corner of Palestine and reached Rome in less than thirty years.

S. H. Turner points out that Acts our parts fall apart, each ending with a short summary

a) B 1,1-6,7 talks about the Jerusalem church and Peter's preaching, and ends with the following summary: "And the word of God grew, and the number of the disciples greatly increased in Jerusalem; and of the priests very many were subject to the faith."

b) C 6,8-9,31 describes the spread of Christianity throughout Palestine, the martyrdom of Stephen and the sermon in Samaria. This part ends with a summary:

"But the churches throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria were at rest, being edified and walking in the fear of the Lord, and, with the comfort of the Holy Spirit, they multiplied."

c) B 9,32-12,24 includes the conversation of Paul, the spread of the Church to Antioch, and the reception of Cornelius. It ends with the words: "The Word of God grew and spread."

d) B 12,25-16,5 tells about the spread of the Christian Church in Asia Minor and about preaching in Galatia. It ends: "And the churches were established in the faith and daily increased in number."

e) B 16,21-19,20 tells about the spread of the Church to Europe and about the asceticism of Paul in large pagan cities like Corinth and Ephesus. It ends with this summary: "With such power did the word of God grow and be able."

f) B 19,21-28,31 tells about the arrival of Paul in Rome and about his stay in prison. The end shows Paul "Preaching the Kingdom of God and teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ with all boldness without restraint."

Such a plan of action already gives the answer to the most difficult question: Why ends precisely with the story of Paul's stay in prison awaiting trial. We would so like to know what happened to him afterwards; but the end is shrouded in mystery. Luke ends his story here because he completed his task: he showed how Christianity began in Jerusalem and how it spread throughout the world and finally reached Rome. One major New Testament scholar said that Acts could be called thus: "How the good news came from Jerusalem to Rome."

SOURCES

Luke was a historian, and therefore it is important what sources he used. Where did Luke get his facts from? In this regard, Acts split into two parts:

1) The first part consists of fifteen chapters, which Luke was not a witness of, and information about which he received second hand. In all likelihood, he had access to two sources.

a) Memories have been preserved in local churches. They may have never been written down, but the church communities kept the memory. This part depicts facts from three churches: the history of the Jerusalem Church, covering Acts. 1-5 and 15-16; the history of the church community in Caesarea, covering Acts. 8, 26-40 and 9, 31-10, 48, and, finally, the history of the church community in Antioch, covering Acts. 11, 19-30 and 12, 25-14, 28.

b) There were probably cycles of stories consisting of the Acts of Paul, the Acts of John, the Acts of Philip, and the Acts of Stephen. Friendship with Paul undoubtedly helped Luke to get acquainted with all the major figures of the churches of that time and, therefore, he could have all the events and stories of these churches.

2) But most of the chapters 16-28 Luke knew personally, as a participant in the events. If you carefully read the Acts , then you can notice a strange thing: Luke sets out most of his story in the 3rd person plural, and some passages are set out in the 1st person plural and instead of "they" Luke uses "we". The following passages are from the 1st plural: Acts. 16:10-17; 20, 5-16; 21:1-18; 27, 1-28, 16. Luka must have been a participant in these events. He probably kept a diary and recorded eyewitness accounts. As to what he did not witness, he seems to have learned from Paul, With whom he spent a long time in prison. There could not be a major figure in the church whom Luke would not know personally, and, in any case, he could get the necessary information from people who were witnesses of this or that event.

Reading Acts , we may be convinced that no historian has ever had better sources or used them more carefully than Luke.

CONFUSION IN THE CHURCH (Acts 5:1-11)

Before us is the brightest passage of the Book of Acts . There is no need to characterize what is described as a miracle. But from this text one can see something of the atmosphere prevailing in the Church at that time. We know from the annals of history that when one day King Edward I unleashed his wrath on one of his courtiers, the latter fell dead of terror. From the above passage we learn about the state of mind of the brothers and sisters in the early Christian Church and about the extreme respect for the apostles. Only in such an atmosphere could Peter's rebuke have such an effect on people.

This is one of those passages that shows the unwavering honesty of the Bible. For this story could be omitted, for it shows that even in the early Church there were unworthy Christians; but the Bible refuses to paint idealized pictures. A court painter once painted a portrait of Oliver Cromwell. Cromwell's face was disfigured by numerous warts. The artist, wanting to please Cromwell, did not paint them. But when he saw the picture, Cromwell said: "Take it with you and paint all my warts." One of the great virtues of the Bible is that it shows us its heroes with warts and no embellishment.

But, at the same time, we find some consolation in this passage: after all, even in great times there were not only pious, but also bad people in the Church.

Peter insists that any sin is a sin against God. It would be nice if we always remembered this, especially in certain cases:

1) Indeed, the lack of due diligence is a sin against God. Everything that a person does for health, happiness and well-being, no matter how modest his contribution may be, he does all this for God. The great violin maker Antonio Stradivari said: "If I sit idly by, I'm robbing God." Let's take these words as our motto.

2) Avoiding using your talent properly is a sin against God. God has given us our talents; We must place them at His disposal, and we are accountable to Him for how we disposed of them, how we used them.

3) Insincerity in actions is a sin against God. When we stray into the path of lies, we sin against the Holy Spirit that moves our hearts.

THE ATTRACTION OF CHRISTIANITY (Acts 5:12-16)

Before us is a magnificent picture of the state of affairs in the early Christian Church:

1) We find out where the Church meets. It is found in Solomon's porch, one of the two large porches that surrounded the temple. The early Christians regularly visited the House of the Lord, striving to know God better and draw strength from Him for life.

2) We will find out how she met. The first Christians gathered where everyone could see them. They knew WHAT happened to the apostles and what could happen to them: but they wanted to show everyone who they were and in whom they believed.

3) We learn that the early Christian Church was amazingly efficient. Signs and wonders happened. Gone are the days when the chief activity of the Church was preaching and physically healing the sick, though those times may come again. But the Church still exists and its main purpose is to heal sinful people who will always fill churches if they can gain new life.

This passage ends with a mention of people, sickness to the action of unclean spirits. So, for example, the Egyptians believed that the body could be divided into parts, each of which could be inhabited by such an evil spirit. They often believed that these unclean spirits belonged to evil people who had left this life, but continued to commit their criminal deeds.

ARREST AND JUDGMENT AGAIN (Acts 5:17-32)

This second arrest of the apostles was inevitable. After all, the Sanhedrin strictly forbade them to teach people in the name of Jesus, and they publicly violated this ban. For the Sanhedrin, this fact was doubly important. The apostles were not only heretics, but also acted as potential violators of peace and order. In Palestine, popular discontent could always flare up. If not nipped in the bud, it could lead to a major popular uprising, and this was what the priests and Sadducees feared most, because it would inevitably lead to intervention.

The release of Peter and John is not necessarily due to a miracle. Greek word aggelos has two meanings. First, it means angel; but it has also been used to mean messenger, messenger. Even if the apostles were liberated by people, their liberator would still be the messenger of God. In the events immediately following their release from prison, we see striking character traits of these first men of God:

1) They were courageous. The behavior of going straight to the temple and preaching sounds almost unbelievable for a reasonable person. Obedience to this behavior is a desperately brave act. And yet they went.

2) They were principled people. They were guided by the principle: obedience to God is above obedience to people in any circumstances. They never asked themselves the question, "Is it safe to do this?" They only asked, "Is this what God wants from me?"

3) They were clearly aware of their mission. They knew they were witnesses for Christ. A witness is a person who speaks about what he saw. He knows from personal experience that what he says is the truth; such a person cannot be stopped because the truth cannot be shut up.

UNEXPECTED ALLY (Acts 5:33-42)

When the apostles appeared for the second time before the Sanhedrin, they unexpectedly met an assistant there. Gamaliel was a Pharisee. The Sadducees were a wealthy class, always ready to cooperate with anyone in order to maintain their privileges, while the Pharisees had no political aspirations. Name Pharisee literally means "separate", And they separated themselves from ordinary life in order to devote themselves to keeping the law And its smallest features. There were never more than six thousand of them, but their simple and strict lifestyle ensured them high respect among the people.

But Gamaliel was not only respected; he was loved. He was a pious man, much more tolerant than his comrades. He, for example, was one of the very few Pharisees who did not consider Greek culture itself to be sinful. He belonged to the few who were given the honorary title of "Rabban". People called it the "Beauty of the Law". When he died, they said: "Since the death of Rabban Gamaliel, there is no more reverence for the law: at the same time chastity and temperance died." When the Sanhedrin was ready to use violence against the apostles, Gamaliel intervened. The doctrine of the Pharisees was a combination of fate and free will. They believed that everything is in the hands of God, but a person is still responsible for his actions. "Everything is predestined," they said, "but everyone is given freedom of choice." Thus, Gamaliel warned the Sanhedrin to be careful if they decided to use their free will against the Lord. He argued that if this creed is not of God, it will itself die. And he gave two examples:

The first he called Fevda. At that time, in Palestine, freshly minted leaders very quickly appeared and disappeared, claiming to be the liberators of their country, and sometimes even the role of the Messiah. We do not know who this Thewda was. We know of a certain Theudus, who, a few years after the period we are considering, led a crowd to the Jordan, promising to divide the waters of the river in two, And to lead them on dry land; his star went down very quickly. The name of Thewdas was widespread in that era, and no doubt the one Gamaliel speaks of is just another of those many self-appointed deliverers.

The second was Judas, who revolted in the year 6 during the census, when the ruler Quirinius appointed him to collect taxes. Judah declared that God was the king of Israel, and only He should be given tribute; all other taxes he considered impious, paying them blasphemy. He attempted to raise a widespread uprising and stage a coup, but failed. The Sanhedrin listened to the words of Gamaliel and, again threatening the apostles, let them go.

And the apostles went, rejoicing in their dishonor. This joy is due to the following reasons:

1) This dishonor allowed them to prove their loyalty to Christ. After the revolution in Russia, a man who had traces of shackles on his hands and scars of a whip on his back was considered a hero because he suffered for justice. Mister hero proudly boasted for the truth: "The stigma and scars are on me."

2) It allowed the apostles to testify about Christ. And the crusaders will become crowned.

Commentaries (Introduction) to the Whole Book of Acts

Comments on Chapter 5

Christ is the basis, the Church is the means, and the Holy Spirit is the power. W. Graham Scroggie

Introduction

I. SPECIAL STATEMENT IN THE CANON

The Acts of the Apostles is the only inspiring history of the Church; it's the same first and the only main history of the Church, covering the beginning of the formation of Christianity. All other writers build on Luke's writing, adding to it some traditional notions (and a lot of conjecture!). Without this book, we would face a serious difficulty: a sharp transition from the life of our Lord, described in the Gospels, immediately to the epistles. Who were the congregations to whom the messages were addressed, and how did they come about? Acts answers these and many other questions. It is not only a bridge between the life of Christ and the life in Christ taught in the epistles, but also a bridge between Judaism and Christianity, between law and grace. This is one of the main difficulties in the interpretation of Acts - the gradual expansion of the horizon from a small Jewish movement centered in Jerusalem to a world faith that penetrated the very capital of the empire.

Author Ev. from Luke and the Acts of the Apostles - one and the same person; on this almost everyone is unanimous. If the third Gospel was written by Luke, then Acts also belongs to him, and vice versa (see "Introduction" to the comments on the Gospel of Luke).

External evidence that Luke wrote Acts is convincing, widespread, and early in the history of the Church. The anti-Marcionist Prologue to the Gospel of Luke (c. 160-180), the canon of Muratori (c. 170-200), and the early Church Fathers Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, Tertullian, and Origen all agree that Luke - Author of Acts. Almost everyone who follows them in church history is of the same opinion, including such authorities as Eusebius and Jerome.

In the text of Acts itself there are three internal evidence, proving the authorship of Luke. At the beginning of Acts, the author specifically mentions an earlier work, also dedicated to Theophilus. It is clear from the Gospel of Luke (1:1-4) that the third Gospel is meant here. Style, expressiveness of presentation, vocabulary, special attention paid to apologetics, and many smaller details link these two works. If it were not for the desire to place the Gospel of Luke together with the other three Gospels, no doubt these two works would have entered the New Testament together, such as 1 and 2 Corinthians.

Further, it is clear from the text of Acts that the author was Paul's travel companion. This is evidenced by the use of the pronoun "we" in some verses (16:10-17; 20:5-21:18; 27:1-28:16); that is, the author is directly present at the events he reports. Attempts by skeptics to explain these features as a purely artistic technique are unconvincing. If they were added only to give the work more authenticity, then why are they introduced like this? rarely And unobtrusively and why the person included in this "we" is not called by name?

Finally, if we exclude other associates of Paul, mentioned by the author in the third person, as well as those of his associates who are known to be Not were with Paul during the events described in these passages (with "we"), the only real candidate is Luke.

III. WRITING TIME

While fixing the exact timing of the writing of some of the other books of the NT is not as important, it is of great importance for the Acts of the Apostles, a book that is primarily history Churches, and besides the first history.

Three dates for Acts have been proposed, two of which agree with Luke's authorship and one that denies it:

1. The dating of this book is the 1st century. AD, of course, makes it impossible to recognize Luke's authorship: it is unlikely that he could live longer than 80 or, at the latest, 85 AD. Some liberal scholars believe that the author used the "Antiquities of the Jews" by Josephus (c. 93 AD), but the parallels they refer to when considering Acts 5:36 (of Theeus) do not agree, and there is little resemblance. between the described events.

2. The generally accepted view is that Luke wrote both the Gospel and Acts between 70-80 AD. Then, to compose his Good News, Luke could have used the Gospel of Mark, which has probably existed since the 60s.

3. It can be reasonably surmised that Luke finished writing Acts shortly after the book-ending events occurred: that is, during Paul's first imprisonment in Rome. It is possible that Luke planned to write a third volume (but apparently it was not God's will) and therefore does not mention the persecutions that befell Christians between 63 and 67. However, there is no mention of events such as the most severe persecution of Christians by Nero in Italy after fire in Rome (64), the war of the Jews with Rome (66-70), the martyrdom of Peter and Paul (second half of the 60s) and the most tragic for Jews and Jewish Christians - the destruction of Jerusalem, point to more early dating. So it is most likely that Luke wrote the Acts of the Apostles while Paul was in a Roman prison - in 62 or 63 AD.

IV. PURPOSE OF WRITING AND THEME

The Acts of the Apostles are full of life and action. In them we see how the Holy Spirit works to shape the Church, strengthen it, and spread its influence. This is an amazing story about how the Spirit of the Lord, using the most incredible means, overcoming the most insurmountable obstacles and following the most non-trivial paths, achieves amazing results.

In Acts the story resumes from where the Gospels ended, then brief dramatic descriptions introduce us to the early turbulent years of the young Church. Acts tells of a great transitional period when the New Testament Church was freed from the fetters of Judaism and announced itself as a new, completely different community, in which Jews and Gentiles are one in Christ. For this reason, Acts can be called the story of "Isaac's weaning." As we read this book, we experience a kind of spiritual delight in seeing the way the Lord works. At the same time, we feel tension as we watch how sin and Satan oppose and try to hinder the cause of God. In the first twelve chapters, the apostle Peter takes center stage, courageously preaching to the people of Israel From the thirteenth chapter onwards, the apostle Paul comes to the fore as a zealous, inspirational and tireless educator of the pagans. Acts cover an approximately 33-year period. J. B. Phillips observed that in no other period of human history comparable in length, "a small number of ordinary people could not so influence the world that their enemies, with tears of rage in their eyes, said that these people "turned the world upside down"" . (J. W. Pmllips, The Young Church In Action,

Vvi.)Plan

I. THE CHURCH IN JERUSALEM (Ch. 1-7)

A. The Risen Lord Promises the Baptism with the Holy Spirit (1:1-5)

B. The ascending Lord gives the Apostles a command (1:6-11)

C. The Praying Disciples Wait in Jerusalem (1:12-26)

D. The Day of Pentecost and the Birth of the Church (2:1-47)

E. Healing the lame and calling the people of Israel to repentance (3:1-26)

F. Persecution and Church Growth (4:1-7:60)

II. THE CHURCH IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA (8:1-9:31)

A Philip's ministry in Samaria (8:1-25)

B. Philip and the Ethiopian eunuch (8:26-40)

C. Conversion of Saul of Tarsus (9:1-31)

III. CHURCH TO THE END OF THE EARTH (9:32-28:31)

And Peter preaches the gospel to the Gentiles (9:32 - 11:18)

B. Founding of the Church at Antioch (11:19-30)

C. Herod's persecution of Christians and his death (12:1-23)

D. Paul's first missionary journey: Galatia (12:24 - 14:28)

E. Meeting in Jerusalem (15:1-35)

F. Paul's second missionary journey: Asia Minor and Greece (15:36-18:22)

G. Paul's third missionary journey: Asia Minor and Greece (18:23-21:26)

3. Paul's arrest and trials (21:27-26:32)

I. Paul's journey to Rome and the shipwreck (27:1-28:16)

J. Paul's house arrest and his testimony to the Jews in Rome (28:17-31)

5,1-4 Where God does His great things, He is always nearby Satan, waiting for the right moment to deceive, pervert, and thus oppose the Lord. But where genuine spiritual power resides, deceit and hypocrisy will be quickly exposed.

Anania And sapphire, apparently moved by the generosity of Barnabas and others. Perhaps they wanted to do such a good deed to earn people's praise. Therefore they sold the estate and gave part of the proceeds to the apostles. Their sin was that they claimed to have given everything, when in fact they brought only part of the money. Nobody asked them to sell the estate. Having sold him, they were not obliged to give all the money. But they lied that they gave everything, when in fact they kept a part for themselves.

Peter accused Ananias in a lie Holy Spirit not just people. lie Holy Spirit He lied to God because The Holy Spirit is God.

5,5-6 In this moment Ananias fell lifeless, And young men carried him out for burial. Such a death should have brought the first Christians to their senses. However, it did not mean that Ananias was deprived of eternal salvation. Rather, it was God's way of expressing His displeasure at this first sprout of sin in His Church. "As one of the commentators put it," Richard Bewis is quoted as saying, "either Ananias or the Spirit must go." So pure were the relationships in the first Christian communities that such a lie could not exist in them.

5,7-11 Three hours later when Sapphira came Peter accused her of colluding with her husband in an attempt tempt the Spirit of the Lord. He told her about the fate of her husband and predicted that the same would happen to her. Suddenly she fell down and died, and they carried her out for burial.

Peter's ability to pass judgment on this couple is an example of the special miraculous power given to the apostles. Perhaps this was the fulfillment of the Lord's promise: "... on whom you leave [sins], they will remain" (John 20:23). The same power is manifested in Paul's ability to hand over a sinning Christian to Satan for the destruction of the flesh (1 Cor. 5:5). There is no reason to believe that this power was given to anyone other than the apostles.

One can imagine what a sense of reverent fear seized the believers, and indeed everyone who learned about these two deaths.

5,12-16 After the death of Ananias and Sapphira apostles continued to perform miracles, and the people gathered around them in porch of Solomon. So clear was the feeling of the presence of God and His power that the people did not dare to join them or hastily declare themselves to be believers. And yet ordinary people glorified them, many became believers into the Lord Jesus. People endured their the sick into the streets and laid on beds and beds, to the shadow of Peter overshadowed one of them, when he passed by. Everyone saw that there was real power in the lives of the apostles, and that through them God blesses others. From the suburbs also came sick and demon-possessed, and All They were healed.

From Hebrews 2:4 it is clear that miracles like these were used by God to testify to the ministry of the apostles. But when the NT was written, the need for such signs largely disappeared. With regard to modern "mass healings", it is enough to note that of those who were brought to the apostles, all were healed. The same cannot be said of today's so-called religious healers.

5,17-20 The true ministry of the Holy Spirit inevitably leads to conversion, on the one hand, and sharp rejection, on the other. So it was here. high priest(probably Caiaphas) ​​and his Sadducee friends were furious when they saw that these fanatics - the disciples of Jesus - enjoyed such authority among the people. They resented that this situation threatened their position as the only religious leaders. They were especially furious at the preaching of the bodily resurrection, which, of course, they completely denied.

Able to deal with apostles only by force, they ordered them to be arrested and imprisoned. Same night Angel of the Lord led the apostles out of prison and commanded them to return to the temple and speak to the people all these words of life. Luke reports miraculous intervention angel, without expressing any surprise, or even simple surprise. If the apostles themselves were astonished, there is not a word about it in the story.

Angel aptly named Christianity this life. Christianity is not just a creed or set of doctrines, but Life - revived life in the Lord Jesus, given to all who believe in Him.

5,21 At dawn the apostles were already teaching in the temple. At that time high priest gathered for a meeting Sanhedrin and advice (all elders) and waited when will lead prisoners.

5,22-25 But the ministers returned in confusion, reporting to the court that in dungeon everything is in perfect order, except for one thing - the prisoners have disappeared! doors were properly locked and all guards were at their posts - there were no only prisoners. Such a message, of course, could not but upset! "How will it all end? - wondered head of the guard temple and high priest. - How far will this movement among the people go?" Then their questions were interrupted by the appearance of a man who brought the news that the escaped prisoners were standing again. in the temple, teaching the people. Their courage should amaze us! We should by all means reacquire the ability of the early Christians to endure suffering for their beliefs.

5,26 Servants brought the apostles to the council without coercion. They were afraid What people will throw stones at them if they are openly rude to these followers of Jesus, who were so respected by many ordinary people.

5,27-28 First to speak high priest: "Have we not strongly forbidden you to teach about this name?" He deliberately avoided using the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. "Ye have filled Jerusalem with your teaching." Unwittingly, he praised the effectiveness of the ministry of the apostles. "You want to bring that Man's blood on us." But the leaders of the Jewish people had already done this when they said, "His blood is on us and on our children" (Matthew 27:25).

5,29-32 A few verses earlier, the apostles pleaded for boldness in preaching the Word. This courage was given to them from above, and now they insist that they must obey God more than men. They emphatically stated that Jesus, whom Jews killed by hanging

on the tree, God resurrected And He exalted Him with His right hand to be the Leader and Savior. And as such. He's ready give Israel repentance and forgiveness of sins. As a final blow, the apostles added that they themselves were witnesses to him in this and testifies also Holy Spirit, whom God gives those who obey him, believers in His Son.

Expression God raised up Jesus may refer to His incarnation or resurrection. This probably means that God raised Him up in the flesh as a Savior. (In the Russian Synodal translation "resurrected".)

5,33-37 The rebuke that sounded in the words of these people, who embodied conscience, was so weighty that the leaders of the Jews intended to kill them. At this point, Gamaliel intervened. He was one of the most respected teachers in Israel and teacher of the law Saul of Tarsus. The advice he gave does not mean that he was a Christian or favored them; it was just worldly wisdom.

Ordered to take away apostles, he first of all reminded the Sanhedrin that if this movement did not from God, it will soon collapse. In confirmation, he referred to two facts: 1) a certain impostor named feuda collected about four hundred supporters, but was killed and his people scattered; 2) Judas Galilean, raised a failed rebellion, also died and his supporters crumbled.

5,38-39 If if this Christian religion were not from God, the best solution would be leave them at rest, and then the movement would gradually die out by itself. To fight it is to strengthen it. (This argument is not always correct. Many ungodly institutions exist and flourish for centuries. Moreover, they gather more adherents than the truth. But even if human history does not support this argument, it is true for Divine time - eternity.)

On the other hand, continued Gamaliel, If this movement from God, then they don't destroy it and may turn out to be in a very delicate position, as they will become opposers.

5,40 This logic seemed convincing to the rulers, and they, calling the apostles ordered beat them up and then banned them talk about the name of Jesus And released. This senseless and unjust punishment was only a thoughtless reaction of intolerant hearts to the truth of the Lord. Ryrie suggests that the punishment may have been for disobedience to previous Sanhedrin orders (cf. Deut. 25:2-3). The order that followed this beating is also unreasonable and senseless: they ordered the apostles to be silent about the name of Jesus - they could just as well have forbidden the sun to shine.

5,41-42 The beating that fell upon the apostles had two unexpected results. First, they aroused deep joy in the apostles, as they merited to receive dishonor for the name of the One they loved. (In the manuscript tradition, there are several options: "name", "name of the Lord Jesus".) Secondly, this beating inspired the apostles even more zealously and persistently every day in the temple and from house to house to teach and preach the gospel about Jesus Christ - Messiah.

Thus, Satan once again outwitted himself.

THE CHRISTIAN AND THE GOVERNMENT

As Christians advanced in preaching the gospel, it became inevitable that they would come into conflict with the authorities, both secular and especially religious, who had jurisdiction over much of civil affairs. The believers were ready for such a conflict and reacted to it calmly and with dignity.

In general, Christians strove to respect and obey their rulers, since the authorities are established by God and serve for the good of society.

Thus, when Paul unknowingly accused the high priest and was called to account for it, he immediately apologized, quoting Exodus 22:28: "...do not reproach the leader among your people" (Acts 23:5).

However, when human laws came into conflict with the commandments of God, then Christians consciously chose not to obey the authorities and endure the consequences of this disobedience, whatever they were. For example, when Peter and John were forbidden to preach the gospel, they answered: "... is it fair before God to listen to you more than to God? We cannot but speak what we have seen and heard" (4:19-20). And when Peter and the apostles were accused of continuing to teach about the name of Christ, Peter replied: "We must obey God rather than men" (5:29).

There is no indication that they ever made any attempt to overthrow any government or joined one. Despite oppression and persecution, they wished only the best for their rulers (26:29).

It goes without saying that they would never stoop to any dishonorable act in order to earn the favor of the authorities. The ruler Felix, for example, tried in vain to get a bribe from Paul (24:26).

They did not consider that the exercise of civil rights was incompatible with Christian duty (16:37; 21:39; 22:25-28; 23:17-21; 25:10-11).

However, they did not interfere in the political struggles of this world. Why? No explanation is given for this. But one thing is clear: these people had only one goal - to preach the Good News of Christ. And they devoted themselves undividedly to this mission. They must have thought that the Good News was the answer to all the problems of mankind. This conviction was so strong that they could not be satisfied with smaller matters such as politics.