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| Angel in Greek can also mean messenger, so perhaps this is a human helping them. But the phrase “of the Lord” mitigates against this. This angel frees them and bids them to go back to the temple to preach boldly. So they go back to Solomon’s Colonnade and tell about Jesus. They do so gladly, even naturally. Having experienced the reality of Jesus’ love and the outpouring of the Spirit, they can’t keep quiet. Meanwhile, the officials know nothing of the escape and send for the prisoners. Surprise! They are not there. Can you imagine the bewilderment of these leaders? First these commoners defy their orders and preach about Jesus again and now they vanish into mid-air? Just then a man comes and informs them that the apostles are right back at the temple—disobeying the authorities again. So, not knowing what else to do, the Sanhedrin sends temple police to haul them in. But they must be careful and do it nonviolently, for the apostles are so popular that the crowd may stone the police if they harm the men. The High Priest himself charges the apostles, in the presence of the Sanhedrin. The Sanhedrin is a council of Jewish men who are charged with the duty to administer justice and protect the innocent in matters of the law. The 70 members are a mixture of Pharisees and Sadducees. And what makes the apostles’ crime so offensive to this group is that the apostles are publicly claiming that these same authorities killed the Messiah! In a similar statement to Acts 4:19, Peter again states, “We must obey God rather than human authority.” The irony here is that the priests, elders and other members of the Sanhedrin should be making the same claim. The ones in charge of the temple should be the people most devoted to not compromising obedience to God for any other human institution. Could it be that they are so angry because Peter hit a nerve? Do they wonder if they have sold out to the Romans for security reasons? Continued... |
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