Read or listen The Acts of the Apostles Chapter 5 online (ESV, Bible Gateway)

God cannot be deceived - Acts 5:1-11

As a contrast and counterbalance to the description of the mutual love and self-sacrifice of the congregation at the end of chapter four (verses 32-37), Luke immediately tells of the attempted deception of Ananias and Sapphira.

Ananias (Hebrew form Hananiah) and Sapphira tried to appear holier and more pious than they were. Like Barnabas (4:36-37), they sold their farm. Together they decided to keep part of the proceeds for themselves, but to explain to the church that they were giving everything. They wanted to gain a reputation as great sacrificers and trusters in God, but at the same time they wanted to be secure in their hidden wealth.

However, Ananias and Sapphira had not taken into account that God saw everything, including the hiding of the money. Peter exposed the dishonesty of first Ananias (verse 4) and then Sapphira (verse 9). They might have been able to deceive people, but not God. It is worth noting that Ananias and Sapphira did not receive their judgment from Peter, but from God.

Verse 4 reveals that the giving of the property was completely voluntary. The crime of Ananias and Sapphira was not that they did not give everything, but that they claimed to have given everything. The crime was not giving a little, but being dishonest.

The story reminds us that we cannot fool God. It has been said, “You can fool some of the people all the time, and all of the people some of the time, but not all of the people all the time.” To this one might add that God cannot be fooled even for a moment.

Many signs and wonders done – Apt 5:12-16

Again, Luke summarizes the situation of the church. In verse 11, he uses the word ekklesia (usually translated “church”) for the first time in Acts to describe the community of Christians. He then goes into more detail about the conditions of the church.

There is an interpretive problem with verse 13. How is it possible that “None of the rest dared join them” and yet it is immediately stated that the church grew?

"And more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women..."
(verse 14)

Two solutions have been proposed:

First, it has been thought that the fear of joining would mean that those who were only outwardly interested in the Christian faith did not dare to associate with Christians. Only those who wanted to be wholehearted Christians joined them.

Another explanation is that the “they” in verse 12 ("And they were all together...") refers to the apostles. The group of apostles was fixed, and outsiders could not join it. This is supported by the fact that the previous group to which the end of the verse could refer is the apostles at the beginning of the verse. The church is not mentioned until verse 11.

..."they even carried out the sick into the streets and laid them on cots and mats, that as Peter came by at least his shadow might fall on some of them."
(verse 15)

Verse 15 can also be interpreted in two ways: According to the first interpretation, Luke mentioned it only to show how strongly the people believed in the power of the apostles. But it is also possible to think that Luke wanted to emphasize how powerful the miracles Peter performed (compare especially the end of verse 16): the sick were truly healed.

Attempts to silence the apostles – Acts 5:17-33

The Jewish leaders had enough: The high priest ordered all the apostles to be arrested.

Again, Luke reveals an interesting detail: the worst enemy of Christians among the Jews was not the Pharisees, but the Sadducees. The Gospels tell us about many arguments that Jesus and the Pharisees had, but those disputes were also signs of a conversational connection. On the other hand, Jesus did not even get into dialogue with the Sadducees (with the exception of Matthew 16:1 and 22:23-33).

At night, an angel freed the apostles and ordered them back to the place of their imprisonment: to preach in the temple. The apostles understood that He who was on their side was more powerful than the supreme decision-making body of the Jews. So they did not flee, but obeyed the angel's command and were exposed to a new imprisonment.

In the morning the Jewish leaders were surprised: the prisoners had disappeared. The surprise was surely increased by the news that the apostles had returned to the temple. The people were on the side of the apostles, so they did not dare to use violence in their re-imprisonment (verse 26). Rather, it could be said that the apostles voluntarily went to be questioned by the Sanhedrin.

The high priest reported the apostles' crime (verse 28): they had not obeyed the command to keep silent (Acts 4:18). What is interesting is the mention added to the accusation about drawing the blood of Jesus on the Jews (compare Matt 27:25).

Apparently the apostles had emphasized that Jesus died specifically on the cross. The Jewish leaders had specifically wanted Jesus to die on the cross because it would be a sign that Jesus was cursed by God (cf. Gal 3:13-14). The cross was therefore a central part of Christian preaching from the beginning. The cross also became a watershed: for the Jews it was a sign of God's curse, for Christians it was a sign of God's work of salvation (compare 1 Cor 1:18).

Peter repeated the answer he had already given: “We must obey God rather than men.” (Acts 4:19). Furthermore, Peter testified that the suffering of the cross cannot be left aside in the Christian proclamation, because it is its central issue (verses 30-32). This enraged the Sanhedrin, and the apostles would have been unlawfully killed if the respected teacher Gamaliel had not intervened.

Gamaliel's advice - Acts 5:34-42

Gamaliel belonged to the Pharisees’ “revival movement.” He was the grandson and student of the famously gentle Rabbi Hillel. At that time, he was the head of Hillel’s rabbinical school. One of his students was Saul of Tarsus (Acts 22:3). Perhaps it was Paul who gave this information about the events of the council to Luke.

The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection (Matthew 22:23), while the Pharisees did (Acts 23:6-9). Therefore, the Pharisees were not angered by the talk of Jesus’ resurrection in the same way that the Sadducees were.

Gamaliel's advice came from the recent history of the Jews: various messianic movements had indeed existed before, but they had collapsed. The activities of Judas the Galilean, mentioned by Gamaliel, had indeed given rise to the Zealot revolt, but that too was of little importance at the time.

If the activities of the apostles were a human invention, they would certainly disappear without violence. If, on the other hand, it was a movement willed by God, opposing it would mean fighting against God himself.

Gamaliel's advice was cautious, but at the same time very wise: it is not worth taking the risk of fighting against God. It is also a good guide for us. Sometimes it is impossible to be completely sure of God's will, but then we can say to God in prayer: "I am going to do this now, but stop me if it is not according to Your will!"

The Sanhedrin accepted Gamaliel’s advice, but ordered the apostles to be beaten, so that Sanhedrin would not have to declare them innocent a second time (compare Acts 4:21-22). The punishment was “legal” in that each synagogue had the right to inflict flogging on its members. This is the first punishment mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles for believing in Christ.

Finally, the prohibition to proclaim Jesus was renewed and the apostles were released. But even the beatings did not change the apostles' faith: they continued to preach in homes and in the temple. Perhaps the apostles were also encouraged by the fact that Jesus had predicted this would happen: Luke 12:51-53 (compare also Luke 6:22).