Acts 5:12-32; A Strange New World

"12 Now many signs and wonders were done among the people through the apostles. And they were all together in Solomon’s Portico. 13 None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem. 14 Yet more than ever believers were added to the Lord, great numbers of both men and women, 15 so that they even carried out the sick into the streets, and laid them on cots and mats, in order that Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he came by. 16 A great number of people would also gather from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those tormented by unclean spirits, and they were all cured. 17 Then the high priest took action; he and all who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with jealousy, 18 arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. 19 But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, brought them out, and said, 20 ‘Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.’ 21 When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching. When the high priest and those with him arrived, they called together the council and the whole body of the elders of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought. 22 But when the temple police went there, they did not find them in the prison; so they returned and reported, 23 ‘We found the prison securely locked and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.’ 24 Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were perplexed about them, wondering what might be going on. 25 Then someone arrived and announced, ‘Look, the men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people!’ 26 Then the captain went with the temple police and brought them, but without violence, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people. 27 When they had brought them, they had them stand before the council. The high priest questioned them, 28 saying, ‘We gave you strict orders not to teach in this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching and you are determined to bring this man’s blood on us.’ 29 But Peter and the apostles answered, ‘We must obey God rather than any human authority. 30 The God of our ancestors raised up Jesus, whom you had killed by hanging him on a tree. 31 God exalted him at his right hand as Leader and Saviour, so that he might give repentance to Israel and forgiveness of sins. 32 And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit whom God has given to those who obey him.’"

Introduction

Strange things happened in the immediate post-Easter reality of the early Church. Or, to put it slightly differently, by reading Acts 1-5 we are, as it were, transported back to another time and place which is inaccessible to us today. It is like the Forest of Arden in Shakespeare's As You Like It, where a person:

"Finds tongues in trees, books in the running brooks,/ Sermons in stones and good in everything" (II.i.16-17).

So in early Apostolic Jerusalem we find complete unity, full sharing of possessions, universal Christian regard for the apostles, dramatic healings (and judgments--see 5:1-11), and preaching that cuts to the heart of thousands. But just as the Forest of Arden is the place where love is found, so the early Church is the place where lessons abound. We cannot return there, though there is no flaming cherubim to prevent our entry; it simply must remain as a time apart from our time, a place of initial blessing that nevertheless holds abundant and powerful lessons for us today.

I will divide my consideration of this passage into three points: (1) The Healings (vv. 12-15); (2) The Interrogation by Jewish Officials after the Angelic Release from Prison (vv. 16-28); and (3) The Apostolic Defiance (vv. 29-32).

I. Apostolic Healings (12-15)

The sudden deaths of Ananias and Sapphira when they had deceived the Apostles (5:1-11) form the immediate background for this passage. There is fear, wonder, and a palpable air of expectation as the passage opens. Three sub-points that are noticeable are the unity of the people, the separateness of the Christians from the others and the dramatic, and almost magical, healings that take place. We can easily miss the Greek word omothumadon in v. 12. The NRSV translates it as "together" in a spatial sense--the Christians were simply all in the same place, as we would say. But though the word has that connotation, many commentators take its literal meaning ("the same"--homo, and "soul"--thumos) to suggest that the continued powerful unity of the Christians is here in view. This would comport with the two earlier "summary" passages in Acts (2:42-47; 4:32-37), where the unity of the first disciples is emphasized. I think this is Luke's intention. Disagreements have not yet broken in among the early Christians; it isn't until 6:1ff. that we see fissures begin to form. Thus, the idyllic realm of the early Church continues in this passage. Believers are one as they gather together.

But their oneness is coupled with a kind of separateness from the non-Christian community. "None of the rest dared to join them," the text says (v. 13). Why? Because of a reverence that filled the people. It is almost like Luke is portraying the early Christians as having a sort of patina or aura around them, as if they too shared the power demonstrated by the Apostles in their preaching and healing. No one "dared" to join them--it is almost as if there was an invisible force field around the early Christians, both empowering and protecting. We are in the early Christian "Forest of Arden."

A sign of this power is the Apostolic healing. Not only are multitudes healed, a confirmation of Jesus' words regarding the greater works that his followers would do (John 14:12), but people even seek the shadow of Peter so that they might be healed. Certainly we are in a different world when the Apostolic power can do this. I will even coin a new word for it in English. The Greek for shadow is "skia" and healing is "iatro." Just as sciamachy is "fighting with shadows" (which many of us spend our time doing), sciagraphy is a "shadow writing" or "outline," so sciatrism would be "shadow healing." Don't look it up, because you saw it first here!

Even though picture presented in these verses is dramatic and appealing, it cannot last. In fact, I wouldn't want a situation where the church leaders have this much power and influence. We may believe in Apostolic inspiration, but I think we are more realistic about the ways that power can be abused by anyone to accord this kind of unquestioning submission to people who speak or heal in the name of God. Thus, though I am taken by the story and inspired by the healings, I would shun its replication.

The next essay finishes these reflections.

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