The success of the apostles' witness and healing ministry (4:33; 5:12-16) fills the Sadducean high priest and his Sanhedrin associates (see comment at 4:1) with jealousy. This may originally have been "a passionate, consuming zeal focused on God, or rather on the doing of His will and the maintaining of His honour in the face of ungodly acts of men and nations" (Stumpff 1964:878; see Num 25:11; Ps 69:9). Yet because it is "not according to knowledge" (Rom 10:2), this zeal has devolved into jealousy. This is to be the reaction of the majority of Jews as the Christian mission proceeds (Acts 13:45; 17:5; compare Rom 10:19; 11:11).

The Sadducee nobility's jealousy further degenerates into "party spirit," focusing on the resurrection and the apostles' flouting of the high court's authority (4:2, 20, 31). They arrest (literally, "lay hands on") the apostles and incarcerate them for a trial the next day.

When zeal for God is not grounded in the whole truth of God or is mixed with human pride or opinion, it can easily become personal jealousy masquerading as piety. Such misguided zeal can do great harm to those who are the real messengers of God's truth.

Previously God allowed his messengers to remain in jail overnight (see 4:3); now, however, he sends his angel to liberate them. Luke presents angels as overcoming external opposition to and internal hesitation about the full accomplishment of the church's mission (8:26; 10:3; 12:7, 11, 23). The angel commissions the apostles to continue their witness. Taking a steadfast stand in the temple courts, the high priest's own turf and their accustomed place for evangelism and instruction (2:46; 5:12), they are to tell the people the full message of this new life (literally, "all the words of this life"). Life in the absolute, or with the adjective eternal, is one way Luke refers to salvation blessings (3:15; 11:18; 13:46; Lk 10:25; 18:18, 30; compare Acts 2:28/Ps 16:11). This phrase captures the truths that by God's Word the blessed life in covenant relationship is appropriated now, and that beyond death there is life in which God's salvation will be fully known forever (Deut 8:3; 32:47; Job 19:25-26).

At daybreak the temple crier called, "Priests to worship, Levites to the platform, and Israelites to deputations" (y. Seqalim 5:48d). And so at their earliest opportunity the apostles obey and resume teaching the people (Acts 5:21; Kistemaker [1990:199] takes the imperfect as simple continuous action, not as ingressive as does the NIV). What boldness the apostles show by the time and place of their witness! They are living out their prayer of Acts 4:29-30. God has taken note of the Sanhedrin's threats and actions and has delivered them from prison—yet it is not for their personal comfort but for the furtherance of their mission. This they obediently pursue, and so should all Christians.

In a fast-paced change of scene and collision of characters reminiscent of a Keystone Cops comedy, Luke portrays the powerlessness of the authorities to silence the church's message. Ignorant of the angelic liberation, the full Sanhedrin convenes and routinely summons the defendants. But the officers (Levites of the temple watch) find guarded, locked but empty cells, mute evidence that there has been supernatural intervention. The captain of the temple guard (see comment at 4:1) and the chief priests are more than just puzzled (dieporoun) at this. They are perplexed, at a complete loss to explain it. (Diaporeo is often used by Luke for the human response to an encounter with the supernatural—Lk 9:7; Acts 2:12; 5:24; 10:17.) Further, they are searching not just for the cause (as Longenecker 1981:320) or the significance (as Kistemaker 1990:202), but for the outcome (NIV; Haenchen 1971:250).

The leaders' negative example reminds us not to let our presuppositions blind us to what God might be doing. Those who do not believe in God's direct intervention in the affairs of humankind (Josephus Jewish Antiquities 13.173) could only be at a loss to understand how the apostles were liberated. Immediately they receive an answer to their perplexity. Someone breaks in and reports the apostles' open-air temple evangelism. Luke uses look (idou) selectively to point to unusual, supernaturally grounded occurrences (1:10; 2:7; 5:9, 25).

Springing into action, the captain and officers rearrest the apostles. They offer no resistance; the officers use no violent force. The church still experiences the people's favor (5:26; compare 4:21; 5:13); the Sadducees hold sway in position only, "having the confidence of the wealthy alone but no following among the populace" (Josephus Jewish Antiquities 13.298).

The apostles' submission to the authorities models an important component of Christian civil disobedience: recognition of the legitimacy of political authority through one's willingness to accept the consequences for one's disobedience (compare Rom 13:1-7; 1 Pet 3:15-16). The underlying question posed by this extended arrest account is "Who's in charge?" Luke responds, "God!" God directly intervenes to promote his unstoppable mission through his people's obedient, bold witness. Will the Sadducee and the modern secularist have eyes to see?