Ananias, Sapphira & Prison Escapes - Acts 5

So we are back at the Bible Study Podcast to talk about Acts chapter five.

And just as like a preface, we don't do a formal intro on this.

I mean, we have an amazing intro already.

It's amazing.

Okay.

Intro plays now.

But uh I do want to say that Justin and I talked about this last time.

Like, this isn't like a well, like we didn't spend a week like diving into all of the research we could possibly research.

We didn't connect all of the verses.

This is like a first pass.

We've read the story before.

Right.

We've been in this word, in the word for a long time as believers.

This is an opportunity to kind of open the can of worms.

Sometimes we might not fully answer all of the questions that the scripture brings.

Okay.

So with that, let's get into a pretty questionable and fun passage.

So I'll read it and then uh we'll we'll talk about it.

Okay.

So Acts chapter five.

Uh but a man named Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold a piece of property, and with his wife's knowledge, he kept back for himself some of the proceeds and brought only a part of it, and laid it at the apostles' feet.

But Peter said, Ananias, why has Satan filled your heart to lie to the Holy Spirit and to keep back for yourself part of the proceeds of the land?

While it remained unsold, did it not remain your own?

And after it was sold, was it not at your disposal?

Why is it that you've contrived this deed in your heart?

You've not lied to man, but to God.

When Ananias heard these words, he fell down and breathed his last.

And great fear came upon all who heard it.

The young men rose and wrapped him in a wrapped him up, and carried him out and buried him.

After an interval of about three hours his wife came in, not knowing what had happened.

And Peter said to her, Tell me whether you sold the land for so much.

And she said, Yes, for so much.

But Peter said to her, How is it that you have agreed together to test the spirit of the Lord?

Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out.

Immediately she fell down at his feet and breathed her last.

When the young men came in and found her dead, and they carried her out and buried her beside her husband, and great fear came upon the whole church and upon all who heard these things.

And I'll read this next little section too.

Now many signs and wonders were done regularly among the people by the hands of the apostles, and they were all together in Solomon's portico.

None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem, and more than ever believers were added to the Lord, multitudes of both men and women, so that even so that 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.

The people also gathered from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing the sick and those afflicted with unclean spirits, and they were all healed.

All right.

So Ananias and Sapphira.

Yeah.

Fun.

So you started saying, when I was like, this is a challenging passage.

You started saying, but it's great.

What were you you had a word, you had a phrase.

Because it because it is a challenging passage, there's a couple things in it.

As I honestly, it was just reading it once through because I knew that we were gonna be talking about it today.

This was not grab all the commentaries and like deep dive study on this.

There were a couple of things that jumped out to me that were kind of great.

So the first one was at the very beginning, it says, on the other hand, a man named Ananias, together with his wife Sapphira.

And so when something like that is there, I go, on the other hand of what?

Right.

On the other hand.

So in Acts 4, it talks about Barnabas.

Right.

And I'm assuming that's the right.

Yeah, we talked about it.

This like this notable gift.

It's like hey, uh everyone's ha sharing everything in common, and then Barnabas, like above and beyond, sells a field and donates it to the to the church.

Right.

And Barnabas.

So on the other hand, on the other hand, so you have these two things happening.

And I was thinking about the pressure that you feel when someone does something that is so spiritual?

Yeah.

Or like spiritually significant.

And it doesn't and obviously a move of the spirit.

Right.

Because Barnabas then becomes like the Barnabas of Paul and Barnabas.

Like this is Barnabas, right?

And you think about what happened with Paul.

When when the spirit calls somebody to do something profound, the pressure to be profound is such a tricky thing in the church that I think that's what happened with Ananias and Zephira.

The pressure to do something profound put them in a position to um what's the word that Peter uses?

Why has Satan filled your heart?

It gave room for Satan to fill their heart.

Um the pressure to pray profoundly, the pressure to say something that sounds really great, the pressure to speak from the Lord, the pressure to be a leader, the pressure to be a pastor, the pressure to be the pressure to say something profound actually can lead to death.

And God called Barnabas to do it.

God didn't call them to do it.

Right.

And there's this difference between like a godly obedience versus like a I wrote in right as you were talking, like god-ish versus being godly, where you're like, I'm trying to be in the crowd of the goddishness people, but I'm not actually having that stem from the root relationship with Jesus.

Right.

And you say it's a pressure in the church.

Have you ever felt the pressure of like being around someone who's doing something more like visibly spiritual than you?

Right.

And you like want to rise to that level?

Like is that I think everybody's felt that.

Yeah.

Everybody's felt that.

Everybody looks at someone and goes, oh my gosh, look at look at what they're doing.

They're affecting so many people.

They're they have something that I I want to do.

But what that what should have happened is they have the spirit.

I want the spirit to use me.

That's that is the sp spiritual jealousy we should have.

Right.

It's use me in the way that best fits your purposes in my life and the life of the people around me, not I want to be spiritual like they are.

It's like the uh 1 Corinthians, 2nd Corinthians, I know enough Bible to get in trouble.

Um is where it's the parts of the body and the parts of the church, where it's like the eye can't say to the foot, you're you're useless, or the I can't be like, I wish I was a foot and aspire to doing all the things that a foot can do.

But if we know our place and what God has called us to do.

Yeah, I think what's hard for me is like, how do you discern in the moment what is the difference between a godly desire to say, like, I want, I want, sure.

I you see someone get healed, or you see someone speak in tongues, or you see the prayer life, or I always get it when someone's like, I was reading the Bible and God really showed me this.

I'm like, I want God to show me that more.

And I feel like that desire for God to show me things does lead me to read the Bible more, which is a good thing.

Right.

So, how do you know when it's a thing that's gonna lead you down a good road versus the thing that's gonna open what Peter says, like Satan has entered your heart?

Like, how do you know it's like what's the difference between those?

I would start with saying, Do you want that or do you want him?

Because saying, I want that and letting it lead you to I want the Lord is good.

Um I've had mentors in my life that I see them do something.

I remember um when I first started hanging out with Susan Craig and she would be doing something, and then she'd be like, Okay, God.

And then she would I'm like, Did God just talk to you?

How did what what conversation are you having that I didn't hear because I want God to talk to me like that.

But it led me to pursue the Lord, not pursue that thing.

Right.

So Which might have turned into you uh being overly sensitive to voices that aren't the Lord.

It could be.

Right.

If you start pursuing signs, you're gonna get in a lot of trouble.

Right.

So if you start to pursue healing, or you start to pursue selling property, or you start to pursue um being up in front of people, right, or you start to pursue a thing, you're gonna get in trouble.

But if you start to pursue the Lord and let him produce fruit, if you start to pursue fruit, you're in trouble.

Right.

But if you abide, then you get the fruit.

There you go.

Pursue the root, not the fruit.

Yeah.

If it rhymes, it's the Holy Spirit.

So yes.

I love it.

Okay.

Um that jumped out to me.

Something that jumped out to me as just someone who leads people and I've been in like youth group for a long time.

I've been in a lot of social circum situations that are like high-stakes social circumstances where it's like, this group is going really well.

I'm like so grateful for it.

And I just imagine being in Peter's position and all this amazing stuff is happening.

You know, there's challenges, they're being kind of pulled and arrested, and they're figuring out things, but they have this community that's like full of love and full of people who are all pursuing the Lord.

And it's been it's great.

And like you've led in seasons of the youth group where it's been like, this was amazing.

That was like that's the bread and butter years of like things went well.

I just was kind of reminded of how delicate that stuff is.

And uh, I just empathize with Peter because some people kind of look at this passage and it's like, did Peter like did Peter curse these people in a way that's like Peter say, like, you're gonna fall down and die?

And then they fell down and die.

Yeah.

Um, and kind of the theme that we keep r relying on is like, no, we're looking at the work of the Holy Spirit.

And so an unholiness had entered into the church community and like holiness and unholiness, there's a whole thing about that.

And so we can get into that in a second.

But I just kind of was reminded of all of those moments where a small group went sideways just because one person started getting off.

Um, even as you were talking, being um younger in the church, I remember groups of my friends where it would be like, oh, it seems like right now everyone's just pursuing, you know, emotional worship, or everyone's pursuing um doctrinal purity, or it's like we'd go down these kind of rabbit trails as a group.

Um, and maybe there was a moment where one person was experiencing something very true and very real for them, but it kind of like infected the whole group with like, let's all pursue that fruit.

And so I wonder like what would have been the second and third and fourth person in the in the field selling game if that was this kind of hustle and bustle of, oh, I'm generous.

No, I'm generous, or just out outdoing each other or trying to compete.

Um so there's that, but then on the holiness thing, I think this is a passage that really ties, you know, people will say the God of the Old Testament is different than the God of the New Testament.

I think this is, and usually what they're pointing at is like loving Jesus Jesus versus a God of justice of the Old Testament that has to like strike down evil.

You're like, how do you deal with that?

Jesus is different than like Noah, Sodom, and Gomorrah.

Like that's not the same God.

And in this story, it seems like that through line is really connected to God's judgment, like still exists in the New Testament, still exists in the early church.

And so what does that make you think of?

I mean, I don't know how to how to deal with all of that.

Well, that was the other thing that was interesting in reading through this, um, is in in verse two, um, where it says he kept back some of the proceeds with his wife's full knowledge and brought part of it and set it at the feet.

Um the the part, the sum and the part and all of that is really specific in that verse.

So where it says he kept back some of the proceeds, the word that's used there um actually means he kept back the honorable part.

Like the prophet?

Is that kind of how we would imagine it?

Or is it I don't know.

It's a really weird word, but it means like the best part and the honorable part.

Which might have meant the majority.

It could have meant the majority.

I don't know exactly like someone who knows more about words would have to explain it.

But just in the the tiny bit that I looked at, the other parts that this word is used in is in Revelation to describe the glory and honor bestowed only to God.

Okay.

So I think we miss a little bit of the gravity of what they did in he kept back some of it and then he gave them some of it.

Right.

Because the words that are used when it says he brought part, but he kept back part, those are two separate words.

So he brought part, but then the part he kept was like a very simple.

He kept the more valuable, the the honorable part.

Yeah.

And I don't know how money exchange worked.

I don't know if it was like coins were brought and then like certain things were kept back.

I don't know how it works.

Or if there was like an honor.

I don't know.

Yeah.

But the word that's used is the same word used in Revelation when the elders are around the throne and the be like the beasts are around the throne and they're worshiping and they're saying, All glory and all honor is ascribed to you.

That word for honor is where it says the part he kept.

Well, there you go.

So the part he kept for himself is the same word.

It's like the part that's tied to his relationship with the Lord.

Yeah.

Where it says all honor and all glory is given unto you.

That same word is the part he kept for himself with his wife's full knowledge.

So I don't know how that works, but I don't think we're supposed to keep that.

Yeah.

So it's like it's if you can distinguish those two things, he kept the part you're not supposed to keep.

Well, and it the idea of all the honor and glory belonging to him, it's like what he was actually bringing to the bringing to the table was like, well, look at me.

Like he was he was retaining some of some of that like glory because you know, I think there's even probably like wiggle room in what we were talking about earlier of like you can still do something for the wrong reasons, but like if you're fully committed to doing it, it's like it honors the Lord.

And like God will use that and work through all of that.

But he he does it for the wrong reasons and does it the wrong way.

So it's like he sees the Barnabas situation go down, he sells his land.

It's like, I'm gonna do the same thing Barnabas did, but he doesn't do the same thing Barnabas did.

He gives the portion and keeps it secret.

He's just trying to seek the attention that comes from the church community and feel nice about it.

And so I I do think that there's like this like I'm a follower of half measures where it's like I can uh be called to or aspire to, but I still want to retain, you know, the comfort or the glory or the attention or the agency rather than just surrender and surrender all of it.

Right.

Even the part that's like, no, I'm not gonna get any credit for this.

Um and that's I think what when Jesus is calling his disciples and there's that moment where he calls the rich young ruler, it's like he calls the rich young ruler to follow him, same language that he uses with the disciples, but there's a sticking point with the possessions that says, I can't sell this to follow you for whatever reason.

And, you know, with whatever God calls us to do, it's like you can't say, Yes, I will, but also it's the but let me go bury my father, that other person that's like, hey, we want to follow you, oh, but let me go bury my father-in-law first.

Or it's like, he's like, you gotta leave that stuff behind and fully commit to following me.

Um, and with the uh fishermen, they do that, they drop their nets and they follow him, and doesn't seem like they do a whole ton of commercial fishing after maybe they did, like later on, but I don't know.

And so when God calls us to do something or we're aspiring to do something to honor God, like it's gotta be all for him.

It can't be this, like, well, I'm like kind of doing this to honor God.

I'm holding in one hand, well, this will really honor the Lord.

He he likes my extra.

Right.

And the Jesus who called people to leave their families and say, You're gonna be homeless and you're gonna be persecuted for following me.

Like, that's not what the early church is about.

Right.

So it's interesting.

Yeah, he didn't God doesn't share honor.

Right.

There's not equal there's there aren't equals amongst God.

No.

And and the way they were living, everybody was equal and God was honored.

And Ananias and Sapphira were trying to cheat the system somehow.

However, that worked, they were trying to raise up above the community, and God doesn't God doesn't God doesn't share honor.

He doesn't do that.

There's one more verse from this section before we read the rest of the chapter that confused me, and I wanted wanted to know if you had insight on it.

So after the Ananias and Sapphira section, when they're talking about the apostles doing signs and wonders, verse 13.

What does it mean?

None of the rest dared to join them, but the people held them in high esteem.

Next sentence, and more than ever, believers were added to the Lord, multitudes, both men and women.

I don't know.

None of the rest dared to join them in the teaching and signs and wonders in Solomon, like on the stage or the central location, maybe.

Like no one was joining Peter and the apostles' teaching and performing signs, but people were believing?

I don't know.

It was just an interesting, like what does your Bible say on verse 13?

It's very similar.

It um it just says a great fear came over the whole community and all who heard of these things.

And that that fear is literally fear, like we want to stay away from them because you know, people just fell down dead.

Right.

Um meanwhile, through the hands of the emissaries, many signs and wonders were happening among the people, and they were all together in Solomon's portico, but no one else dared to join them, though people continued to think highly of them.

Yet, more than ever, those trusting in the Lord were added.

Right.

I don't know.

Just an interesting It seems like they're talking about two separate groups.

Yeah, there's like a non-believing group here.

Like those that's an interesting group of people over there.

We think highly of them.

Yeah.

We're very nervous.

But if you have to be added to them, where are you being added from?

From the people that are not believers.

Right.

So maybe there's like a um a opposition party that's present and that are like really like we're not joining you, but then there's the curious party.

Maybe.

And then there's the believers.

Yeah.

And then uh I just love how quickly superstition can set in where they're like, let's just put him in Peter's shadow.

Hopefully some someone will get healed by that.

Yeah.

And you wonder how the story of what happened with Ananias and Sapphira traveled, and they're like, maybe you don't want to get too close to Peter.

Right.

I don't know.

I don't know.

Just get in his shadow, it'll heal you.

But if you touch him, you die.

And Peter probably loved it.

I don't we don't know like all of Peter's personality, but Justin and I have talked about on the podcast before.

I don't know if you're on that episode, but where it's like Peter goes from everything he says is wrong when he fought when he's following Jesus to like having to trust the Holy Spirit to like give speeches and speak in front of everybody.

And so you wonder what that does to you.

Your psyche.

Like I'm Lord of my life.

I wonder if James and John were like, you got to call down fire from heaven?

Seriously?

It's not fair.

You got to destroy them?

They hear about it later.

Okay, cool.

Um, next section.

Okay.

Sweet.

Uh but the the high priest rose up and all who were with him, that is, the party of the Sadducees, and filled with jealousy, they arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison.

But during the night, an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors and brought them out, and said, Go stand in the temple and speak to the people all the words of this life.

And they and when they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and began to teach.

Now when the high priest came and those who were with him, they called together the council, all the Senate of the people of Israel, and sent to the prison to have them brought.

But when the officers came, they did not find them in the prison, so they returned and reported, We found the prison securely locked, and the guards standing at the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.

Now when the captain of the temple and the chief priests heard these words, they were greatly perplexed about them, wondering what would come what this would come to.

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

The captain and the officers went back and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

Great supernatural prison break.

Yep.

This is another just super duper cool passage of teleportation.

The shadows healing people, he's teleporting through prisons.

Yeah.

And so we talked about a little bit about the Sadducees and the political dynamic that's happening of like this group is gaining momentum and we need to squash them and tell them not to speak in Jesus in the name of Jesus.

Um but have you encountered okay.

I'm just just like Okay.

Have you encountered like the inexplicable miracles?

Like no one has.

So like we will talk about healing as a miracle that's like a relied-on miracle.

Yeah.

But then there's like inexplicable miracles where t teleport.

I've never I've never teleported at all.

I've never teleported either.

Okay.

That'd be cool.

But I I don't I don't really desire to teleport anymore.

You could call it salvation, but like there are some moments in the Bible that I think a lot of people infer teleportation that might just be missing out on the fact that it's like, yeah, between those sentences, three days passed.

Where it's like when uh who is it, Philip?

Well, he led them out.

They didn't really teleport.

During the night, an angel of Adam opened the prison door.

But there were guards there.

So did the guards unlock did they unlock the door?

I think it's that these are not the droids you're looking for situation.

That's what I'm asking.

So is this a teleportation situation or is this a I think he just led the Did they transfer through the walls?

Was there a new door?

No, I think Did it unlock?

Okay.

I don't know.

Do locked doors matter?

Can he just like open the locked door?

I know that God can open a locked door.

Okay.

If God can teleport through the wall, they go back.

They go back and they find, but he remembered to relock it.

I guess that's the this that's the thing, isn't it?

Why would it be relocked?

Why would it be re-locked if in the very same way they could have come back and it's like the doors were open?

How did they open?

Like it still would have been been the same thing.

So I'm just saying I think it's a phasing through the walls.

You think he phased through the walls?

I think it could have.

Angels show up in many ways, I guess.

Yeah.

Sometimes they roll the stone away, sometimes they don't.

Yep.

Sometimes they lock the door behind them.

I don't know.

But I've not experienced as far as I know, maybe this has happened around me, but I didn't notice it.

Oh, like a miracle of provision that or salvation or protection.

Because I hear like stories from like wartime where it's like, yeah, this there's no reason this RPG should have missed our truck, but it like swooped around our truck in a fantastic way.

I do have I do have one, and you could you could explain here's the other thing, too, is I think sometimes we explain things away.

Right.

And you could explain it away.

Trevor Burrus, Jr.

Because you could explain this away as well, the guards forgot to lock the door and we just walked out with the angel.

You know, like you could or however you want to.

So you could explain this away if you want to.

I've explained it away, and this is why it didn't pop in my head, because I've explained it away so many times that I've just explained it away.

So maybe I have teleported.

Okay.

This is a teleportation one?

Yes.

Tell me.

Or maybe you can explain it away.

Because I I don't know how to explain it other than I just I don't know.

Explain it.

I was driving.

You're driving?

I was driving.

Okay.

Um I was driving and I was in I was either a senior in high school or I was a freshman in college and I was back from college because I was coming from my parents' house.

And I was turning out of their neighborhood, and when you come out of their neighborhood, you have to cross a five-lane um road with like a medium, so it's four lanes and a median.

Okay.

And I was turning left.

So you have to come out and you have to turn left.

But it's a hill, it's a horrible turn.

Um I even know like my mom refuses to take that turn.

She goes out of their neighborhood a whole longer way so she can turn right.

She hates this turn.

So I was turning left out of their neighborhood.

I have to cross two lanes of traffic and a median that's not a turn lane, it's just a cut median to get left.

But cars come over this hill, and I remember it looked clear.

I come out and I look to my left, and there is a truck and it is right at my car.

Like right at my car.

And I remember holding my steering wheel and closing my eyes and bracing because I'm about to get hit by this giant like semi-truck.

Right.

So it's like a semi-truck.

Yeah.

Not like a pickup truck.

No, it was flying over the hill.

I don't know how I'm going to be.

What kind of car did you drive?

I drove, I was in a little car.

Um Prius?

No, like a little Volkswagen Beetle.

Like a little car.

Um must have been high school because I was in my Volkswagen.

So I was like, that's I didn't know what to do.

I just closed my eyes.

I don't even remember tak I don't even remember braking or putting my foot on the gas.

I froze.

Like just froze.

And I was like, that's I'm getting hit.

And I opened my eyes and I was across the median, turned the other way, going straight.

Well, there you go.

So I don't know what happened.

I don't know if like my my eyes were closed.

You went through a portal, a Jesus portal of protection.

I remember talking to Justin on the phone that night, being like, I don't know what happened.

I just ended up on the other side of the road, turned the right direction in like flowing with traffic.

Yeah.

Did it make sense?

And that's what I think scripture can do is bring to mind a memory that you might have explained away.

So I did I teleported to the other side of the road.

I I explained it away being like, I don't know.

I guess I just new things kicked in, I blacked out, I I hit the gas, I went really fast.

It wasn't as close as I thought.

Yeah.

But that's cool.

Yeah.

I'm glad the truck didn't hit you, Megan.

I am too.

All right, let's finish this little section or this chapter.

I did have a thought on that.

I think it's interesting that you have Ananias and Sapphira jealous of Barnabas, and then you have the high priest jealous of Peter.

And both of them trying to find some sort of spiritual significance in a really bad way.

Yeah.

Instead of going to like seeking the Lord.

And also the theme that keeps coming up.

And there's jealousy, like spiritual jealousy.

All there is like what is said is very important.

So like the Sadducees are trying to shut down what's being said.

Yeah.

You you told us you sold it for this much, but you knew you sold it for that.

It's like, and then he had to stand and rise and speak in front of everybody.

It's like so much about, you know, the inside is shown by what you say, I think is an another cool uh thing that jumps out.

I think it's a big warning against spiritual jealousy.

Like, don't don't be jealous of what people are doing.

I'm with you on that.

Yeah.

All right.

My favorite C level character from the Bible is about to show up.

Okay.

I just, he's such a random guy that I think is cool.

Okay.

All right.

And when they had brought them, they set them before the council, and the high priest questioned them, saying, We strictly charged you not to teach in his name, yet here you fill Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man's blood upon us.

That would have been confusing, being a Jesus follower.

Like, what is that is that what he's talking about?

Like they're talking about the blood of Jesus, and they're like, Don't bring his blood on us.

Okay, anyway, sorry.

Uh but Peter and the apostles answered, We must obey God rather than men.

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

God exalted him at his right hand as leader and savior, to give repentance to Israel and to forgive sins.

And we are witnesses to these things, and so is the Holy Spirit, whom God has given to those who obey him.

When they heard this, they were enraged and wanted to kill them.

But a Pharisee in the council named Gamalel, a teacher of the law held in high honor by all the people, stood up and gave orders to put the men outside for a little while.

And he said to them, Men of Israel, take care what you are about to do with these men.

For before these days Theodus rose up, claiming to be somebody, and a number of men, about four hundred, joined him.

He was killed, and all who followed him were dispersed and came to nothing.

After him Judas the Galilean rose up in the days of the census, and drew away some of the people after him, he too perished, and all who followed him were scattered.

So in the present case I tell you, keep away from these men and let them alone, for if this plan or this undertaking is of man, it will fail.

But if it's of God, you will not be able to overthrow them.

You might even be found opposing God.

So they took his advice, and when they had called the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus and let them go.

Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for his name.

And every day in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that Christ is that the Christ is Jesus.

So Gamaliel is my Yeah, it's like I know who you're talking about.

He's my so Gamaliel is Paul's mentor.

Yes.

And uh I just love the wisdom of Gamaleel in that moment of like you you don't get many Pharisees who are characterized in like a positive light.

Nicodemus, I guess, is a is he a Pharisee?

I can't remember if he's a Pharisee or not.

But there's not like and then the Pharisees said something smart.

He's like, hey, don't kill them or mess with them because you're just gonna make martyrs of them, and then there'll be a whole big situation.

Instead, let it alone, and if it's of God, you're not gonna be able to overthrow it anyways.

Right.

And you still want to fight against God.

So I think what you see too in that is that there are some Pharisees that don't just have like a raving blind religion rule following, you know, like tradition, power-hungry dynamic.

It's like, no, there are people who are like wanting to honor the Lord.

And he was probably watching this, like curious.

And I wonder how his influence on Paul, as Paul like matured and became a Christian later, and we'll get to the story of Saul meeting Jesus and whatnot.

But I wonder like if those, you know, sayings like this were like, you don't want to stand in front of God because you're not gonna be able to overthrow God came back in Paul's mind as he was ministering and experiencing God.

So yeah.

I just love it.

Because I think when Paul talks about him later, he he mentions him, but in in a positive way, like, hey, I was under I was under Gamal.

Yeah, yeah, like I'm I'm uh know a bunch of stuff, that sort of thing.

Yeah.

I think Gamaleel is also at the stoning of Stephen, so I don't know what role he plays in that.

I know Paul is for sure, but um but we'll see that as we finish the book of Acts.

And then that verse right here, verse 29, what uh Peter answers to them, we must obey God rather than men.

I think that's like the the biggest the biggest and most respectable element that kind of comes through Christians that I know.

It's like I'm really interested in making sure that God's the one that's pleased, and not in a way that's like I'm gonna follow all these rules blindly or whatever, but it in a way that's just like what we were talking about earlier, where it's like this comes from my relationship with him rather than what I've seen other people do.

And I want to make sure that he's the one that I'm responding to in my daily life.

So it's pretty good.

Acts chapter six is a lot.

I I really like the end of Acts 5, where he says um or says that they were considered worthy to be uh dishonored on account of his name.

Because you think about all of the things that Peter has done from everything that he says happening, um being able to discern who is giving honorably and who is not.

Um leading these believers in a way where they are sharing everything um that he's preaching and people are coming to Jesus in hundreds and thousands at a time.

Right.

Um people are being healed just by his shadow, you know, like but the thing that he is uh excited about is being beaten.

Right.

That's where he gets that's what he's fed by.

Like what it feels so opposite of what you see at the beginning of the chapter, where you have uh Ananias and Sapphira wanting this like look at what we did.

Right, right.

Um So I I dug around in that um verse for a minute and in that verse it says that when they were considered worthy to be dishonored, it's the words used there mean joined and dishonor, and the word for joined there actually means like married.

So they were c they consider themselves married to the dishonor of Christ.

Right.

Because and what's so hard is like we don't have an honor culture like they do.

So like even the the idea of dishonor kind of brings clout nowadays.

Like, oh, we're the counter-cultural people, and we're glad people hate us because like this gives us more validation.

Yeah.

We're Americans, we're kind of founded on like the idea of rebelling against the British.

Like we're like we're a very rebellious nation.

Yeah.

So rebellion's built into us a little bit.

But in an honor culture where it's like, no, that's like how people see you.

Like you your your standing in society is associated with this.

Like it's such a different it's like it's like, are you willing to be like demeaned?

Shame might be a better word.

Yeah.

Like Because we're pretty we're pretty anti-sham cult.

Like we don't like shame.

Like well, maybe we wield shame, but it's like shame is not a good thing in our culture.

Right.

And so if you think about what would it be like to be happy or to rejoice in shame.

That feels weird.

And I'm imagining them like walking sh uh hands in their shoulders, they've got like black eyes and like a bloody lip.

And and and um they would have had I I believe if you're beaten too, like your tunic's taken off, like there's a lot there also So to be married to the shame of Jesus, like what that has a weight to it.

Um and they were honored to be married in his shame.

And I that's well, it's I think Christians are always excited to be like Jesus.

And like when you have a relationship with Jesus that you're able to validate, like, oh, I'm like Jesus in this way, I'm not like Jesus in that way, and I need to be more like him in this way.

It's like another new opportunity.

They're probably walking, helping each other home, going like, oh, remember when Simon of Cyrene picked up the cross for Jesus and helped carry carry the cross?

It's like that, oh, this is we this is cool.

Like, right, we're we're like Jesus right now.

Right.

The same people looked at us and said, time to beat you up.

And I love Gamalel says, Don't mess with these people.

And so they took his advice and they called them in, beat them, and then said, Don't speak anymore.

Got it.

Got it.

They took it his advice, kind of.

They kind of took his advice, yeah.

And I think, you know, these people who are beaten, they actually get to share in the glory that Annise and Sapphira wanted, but don't get.

Right.

And you think about wanting the honor, it's like, well, God does share honor in a way.

When I say God doesn't share honor, he doesn't do that.

But he does give, he does bestow honor on people that are married to his shame.

And that's with the he humbles the exalted and exalts the humbled.

And like this Acts chapter 5 is like a little picture of that.

Acts 5 · chapter mention

Yeah, like they want wanted to be exalted, they got humbled under the ground, like that to the furthest extent that you can.

Yes.

They weren't looking for honor, they were in humility, just saying, like, hey, we're listening we're gonna speak the truth, and they're exalted by being beaten.

Beaten.

And it's just a yeah, such a cool thing.

So that's why I like this.

I mean, like, I like I think this chapter's great.

No, it's a great chapter.

It's a great chapter.

It's just got it's like one of those like sound bite sticking points.

Um, but I think when you dig into it, there's so much to learn from it.

And so that's Acts chapter five.

Thanks for being here with us, Megan.

Yeah.

Anything you want to say to our loyal listeners?

Don't be jealous.

Don't be jealous.

Don't be jealous.

Yeah just yeah, more of the Lord.

And then you can get be beaten.

There you go.

See you guys next time.