And someone came and told them, “Look! The men whom you put in prison are standing in the temple and teaching the people.” Then the captain with the officers went and brought them, but not by force, for they were afraid of being stoned by the people.
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 this name, yet here you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching, and you intend to bring this man’s blood upon us.” 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. | Acts 5:25–30
There was a time when Jesus’ disciples were not very brave. That night when the soldiers came to take Jesus, all the disciples ran away. They were afraid. They thought the soldiers would get them, too. So they ran away, and left Jesus all alone with the cruel enemies.
Most of the disciples did not dare follow when the soldiers took Jesus to the hill and nailed Him to the cross. Even though they loved Him, they were afraid to go along. And when Jesus was buried, they hid in one room. They locked the door.
But do you remember what happened after the Holy Spirit came? Peter stood right up in front of everybody, and he told them all about Jesus. He said, “This Jesus was the Son of God! You must believe on Him to have your sins forgiven!” Peter was not afraid at all any more! What made him so brave? It was the Holy Spirit in his heart that made him brave.
But the people who crucified Jesus did not want Peter and the other disciples to talk about Him. They did not want them to tell the people that Jesus was the Saviour. So they said to the disciples, “Stop talking about Jesus, or we will put you in prison!”
Peter and John and the other disciples said, “We cannot stop talking about Him. God has told us to tell the whole world about Jesus. We have to obey God.” And they kept on telling the story.
Then the enemies of Jesus were very angry. They did put the disciples in prison.
They said, “Tomorrow we will decide how to punish you.”
The next morning the high priest sent soldiers to the prison. “Get those men and bring them to court,” he said.
The soldiers hurried away. Soon they came back. But they did not bring the disciples. They said to the high priest, “The prison was empty! The doors were locked, and the watchmen were right there, but the disciples were gone!”
The high priest was so surprised! He did not know what had happened. But we know what happened. And angel came in the night. He opened the door and let the disciples out of prison.
And what did the disciples do? They went right on telling the story of Jesus. They were not afraid at all. The Holy Spirit made them brave.
Later, some were killed for telling about Jesus. And ever since that time many missionaries have died for Jesus’ sake. But they were not afraid.
Something to talk about
- Who wanted the disciples to stop talking about Jesus?
- Why weren’t the disciples afraid?
- How did they get out of prison?
- What did they do then?
Memory verse
But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men. | Acts 5.29