The Apostles' Arrest and Trial Before the Sanhedrin - 1 of 2 (Acts 5:17-26)

Then the high priest rose up and all his companions, that is, the party of the Sadducees, and, filled with jealousy, 18 laid hands upon the apostles and put them in the public jail.  19 But during the night, the angel of the Lord opened the doors of the prison, led them out, and said, 20 “Go and take your place in the temple area, and tell the people everything about this life.” 21 When they heard this, they went to the temple early in the morning and taught. When the high priest and his companions arrived, they convened the Sanhedrin, the full senate of the Israelites, and sent to the jail to have them brought in.  22 But the court officers who went did not find them in the prison, so they came back and reported, 23 “We found the jail securely locked and the guards stationed outside the doors, but when we opened them, we found no one inside.”  24 When they heard this report, the captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were at a loss about them, as to what this would come to.  25 Then someone came in and reported to them, “The men whom you put in prison are in the temple area and are teaching the people.”  26 Then the captain and the court officers went and brought them in, but without force, because they were afraid of being stoned by the people.

The high priest and the Sadducees were alarmed and jealous of the growing influence of the apostles and the impact of their preaching.  The Sadducees were a sect within Judaism known for their opposition to the teachings of the Pharisees and their disbelief in the resurrection.  The religious authorities were also angry that the apostles continued to preach and heal in the name of Jesus (Acts 4:2), although they were warned by the Sanhedrin not to do so (Acts 4:18), so the high priest had the apostles put in a public jail.  God intervened through an angel sent to release the apostles from prison during the night.  God is sovereign and protects His servants despite any efforts of human authorities to stop them from evangelizing.  The angel instructed the apostles to continue preaching in the temple to spread the message of salvation.  The apostles obeyed the angel and did so early the next morning and found favor with the crowd they were addressing.  That was evidence of the power and effectiveness of their preaching, despite the opposition from the religious authorities.  

The next day the Sanhedrin convened, but the temple guards found the prison empty and were perplexed about the apostles' disappearance.  The captain of the temple guard and the chief priests were told that the apostles were back in the temple courts teaching the people and the temple guards were sent to bring them before the council.  When the captain of the guard and the court officers brought the apostles back before the Sanhedrin without force, no one questioned them about their miraculous escape from the jail that had been securely locked.  However, the apostles do face interrogation and persecution later in Acts (Acts 5:27-42).  The apostles, empowered by the Holy Spirit, were bold and without fear in obeying God rather than man, while the temple guards were afraid of being harmed by the people in the Temple.  

Almighty God, help us to trust in your protection and guidance, and to acknowledge the power of the risen Lord.  Grant us the courage to obey your commands and boldly proclaim your truth, even in the face of adversity.   This we pray through Christ our Lord.  Amen.

__________________________________

References
Chiu, José Enrique Aguilar, et al. The Paulist Biblical Commentary. Paulist Press, 2018.
Brown, Raymond Edward, et al. The New Jerome Biblical Commentary. Upper Saddle River, NJ, United States, Prentice Hall, 1990.

                Orchard, Bernard, et al. A Catholic Commentary on Holy Scripture. Feb. 1953.