Acts 5:4 says that money collected from a sale is at the disposal of Ananias and Sapphira. The point is that many are voluntarily giving over a great deal of their possessions for the use of all. The result is that community members' needs are met.

The healing lays the groundwork for conversions to the Lord in Lydda and the Sharon region. Joppa (v. 36) is about twelve miles from Lydda and on the coast.

The high priest reminds the apostles of the council's instruction that prohibits them from preaching (4:17-18). No mention is made of the escape, which is an embarrassment for the leadership. How did they get out? Were the guards irresponsible? The answers to these questions might be too revealing, and so they are not raised

Barnabas will be well qualified for a mission to Gentiles, since he came from one of these Gentile areas. Part of the function of the unit is to introduce him to Luke's audience. He surely is one of Luke's heroes.

In sum, this unit shows divine support and direction for the apostolic message. It also traces the rise in the leadership's reaction against the apostles. A second arrest leads to a miracle of divine release and an affirmation of the call to preach the message of life. The undercurrent to the passage is that nothing will be able to stop the advance

Peter is led to comment on what should be done next. He calls for immediate baptism, since the Gentiles have received the Spirit just as those present at Pentecost had in Acts 2 (also 11:15, 17; 15:8, 11). Peter understands the significance of the Spirit's distribution. The Spirit is the sign of the eschaton's presence and shows that God is

The expression is not accidental, as it presses the point of how the early church saw itself as a community of mutually supportive friends

The two concepts of food and of table fellowship as signs of accepting Gentiles are related, for associating with Gentiles and eating what they may have prepared as hosts would in normal Jewish thinking entail the probable risk of uncleanness. In addition, the two ideas are closely tied together in the law (Lev. 20:24b26).

Many in the leadership are angry with what is perceived as disobedience by the apostles (x 33). But a leading rabbi, Gamaliel, asks to speak privately to the group and urges caution (v. 34-35), He reviews other troublemakers for the Jews and notes that if the movement is human, it will die out (vx 36-38). On the other hand, if it is of God, then no