The religious leaders’ efforts to crush this Jesus thing had failed. He was dead, maybe in heaven, but now His disciples were healing people and attracting a following.
Why were these Jesus-followers now so bold and speaking about this so-called Messiah that they’d been too afraid to support when He died? Did the leaders know what had happened on the day of Pentecost?
Perhaps these followers should be killed, and this new movement ended. One man suggested an alternative:
Acts 5:38-39 So my advice is, leave these men alone. Let them go. If they are planning and doing these things merely on their own, it will soon be overthrown. But if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them. You may even find yourselves fighting against God!
This advice was accepted, and the disciples were flogged (rather than killed), and ordered not to speak in Jesus’ name again. It didn’t work:
Acts 5:41-42 The apostles left the high council rejoicing that God had counted them worthy to suffer disgrace for the name of Jesus. And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they continued to teach and preach this message: ‘Jesus is the Messiah.’
That Bible blog 