mannyg - I'm not a particular expert on this subject but I have a guess as to the philosophy that created it. One of the primary concerns in ACI 318 is the avoidance of abrupt failures in concrete (it is a brittle material, after all).
The concept of shear friction is that the steel you install must cross the potential crack, keep the crack closed, and therefore engage the friction between the concrete surfaces. If you use a larger bar, and do not develop its full fy, then the potential exists for an overload condition that does not allow a gradual failure of the system.
You know that they do this throughout the code...for example, flexural capacity (phi Mn) uses a phi of 0.9 while for shear (which is abrupt) they use 0.85. For columns (even more non-redundant) we have phi = 0.7.
In this case, you want the potential crack to open wide at first, giving ample warning of a problem. With your #4 bar vs. #5 bar example, the #4 bar, if overstressed, would enter the yield zone and allow the crack to open. You'd be warned and you'd run out and hire a structural engineer to fix it.
With the #5 bar, your unanticipated overstress would at first stretch the bar, but the limit state is now the bar pulling out of the concrete....and it never gets a chance to yield. BOOM
The commentary in ACI 318 section 11.7 talks through shear friction pretty well...but it doesn't really address this rationale.
The above is my "guess" that seems to make sense to me. What do you think?