The best way to begin this two year study of Acts is to understand the basic questions of who, what, where, when, and why about the written word. I know that it sounds like Journalism 101, but it’s important to know what the background was of this remarkable book in order to recognize how it should impact our church and our lives today.
Who wrote the book is relatively easy to answer: it was Luke, the glorious physician, a convert to Christ, the writer of the third gospel and a travelling companion of the apostle Paul.
In one of the documents of the second century, we are given a brief biography of him.
“Luke was a Greek speaking native of the Syrian city Antioch, by profession a physician. He had become a disciple of the apostle Paul and later followed Paul until his martyrdom. Having served the Lord continuously, unmarried and without children, filled with the Holy Spirit he died at the age of 84 years.”
“Who is the book about?” is a question that has various answers. Firstly, the Book of Acts is about the work of the Holy Spirit and how His powerful presence established the Christian Church. Secondly, the book is about the ministries of Peter, the Big Fisherman, who was part of Christ’s original band of twelve, and also of Paul, Christ’s Chosen Apostle to the Gentiles, who were the non-Jews living in various communities and cities along the Mediterranean. Other characters and disciples appear in the Book of Acts, but Peter and Paul are the main heroes in Luke’s account.
Who was the book written for? Luke addresses this in the first verse – it’s written to a person called Theophilus. The name is Greek and it means “God seeker” or the “one who loves God.” Theophilus may have been a real person, esteemed by Luke for his influence and perhaps wealth. He may also have been one of Luke’s former patients. He could also have been someone who was being instructed in the faith, which may also mean that “Theophilus” is just a general term for anyone who wanted to become a Christian in the newly formed churches of the Mediterranean.
Now we turn to the question of What. What is the Book of Acts?
Firstly, it’s an historical document which relates the initial experiences of Christ’s disciples in the wider world after the Ascension of Christ. The Great Reformer John Calvin and the Father of Presbyterianism wrote that “if there was no Book of Acts, then it would appear in history that Christ’s ministry ended with His Ascension.” In other words, if we did not have Luke’s account, we probably would never have heard of Christ at all.
The Book is also an accurate historical document because Luke is very careful in listing the details, names, and powers of various rulers and governors in the Roman Empire. This adds authenticity to what is written and is also a valid insight into how cases and appeals, citizenship and authority were experienced in the first century.
The question of When the book was written has puzzled many biblical scholars. Some used to think that it was written centuries later after the events as an historical story in much the same way that authors today write about George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, John Adams and other patriarchs of the American War of Independence.
These days, most scholars agree that the book was written and completed about AD 63 – 1900 years before President Kennedy was assassinated and approximately 36 years after Christ was crucified. The conclusion that it could not have been written later than AD 63 is based upon several reasons.
Firstly, the Roman Emperor Nero began to persecute Christians in AD 64. Throughout the Book of Acts, Roman leaders and governors whimsically and sometimes favorably interview Paul on several occasions. After AD 64, this could not have been the case because the Roman authorities became hostile towards adherents of the Faith.
Secondly, both Peter and Paul were strongly believed to have been executed during Nero’s persecution. Because Luke is so detail oriented, he would certainly have contained those events at the end of the Book of Acts. Their deaths are not mentioned, so therefore we conclude that the book was written before AD64.
And thirdly, the Jerusalem Temple was completely destroyed by the Romans in AD70. If Luke had written his historical account much later, he would certainly have included such a cataclysmic event in his narrative because it had such a profound effect upon the young Christian community and was indeed a fulfilled prophecy that Christ had foretold during His Earthly ministry.
Where the Book of Acts was written has several answers. The first half of the book may have been written in Jerusalem or even Luke’s hometown of Antioch, where followers of Christ were called Christians for the very first time. Some of it may have been written later in Rome to help the Gentile Christians there understand the roots of their faith.
Curiously, the latter parts of the book read like a personal journal which Luke recorded as he travelled with Paul, which means that it was written on the go. As a writer myself, I believe that Luke used his journal as the source material for his descriptions of the events in Paul’s life. For some reason or another, (perhaps the outbreak of persecution?), Luke did not get around to editing the last part of the Book of Acts, which is why it reads more like a raw travel log rather than a carefully crafted and creative narrative for his readers.
Our last question, as a means of introducing us to the Book of Acts, is perhaps the most important of all – why did Luke write such a book, after all wasn’t the Gospel enough for any would be follower of Christ?
Several suggestions to this question have been made. Firstly, some suggest that when Paul was put on trial in Rome before the Emperor, Luke’s account was the actual defense document that was used to try to influence Nero to give Paul a favorable judgment. If that was the case, then it failed completely.
Secondly, the document may just have been Luke’s memoirs, written for himself and close friends to re-experience the good old days, in much the same way that we all experience past events when we read family letters or personal journals from decades ago.
Thirdly, and perhaps most importantly, the Book of Acts was a permanent historically written record of the initial events that saw the empowerment and establishment of the Christian church. It was meant to be read by future followers of the faith as a means to teach them about Christ, His message, the Holy Spirit, and God’s ever expanding Kingdom here on Earth.
It is this last suggestion that is so important to us today. As we read and study the Book of Acts, we will come to recognize and understand that the work of the Holy Spirit is revealed through the witness, testimonies, and stories of real people. It will help us to know what Christ did through the Holy Spirit long ago, so that we may see and know what He is doing in the church and world today. As Calvin also wrote, “Christ conquers the world with simple souls who become the voice of the Gospel…and the Holy Spirit is the power of the Gospel in the world.”
So that’s some of the background to the Book of Acts, but what can we quickly learn from today’s passage?
Firstly, the Book of Acts begins in the forty day period just after the Resurrection. Christ appears to His followers, giving them many proofs that He was alive, and teaching them about the kingdom of God. These signs and proofs were vitally important to Christ’s followers because whenever and wherever they preached the Gospel, the first question that would be asked is one that is still raised today: how do you know that Christ rose from the dead? And the answer to that question was deeply personal and meant that they would have to make a lifetime commitment to Christ: they would simply answer: “I know it’s true because I was there to see Him.”
Secondly, Christ commands them to wait in Jerusalem for the gift of the Holy Spirit. To a certain degree, Jesus is testing them and showing them that patience is a sacred means of serving God. Perhaps some of them, like Peter, wanted to immediately get out and tell the whole world about Christ’s Resurrection and Salvation. If they had done it without waiting, praying, and pondering then Christ’s ministry would have soon collapsed because they would have been doing it on their own strength. Waiting for the Spirit stopped them from being hasty and superficial. Waiting on God’s promise was a way of respecting Christ’s teaching and of truly giving themselves to God’s work.
At this moment in time, we are going through a similar experience. This church is in the process of being renovated, but a greater event will follow if we wait patiently for the Spirit. By the end of November, the contractors will have moved out and we will then want to move on ahead with the reinvigoration, resurgence, and resurrection of our congregation in this community. However, if we do this on our own, we will soon run out of steam and all this new building will be worthless to us. But if we truly wait, pray, and ponder for the Spirit, then there will come a time when we will know when, where, and how Christ wants us to use the betterment of our church for God’s work and kingdom in this community.
Finally, Christ tells His followers that He is appointing them as His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria and to the end of the Earth. They were to become His ‘martuses’, the Greek word for witnesses, from which we derive the term “martyrs.” They were to spend, give, and perhaps even sacrifice their lives for His ministry.
They were to be Christ’s martuses in Jerusalem, the heart of the conservative, traditional and religious powers of the Jewish people.
They were to be Christ’s martuses in all of Judea, the center of Herod’s authority and of Roman imperial power.
They were to be martuses in Samaria, the community of religious outcasts who were despised by the Jews and treated as heretics. They were the illegal theological immigrants in the Holy Land and enemies of God’s chosen people.
And finally, they were to be Christ’s martuses to the ends of the Earth. In other words, no one and nowhere were ever to be excluded from the hearing of the Gospel. All people everywhere, in any time and place, were to be given the message of the Gospel.
The questions that we need to ask ourselves today are these: are we willing to wait for the Holy Spirit? And where does Christ expect us to be martuses for Him in our everyday lives and to our local community?
LET US PRAY
Lord Jesus, we praise You for the inspired and historical writing of the Book of Acts. We pray that we may open our hearts and minds to the many messages that this sacred record contains. We also ask for patience and the ability to serve You by waiting for the Holy Spirit to come among us. Bless us now with Your love and compassion. In Your Holy Name, we pray. Amen.
Home Study and Personal Reflections
1. Where do you see the Holy Spirit working in the life and work of our congregation?
2. How important is it to wait upon the Spirit’s guidance before we make important decisions?
3. Where should our church be witnessing to the people of this community?
4. How do we share our faith with other people? What would make us more effective?
Other Resources
How to be a Disciple by Dallas Willard
http://tinyurl.com/c7xae2
Scripting the Transformation by Amy Butler
http://tinyurl.com/33uu9xv
Bible study Questions by Ray Bucknell
http://tinyurl.com/2uuyx92
Kids Activity – eBible for kids – Jesus Ascends
http://tinyurl.com/332wt32
No comments:
Post a Comment