THE NEW TESTAMENT

III. ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

October 19, 2005

Charles P. Poole, Jr.

1. The Two-Part Work Luke-Acts

2. Ascension and Coming of the Holy Spirit [1:1 to 2:13].

3. Events in Jerusalem [2:14 to 8:3].

4. Events in Judea and Samaria [8:4 to 9:43].

5. Reaching out to the Gentiles [10:1 to 13:3].

6. First Journey of Paul and the Council of Jerusalem [13:4 to 15:35].

7. Second and Third Journeys of Paul [15:36 to 21:26].

8. Trials of Paul and Journey to Rome [21:27 to 28:31].

9. Summing Up

1. THE TWO PART WORK LUKE - ACTS

St. Luke wrote a two part work, namely his Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. This dual work was composed between 80 and 100 AD. The last chapter of Luke’s Gospel recounted the Resurrection of Jesus, the story of the risen Christ on the road to Emmaus, and his appearance to the disciples in Jerusalem. The Gospel then ends with a brief mention of the Ascension of Jesus into heaven. Acts begins with the statement “In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught until the he was taken up, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. He presented himself to them by many proofs after he has suffered, appearing to them during forty days.” Actually the account in Luke of the appearances of Jesus after the Resurrection is very brief, so it is necessary to consult the narratives of other three evangelists to have the sense of “many proofs” and a duration of “forty days.”

2. ASCENSION AND COMING OF THE HOLY SPIRIT [1:1 to 2:13].

After the Resurrection when the disciples were gathered together they asked Jesus [1:6ff] “At this time (chronos) are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” The Lord replied “It is not for you to know the times (chronos) or the seasons (kairos) that the Father has established.” There is an interesting subtlety or play on words in the original of this passage that cannot be easily rendered into English. The two Greek words chronos and kairos both mean time. The former signifies an instant of time or the time of the day, and the latter is the word for time as an occasion. After saying this Jesus added “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” This statement is very close to being the Table of Contents of this book Acts of the Apostles. When Jesus had completed the statement the disciples watched as he ascended to heaven, and then they returned to Jerusalem.

The first thing that the disciples did after their arrival in Jerusalem was to select and draw lots to replace Judas, and Matthias was chosen as the new twelfth apostle. Then at Pentecost the Holy Spirit came in the form of parted tongues of fire, and the apostles spoke before a large crowd in “tongues” so that everyone heard them in his own language.

3. EVENTS IN JERUSALEM [2:14 to 8:3].

After receiving the Holy Spirit, Peter gave his Pentecost speech in which he said that [2:21] “everyone shall be saved who calls upon the name of the Lord.” He explained that Jesus “exalted at the right hand of God” poured forth the Holy Spirit. About three thousand persons accepted the message and were baptized. “They devoted themselves to the teaching of the apostles and to the communal life, to the breaking of the bread, and to prayers.” The breaking of the bread, a code word for the Eucharist which was used on the road to Emmaus [Luke 24;30], is mentioned twice here [2:42,46]. Every day more converts joined the community.

A number of events took place in the mission in Jerusalem, Peter cured a crippled beggar and then gave a speech . The apostles performed many signs and wonders. There was a trial before the Sanhedrin, the apostles were flogged, then dismissed, and they went away rejoicing and proclaiming the Messiah Jesus. As the community grew seven deacons (Stephen, Phililp, Procorus, Nicanor, Timon, Parmenas and Nicholas) were chosen to minister to the people [6:1 to 6:7],

Stephen worked wonders, was accused by false witnesses, and then gave some discourses. He ended by rebuking the listeners for opposing the Holy Spirit, so they stoned him to death, with the approval of Saul who witnessed the event. The result was the onset of a severe persecution of the church which scattered the believers throughout Judea and Samaria [6:8 to 7:60].

4. EVENTS IN JUDEA AND SAMARIA [8:4 to 9:43].

Those who were scattered by the persecution went about preaching and spreading the word. Philip went to the city of Samaria, the capital of ancient Israel, proclaimed the Messiah, and cured many with infirmities [8:4 to 8:40]. Simon the Magician tried to buy the power conferred by the laying on of the hands, but Peter rebuked him [8:9 to 8:25]. Philip explained the scriptures to the Ethiopian eunuch, and then baptized him. Peter continued his preaching mission [8:26 to 8:40].

Paul was on a journey approaching Damascus with the intention of bringing back to Jerusalem in chains anyone whom he found belonging to “The Way”, i.e. the Christian community. When a a light flashed from the sky Saul fell down, and he heard a voice saying “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” Saul responded “Who are you” and the voice replied “I am Jesus of Nazareth whom you are persecuting. “ Saul was temporarily blinded, and had to be led by hand into Damascus. The Lord sent the disciple Ananias to baptize Saul, after which he joined the Christian community and began preaching. The Lord told Ananias that Saul is “my chosen instrument to carry my name before Gentiles, kings and Israelites.”

There are seven instances in the Acts of the Apostles when the Christian way of life of the apostolic community, or the community itself, are referred to by the term “The Way”, or “The Way of the Lord.” [9:2, 18:26, 19:9, 23, 22:4, 24:14, 22].

5. REACHING OUT TO THE GENTILES [10:1 TO 16:35].

Until now the emphasis of the evangelization programs of the apostolic Church had been on bringing the Good News and the message of salvation to the Jewish people, but despite this emphasis the number of Gentile converts was continually increasing, and they were becoming the majority. This point in time (chronos) presented the occasion (kairos) for a change of emphasis. With the conversion of Saul, now referring to himself by his Greek name Paul, the Church changed direction. As was mentioned above, Paul had been selected by the Lord as “my chosen instrument to carry my name before Gentiles, kings and Israelites.” The Church would not only reach out to the non-Jewish community, but to the ruling class as well, without, however, forgetting about the Jewish people who were there at the beginning.

The inauguration of the Gentile mission began [10:1 to 43] in the gentile city Caesarea when a Roman official named Cornelius, a centurion, had a vision asking him to send a delegation to summon Peter who was about 30 miles south in Joppa, also on the Mediterranean seacoast. Peter also had a vision in which the Lord made clear to him that food that was considered unclean by the Jewish people was no longer to be judged unclean. While Peter pondered the meaning of the vision the delegation from Cornelius arrived, and brought Peter to the home of Cornelius. After his arrival Peter gave a speech in which he said “God shows no partiality ....... In every nation whoever fears him and acts uprightly is acceptable to him.” While Peter was speaking the Holy Spirit fell upon all who were listening, and they were all baptized in the name of Jesus Christ.

Peter went to Jerusalem [11:2], explained to the circumcised believers there what had happened, and made it clear the Gentiles are also called by the Lord. Meanwhile the Christians who had been scattered earlier by the persecution were spreading the Good News in Phoenicia, Cyprus, and especially at Antioch in Pisidia. Barnabas was sent to Antioch, and he then went to Tarsus to summon Paul and bring him to Antioch where he stayed for a whole year. “It was in Antioch that the disciples were first called Christians” [11:26].

There followed a persecution of the Church by Herod Agrippa [12:1 to 24] who had the Apostle James, the son of Zebedee, put to death, and who wished to do the same to Peter. However Peter miraculously escaped from his prison cell. Soon Herod was struck down by the Lord and died, the persecution ended, and “the word of God continued to grow” [12:24].

6. FIRST JOURNEY OF PAUL AND COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM [13:4 TO 15:35].

A great deal of the narrative material in the remaining chapters [13 to 28] of Acts describes the four travels of St. Paul which brought him to most of the main cities in the Eastern Roman Empire bordering on the Mediterranean Sea. We will describe many of the events of these journeys.

Paul was accompanied by Barnabas and his cousin John Mark, the author of the second Gospel, on his first missionary journey [45 to 49 AD]. They set out from Antioch in Syria and proceeded to the nearby seaport Seleucia, whence they set sail to the city of Salamis on the island of Cyprus. In Salamis they proclaimed the word of God in the Jewish synagogues, and went overland to Paphos where they also preached and had an encounter with a false prophet - magician. Paul now started using his Greek name that we know him by, instead of his Hebrew name Saul [13:9]. Next they set sail for Perga in Pamphylia on the southern seacoast of present day Turkey, and at this point John Mark left them and returned to Jerusalem. Paul and Barnabas proceeded to Antioch in Pisidia where Paul preached to the Jewish people in the synagogue on the Sabbath. The following Sabbath Paul and Barnabas addressed the Gentiles who were delighted. Many came to believe, “and the word of the Lord continued to spread through the whole region” [13:49]. The local Jewish population became hostile so they departed and brought the message of the Lord to Iconium, Lystra and Derbe. On the return trip they proclaimed at Perga and nearby Attalia, then set sail for Antioch, in Syria. At Antioch they reported the conversion of many Gentiles during their trip in Asia minor. At Antioch they also learned that some arrivals from Judea were teaching that “Unless you are circumcised according to the Mosaic practice you cannot be saved”, and some dissension arose. To resolve the problem Paul and Barnabas departed, passed through Phoenicia and Samaria, and arrived in Jerusalem. Paul started becoming better known than Barnabas because he preached better.

To recapitulate, the itinerary of this first missionary journey [13:4 to 14:28] was: Jerusalem, Seleucia, Salamis, Paphos, Perga, Antioch (in Pisidia), Iconium, Lystra, Derbe, Lystra, Iconium, Antioch, Perga, Attalia, Antioch (in Syria near Cilicia), Phoenicia, Samaria, Jerusalem. Note that there are two cities called Antioch; the one in Pisidia of Asia Minor had the important Christian community.

When Paul and Barnabas arrived in Jerusalem they reported to the community what God had accomplished through them on their journey. Some recent converts from the party of the Pharisees objected and insisted that the new Gentile converts be circumcised and follow the Mosaic laws. The apostles and presbyters met together and debated the issue, an event that became known as the Council of Jerusalem. Peter and James defended Paul and Barnabas, and a compromise was reached. For the Gentiles circumcision and the Mosaic dietary laws were not required, but they must “avoid pollution from idols, unlawful marriage, the meat of strangled animals, and blood.” Paul and Barnabas brought this message to the assembly in Antioch, and the faithful there were delighted [15:39 to 35].

7. SECOND AND THIRD JOURNEYS OF PAUL [15:36 TO 21:26].

We covered the first Missionary Journey of Paul and Barnabas in some detail, and we will be a bit more sketchy in describing the second and third. The itineraries of all three are indicated on the map that was included with the first lecture. The first two were easy to correlate with their descriptions in Acts, but I was unable to match the third path on the map with the narrative in Acts. The extent of Paul’s second missionary journey [50 to 52 AD] was much longer than the first, taking him overland through Asia Minor to Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, Corinth, and Ephesus, by sea to Joppa and ending at Jerusalem. On this second journey Paul visited many Christian communities which he either founded or confirmed in their faith, and in many cases to which he subsequently addressed letters or epistles.

The third journey [53 to 58 AD] retraced part of the second, reaching Dyrrachium on the Adriatic Sea and Corinth in Greece. The return trip passed through Thessalonica, Philippi, Smyrna, Ephesus and Miletus, and went by sea to Tyre, Ptolemais and Caesaria on the way back to Jerusalem. Paul spent two and a holf years in Ephesus where he wrote the letters to the Corinthians. Some of the important events that took place on these journeys will be described.

Some time after the first journey Paul wanted to revisit the cities and see how the communities were doing. Barnabas wanted to take John Mark with them, but Paul objected because John Mark had deserted them at Pamphylia on the first journey. Barnabas and John Mark settled the issue by sailing together for Cyprus. Paul, on his part, selected Silas to accompany him to revisit Derbe, Lystra. and Iconium [16: 1 to 5]. Together they then crossed present day Turkey by land and sailed from Troas to Philippi [16:6 to 15]. At Philippi Paul expelled a demon from a slave girl, and her owner had Paul and Silas thrown into prison, from which they were freed by an earthquake [16:16 to 40]. Paul then went to Thessalonica, Beroea, and Athens. At the Areopagus Paul gave his famous speech about an altar inscribed “To an Unknown God.’ Paul then went to Corinth where Silas and Timothy joined him, then traveled by sea to Ephesus where he found disciples who had been baptized by John. He baptized them in the name of the Lord Jesus, then he laid his hands on them and they received the holy Spirit. He subsequently had encounters with Jewish exorcists and rioting silversmiths [19:12 to 40].

8. TRIALS OF PAUL AND JOURNEY TO ROME [21:27 TO 28:31].

Toward the end of the Acts Paul’s troubles became progressively worse. He was beaten, arrested, pleaded a defense before Jerusalem Jews, was imprisoned, questioned by the Sanhedrin, tried before the procurator of Judea M. Antonius Felix, held captive in Caesarea, appealed to Caesar, summoned before King Agrippa, and finally was sent to Rome [21:27 to 26:32]. On his final trip to Rome where he was martyred, Paul first disembarked at Sidon, then at Myra in Lycia, passed the island of Cnidus, reached Fair Havens in Crete, was shipwrecked and ran aground at Malta, spending the winter there, stopped at Syracuse in Sicily and at Rhegium on the Toe of Italy, and finally landed at Puteoli and went overland through Appii Forum and Three Taverns to Rome [27:1 to 28:16].

Once in Rome Paul was allowed to live by himself, with the soldier assigned to guard him. He gave testimony to Jewish leaders explaining his innocence, and bearing witness to the kingdom of God. He ended by quoting Isaiah, and saying “This salvation of God has been sent to the Gentiles; they will listen” [28:28]. Paul remained there two years [61 to 63 AD], receiving all who came to him, and writing the so-called Captivity Epistles to the Colossians, Philippians, Ephesians, and Philemon. Acts ends with the statement: “With complete assurance and without hindrance he proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ” [28:31]. Acts ends before the final martyrdom of Paul in Rome under the emperor Nero [about 67 AD], a destiny that he shared with Peter.

9. SUMMING UP

This epic tale recounted by Acts supplements and completes the narrations of the four Gospels. It is a story of heroism and of faith. The Church started in Jerusalem led by frightened disciples who had been invigorated by the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. At first it was a Church of Jewish converts, then it spread among the Gentiles. After the deaths of Peter and Paul the Church continued to spread throughout the Roman Empire.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

I would like to thank Doris Christley for her critical reading of, and her thoughtful comments and recommendations concerning, the first draft of this work.