The New Testament in 90 Days

So this is the final installment in the book of the Acts of the Apostles.  Paul testifies convincingly to King Agrippa.  In fact, in some translations, he says that he is "almost persuaded" to become a follower of "The Way."  But, not quite.  Paul shares his testimony, his former life as a Pharisee, how he came to believe in Jesus, and what he is doing now.  King Agrippa is almost persuaded.  Others shout that Paul has gone crazy (from too much learning, they say).  Everyone agrees, though, that there is not reason for Paul to be arrested.  He could be released. If only he hadn't appealed to Rome. So Paul sets out, as a prisoner, for Rome.  It's late to make the sea journey, and Paul (who comes off just a little as a know-it-all) warns them that they will run into trouble.  Which they do.  Paul becomes a leader, encouraging and supporting the crew and the other prisoners, blessing food for a meal (which sounds a lot like a commu...

To be honest with you, I would have liked it much better if Paul had given his powerful testimony of conversion on the road to Damascus, and the result was that everybody (or most everybody) (or a large group of people, anyway) was convinced and convicted by his story, and changed their hearts.  Or, at least, decided not to to kill him. But that's not what happened.  The plot thickens.  Paul tells everyone about what a good Jew he was, and is, and how he was on the way to persecute Christians, and the blinding light, and the voice, and how the Jewish believer Ananais came to him and restored his sight. It's such a powerful testimony that the voices rise up, "He deserves to die!"  Which is what they already thought. I always think that our stories are so powerful, more powerful than statistics.  Statistics don't convince people, but stories do.  And that is true -- sometimes.  Other times, we have our minds so made up already that the most moving ...

This is where it's a good idea to start looking at a map, to keep track of the towns Paul travels through, the seas he sails through, as well as the people he meets.  At the beginning of chapter 19, Paul is traveling through Ephesus and meets some believers who have not yet received the Holy Spirit.  Not only that, they haven't even heard of the existence of the Holy Spirit.  He prays for them, and immediately they begin to speak in other languages and prophecy. Coincidentally, there are "about" twelve of them.  Hmmmm. In the meantime, things are not going so smoothly in the synagogues.  There are people who are convinced about Paul's message, but many more who are not.  One small, odd story concerns some exorcists who do not appear to believe in Jesus, but who like to cast our evil spirits in his name.  At one point, the spirits ask the exorcists, "Jesus I know, and Paul I am familiar with, but who are you" Personally, the very small detail abou...

Paul and his companions have dodged a bulletin with church-dividing implications.  The Gentile and Jewish believers have found a way to be in fellowship with one another.  Still, Paul and Barnabas somehow couldn't fix a rift that developed between the two of them.  We really don't know much about the rift, except that it had to do with John Mark.  Barnabas wanted to take him along with them; Paul did not.  On the basis of something as simple as this, Paul and Barnabas part ways.  Paul teams up with Silas, and eventually Timothy, the son of a Jewish woman and a Greek father (interesting that he has Timothy circumcised because of the company with whom he expected to be traveling). It's sort of sad that the church could come to an agreement with respect to the first controversial issues they faced, but that Paul and Barnabas couldn't come to an agreement with regard to John Mark.  But that's the way it is in churches sometimes, isn't it?  It is the...

The Spirit keeps sending the church out, to Antioch, and every farther out.  Paul, Barnabas and john Mark head down to Seleucid, to Cyprus, and to Paphos and Perga, preaching in the synagogues and then going out to tell the Gentiles as well. Paul preaches a sermon telling the basic story about Jesus.  He meets with success at first, but later on, some of the other Jewish leaders come in with questions, and their success is diminished.  This is the pattern wherever Paul goes, whenever he goes out into the world;  he always goes to the synagogue first, and then later on, they go out to the Gentiles. There's an interesting story in chapter 13 about a false prophet named bar-Jesus.  Bar-Jesus is rebuked and he goes blind.  It does make me wonder about others who might be around claiming to be the messiah. Even when Paul meets with success, there are complications.  First example, Paul heals a man in Lystra, and then has to deal with the problem that ...

There's a turning point in this chapter, and it begins with two men praying and seeing angels and having visions.  First, there is Cornelius, a pious Gentile, who is praying at around three in the afternoon (one of the hours of prayer, by the way), when he sees an angel who tells him to go and summon a man named Simon (who he never met).  This Simon will tell him Something. In the meantime, Peter is also praying.  It is noon (another hour of prayer) and he sees a vision while he is on the roof.  In the vision, he sees a sheet full of animals that are considered unclean by Jewish law.  The voice in the vision says to Peter, "Get up!  Kill and eat!"  Peter refuses, but the voice persists.  "Never consider unclean what God has made pure." Peter does receive a visitor, who invites him to Cornelius' home.  He finds a surprising welcome when he gets there.  There are many people waiting for him, waiting for the word that he will give him. ...

So, the rest of Stephen's story.  He preaches a rousing sermon, and gives a summary of salvation history, starting with Abraham and ending with Jesus.  And he calls them stubborn and unrepentant, totally disobeying the Holy Spirit. This makes (as you might imagine) the religious leaders even angrier.  So they stone him. And Stephen sees the heavens open up, and he sees the angels and the Son of man, and he says to those who are stoning him, "Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing". Who does this sound like to you? At the very end of this chapter, you might have noticed a brief appearance by someone who will end up playing a major part in both the book of Acts and in the growing church (we will read many letters by him).  A young Pharisee named Saul is zealous for his faith, holding the coats of those who are stoning Stephen. And he has other plans for the follows of Jesus.... But, we move on for a moment, to hear about some exploit...

The apostles are witnesses to the resurrection of Jesus -- in both their deeds of power and in their preaching.  But they also spend time defending themselves from religious leaders who do not understand this new thing and who are angry and probably afraid.  They are brought up against the council more than once in these beginning chapters of Acts, and they are thrown into prison, only to be let out by the power of the Holy Spirit. "You know those uneducated fishermen you threw in prison?  they're preaching in the temple again!" For a little while, at least, the faith community seems to lead an ideal life.  They are devoted to Jesus and to one another.  They have no secrets (it seems) and they share everything -- not because they have to, but freely.  they sell property and lay the proceeds at the apostles' feet, to be used for the good of the whole community.  Wow. Until Ananais and Sapphire.  It doesn't take long for someone to come along ...

Luke and Theophilus are back for the second volume of writing, often called, simply, "Acts."  Have you ever thought about that?  But the full title is really, "The Acts of the Apostles, and this second volume written by Luke is about many of the miracles, healings, and other things the disciples did in the name of Jesus and in the power of Jesus. But it begins with Jesus eating with his disciples, teaching his disciples, and, after 40 days, promising them that he would send the Holy Spirit, so that they could say the things he wants them to say and do the actions he wanted them to do. During that ten-day waiting period, one of the tasks that the disciples face is choosing a replacement for Judas (the gory details of his demise are also included).  They have two candidates and pray and cast lots to discover the right choice.  What do you think of this means of electing an apostle? Then, in Acts chapter 2, on the Day of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit comes down and f...