New Testament 101: Acts

Acts is the second book written by Luke. In his first book, Luke told all that Jesus did and taught.  In Acts, Luke continues the story by describing some of the struggles the disciples faced as they tried to obey the command of Jesus “You will tell everyone about me in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria and everywhere in the world. (1:8)

So many different countries are mentioned in Acts that the book may seem to have been written only to tell about the spread of the Christian message.  But that is only part of the story.  After Jesus was taken up to heaven, one of the big problems for his followers was deciding who could belong to God’s people.  And, since Jesus and his first followers were Jews, it was only natural for many of them to think that his message was only for Jews.  But, in Acts, the Spirit is always present to show that Jesus came to enlighten both Jews and Gentiles and that God wanted followers from every nation and race to be part of God’s people.

There were many conflicts between Christians and Jews because most of the Jewish religious leaders of the time rejected Jesus’ message.

The most serious problems for the early church were a result of the disciples, at first, failing to understand that anyone could become a follower of Jesus -without first becoming a Jew.  This only began to change when Philip dared to take the message to the Samaritans (8: 7-25) and when Peter went to the home of Cornelius, a captain in the Roman army (10: 1-48).

Peter, while in Jerusalem, was instrumental in explaining the question of who could become a follower of Jesus when he argued that the Spirit of God was leading them to reach out to Gentiles as well as Jews with the good news of Jesus (15: 3-35).

The man who did most for the spread of faith was Paul and much of Acts tells about his preaching among the Gentiles.  He even took the message to Rome, the world’s most important city of the time (28: 16-31).

One of Luke’s main reasons for writing Acts was to show that nothing could keep the Christian message from spreading everywhere. 

 For two years Paul stayed in a rented house and welcomed everyone who came to see him.  He bravely preached about God’s kingdom and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ, and no one tried to stop him. (Acts 28: 30, 31)

Some highlights in Acts:

Telling the Good News in Jerusalem (1: 1-8. 3)
The Good News in Judea and Samaria (8: 4-12. 25)
Paul’s first journey to tell the Good News (13: 1-14. 28)
An important decision in Jerusalem (15: 1-35)
Paul’s second journey to tell the Good News (15: 36-18. 22)
Paul’s third journey to tell the Good News (18: 23 - 21: 16)
Paul’s arrest in Jerusalem (21: 17-23. 22)
Paul is taken to Caesarea (23: 23-26. 32)
Paul is taken to Rome (27: 1-18. 31)

Beryl

New Testament 101: The Gospel of John

Who is Jesus Christ?  Well, John answers this question in the first chapter of his Gospel. He calls Jesus the “Word” by which God created everything and by which life was given to everything (1:3, and 4).  He describes how John the Baptist announced the coming of Jesus in the words “Here is the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world” (1:29).  When Philip met Jesus, he knew Jesus was “the one that Moses and the Prophets wrote about (1: 45).  And, in the words of Nathanael, Jesus is “the Son of God and the King of Israel” (1: 49).

In John’s Gospel, we learn a lot about who Jesus is by observing what he said and did when he was with other people.  This includes a Samaritan woman who received Jesus’ offer of life-giving water, a woman who had been caught in sin, his friend Lazarus who was brought back to life after death and his follower Thomas who doubted that Jesus was raised from the dead.

Jesus also refers to himself as “I am”, a phrase which translates the most holy name of God in the Hebrew Scriptures.  He uses this name for himself when he makes his claim to be the life-giving bread, the light of the world, the good shepherd and the true vine.

Jesus performs sever miracles that are more than miracles.  Each of them is a “sign” that tells the reader something about Jesus as the Son of God.  For example, by healing a lame man (5: 1-8) Jesus shows us that he is just like his Father who never stops working (5.17).  This sign also teaches that the Son does only what he sees his Father doing (5:19) and that, like the Father, “the son gives life to anyone he wants to” (5:21).

The way John tells the story of Jesus is quite different from the other three Gospels.  In John, Jesus has long conversations with people about who he is and what God sent him to do.  In these conversations, he teaches many important things – for example that he is the way, the truth and the life.

Why did John do this?  John himself tells us “so that you will put your faith in Jesus as the Messiah and the Son of God” (20:31).  How is this possible?  Jesus answers that question himself in his words to Nicodemus:

“God loved the people of this world so much that he gave his only Son so that everyone who has faith in him will have eternal life and never really die” (3:16).

A quick glance at this book relates for us:

The message of John the Baptist (1: 19-34)
The choosing of the first disciples (1:35-51)
Jesus’ seven miracles (2: 1-12, 50)
Jesus’ last week, trial and death (13: 1-19, 42)
Jesus is alive (20: 1-10)
Jesus appears to his disciples (20: 11-21, 15)

A SouthWest memory to share – when I first began my discernment process, a dearly loved member of my team said to me “if you want to understand the Gospels, start with the Gospel of John”.  It was Ann Towill.

Beryl