BibleProject New Testament Series - Lesson 9

BP150-09 - Acts (Part 1)

The Book of Acts. It's the second volume of a unified two part work that today we call Luke X. These were written by the same author. Luke, who was a traveling coworker with Paul. This is clear from the book's introduction where Luke says, I produced my first volume. That's the Gospel about all the things that Jesus began to do and to teach. Now, Luke's giving a clue here as to what this book of acts will be about. Volume one was about what Jesus began to do and to teach. Volume two will then be about what Jesus continued to do and teach, which leads to a really interesting point about the book's traditional but not original name. The Acts of the Apostles, while different apostles do appear in most of these stories. The only single character who unifies the whole story from beginning to end is Jesus himself acting directly or through the Spirit. And so the book would more accurately be named The Acts of Jesus and the Spirit. The book's introduction recounts how the risen Jesus spent some 40 days with the disciples teaching them about the Kingdom of God. This connects back to the story of Luke's gospel, where Jesus claimed that He was restoring God's kingdom over the world, beginning with Israel. So He called Israel to live under God's reign by following him. And he was enthroned as king when he gave up his life and then conquered death with his love. And so the Book of Acts begins with the risen King Jesus instructing his disciples about life in this kingdom. So he promises that the Spirit will soon come and immerse them in his personal presence. And this fulfills one of the key hopes from the Old Testament prophets that in the Messianic Kingdom, God's presence, His spirit would come and take up residence among his people in a new temple and transform their hearts. And so Jesus says, When this happens, the Spirit will empower His disciples to be my witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. From here, Jesus is taken up from their site in a cloud. It's an image drawn from the Book of Daniel Chapter seven. It shows how Jesus is now being enthroned as the son of man who was vindicated after his suffering and now shares in God's rule over the world. And so he promises that he will return one day. And so the main themes and the design of the book of Acts flow right out of this opening chapter. This is a story about Jesus leading his people by the Spirit to go out into the world and invite all nations to live under his reign. And so the story will begin with that message spreading in Jerusalem and then into the neighboring regions of Judea and Samaria, full of non-Jewish people. And then from there out to all of the nations into the ends of the earth. This video is just going to focus on the first half of the book. So the Jerusalem focus section begins with Jesus followers waiting until the Feast of Pentecost, when all of these Jewish pilgrims from all over the ancient world were in the city. And the Holy Spirit comes on the disciples as a great wind. And something like flames appear over each person's head. And together they start announcing and telling stories of God's mighty deeds. And they're speaking in all of these languages that they didn't know before. But all the people gathered there understand perfectly. Now, in order to see what Luke's emphasizing in the story, it's crucial to see the Old Testament roots of all of these images. So first, the wind in the fire is a direct allusion to the stories about God's glorious, fiery presence filling the tabernacle and the temple. And it's also connected to the prophetic promises the God would come and live by his spirit in the new temple of the Messianic kingdom. And so here in Acts, God's fiery presence comes to dwell not in a building, but in his people. Luke is saying that the new temple promised by the prophets is Jesus's New Covenant family, the people of Jesus, Which connects to the second thing Luke is trying to say here. So the prophets promised that when God came to dwell in his new temple, He would reunify all the tribes of Israel under the Messianic King, and that the good news of God's reign would go out and be announced to the nations. Luke describes in detail the international multi tribe make up of all of the Israelites who were there at Pentecost and who responded to Peter's message. And so the Apostles keep calling Israelites to acknowledge Jesus as their Messiah, and thousands upon thousands respond, forming new communities of generosity and worship and celebration. But not everybody is celebrating from here. Luke shows how Jesus's new family quickly faced hostility from the Jerusalem leaders with a really beautiful, symmetrical design. Luke tells a tale of two temples. So God's new temple, the community of Jesus followers, they're gathering every day in the temple courts and from house to house. Now, in between those notices are two stories about Peter and the other apostles healing people in the temple. It's only to get arrested by the temple leaders, followed each time by a speech of Peter claiming that Jesus is the true king of Israel. And at the center of all this is a story about Jesus, his followers donating property and possessions to a common fund to help the poor. Which is really cool, but it seems kind of random for Luke to mention it here until you realize that this was a practice described in the laws of the Torah and was supposed to be happening through the Jerusalem temple and its leaders. So Luke's point here is clear The new Temple of Jesus community is fulfilling the purpose that God always intended for the Jerusalem Temple to be a place where heaven and earth meet, where people encounter God's generosity and healing presence. And this conflict between the two temples that culminates in Acts, chapters six and seven, it's the first wave of persecution. So Jesus followers, they continue to multiply, requiring more leaders. And what of these, Stephen? He's a bold witness for Jesus in Jerusalem, and he ends up getting arrested and he's accused of speaking against and even threatening the temple. And so Stephen here gives a long speech showing how Israel's leaders have always rejected the messengers God sent them, including Jesus and now his disciples. So the Jerusalem leaders are enraged. They murder Stephen and they launch a wave of persecution against Jesus followers that drives most of them from this city. But it has a paradoxical effect. Luke shows how this tragedy actually became the means by which Jesus people are now sent out into Judea and Samaria. Now, in this section, Luke has collected a diverse group of stories that all show how the mostly Jewish Jerusalem based community of Jesus became a multi-ethnic international movement. So first is the mission of Philip into Samaria. It's the land of Israel's hated enemies, and many of them come to follow Jesus. Next, we have the conversion of Saul of Tarsus, later known as Paul. He was the sworn enemy and persecutor of Jesus followers until he personally met the risen Jesus. And he then became a passionate advocate on behalf of Jesus. Next is the story of Peter having a vision about how God doesn't consider non-Jewish people ritually impure or unworthy of joining Jesus's family. And so, Peter, he's led by the Spirit into the house of a Roman soldiers full of non-Jewish people, and they all respond to the good news about Jesus. In fact, the Spirit shows up powerfully upon them, just as He did to the Jewish disciples back in Chapter two. These themes all come together in the founding of the church in Antioch, the largest, most cosmopolitan city in that part of the Roman Empire. And Luke, he tells us that Barnabas, a Jewish leader from the Jerusalem church, went along with Paul to help lead this church community. And so it became the first large, multiethnic church in history. It was where Jesus followers were called Christians for the first time. And it's from here that the first international missionaries were sent out. And so we see Jesus commission coming true. And this takes us into the rest of Luke's story. But for now, that's the first half of the Book of Acts.