Give Us This Day ...

Chapter 20: The Acts of the Apostles, Part II

Acts continues with the story of Paul and the early church.  Saul (and Barnabas) is listed among the prophets and teachers at Antioch.  The Holy Spirit sets them apart to make their journeys as indicated by the laying on of hands.  In Paul’s journeys to various cities, he fist preaches in the synagogues and then to the gentiles, a pattern that remains consistent.  Luke enumerates Paul’s preaching with care (13:16-41), perhaps to indicate that Paul’s good news was the same as the good news of the other apostles.

The central issue of the early Church (that was still seen as Jewish) was whether or not gentiles who wanted to follow Jesus first had to convert to Judaism.  If the answer is yes, then there is a way to convert that is in place already, a way that includes circumcision.  If not, then the question arises about the relationship between the Jewish Christian and the Gentile Christian.  How could they belong to the same church/synagogue?  Paul felt sure that Gentiles, without converting to Judaism, were joint-heirs of the promise given to Israel.  This assertion was probably the biggest obstacle of the growing Jewish Christian church.  Jews could accept Jesus, but found it hard to accept Gentiles, as is, without first becoming Jews, operating out of the Mosaic Torah, obeying the laws, the covenant, and learning obedience.  Circumcision or not became a microcosm of the whole debate.  The Christian Jews pointed to the Covenant given to Abraham, the beginning point of Jewish formation and identity.  What could be more basic?  Paul and others pointed to a new age based on experience of the Risen Lord and on a different exegesis of scripture (instituted by Jesus who said, “You have heard it said, . . . but I say unto you . . . “).

The two sides had to work out what would be expected of the Gentiles, if not full conversion to Judaism.  The apostles and elders of Jerusalem (15) decided upon three instructions based on an early form of what came to be called in later rabbinic tradition, the Noachian commandments.  Following these practices, a Gentile would be “righteous.”  According to Jewish tradition there are actually seven commandments to Noah.  The apostolic degree omits four (those that forbid blasphemy, murder, robbery, and speaking evil of a judge).  The EFM author speculates that Gentiles who are Christian would already be following such commandments, but that the remaining three (refraining from idolatry, sexual immorality, and eating a portion of a living animal) were regarded as particularly Gentile sins and would especially interfere with unity, mutual regard, and table fellowship.  The decree was trying to create a new mix of Gentile and Jew.  Gentiles were given their guidelines and the Jews were still expected to following the Torah.  Nothing was subtracted from the obligations of the Jews.

This transition was not easy as evidenced by the separation of Paul and Barnabas.  No reconciliation is recorded.  Throughout Acts, Luke emphasizes the guiding role of the Holy Spirit in how the gospel was spread.  The Church encounters both opposition and success.  In Rome Paul baptized Crispus, “an official of the synagogue,” and apparently caused such an upheaval in the Jewish community that according to Roman historian Suetonius, Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome in the ninth year of his reign (49-50 CE).

Women were strong leaders in the early Church.  For instance, Priscilla (and husband Aquila) is named as a teacher and Lydia is named as the leader of a house church in Philippi, the first church in Europe.  Paul’s farewell to the elders at Ephesus is moving, offering both comfort and strength for the journey ahead.  It is interesting to note that the words of Jesus, “It is more blessed to give than to receive,” are not recorded in any gospel we have.  The author speculates that there must have been other sayings of Jesus that the early church knew about but that were not written and passed on.

At Paul’s trial in Jerusalem before the Sanhedrin, Luke shows Paul as a loyal Jew.  The Lord comes to Paul in a dream and encourages him and tells him that he will also testify about the good news in Rome.  Indeed, the rest of Acts describes Paul going from tribunal to tribunal.  Luke’s last point is that the rejection of the Gospel by some Jews is a sign that the salvation of God is now also sent to the Gentiles who “will listen.”  (This is a different point than God rejects his people—i.e. Luke is not anti-Semitic).  The last we hear of Paul he is under house arrest and bolding preaching the kingdom of God without hindrance.

I have a question that requires some background.