Tag: Acts

The Gospel passage set in the Revised Common Lectionary this coming Sunday tells of when Jesus sent out seventy followers, to engage with people in the villages where they were, sharing a message of peace and proclaiming the good news of the kingdom (Luke 10:1-20). This is a critical moment in the development of the movement which was clustering around Jesus.

Throughout his “orderly account”, Luke portrays the inner circle of Jesus’ followers as disciples, committed to the task of learning from Jesus. They provide role models for those in a later generation who listen to the story which Luke has written in his Gospel and strive to be faithful followers of the way of Jesus in their own times. So the stories from long ago are not simply historical reminiscences; they are narratives which provide stimulus and encouragement for us, in the 21st century, as we seek to be faithful followers of Jesus.

Luke reports how, early in the ministry of Jesus, as growing numbers of people show interest in him (4:15, 36, 42; 5:1, 15), Jesus calls three fishermen to form the core group of his followers (5:1–11). Simon Peter is singled out at this point, but his business partners, James and John, are recruited with him to move from catching fish to “catching people”. The tax collector Levi then responds to Jesus’ challenge to “follow me” by leaving everything (5:27–28); these first four named followers thus stand as a pattern for how people were to respond to Jesus (as 14:26 reinforces).

Soon after these early recruitments, Luke reports the gathering of a group of twelve disciples, whom he names and designates “apostles” in recognition of their role in representing his message to those whom they encounter (6:12–16). This is the group that we often have in mind when we talk about “the disciples of Jesus”; but, as we shall see, Luke actually has many more in mind beyond this inner group.

Immediately after this scene, Luke reports at more length the teachings which Jesus directs towards his disciples: “love your enemies…be merciful…do not judge…hear my words, act on them” (6:20–49). The role of the disciples as learners is firmly established; these words are to be programmatic for all that they undertake. So their first task is to listen, and learner. Disciples are learners. (In fact, the Greek word translated as “disciple” actually comes from the root verb which means “to learn”!)

The narrative continues, and as the disciples travel with Jesus, they continue to learn—they witness how Jesus preaches, teaches, heals and exorcises (7:11, 22; 8:1, 9, 22, 45). After a period of such learning in the company of Jesus, this inner group is then commissioned to replicate these activities for themselves, going out in pairs to “proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal” (9:1–6). The twelve will later be promised a key role at the ultimate judgment of Israel (22:28–30). This inner circle thus transitions from learners, to leaders.

Sending out the twelve to bear witness to the kingdom is told in the source used by Luke, the Gospel of Mark, as well in Matthew’s Gospel. Luke intensifies the importance of this missionary activity by reporting that, after sending out the twelve, Jesus then sends out a larger group of his followers, to do likewise. There were seventy such disciples (or in some versions, seventy–two) for the role that will later consume their lives: “cure the sick and say to them, ‘the kingdom of God has come near’” (10:1–12; cf. 9:2).

“The disciples” in Luke’s account is a broad, inclusive group of followers. Time spent with Jesus involves not just learning from him—although this is the bedrock of the relationship—but also putting his ethic into practice. So the seventy, having spent time with Jesus learning, are now challenged to exercise leadership within the Jesus movement.

(As Paul writes in the letter to the Galatians, also set in this week’s lectionary: “Those who are taught the word must share in all good things with their teacher”, Gal 6:6.)

Quite significantly, when the seventy are sent out, they are in the region of Samaria (9:51-62). The Samaritans were difficult customers; James and John actually wanted Jesus to invoke the wrath of God and consume them (9:54). Jesus, by contrast, refuses to do this (9:55) and charges the seventy to preach a message peace to the Samaritans (10:5) and to declare the good news, that God’s kingdom is right there, in midst of them (10:9,11; cf. 9:2).

The seventy are thus charged with moving on, from being learners, listening in the crowd as Jesus teaches and tells parables, to become leaders, undertaking activities for which they need initiative, resolve, and capacity. And such leadership means addressing the challenges of the context and plunging into the difficult situations with the message and actions of hope. Samaria was not an easy gig!!

The inner group of twelve is thus not depicted as being isolated from, or elevated above, the others who travel with Jesus in Galilee. They form a kind of model for the seventy, and, by extension, later disciples—right up to the 21st century. We are all called to move from being learners, to become leaders.

Thus, in the following chapters, the teachings of Jesus are explicitly addressed to disciples on matters such as prayer (11:1–4), integrity (12:1–2), the appropriate lifestyle to lead (12:22–34), fidelity to God (16:1–13), forgiveness and preparedness (17:1–10, 22–37) and the nature of the kingdom (18:15–17). In keeping with his focus on those who are poor (4:18; 6:20; 7:22), “give to the poor” is a motif which runs consistently through the words of Jesus (12:21, 33; 14:13, 21; 16:19–31; 18:22; cf. 19:8). All of these teachings were important for the first followers of Jesus. All of these teachings apply to our discipleship, as well.

Strategically, these teachings also include Jesus’ revelation of his own fate (9:43b–44; 18:31–33) and the high cost of discipleship (14:25–35). Jesus emphasizes the distinctive nature of leadership in his movement (20:45–47; 22:24–30). “Deny yourself” and “be like one who serves” provide central motifs for Jesus’ instructions to those who will continue his enterprise after his passion. The twelve and the seventy, who first heard these words of Jesus, thus function as role models for the way that leaders are to operate after the lifetime of Jesus, as we in turn listen to these teachings.

The second volume of Luke’s work shows a range of figures who have learned from Jesus (or his disciples) and are reported as putting into practice the charge which Jesus gave to his disciples, to “proclaim the kingdom of God and to heal”. The followers of Jesus throughout Acts are offering leadership: proclaiming the good news, undertaking acts of mercy and charity, standing up for justice, and other ways of being faithful to the way of Jesus.

Overall, the lines of continuity can be clearly traced from the example of Jesus through the activities of the leaders of the movement. The learners were diligent, and became effective and faithful leaders. May that be the pathway that we each walk, also, in our lives, as faithful followers of Jesus—learners, who now exercise leadership.

The images come from The Seventy-two Disciples (Unknown artist, Provenance Ethiopia, Dated about 1480 – 1520; Tempera on parchment).

[I know they are all male figures; and I am convinced that the first followers of Jesus included many women–see Luke 8:1-3 and 23:49,55, 24:10–but traditions about the disciples have been heavily influenced by patriarchal assumptions throughout the ages.]

See also

https://johntsquires.wordpress.com/2019/01/31/an-orderly-account-a-quick-guide-to-luke-and-acts/

https://johntsquires.wordpress.com/2019/02/05/costly-discipleship-according-to-luke/

https://johntsquires.wordpress.com/2019/02/14/the-plain-the-synagogue-and-the-village-luke-6-4-and-1/

https://johntsquires.wordpress.com/2019/02/19/the-beloved-physician-the-lover-of-god-and-loving-our-enemies-luke-6/

The lectionary reading from Acts, this coming Sunday, recounts what happened to Paul and Silas in prison (16:25-34). There are two interesting features of this section of the second volume of the “orderly account” that was written for Theophilus (Luke 1:3; Acts 1:1). Each feature functions as a literary device to move the story on.

Arrested and in prison, Paul and Silas are praying. Suddenly, we read that “a great earthquake” shakes open the prison doors (16:26). This has the effect of moving the narrative on to the next scene. Luke reports this, not so much for its value as an historical happening, but as a literary device to move the plot forward.

The universal scope of the earthquake’s impact (“all the doors opened … everyone’s chains unfastened”) is striking, but perhaps a Lukan exaggeration which is characteristic of his narrative—notice how many times “all” the people say, or do something (3:11, 4:16, 9:35, 17:21, 19:10, 19:17, 22:12, 26:4). I take this as a sign of his literary licence. He’s a garrulous story-teller, not a clinical historian.

Although there is no explicit indication of divine guidance at this point, an earthquake was widely considered to be a portent of the divine will. The Psalmist expresses the common scriptural view that God was the initiator of earthquakes: “O God, you have rejected us … you have caused the land to quake, you have torn it open” (Ps 60:1-2; see also Judg 5:4-5; 2 Sam 22:8-16; Pss 18:7-9; 29:3-9; 68:7-8; 97:4-5; 104:32; 144:5-6; Isa 13:13; 29:4-6; 64:1-3; Jer 4:24; 10:10; Ezek 32:7; Joel 2:10-11; Nah 1:5-6; Zeph 1:14-15; Hag 2:6-7,20-23; Zech 14:5).

The historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus articulates a view found often in hellenistic literature, when he lists among “the terrible portents sent from the gods” such phenomena as “flashes shooting out of the sky and outbursts of fire … the rumblings of the earth and its continual tremblings” (Rom. Ant. 10.2.3; for descriptions of such portents, see Cicero, De div. 1.33.72-49.109, De nat. deor. 2.5.13-14; Minucius Felix, Oct. 7.1-6; for the theme in hellenistic histories, see pages 78-84 of my book, The plan of God in Luke-Acts, published in 1993 by Cambridge University Press).

Indeed, the narrative of Acts has already reported how God can sovereignly release a person from prison (as with Peter in Jerusalem, 12:6-11). Although it is not described with explicit reference to God, the earthquake in Philippi is nevertheless a clear portent of divine providence.

The melodramatic response of the gaoler (16:27) enables Paul and Silas to speak the word of the Lord (16:32), explaining that what must be done to be saved is to “believe on the Lord Jesus” (16:31). The ensuing scene replicates familiar elements: the gaoler and his household were baptised (16:33; see 2:38), he set a table (16:34; see 2:42,46; also 10:23,48), and they rejoiced (16:34; see 5:41). His conversion now makes him “one who has come to belief in God” (16:34). These are stock standard Lukan elements in his conversion narratives.

However, the release of Paul and Silas (16:35-40) takes place, not by divine intervention, but through the invocation of Paul’s Roman citizenship (16:37-38). Roman writers documented the prohibition against flogging a Roman citizen (Livy, Hist. 10.9.4; Cicero, Pro Rabiro 4.12-13). Paul makes no reference to his Roman citizenship in his letters, although there is no need for him to have done so. The name Paul may well have been his Roman name.

Yet his claim clearly plays a strategic role in Luke’s narrative at two points (here, and in Jerusalem, 22:25-29), as it plants the seeds for Paul’s eventual journey to Rome. This scene (as also the scene in Jerusalem) is shaped by Luke’s rhetorical purposes, to put the spotlight on Paul as a positive role model (Lentz 1993:105-138). I am wary of pinning much historical weight onto the Lukan narrative. We just don’t know about Paul’s Roman citizenship, since he never referred to it, and the issue serves both apologetic and literary purposes for Luke.

After an official apology (16:39), Paul and Silas leave the prison, paying a parting visit to Lydia’s home where, in typical fashion, they exhorted the community members (16:40; see 13:15). Paul’s own description of his time in Philippi notes that he “had suffered and been shamefully mistreated” (1 Thess 2:2), but his letter to the Philippian believers rejoices in the fellowship that they shared with him (Phil 4:14-16). “You hold me in your heart … all of you share in God’s grace with me, both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel”, Paul writes to them (Phil 1:5-7).

Whatever actually happened in Philippi, however we read the narrative that Luke provides, this one thing is clear: Paul valued and appreciated the fledgling faith community in that city!

See also

https://johntsquires.wordpress.com/2019/01/31/an-orderly-account-a-quick-guide-to-luke-and-acts/

https://johntsquires.wordpress.com/2019/04/26/the-cross-cultural-nature-of-the-early-jesus-movement/

https://johntsquires.wordpress.com/2019/04/30/the-calling-of-saul-and-the-turn-to-the-gentiles-modelling-the-missional-imperative-acts-8-12/

https://johntsquires.wordpress.com/2019/05/08/resurrection-life-economic-responsibility-and-inclusive-hospitality-markers-of-the-gospel-acts-9/

https://johntsquires.com/2019/05/22/jesus-and-his-followers-at-table-in-lukes-orderly-account/

There is a story in the lectionary, this coming Sunday, which is set in Joppa, the Greek name for the town named Jaffa in Arabic. We know this place, today, as the southern suburbs of Tel Aviv, a large and growing port city in modern Israel, a city with a vibrant multi-cultural and multi-religious life. Tel Aviv-Jaffa is also the place where most nations base their embassies to the country of Israel.

This story in Acts, set in the port town of Joppa, sits within the season of Easter and recounts a resurrection, told along the lines of the way that the resurrection of Jesus is told. Tabitha, the woman in the story, becomes ill and dies. There is no doubt about this; she is dead.

As the story proceeds, the apostle Peter commands Tabitha to rise; and then, “she opened her eyes, and seeing Peter, she sat up. He gave her his hand and helped her up. Then calling the saints and widows, he showed her to be alive.” (Acts 9:40-41) There is also no doubt, that the one who was dead, is now alive.

As a result, Luke informs us, “this became known throughout Joppa, and

many believed in the Lord” (Acts 9:43). What happened was striking, noteworthy, remarkable—miraculous!

The flow of the narrative is the same as what we read in the accounts of the resurrection of Jesus, moving from death, to life. We have this story in our readings during the season of Easter, to help us maintain our focus on the resurrection, and to invite us to consider how the story of new life shapes our life of discipleship.

As Jesus died and was raised, as Tabitha died and was raised, so we are called to move from death to life within our own discipleship. The paradigm which is provided by the death and resurrection of Jesus provides a model for the way that we are to be, as disciples of Jesus in our own time. And this might very well be how “many believe in the Lord” in our own time.

In addition to this dynamic, there are other features of the story which are worth noting. Tabitha, or Dorcas, is noted as a woman “full of good works and acts of charity” (9:36). The array clothing that she produced is noted (9:39).

Alongside Tabitha, significant women in Acts are presented as positive models of faithfulness and who were leaders in the early Jesus movement. These include Lydia in Philippi, who provides hospitality to Paul and his companions (16:15); Priscilla, who with her husband, Aquila, teaches Apollos in Ephesus (18:26); and the four female prophets in Caesarea (21:9). Each of these women demonstrate faithful discipleship and exercise a leadership role in the early church.

Tabitha, or Dorcas, was a well-to-do woman, with her own business. She is one of a number of people who are located towards the apex of the social pyramid, who appear as believers in Acts. Converts to the movement included “devout women of high standing” in Antioch (Acts 13:50), “not a few leading women” in Thessalonica (17:4), “not a few Greek women of high standing” in Beroea (17:12) and Damaris in Athens (17:34). Luke attests to the equality and mutuality of gender roles in leadership within the early Jesus movement.

Communities of believers met in the houses of people of means, both unnamed individuals (2:46; 5:42; 8:3; 20:20; 21:4,7) and some identified individuals: Simon the tanner in Joppa (10:5–6, 32), Cornelius in Caesarea (10:24, 48; 11:12), Mary in Jerusalem (12:12), Lydia in Philippi (16:14–15), the gaoler in Philippi (16:29–34), Titius Justus in Corinth (18:7), Philip in Caesarea (21:8, 10), and Mnason in a village near Jerusalem (21:16). Tyrannus provides Paul with the use of his lecture room in Ephesus (19:9).

These high-status believers demonstrated the centrality of economic justice in the message preached by Jesus, and lived by the early faith communities. Jesus taught his followers to sell all their possessions (Luke 12:33, repeated at 18:22). The Jerusalem community put this command of Jesus into practice (Acts 4:32–35). Members of the community “had everything in common” (4:32)—they sold their lands and houses and pooled the money thus gained (2:44–45; 4:34).

Joseph Barnabas provides a positive example of this practice (4:36–37); Ananias and Sapphira provide the negative example, warning of what happens when this practice was ignored (5:1–11). The means of the wealthy are to be put at the disposal of the poor. Economic justice is to be enacted through such table fellowship.

As Luke narrates his Gospel, it is at the table that he earths the reality of inclusive Christian community; this provides the groundwork for establishing inclusive communities of faithful people across the Mediterranean basin … and beyond, as the good news spreads.

The Lukan story indicates that people of all levels in the social hierarchy, from rich to poor, were welcome at the tables of generous Christian hosts. And that picture of economic responsibility and of inclusive hospitality is a fine model for us to remember, and emulate, in our time!

See also https://johntsquires.wordpress.com/2019/04/26/the-cross-cultural-nature-of-the-early-jesus-movement/

https://johntsquires.wordpress.com/2019/04/30/the-calling-of-saul-and-the-turn-to-the-gentiles-modelling-the-missional-imperative-acts-8-12/

Today I am reflecting on the story of “the conversion of Paul” (as it is often called) in Acts 9. This story appears in the lectionary readings for this coming Sunday. I see it as providing a model for the missional calling of the church in our times.

I prefer to call this story “the calling of Saul”, since Saul is how he is named in the narrative, and the text actually recounts a calling to a particular role, rather than a conversion from one faith to another. (The way the story is told follows the conventions of call narratives as we find them in Hebrew Scriptures and Hellenistic Jewish texts.)

I think it is worth viewing this story within the broader narrative framework of Acts, the second volume which follows on from Luke’s “orderly account” of the story of Jesus. This first volume ends with a brief narrating of the ascension of Jesus into heaven (Luke 24:50–53). This pivotal event is repeated at the start of the second volume (Acts 1:6–11).

A crucial role is played by Luke’s version of the commission which the risen Jesus gives as a parting word to his disciples: repentance and forgiveness of sins is to be proclaimed in his name to all nations, “beginning from Jerusalem” (24:47).

Another version of this commission introduces the second volume (Acts 1:8): “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” This verse sets out the programme for the rest of this volume, as the good news is carried out from Jerusalem into all manner of other places.

Immediately, Luke turns his attention to the community of Jesus’ followers who remain in Jerusalem (1:12–26). Here, in Jerusalem, the spirit is manifested both to these followers and to a crowd of pilgrims who witness what takes place (2:1– 13). Peter seizes the opportunity to proclaim the good news of Jesus, with greatly encouraging results (2:14–42).

The early faith community in Jerusalem maintained its strong link with Judaism, participating in the Temple rituals on a regular basis (2:46; 3:1; 5:12). Interestingly, Luke reports that a number of priests became believers (6:7). Subsequent chapters (3:1–8:3) report key developments in this community of Jesus’ followers. Peter and John are twice arrested by the Jerusalem authorities and twice released from imprisonment (4:1–22; 5:17–42), whilst Stephen, after his public denunciation of the Temple, is stoned to death (6:8–8:1).

Stephen’s martyrdom is the next pivotal moment in Luke’s narrative; it provokes persecution and a scattering of community members away from Jerusalem (8:1). The followers of Jesus now form a dispersed movement, known simply as “The Way” (9:2; see also 18:25); they preach and heal in a variety of places.

One figure, Philip, travels to Samaria, where he replicates the preaching, miraculous activity, and successes of the leaders of the Jerusalem community (8:4–40).

In subsequent chapters, Luke recounts further strategic events relating to the leadership of the movement. The first strategic moment is when one of the persecutors of the movement, Saul of Tarsus, is commissioned as a messenger for the movement, which he joins in Damascus before moving to the community remaining in Jerusalem (9:1–31).

We read some of this story in the Acts reading set in the lectionary for this coming Sunday. Interestingly, this story was so important for the author of Acts, that it is retold (with some interesting expansions and variations) twice more–in Acts 22, when Paul is attested in Jerusalem; and in Acts 26, when he stands before the Roman authorities in Caesarea.

The calling that Saul receives is signalled at 9:6 (“get up and enter the city, and you will be told what you are to do”), and then specified in the words of the Lord given to Ananias: “he is an instrument whom I have chosen to bring my name before Gentiles and kings and before the people of Israel; I myself will show him how much he must suffer for the sake of my name” (9:15-16). This calling signals the turn to the Gentiles in a clear way. The book of Acts narrates a selection of key moments as the mission to the Gentiles grows and beats fruit.

A second strategic moment in the narrative occurs when the leader of the Jerusalem community, Simon Peter, experiences a dramatic vision which overturns his understanding of how holiness is to be lived out in daily life, at table. He meets with a Roman godfearer, Cornelius, and together they institute a ground–breaking table fellowship of Jew and Gentile, and the spirit inducts Gentiles into the hitherto Jewish community of Jesus’ followers (9:32–11:19).

Luke thus offers this important pairing of leaders within the early movement: both Saul (later Paul) and Peter are in the vanguard of taking the good news to the Gentiles. So, all is prepared for the crucial “turn to the Gentiles” which will take place under the leadership of Saul, with the agreement of Peter. The section ends with an account of community life in Antioch (11:19–30), where members of “The Way” are first named “Christians” (11:26), and then in Jerusalem (12:1–25).

From this point in the narrative, attention is focused almost exclusively on Paul (the new name adopted by Saul of Tarsus). With Barnabas, Saul is commissioned in Antioch as a representative of the movement; the pair travel north and west to proclaim the good news to the nations. They start to enact the “turn to the Gentiles” already foreshadowed, beginning in Pisidian Antioch, where Paul preaches, with mixed success (13:14–52). This will be Paul’s experience in every place he visits.

This week’s Acts reading underlines the missional imperative that was at the heart of this movement. Each in their own way, Saul and Peter, provide us with a clear model of what following Jesus means. We are charged with this missional task in our own time.

See also https://johntsquires.wordpress.com/2019/01/31/an-orderly-account-a-quick-guide-to-luke-and-acts/

https://johntsquires.wordpress.com/2019/04/26/the-cross-cultural-nature-of-the-early-jesus-movement/

https://johntsquires.wordpress.com/2019/02/05/costly-discipleship-according-to-luke/