Lesson One

OVERVIEW

The Holy Spirit has given us in the New Testament four accounts of Jesus' ministry but only one book on the early years of the church. It is called the Acts of the Apostles, but in fact it tells us only selected things about a few of the apostles. What about John, who gave us five of the New Testament books? What about Matthew, who wrote one gospel? What about Andrew, Thomas, Bartholemew, James the Younger, Simon the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Matthias? Acts is even silent on the last fifteen years or so of Peter's ministry. Clearly, just as God has not chosen to give us a complete biography of Jesus, so He has determined not to inspire a thorough history of the church's beginnings.

What is Acts?

If Acts is not a complete history of the church's first three decades, then what is it? Our first clue is that it is the second of a two-volume work. An early convert to Christianity named Luke wrote a gospel and Acts for a Roman aristocrat named Theophilus (see Luke 1:1-4; Acts 1:1). Luke was the "beloved physician" (Colossians 4:14, nasb) of the apostle Paul. He traveled with Paul on part of his second missionary journey. Some years later, Luke went from Philippi to Jerusalem with Paul, and when Paul was arrested there, Luke accompanied him on his harrowing journey to Rome. We surmise these facts from the way Luke changed from the third person ("they") to the first ("we") in parts of Acts (see 16:10-17; 20:5–21:18; 27:1–28:16).

We don't know whether Luke was a Gentile, a Gentile convert to Judaism, or a Jew before he became a Christian. His writings show that he was steeped in the urban, Gentile, Greek-speaking culture of the Roman Empire; Luke 1:1-4 is written in the literary Greek of the educated elite, and Acts describes Gentile kings, philosophers, and legal details accurately. On the other hand, Luke was also well versed in the Septuagint, the Greek translation of the Old Testament that Jews all over the Empire used.

About Theophilus we can only speculate. His name means "lover of God," but it was a common Greek name and was probably not made up by Luke. In Luke's day, people often wrote for and dedicated their works to wealthy patrons, who helped pay for publishing the books. Theophilus was probably an educated Gentile aristocrat, either a new convert or an interested pagan. Luke may have wanted to help confirm this man and others like him in the faith by showing that it rested on firm historical foundations and the power of God.

When was Acts written? The earliest would be about AD 62, where chapter 28 leaves off abruptly. However, Luke seems to be looking back on those events from at least some distance. On the other hand, the book gives no hint of the deaths of Paul, Peter, or James, nor of the destruction of Jerusalem in AD 70, nor even of Paul's letters. Would a book written after AD 90 partly about Paul have ignored his letters, which were so influential by then? Most scholars who think Acts is an accurate account by Luke (as opposed to fiction) guess that the book was written over some time and finished "towards AD 70."

1. Look at Luke's prologue to his whole work (see Luke 1:1-4). What does he say Luke-Acts is meant to be? ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

2. In Acts 1:1-2, Luke summarizes volume 1 (Luke's gospel) as an introduction to volume 2 (Acts). He says the gospel is about "all that Jesus began to do and to teach" until His ascension into heaven forty days after the resurrection. If Luke's gospel is about what Jesus began to do and to teach, what is Acts probably about? ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

3. What does Acts 1:8 tell you about the purpose of the book? ___________________________________________________________ ___________________________________________________________

4. Read 1:15, 2:41, 4:4, 5:14, 6:7, 9:31, 12:24, 16:5, 19:20, and 28:31.

a. What do these verses have in common, and what progression do you see? _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________

b. What does this pattern tell you about Acts? _________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________

Acts does not tell us all that Jesus did through the apostles, but only some of what He did through some of them. We learn nothing about the spread of the gospel to "Crete (Titus 1:5), Illyricum (Romans 15:19 — modern Yugoslavia), or Pontus, Cappadocia and Bithynia (1 Peter 1:1), not to mention the church's expansion eastward toward Mesopotamia or southward toward Egypt." Instead, Luke focuses on one line of geographical expansion: from Jerusalem to Rome. Therefore, Acts 1:8 is only a partial clue to the book's theme.

Also, Luke is not concerned to give us the apostles' biographies. He begins with the apostles in Jerusalem, then ignores most of them to focus on Peter and two non-apostles. Then he turns from Peter to Paul, and he ends the book at last with Paul a prisoner in Rome probably destined to live several more years.

Moreover, Luke does not tell us all we might like to know about organization, lifestyle, and worship in the early church. He gives us glimpses of details, but these are incidental to the focus of the story.

What is the main focus? The best way to find this out (indeed, the best way to begin studying any book) is to read it several times, noting first impressions and the major sections. If possible, you should stop now and read through Acts once. Then, get a piece of paper, go back through the book, and write down what each of the following sections is about:

1:1–6:7
6:8–9:31
9:32–12:24
12:25–16:5
16:6–19:20
19:21–28:31

This whole procedure should take you four to five hours, but Acts is a terrific story so it should be fun. However, if you don't have time for this kind of preparation, you can look at the following outlines before you read...