Day 40: The Message Expands outward, with opposition

There's a shift coming here -- in chapter 12, it is the preaching and message of Peter which still take precedence, but shortly the apostle Paul and his exploits will take center stage.  Though right away we can tell that the church is growing, and that the opposition is growing too.

James, John's brother is martyred, Peter is put in prison, and the church is under duress.  It is not explicitly stated, but the implication is that Peter is about to be martyred.  But an angel leads him through locked prison doors, until he is comes to the house of Mary, the mother of John Mark.  (this is where the believers often met.)  He knocks on the door, and a little servant girl named Rhoda answers the door.  She is so excited to see him that she forgets to let him in!

Also, just inside, many disciples are sitting in a circle and praying for Peter.  Imagine their surprise when the answer to their prayers is suddenly standing among them.

Perhaps it felt as if Jesus had been resurrected again.

Answers to prayer are not always (or even usually) so dramatic or immediate.  But this gives you an idea of  how the Spirit directed the early believers.

So the Spirit sends them out from Antioch, even farther out.  Paul, Barnabas and John Mark head down to Seleucia, to Cyprus,  and to Paphos and Perga, preaching in the synagogues and then going out to tell the Gentiles as well.

Paul preaches a sermon telling the basic story about Jesus.  He meets with success at first, but later on, some of the other Jewish leader come in with questions, and their success is diminished.  This is the pattern wherever he goes, whenever Paul goes out into the world; he always goes to the synagogue first, and then later on, they go out to the Gentiles.

Even when Paul meets with success, there are complications.  Paul heals a man in Lystra, and then has to deal with the problem that the people there think they are gods, like Zeus and Hermes.  They are too popular for their own good.  Even so, it appears that the crowds of believers are easily swayed, and later on Paul is stoned and left for dead.

Crowds are fickle.  It is ever so.

And even success bring complications, for the early church, and for us.

Day 36: "We Are Witnesses Of These Things"

These are words we here over and over again in these three chapters of Acts.  Peter and John heal a lame man as they approaching the Beautiful Gate at the 3:00 prayer time.  (In Jewish tradition, there are seven times a day for prayer.  If you know this, you will find several references of people turning to prayer "at the appointed time.")

So, the man who is healed does not just walk away, he leaps away, and he praises God.  Suddenly, the disciples are doing Acts of healing just as mighty and impressive as Jesus did.  The Holy Spirit has empowered the to be witnesses, which does not only involve speaking, but also acts of healing and compassion.*

But witnessing does involve speaking as well.  In fact, the disciples seem to spend as much time defending themselves as they do healing and preaching.  They are brought up against the council more than once in these beginning chapters of Acts, and they are thrown into prison, only to let out by the power of the Holy Spirit.

"You know those uneducated fishermen you threw in prison?  They're preaching in the temple again?"

For a little while, at least, the faith community seems to lead an ideal life.  They are devoted to Jesus, and to one another.  They have no secrets (it seems) and they share everything -- not because they have to, but freely.  They sell property and lay the proceeds at the apostles' feet, to be used for the good of the whole community.  Wow.

Until Ananais and Sapphira.  It doesn't take long for someone to come along who gets the idea that they will sell a piece of property, give some of the proceeds to the apostles, tell the apostles that they have given everything, and secretly keep some of the money for themselves.  The motivation for this behavior is unclear.  The apostles seem more concerned that the couple has lied than that they held money back.  The ideal seems to be that no one has any personal property any more, but the truth is, the apostles do not require anyone to give.  As Peter says, "It was yours to keep or to give away.  Why did you lie?"  And then Ananais is struck dead (and later, his wife).

The death penalty for duplicity.  This is sobering.  No second chances for Ananais and Sapphira.  This is one of those stories that I kind of wish was a metaphor.  Because I can understand it as an object lesson, but not as a real event.  In real life, I'd like a little more room for repentance and forgiveness, another chance to get it right.

Finally, there is the figure of Gamaliel the Pharisee.  He warns the other religious leaders to watch out for the followers of Jesus, take a "wait and see attitude."  After all, there have been supposed messiahs before. After they died, their followers scattered, and that was that.  See what happens with this man Jesus and his followers, Gamaliel says.  "If their plan or activity is of human origin, it will end in ruin.  But if it originates with God, you will not be able to stop them."

Gamaliel was wise in many ways.  We could learn from him even now.

*P.S. I do not know the significance of the age of the man who was healed.  Why was it important that he was over 40?  Anyone?