The book of Acts. In the first video we
watched Luke open the book by showing us how the
Risen Jesus was exalted as the King of the world. He promised to send the Holy Spirit as His own personal presence to empower His followers, to go out into the world and bear witness to the
good news about His Kingdom, until he would return one day. And so the movement began
in Jerusalem as the Spirit came and form Jesus'
followers into the new temple promised by the scriptural prophets. But this generated conflict
with the leaders of Jerusalem. And so it led to the
persecution of the Christians. but the Spirit transformed it into good: it actually became the means by which the originally Jewish communities were pushed outside Jerusalem to become a multi-ethnic,
international movement. And the flagship Church of this
diverse Jesus' movement was an Antioch, the largest city in that
part of the Roman Empire. So we left the story
with Barnabas and Paul serving in Antioch church. And the Spirit prompts the church to send them on a missionary journey, which opens up a whole
new section of the book, the stories about Paul and his co-workers traveling to different cities
around the Roman Empire announcing the good
news that Jesus is King. The first mission is into the interior of what's called Asia Minor
found in modern Turkey. And it ends with an important
meeting of the Apostles back in Jerusalem. The second mission is through Asia Minor and then into ancient Greece. And then the third mission is
through that same territory again and it concludes with Paul's
journey all the way back to Jerusalem. Now in recounting all these stories Luke has highlighted a
number of important themes by repeating them. So first is the
continued mission to Israel; whenever Paul enters a new city he always goes first
to the Jewish synagogue to share about the risen King Jesus and how He's forming a
new multi-ethnic family of God. The most often lots of people come
to recognize Jesus as the Messiah but some oppose Paul. Sometimes they even throw him
out of town as a dangerous rebel who opposes the
Torah and Jewish tradition. And this tension
culminates after the first journey leading to an
important council in Jerusalem. So Paul discovers that there
are some Jewish Christians in Antioch and they're claiming
that unlless non-jewish people become Jewish by
practicing circumcision, the Sabbath, obeying the kosher food laws, that they can't
become part of Jesus' family. But Paul and Barnabas
they radically disagree. And so they take the debate to
a Leadership Council in Jerusalem. Now they're Peter, Paul and
James, the brother of Jesus they all show from the
Scriptures and from their experience that God's plan was always to include
the nations within His covenant people. So they write a letter
requiring non-jewish Christians to stop participating in
pagan temple sacrifices but they don't require them to
adopt an ethnically Jewish identity or obey the laws in the Torah. Now this decision was groundbreaking
for the history of the Jesus Movement. Jesus is the Jewish Messiah but He's also the
risen King of all nations. And so once membership among His
people is not based on ethnic identity or following the laws of the Torah; it's based simply on trusting Jesus and then following His teachings. And it's this multi-ethnic
reality of the Jesus Movement that leads us to the next theme Luke wants us to see in the
missionary journeys, namely: the clash of cultures
between the early Christians and the greek and roman world. Luke records multiple
clashes in Phillipy, Athens, Ephesus. Paul goes announces Jesus as the revelation of the one true God and as the King of the world who shows up all other gods
and idols as powerless and futile. And his message is consistently viewed as subversive to the Roman Way of life and he gets accused of being
a dangerous social revolutionary. These stories show how the multi-
ethnic, monotheistic Jesus communities did not fit into any cultural
boxes known to the Roman people. The ancient world had just
never seen anything like them. And the Christians aroused
more than just suspicions. Another theme Luke repeats is how Paul and the Christians are constantly being accused of rebellion even treason against
Caesar, the Roman Emperor. People heard Paul correctly: he was announcing
that there's another King Jesus and they also correctly saw that the
Christian Way of life was the challenge to many Roman cultural values. But every time Paul gets arrested
and interrogated before Roman officials they don't see any
threat and he's dismissed. These stories show us the paradox that the early church
presented to the world; it was a Jewish messianic movement but it was ethnically
diverse, full of communities that treated men and women and rich and poor and slave and free, all as equals. And they all gave their
allegiance to King Jesus alone and no other god or king. And so their very existence it turned upside down the
core values of roman culture but the Christians pose no military threat because Jesus taught
them to be people of peace. And so the only crime Paul and
the Christians can be accused of is not conforming to the status quo. The books final section
returns the focus to Paul's witness spreading from Jerusalem to Rome. His final missionary
journey ends back in Jerusalem where his controversial
reputation precedes him. He gets attacked by
Jewish people who think that he's betrayed Israel which
attracts the attention of Roman soldiers who think Paul's a terrorist
from Egypt starting a rebellion. And so he gets arrested. From here Paul is put on trial: first before the Jewish leaders
of the Sanhedrin in Jerusalem but then before a series
of Roman leaders and surya. There's governor Felix who puts Paul off for
the next governor Festus who eventually brings
Paul before King Agrippa. He ends up in prison for years even though at each trial
the charges never stick to him because all he's doing is announcing that his hope in the resurrection
has been fulfilled in King Jesus. This is hardly a crime. But at this point the Roman legal
machine can't just turn him away and so Paul ends up
appealing to Rome's highest court. Now you would think that all this
prison time would be a setback for Paul because his heartbeat is to be on the
road starting new Jesus' communities. But the Spirit orchestrates
everything for good in this book. And so the imprisonment gives Paul time to have his most
important apostolic letters written. And these become the way that his missionary legacy is
carried on long after he dies. Eventually Paul was
transferred as a prisoner to run and after a terrifying near-death
voyage across the Mediterranean, Paul ends up in house arrest in Rome awaiting his delayed trial. And so he's able to host in
quite a nice house regular meetings that reach Jews and Gentiles. And the books final words are about how Paul is announcing the Kingdom of God and boldly teaching all about
the Lord Jesus, the Messiah totally unhindered; all happening right
under Caesars nose in Rome. The unified work of Luke
acts it does so much more than give us a history
of Jesus and the early church. He's showing how the Kingdom
of God came on earth as in heaven through Jesus' life,
death and resurrection; through the coming of His Spirit to empower the church to
bear witness from Jerusalem to the ends of the Earth. And as Luke has told the story
he's given us scores of example of what faithfulness
to King Jesus looks like. It looks like sharing the good news of the risen King Jesus
in word and in action. It means forming
diverse Jesus' communities where people of all kinds come together, where they're treated equally and give allegiance to King Jesus and live by His teachings. And all of this is done
by trusting in the power and the guidance of the Spirit to lead the way forward. That's what the
book of Acts is all about.
