Acts: Odds and Ends

On Fulfilling Scripture (Acts 1:15-22) As part of the parallel structure that I discussed in introducing Acts, we discover that certain activities within the church fulfill scripture. In Luke, the actions of Jesus fulfilled scripture. In the case of Acts, Peter argues in his first speech (1:15-22) that the death of Judas was predicted by David in Psalms 69 and 109. If you will read these Psalms, you will see that there is no connection to Judas. The Psalms cited by Peter are not about a traitor, but rather, in each case, about a man who wants God to rescue him from his enemies.

The Last Disciple (Acts 1: 21-26) When Mattias is chosen to replace Judas as a disciple, that is the last we hear of twelve disciples. The notion of twelve disciples relates to the salvation of Israel as a nation where there were twelve tribes. Jesus suggests in Matthew (19: 28) that in a new Israel each disciple would sit as judge of one of the tribes. As the church rapidly moves into the Hellenistic world, the notion of salvation changes from a corporate Israel to the individual. With such a change, there was no longer need for twelve disciples.

The Christian Community (Acts 2:44-47 and 4: 32-37) These two passages describe the community established by Jesus’ early followers. This community was based on shared wealth, shared meals, and a radical equality between men and women. It was a community based on mutual love and caring. This was Jesus’ solution to the problem of Roman occupation. How do you survive these horrible times? By living in communities of mutual love and caring. In this way, it was possible to ignore the Romans and to wait for God to provide for liberation. It was a brilliant strategy!

Ideology v. Love (Acts 10: 28-37) As this passage indicates, the Jews taught that it was forbidden to mix with people from a different race. Peter introduces this idea to explain the significance of a vision he received from God in which God told him that all people are clean regardless of race. This passage provides a vivid contrast between religion as ideology and religion as love.

Curing the Sick (Acts 10:39) In an address Peter gives to a group of people in Cornelius, he describes for them an aspect of Jesus’ ministry in which Jesus went about doing good and curing all who had fallen into the power of the devil. You will note here the first century worldview regarding the nature of disease. Disease was caused by the invasion of the body of evil forces. People living then had no concept of the biological nature of human disease.

Leadership of the Christian Community (Acts 15:19) The Catholic Church and Christians generally have assumed that Peter was the first leader of the Christian community. The gospels imply this fact, and Jesus specifically designates Peter as leader of the church in Matthew 16: 13-20. I have often wondered about this issue. The gospels reflect the views of the Hellenistic church, the church established after 70 CE when Judaism was destroyed in Palestine and the Christian religion rapidly moved into the Hellenistic world.

The picture in Acts seems different to me, a picture of the church in Palestine before the horrible war with Rome from 66 to 73 CE. Here Peter appears as an ambassador to the Hellenistic world with James, the brother of Jesus, as leader of the first Christian community. Read about the Jerusalem Conference (Acts 15: 5-21) where the church decided the conditions under which Gentiles would be admitted into the fellowship. This was an important issue, all prominent members of the community were there. At that meeting, Peter made a speech, but James decided the issue (15:19). See also Acts 21: 1. When Paul travels to Jerusalem, it is reported that he goes “to visit James and all the elders were present.”

Paul’s Traveling Companion (Acts 16:11) Some New Testament scholars have argued that the author of Luke became Paul’s traveling companion toward the end of the apostle’s life. This idea comes from the intriguing insertion of we into the dialogue after chapter 15. “Sailing from Troas, we made a straight run for Samothrace (16:11).” I do not find this idea convincing because the views of Paul and the author of Luke are so different on so many issues. Take for example the resurrection. In last week’s blog, I pointed out that the author of Luke saw Jesus’ resurrection as a physical event while for Paul it was a vision experience. I wonder how such a difference could exist among traveling companions.