Day 39

It’s almost like the Acts of the Apostles is a fifth Gospel. It’s a series of stories about the apostles continuing the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth. Christianity is born, the Holy Spirit descends, and the church rapidly spreads. It’s a fascinating read. I’ve read this book before and every time, I am absolutely riveted by the move from one episodic glimpse of this fledgling religion to another.

All throughout, Jesus is present in some way. He’s invoked. He’s not forgotten. For these apostles, he is very real and present. There are visions of him or an acknowledgement that the Holy Spirit is somehow connected to him. Miracles are performed and passionate defenses of this new faith are shared. Gone are the traditional parables and, instead, the lives of the apostles — their acts — become parables unto themselves.

From Stephen, the first martyr, to Peter baptizing the first Gentile. From the several times the apostles escape prison to Paul’s shipwreck on Malta. Parables abound but they look a little different. Indeed, I would say this is a fifth Gospel, but that is merely my reading of this text.

The ending is rather unsatisfying. That’s a weird thing to say, right? But I just read four books with some sort of intense conclusion with the resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth. But here, Paul simply enjoys teaching from Rome under house arrest. It’s a strange ending but, perhaps, in anticipation of what he shares in his letters.

I found myself cheering for the success of the apostles in their several escapes from Roman and Israelite authorities. This is a book I’ll want to revisit.

One Word for Acts: Inspired

Parts of the Text That Stayed With Me

1. Acts 2, Birth of the Church. Pentecost is a favorite of mine. Images of fire, red, and great joy at the birth of the church — an institution I owe my livelihood to, despite being an ultra-Protestant. What’s interesting to me here is the specification that the languages spoken when the apostles were struck by the Holy Spirit were understandable languages (2:8). If you’ve ever been to a Pentecostal church, you know what the gibberish sounds like. Sorry folks, the languages are clearly defined as intelligible.
2. Acts 4:34, Communal Life. In the early church, there was “not a needy person among them…” This life of shared resources and caring for the poor is an ethic I hope for in the modern church. Alas, we spend our energy wondering why religion is dying.
3. Acts 5, Struck Dead! Poor Ananias and his wife Sapphira sold land for the church but pocketed some of the money. It’s all good, though, they were smote after Peter scolded them.
4. Acts 9, Conversion. The classic story of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus. I just love this story.
5. Acts 17:24, Unknown God. Saul, now called Paul, speaks about a temple dedicated to an unknown god. The imagery of a temple to “whom it may concern” cracks me up.
6. Acts 32:3, New Testament Insults. Paul lobs this insult at some folks: “You whitewashed wall!” You tell ’em.
7. Acts 27-28, Shipwrecked! In what is a severely neglected story, Paul suffers a shipwreck on his way to be judged by the Emperor (of Rome) and finds himself on Malta with Romans and other prisoners. It’s a great story and concludes the Acts of the Apostles with Paul ultimately under house arrest in Rome after spending a significant amount of time on Malta.

This post is part of a lager series where I read the entirety of Hebrew & Christian scriptures in 45 days. Take a look a the original post for more info, as well as links to other reflections on this journey.