Archive for the ‘Acts’ Category
The Judas Problem (Acts 1:15-19)
In Acts 1:15-26, the Apostle Peter addressed what might be called the church’s Judas Problem.
To understand this problem, a bit of background information is necessary. Mark 3:14-15 tells us that Jesus “appointed twelve—designating them apostles—that they might be with him and that he might send them out to preach and to have authority to drive out demons.”
Notice five things: (1) Just as there are twelve tribes in Israel, so there are twelve apostles of Jesus. The apostles symbolize Israel reconstituted. (2) An apostle—literally, “one sent”—is the personal representative of the person who sent him. The Hebrew term for such a person is shaliach, and the crucial thing to understand is that the sendee acts with the full authority of the sender. (3) The authority of the apostle derives from his up-close interaction with and observation of Jesus. That is why Jesus calls the apostles first and foremost to “be with him.” (4) Because the apostles are Jesus’ hand-selected representatives, they have the responsibility to preach the gospel he taught them. (5) And they have his authority to exorcize demons, just as he did.
The Judas Problem arises because Judas—a member of reconstituted Israel, Jesus’ hand-selected representative, the eyewitness of his ministry who preached his message and performed his miracles—was complicit in Jesus’ murder. Not only that, but after his treachery, he committed suicide. Here’s how Acts 1:15-19 narrates the issue:
In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus—he was one of our number and shared in this ministry.”
(With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
Judas’ death created a gap in the church’s foundation. Reconstituted Israel needed twelve apostles, not eleven. It needed eyewitnesses, not second- and third-hand informants. It needed preachers of Jesus’ gospels and doers of Jesus’ deeds, not historians of the great deeds of others. And so, the early church selected Matthias to replace Judas (Acts 1:20-26). Or rather, God provided the Matthias Solution for the church’s Judas Problem.
This was a one-off solution, however. When the Apostles James died (Acts 12:2), he was not replaced. Why? Because he had performed his apostolic functions properly. He had witnessed to Jesus in word and deed, even to the point of death, unlike Judas, whose only testimony was his own “wickedness.”
Why are the Judas Problem and the Matthias Solution important? Because there is no Jesus apart from the testimony of the apostles. If you want to follow him, you must listen to them, for they are his hand-selected, one-of-a-kind, personal representatives to all ages, including ours.
Prayer as a Precondition of Revival (Acts 1:12-14)
In October 2003, Tiffany and I went on a tour of the Holy Land led by my father. During our time in Jerusalem, we visited the Upper Room, a site which commemorates the Last Supper and Day of Pentecost. (It is not the original Upper Room, however; it only dates from the twelfth century.) As the tour group crowded into this room, my dad made an interesting comment: “This was the last place the entire church was able to fit into one room.”
Acts narrates the story of a great revival, beginning in Jerusalem on the Day of Pentecost and spiraling progressively outward to Asia Minor and Europe. Acts 1:15 tells us that there were 120 believers prior to the Day of Pentecost. On the day of Pentecost, 3000 people became believers. Today, the Christian encompasses nearly 2.1 billion believers. No room is large enough to hold this entire group.
How did this happen? We will need to read Acts in its entirety to answer that question. But Acts 1:12-14 gives us a clue.
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
The first thing believers did after Jesus’ ascension was gathered to pray. Prayer is a necessary, but not sufficient, precondition of revival. Many things must happen in addition to prayer for a revival to occur, in other words, but no revival occurs without it.
And the praying must be of a particular kind. Luke tells us that “they all joined together constantly in prayer.” Two words stand out from this description: together and constantly.
In Greek, the word translated as together is homothumadon. Eugene H. Peterson writes[1]:
Homothumadon is a compound word: homo means ‘the same’; thumas means a strong emotion of anger; and the final syllable don signifies that the word is adverbial. It is the middle component, thumas, that won’t translate. Thumas is a fiery word, surging with energy—flying off the handle, losing your temper, lashing out. Except that in the context of the resurrection community there is nothing negative in it, no meanness, no violence…
Where does this surging energy come from? Peterson continues, “It is the passion of a consensual, unanimous response to something God does.” If unified prayer is the precondition of revival, God is the precondition of unified prayer. Prayer is how we connect with God.
And it’s not a one-off activity. It must be taking place constantly. Louis Pasteur once said that chance favors the prepared mind. Revival favors the praying community. Let us unite around what God has done for us and be in constant prayer!
Who knows what rooms we will outgrow as a result?
[1] Eugene H. Peterson, The Jesus Way: A Conversation on the Ways that Jesus Is the Way (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, 2007), 262.
The Best Is Yet to Come (Acts 1:9-11)
On Tuesday, November 4, 2008, Americans will elect a new president. He—perhaps one day, she—will take up residence in the White House on Tuesday, January 20, 2009, after Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr. administers the oath of office. During the anticlimactic 77 days between election and inauguration, he will appoint staff and devise strategy so that he is adequately prepared to lead from the moment he ends his oath with George Washington’s words, “So help me, God!”
The 40-day period between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension was only half as long as the election-inauguration period but infinitely more important. Jesus did not become the Commander in Chief of America for four years. He became Lord of the universe for eternity. But according to Darrell Bock, “Most [New Testament] books speak of Jesus’s resurrection or simply speak of him being exalted to the side of God( Eph. 1:19-22; 1 Tim. 3:16; Heb. 1:3, 4; 6:19-20; 9:24; 1 Pet. 3:21-22.).”[1] Luke along records the 40-day period. He narrates the details of the ascension. Here’s what he writes:
After he said this, Jesus was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
After he said this refers specifically to the commission Jesus gave his disciples to be “witnesses” to “the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). But more broadly, it refers to what he taught them about “the kingdom of God (1:3). Like the president-elect between election and inauguration, Jesus used the 40 days between resurrection and ascension to devise strategy (“kingdom”) and appoint staff (“witnesses”).
And when he was done, he was “taken up before their very eyes.” Where? “Into heaven.” In Acts 2:33, Peter—in his first sermon—interprets the ascension as an act of coronation, describing it as being “exalted to the right hand of God.” But just as the purpose of inauguration is for the president to actually lead the country, so the purpose of ascension and enthronement is for Jesus to exercise royal authority. The outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which we will study when we come to Acts 2, was Jesus’ first act as king. He “has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear” (2:33).
The thing about presidential inaugurations is that, for all the hoopla, they end in disappointment four years later. The candidate made promises he could not keep as president. The Leader of the Free World turns out to be human, all too human. Not so Jesus! His coronation is but the beginning of a successful administration. And for those of us who await his return, the best is yet to come.
[1] Darrell A. Bock, Acts (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2007), 68.
Eschatology and Missions (Acts 1:6-8)
Have you heard of The Rapture Index?
It is a webpage run by two Bible-believing Christians named Todd Strandberg and Terry James. The purpose of the index is “to measure the type of activity that could act as a precursor to the rapture.” It does this by assigning numerical value on a daily basis to news reports about false Christs, war, natural disasters, and famine, among other things. The Rapture Index measured 169 on June 30, 2008. The all-time high for the index was 182 on September 24, 2001. The all-time low was 57 on December 12, 1993.
What do these numerical values mean? Here’s how Strandberg and James put it:
- Rapture Index of 100 and Below: Slow prophetic activity
- Rapture Index of 100 to 130: Moderate prophetic activity
- Rapture Index of 130 to 160: Heavy prophetic activity
- Rapture Index above 160: Fasten your seat belts
Evidently, in light of yesterday’s Rapture Index, California’s seat-belt motto has eschatological significance: Click it or ticket!
Christians are a future-oriented people. We “look forward to the day of God and speed its coming”; we are “looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, the home of righteousness” (2 Pet. 3:12-13). And, of course, Jesus himself told us that certain “signs” would precede the end of the age: “Even so, when you see all these things, you know that it is near, right at the door” (Matt. 24:33). I suppose Jesus’ words are what motivate Strandberg and James to maintain their index.
According to Acts 1:6-8, Jesus’ disciples were similarly interested in the timing of end-times events. During the forty days between the Resurrection and the Ascension, Luke tells us: “So when they met together, they asked him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’” For the disciples, the restoration of Israel’s kingdom was The Big Event, eschatologically speaking. When that happened, the dead would rise, the righteous would be vindicated, and paradise would be restored.
Jesus’ reply to his disciples’ question is interesting. “He said to them: ‘It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’” God alone knows exactly what the future holds and in what order that future will unfold. We don’t. It’s not our job to figure that stuff out. Rather, our job is to be witnesses of Jesus’ words and deeds to everyone everywhere.
Acts 1:8 is the key verse. It describes our priority: missional witness, not eschatological speculation. It demonstrates our need for power from the Holy Spirit. And it delineates a plan of action: from Jerusalem to the ends of the world. Acts tells the story of the church as it carried out its mission in the first-century. It’s our job to do the same in the twenty-first.
By the way, the one word you won’t find on the Rapture Index is mission. To me, that’s telling.
All That Jesus Continues to Do and Teach (Acts 1:1-5)
Many people like Jesus, but they dislike the church. Jesus has a winsome personality, wise words, and a way with human relationships. All too often, the church doesn’t. Consequently, many follow Jesus; few join a church.
Acts 1:1-5 shows us why Jesus and the church are inseparable and how to realign the church with Jesus.
In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
Luke, who wrote these words, wrote two books. The Gospel (“my former book”) narrates “all that Jesus began to do and teach.” By implication, Acts narrates all that Jesus continues to do and teach. But in Acts, people are Jesus’ agents in history. He acts through them.
We cannot separate Jesus and the church, then, because Jesus does not. It is “my [Jesus’] church” (Matt. 16:18). It is “the body of Christ” (1 Cor. 12:27). It is “the bride of Christ” (Rev. 19:7). To separate Jesus from his church is theft, dissection, and divorce.
But how do we realign the church with Jesus when it is misaligned?
First, the church must be God-centered. Jesus’ message was “the good news of the kingdom of God” (Luke 4:43). This was the message he taught his disciples (Acts 1:3). And this was also the early church’s message (Acts 8:12; 19:8; 20:25; 28:31). God must be at the center of our words and deeds.
Second, the church must be Jesus-focused. It must preach what Jesus preached. But it must also preach what Jesus did for humanity through his death (“suffering”) and resurrection. “Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to men by which we must be saved” (Acts 4:12).
Third, the church must be Spirit-empowered. We cannot speak Jesus’ message and proclaim the salvation that comes through him without the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which is an overwhelming experience of divine power (Acts 1:5, 8).
Fourth, the church must be relational. The church is not a building or an institution, it is a fellowship. Jesus demonstrated the nature of this fellowship by “eating with them,” i.e., his disciples. The church is a dinner party for friends.
And fifth, the church must be missional. During the forty days after his resurrection, Jesus gave “instructions” (literally, “a command”) to “be my witnesses” (Acts 1:8). Whatever blessings of grace the church receives through Jesus, Jesus commands it to share with others. There must always be room for another friend at the table.
God-centered, Jesus-focused, Spirit-empowered, relational, and missional: This is the paradigm for the church, in Acts and in every age. Who wouldn’t join such a church?
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