15. Acts of the Apostles - a cracking good read

Once again the church season is dictating my choice of Bible book; I'm writing this in the church season between the Ascension of Jesus and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, when the book of Acts features heavily in the lectionary of readings. What I had never really appreciated before about Acts - and something you couldn't really glean from a piecemeal hearing in Sunday church services - is that it's actually a good book in the literary sense. It has a well paced story, some great characters and interesting settings, high drama and plot twists - you could read it on holiday on the beach. The only thing I found a let down was how quickly it ended

1. The story of the Apostles (continuing from Luke's gospel), begins with Jesus disappearing and Matthias being promoted to replace Judas among 'the twelve'

2. The Holy Spirit arrives powerfully on Pentecost Day, enabling Simon/Peter to preach publicly about Jesus' resurrection, and convincing many Jews and Jewish converts to join the Jesus movement

3. Urged by the Spirit, Peter and John heal a crippled man in Jesus' name on their way into the temple, and use it as an opportunity to talk about Jesus to the amazed crowd

4. The Holy Spirit continues to enable the Apostles to speak and perform signs in Jesus' name and the community grows - much to the dismay of the temple authorities

5. Amazing signs and wonders are reported about the new community and the temple authorities try to silence them (without success)

6. As the community continues to grow new leaders like Stephen, are recognised for their exceptional faith and wisdom, and are affirmed in a ministerial vocation

7. Opportunistically Stephen retells the history of Israel while he's being questioned by temple authorities, comparing Jesus and Moses - his bold move results in his execution 

8. The situation in Jerusalem becomes too heated and many (such as Philip) scatter to the surrounding regions, while continuing to share the good news of Jesus with new audiences

9. Healings and Holy Spirit experiences continue; Saul of Tarsus, the famous persecutor of Jesus followers, has a complete change of heart, which some followers struggle to trust

10. Peter has his eyes opened to the scope of God's mission, when he is guided by the Holy Spirit to share the good news of Jesus with Cornelius the centurion

11. The apostles in Judea are dismayed that Peter spoke with gentiles, but after hearing the story of how God led him to do it in a vision, they recapitulate, and the good news of Jesus begins to spread further and faster

12. Peter goes on the run after a miraculous and hilarious escape from Herod's clutches, whose corrupt schemes bring him to a bad end

13. Barnabus and Saul (generally now called Paul) are commissioned to go on a preaching tour of synagogues, usually getting a mixed reception from the Jews, but a warmer welcome from gentile seekers 

14. On their tour Barnabus and Paul find success and failure in equal measure as they share the good news with Jews and gentiles

15. Barnabus and Paul return to Jerusalem to discuss issues of division arising between Jewish and gentile Christians over the law of Moses, before resuming their travels, but with new traveling companions

16. The story now becomes a first hand account as Paul and new partner Silas travel vast distances throughout the Roman empire, guided by the Holy Spirit to discover unexpected welcome as well as confrontation when they share the good news of Jesus far and wide

17. Everywhere that Paul, Silas and new boy Timothy go, the message that they share is greeted with astonishment followed by joyous acceptance or angry disbelief, and the latter response forces them to keep moving on

18. Paul spends over a year in Corinth, supporting the church there and developing the ministry of a couple named Priscilla and Aquila, who in turn go on to support a promising young apologist called Apollos

19. Lives are transformed producing some civil unrest as the disciples of 'The Way of Jesus', continue to share the good news, baptising and healing as they go

20. After traveling and preaching extensively throughout Greece, Paul feels compelled to return to Jerusalem and says a tearful farewell to his many friends, whom he believes he will not see again due to the troubles that accompany his ministry

21. Against the urging of his Greek friends, Paul returns to Jerusalem, is seized by an angry mob in the temple and ends up in Roman custody

22. The Roman soldiers allow Paul to give his testimony, which enrages the crowd again, but his status as a Roman citizen protects him from further punishment

23. Under further questioning before the Jewish council, Paul's testimony causes such uproar that the centurion in charge of him arranges for Paul to be transported by night to the Roman governor in Caesarea

24. For the next two years Paul is under house arrest, having regular meetings with Felix, the governor and his wife Drusilla, until a new governor arrives

25. Even the new governor cannot decide what to do with Paul, and when Paul asks for his case to be brought before Caesar the governor asks king Agrippa for his opinion

26. Agrippa, (who apparently had a good understanding of Judaism) finds no reason to accuse Paul

27. Sent to Rome by sea for trial Paul meets winter storms and the ship is lost, but miraculously the whole of the crew and passengers (mostly other prisoners) make land safely

28. Paul eventually arrives in Rome, where he spends a day testifying about Jesus to the local Jewish leaders - with mixed results - after which he remains in a rented house for two years, focusing on his mission to the gentiles while awaiting audience with the emperor

There is much name dropping in the Book of Acts; the apostles (Simon) Peter and John, familiar from Luke's Gospel, are centre stage at the start, but other significant figures from the early church quickly appear. Many of these characters are only heard about now through church Saints days, where we get to hear a little of their individual story. As I read through Acts I got the sense of how connected and varied community was. That group, starting in Judea and growing along Roman trade routes was incredibly diverse and yet seems so close knit. I wanted to know more about many of the characters; Stephen's part was sadly fleeting, but he was clearly an influencer. As were Philip (and the unnamed eunuch he spoke with), Simon (a Samarian sorcerer), Ananias, Judas (who gives refuge to Saul), Tabitha, Simon (a hospitable tanner), Cornelius (a centurion), and a huge cast of other characters, named and unnamed. I thought it might be nice to make a record of the cast of characters in the book, but there were just too many! I do want to draw attention to one in particular that I felt drawn to though. Continuing my pattern from the old testament books of noticing the named female characters, Rhoda was one I found particularly appealing. She was the housekeeper where Peter runs to for refuge when he escapes from prison in chapter 12. When Peter arrives unexpectedly in the middle of the night it is Rhoda who responds to his knock and realises that it really is him at the door. At this point she becomes so excited she runs off to tell the rest of the household - leaving Peter on the other side of the locked door! She then has to convince everyone else that it really is Peter and persuade them to unlock the door, which she manages to do eventually. Clearly Rhoda was an influential person, and the fact that this funny little snippet was recorded suggests that she was probably someone who was comfortable being teased about her impetuous enthusiasm. I suspect Rhoda was great fun and well loved by the community. 

 In chapters 18 and 19 the persuasive powers of apologists are at the forefront of the Christian evangelical movement from Jews to gentiles (from synagogue to forum and lecture hall.) Apollos makes name for himself by his persuasive powers, and this seems to spur Paul to work harder on his public speaking. I get the impression that he wasn't considered a very charismatic man - he doesn't seem to have been naturally possessed of the easy going charm that drew people to (Simon) Peter - but he seemed to learn a lot about public persona as he spent more and more time in Roman meeting places and could no longer rely on his excellent knowledge of the law of Moses to communicate with people - his perseverance is impressive! Chapter 14 is of particular interest to me and this Bible study project I'm undertaking. Here we see Barnabus and Paul struggling to communicate who God is to the gentiles - who have responded to a healing miracle by trying to worship the disciples themselves. Without the story of Israel to introduce Jesus, the two have to rely on nature images and refer to the God of 'rain and harvest', but it seems clear that the crowd don't really get it. If ever we wonder why we have so much Jewish scripture in the Christian bible, this story is surely a good illustration of what can happen without those stories, when people build their understanding of God on top of what they already know - or think they know. We cannot just absorb new understanding, however cleverly it is presented, it has to connect with something we already understand. Where the idea of a loving and present but intangible God is an alien concept, how can that understanding 'take root' and grow? It must have been a dilemma for Paul and Barnabus, and is a massive struggle for the church today. As someone who did not grow up with experience of any faith teaching or stories, this is a familiar struggle for me. My first experiences of the Christian story and of worship were bewildering to say the least! I had nothing on which to build an understanding of God, and continue to struggle with the father/king/shepherd imagery so beloved of Israel. It is only by delving deeper into the stories and discovering other threads and images that I've been able to make peace with that patriarchal picture of God. Since coming to faith in the way of Christ, the hunger that I've had for exploring and sharing the bible has been something which has sustained and strengthened me through the highs and lows of my journey. Again and again in this current project I'm being reminded of how essential the dialogue with Judaism is for Christian faith, not just the stories of the 'old' Testament interpreted through a Christian (and especially a 'western') lens, but the living faith that continues to sustain

My final point from Acts goes to another named female character. In chapters 25 and 26 Bernice (the wife of king Agrippa) is mentioned but then nothing more is said about her. She seems to be a bit of a celebrity and in later years became a well known figure in works of art and stories. Her appearance in the book of Acts seems to be nothing more than celebrity name dropping. I feel that this emphasises what an important piece of writing this book is for giving a glimpse into the life and times of the early church. It isn't merely a text book to tell us how to 'be church', it's a glimpse of another time and is chocked full of the kind of details which are so notably absent from the synoptic gospels, with their emphasis on message.

Acts really is a cracking Christian read