Recap

So far in Acts, we've read through the introduction, the disciples' time in Jerusalem, and started the church spreading into Samaria. We noted how Acts, a sequel to Luke's gospel, explores the birth and growth of the early church. Jesus commissioned his disciples to spread the good news from Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. He instructed them to wait for the Holy Spirit to empower them and then ascended to heaven.

While the disciples waited, the Holy Spirit came as wind and fire, making God’s people his new temples. Empowered to speak in various languages, the disciples amazed the crowd, and Peter led over 3,000 to salvation. The church was born, and believers lived in community, sharing everything.

Peter and John healed a lame man at the temple, explaining that God’s presence now dwelt in his people. This led to conflict with the priests, who warned them to stop preaching. The believers prayed for boldness and shared their possessions. As struggles arose, the Apostles appointed seven men to manage daily tasks, and the church grew.

Stephen, one of the seven, performed miracles but was accused of blasphemy. He highlighted how Israel had rejected God’s chosen, including Jesus. This enraged the crowd who stoned him. His death triggered persecution, forcing Christians to spread the gospel to Judea and Samaria.

One of the key people involved in spreading the good news during this time is Phillip. We read as he saved many in Samaria, including a man named Simon who was known for practising magic. In this, we saw God’s divine power over these dark forces. Then we read as God led Phillip to an Ethiopian man just as we searching the scriptures and needing someone to explain them to him. In this, we saw God’s divine will. 

Next was Saul, a young man intent on arresting all Christians. He was blinded by Jesus, who revealed himself to Saul. Saul then remained blind until he was healed and filled with the Holy Spirit by a man named Ananias. We watched as he immediately went out and began sharing the good news of Jesus, having to move from city to city because of the enemies he made. At first, the disciples in Jerusalem didn’t want anything to do with him, but Barnabus vouched for him.

Switching back to Peter, Peter received a vision from God about not calling what He has made clean, unclean. Soon after, Peter was taken to the house of Cornelius, a Roman Centurion and Gentile. Normally, Jews wouldn’t enter Gentile homes, but Peter understood his vision. God had declared the Gentiles clean. Peter shared the good news of Jesus, and the Gentiles were filled with the Holy Spirit, becoming part of God's kingdom.

Acts 11-12

As news spreads of these news Gentile converts, not everyone is happy. There are some who are annoyed that Peter would break their traditions and start mixing with Gentiles. And this is understandable. For years, this has been part of their religious traditions.

God spoke to Peter, but he hasn’t spoken to the rest of the disciples yet, so they’re not aware that God approves of this. So Peter returns to Jerusalem to explain everything to them. He starts with the vision he had from God and tells the disciples how he went to Cornelius’ house and shared the gospel with them.

Then the Holy Spirit fell on the Gentiles there. If the Holy Spirit approves of these people, who are the disciples to disagree? Satisfied with Peter’s story, the disciples begin to praise God. If God wants to offer this incredible life to the Gentiles, then this is good news.

While this happening, many believers are still scattering due to persecution. As they go, they continue to share their faith with others, but most choose to only talk to other Jews. This might be because they’ve not heard Peter’s news yet, or it may be that their religious habits are hard to break.

But a few that went to Antioch also shared their faith with the Hellenists. We encountered Hellenists back in Acts 6:1. These were Jews that had grown up as Greeks. Not only did they speak Greek, but their thinking and their culture were Greek.

This would be an ideal group of people to start a church that reached out to the Gentiles. These Hellenists had the history and the understanding of the Old Testament scriptures of the Jews, but the language and the culture of the Greeks.

As more and more people became followers of Jesus in Antioch, the apostles send Barnabus to encourage and support them. This new church continues to grow, and Barnabus soon sends for Saul to help him care for these new believers.

Not only does this group grow in number, but they also grow in character. One of their number prophesies that a great famine would come, and so they decide to gather up food to send to those in need in Judea.

This is huge. In this ancient world, it was fairly common for groups of people to care for their own. But it was unheard of for a group of people to provide support to a completely separate group, made of people of different culture. But thought separate in geography and culture, these groups were united by their faith in Jesus.

But before long, the persecution begins to ramp up again. King Herod arrests some of the believers and has the apostle James executed. Seeing how pleased the enemies of the Christians were by this, Herod decides to arrest Peter and do the same to him.

But God is with his people during their persecution. He sends an angel to rescue Peter from the prison. At first Peter assumes he is dreaming, but once outside the prison walls he realises what has happened. Rushing to join the other believers to tell them what has happened, Peter arrives at their door and knocks.

When the servant girl tells the group it is Peter, they don’t believe her, but praise God when Peter appears before them. We see through this story that God doesn’t abandon his people during persecution. There’s no guarantee he will definitely rescue them. James was not so lucky. But we can have confidence that God is still with us and is still in control.

Meanwhile, Herod is being filled with pride. His recent actions of won a lot of support from his people, and before long they begin to declare he is a God. Herod makes the mistakes of not correcting them, and an angel comes and strikes him down.

We see in the Old Testament kings who try to set themselves up as gods (Ezekiel 28:1-10, Daniel 4:28-33). It doesn’t end well for them. As believers, we are not immune to this trap. As God blesses us and uses us more and more, we can begin to take this for granted.

We can believe that our success is because of our own greatness, and not because of God’s blessing. This story of Herod is a useful reminder for us to remain humble in all situations.

Psalm 122

This psalm is attributed to king David and is named as a psalm of ascent. These psalms were sung by worshippers as they ascended to Jerusalem for the three pilgrimage festivals (Passover, Festival of Weeks, and Festival of Tabernacles) or possibly by the Levites as they ascended the steps of the Temple. Psalm 120-134 are all psalms of ascent. 

Psalm 122:1-2 - Let’s go to the house of the Lord

Psalm 122:3-5 - Jerusalem, the throne of David

Psalm 122:6-9 - A prayer for the peace and prosperity of Jerusalem

Continuing our journey from a foreign land towards Jerusalem in Psalm 120-121 now the psalmist finds themselves outside the gates of Jerusalem. They are excited because they have come to the house of the Lord. They are nearing the end of their journey.

The psalmist then takes a moment to reflect on the city. It is a secure city in which all the tribes of Israel gather together to give thanks to the Lord. It is the place that the Lord set up his kingdom and his king.

This leads the psalmist to pray a prayer of peace and prosperity over Jerusalem. May Jerusalem continue to be a place of peace and security for the sake of the house of the Lord.

This psalm is written into a context where Jerusalem was the seat of God’s presence. Today, we believe that God’s presence dwells in every believer. Because of this, the modern equivalent for us would be to be to seek eagerly more of God’s presence and to pray for peace and prosperity wherever we go so that God’s presence and kingdom might flourish more in our communities.