by Rev. Canon Don Beatty                <--previous     next -->

Session 3
The Church in Jerusalem
(Acts 3-7)

Last week we looked at the birth of the church in Jerusalem. Jesus and his disciples made their way to Jerusalem where Jesus was to stand up against the Jewish temple authorities. This was the holy city, the centre and very heart of Judaism. It was here that the temple authorities controlled the thought and worship of Jewish life and it was here that Jesus must confront them and expose them as no longer God's servants.

He takes on the priests of the temple and replaces the Jewish sacrificial system with himself. He was to be the new sacrifice, the new Israel, the new kingdom. Make no mistake; Jesus is a revolutionary, but a non-violent one! He generally becomes a thorn in their side and for his troubles they put him to death, a rather hideous death by crucifixion on a cross. This was not a pleasant way to die. This is the story so well depicted by Mel Gibson’s file, ‘The Passion of Christ.’

The Jewish authorities thought that would be the end of the matter. His disciples should pack up and go home after the death of their leader. Yet they did not.

They waited in Jerusalem and met with the resurrected Jesus over the next forty days and then ten days after his ascension, the Holy Spirit comes upon them in a mighty way. They go out to proclaim Christ Jesus crucified and risen. Forty is a symbolic number in Jewish literature. It represented some sort of great change was about to occur. (Moses in the wilderness, Noah and the Ark, Jesus in the desert.)

The early disciples are all Jews and the message is for their own people. Jesus was the end and climax of Jewish history and they were the successors to this history and the beginning of the new kingdom of God. The disciples went to great length to maintain the number twelve in the band of Apostles representing the twelve tribes of Israel. They elected Matthias to replace Judas who had killed himself. The 120 believers mentioned by Luke in the early church represented the formation of a new self-governing synagogue. This was the number of men needed for such a church. All of these things in Luke’s account of the early church have their roots in Judaism.

The early believers went to the Jewish synagogue Saturday and to the temple to worship when they were in Jerusalem. They always gathered with the Christian community each Sunday. As they gathered on Sunday, they would celebrate a form of the Eucharist and listen to the stories about Jesus from the eyewitnesses,that is the Apostles. They believed Jesus was with them in the breaking of bread. This is true today. We believe that Jesus is present in a real and unique way within the bread and wine of the Eucharist.

Peter is the undisputed leader in this early church. He is the spokesperson in most occasions from the electing of Matthias to the first Christian sermon preached on Pentecost and at the arrest and trials of the Apostles.

As we start our reading of chapter three, we look at the life in this early Jerusalem church. This chapter starts with Peter and John going to the temple for prayers. It is about three o'clock in the afternoon. Here they encounter a man crippled from birth. He has one favoured position at the temple gate. It is actually the gate called 'beautiful' or sometimes called the Nicanor Gate. It is the usual entrance to the temple, not by the front door but through the court of the Gentiles and then the court of the Women. Thus, it would be one of the best spots for a beggar to obtain. It suggests that he had been begging for a long time. As Peter and John approach him, they look intently at him and he thinks he is about to receive a big gift. He holds out his alms basin expectantly but Peter said, we don't have any money, but we can give you something far more precious that silver or gold. Peter takes him by the hand and helps him to his feet and in the name of Jesus Christ his legs are straightened. He is healed of his affliction. In amazement, people gather around. The beggar was obviously well known to the temple crowd.

There are many such acts of healing in the early church, and especially in Acts. Jesus had passed on the ministry of healing to the early church and to us today. Peter addresses the crowd at the temple gate and preaches Christ crucified and risen. They, the Apostles, are the eye- witnesses of this great event. This is the message, the kerygma of the early church. God raised this Jesus you had crucified on a tree on the third day and it is he who heals and does the signs and wonders talked about by Luke throughout this book.

Then the people are called to repent and turn to God and seek his forgiveness which is offered to all through this same Jesus.

Jesus was the Jewish Messiah whom they had foretold since ancient times. The Old Testament had predicted this day and they must act now to be saved. He was not the kind of Messiah that they had expected. He was not the conquering hero who would raise up an army and drive out the Roman overlords. He was the suffering servant who would lay down his life for his friends. Moreover, he was the real thing!

In chapter four, Peter and John are arrested for teaching about Jesus and the church continued to grow. This is a recurring theme throughout the Book of Acts. The church had now reached 5000. It was 3000 after Pentecost. These numbers may not be too accurate in Acts. They really represent a great many people. After Peter and John are questioned before the Sanhedrin by Annas, the high priest and his son-in-law, Caiaphas, Luke tells us that the Holy Spirit filled Peter and he preaches to the Sanhedrin. This is the ruling body of Judaism, who has the power of life and death over the Apostles. Peter would be unable to address such an august body, but the Holy Spirit gives him the power to speak about Jesus crucified and risen. Are we to be accused for acts of kindness toward this crippled man, he asks? It was Jesus who healed him. It was in his name that he was cured.

Annas is the high priest for the Jews. It was a lifetime appointment and as he was still alive, he kept the title. The Romans had appointed Caiaphas as high priest. Fortunately, he was Annas' son-in-law, and so often you see them acting together, as they are here in the Acts.

The Sanhedrin was so impressed by their courage and their learning, although they were only uneducated fishermen, that they let them go. They commanded them not to speak about Jesus but they obviously could not obey that command. In addition, the Sanhedrin was afraid of the reaction of the people because the healed beggar was very visible. How could they go against that kind of power? As Peter and John return to the Christian community and they were all praising God for their deliverance, again Luke tells us that the house shakes and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit and they spoke the word of God boldly (Acts 4:31). This Pentecostal experience keeps recurring throughout this book as the Christians are continually 'topped up'.

They are still living in community at this point in scripture. The converts keep pouring in, bringing their possessions with them and passing them on to the church. The Apostles do the preaching and teaching. In Acts 4:36, we meet Barnabas for the first time. He is an early convert. He is a Levite that is he is of the tribe of Levi, who looked after the material needs of the temple. Barnabas is from Cyprus, so he probably didn’t work in the temple confines although he would have the privileges that his clan was entitled to. His name means 'son of encouragement' and he too sold his field and brought his money to the community to be used as they needed it. Luke appears to be using this story as a direct contrast to the Ananias and Sapphira story, which appears in the next chapter. We will be hearing much more about Barnabas later in the Acts.

Chapter five is probably one of the most difficult chapters in this book. It is the story of Ananias and his wife Sapphira. These two are converted to Christianity. They sell their possessions and bring the proceeds to the Apostles. However, they decide to keep back a portion for themselves. This was not wrong. They could do what they wanted with their money. Their dishonesty was their sin. In this deceit, Ananias and Sapphira become a threat to the survival of the young church.

This story is partly about Peter's discernment. There was no way he could have known about their deceit if the Holy Spirit had not revealed it to him. When he challenges Ananias about it, he lies to Peter. Peter accuses him of lying to the Holy Spirit of God and he drops dead. Perhaps Ananias was so frightened he died of his fright. Sapphira comes into Peter and tries the same deceit and she too, dies. You cannot deceive or mock God. They were caught in the act and they died for their sin against the Holy Spirit. Luke may also be contrasting their deceitful behaviour with the goodness of Barnabas.

Did God cause these deaths? I don't know, but he certainly uses them to get an important message across to the early church. Evil must be confronted in the church. It cannot be allowed to take root and grow for it may very well destroy this young church It was a rather strong message, but a necessary one for the young church. Luke tells us that a great fear or awe seized the church.

They suddenly realized that this was for real. A new level of understanding of what the church really is and one needs to count the cost before they commit themselves. They realized that God was deadly serious about his kingdom and if you try to deceive God, you must be prepared to face the consequences. The event became known throughout the early church and you can bet they would get the message. God was not to be fooled. I doubt that many others tried to deceive God from then on. That message is still true today. We cannot deceive God. He probably won't put us to death, but we could be condemned to eternal life without God! God knows when we are not being honest and integrity is an essential ingredient to Christianity.

After Ananias and Sapphira are dealt with, the Apostles continue their teaching and the church continues to grow (Acts 5:14). This is another of Luke’s markers! See how this theme keeps recurring in the Acts.

The later part of chapter five deals with another arrest of the apostles, their release by the angels and their preaching at the temple gates. This is a little bit of comic relief provided by Luke. The Sadducees who arrested the Apostles did not believe in angels, yet it was the angels who released them. They go looking for the apostles in the jail and they are not there. Where are they? Why they are back in the temple preaching again, the deed for which they had been arrested. It is almost like a soap opera! As they are brought again before the Sanhedrin, we meet Gamaliel, the greatest rabbi of their day. He said to the Sanhedrin, “Leave these men alone and let them go. For if their purpose or activities are of human origin it will fail. But if it is from God you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourself fighting God.” (Acts 5:38-39) Again, they were released and warned not to teach about Jesus. This time, they suffer a beating at the hands of the Sanhedrin, but that only adds to their enthusiasm about the gospel. (Paul was a student of Gamaliel.)

The Christian community in Jerusalem was made up of Hebraic Aramaic speaking Jews and Hellenistic or Greek speaking Jews. The Hellenistic Jews were foreigners in Jerusalem and felt that the local Jews were being treated better than they were. The Apostles were trying to provide for the needs of all the community and could not keep up with all the work involved, so they suggested electing seven deacons.

The word deacon from the Greek 'Diaconos' meaning waiter or servant. These men were elected to take care of the material needs of all in the community. Interestingly, the seven elected are all Greek. Whereas the Apostles were all Hebraic Jews, it suggests they were trying to level the playing field somewhat. The deacons were ordained by the apostles with the laying on of hands and went to do their ministry, and Luke tells us again, the church continued to grow, even bringing some priests of the temple into their midst. (Acts 6:7) In our church today all priests are ordained deacon and then as a priest. We are reminded that all priests are primarily a deacon, which is a servant of the people of God.

(As a little aside: Much later in Church history, the church in Rome had seven deacons in charge of the seven areas of Rome. As they were no longer deacons in the original understanding of the term, and as the church needed other deacons, they became known as Archdeacons. As they felt they could only appoint seven, these Archdeacons became among the most powerful church leaders in Rome.)

The only deacons we hear about later in the Acts are Stephen and Philip.

It is Stephen we meet first. He did not remain a deacon for long. For the next thing we see is he is full of God's grace and he is out doing signs and wonders just like the Apostles. This is the first recorded instance where it was not an Apostle teaching or healing. Stephen through his ordination takes on a new role, one that leads him into opposition with one of the major synagogues in Jerusalem.

Note in Acts 6:10, they could not stand up against Stephen's arguments, his wisdom or the Spirit by which he spoke. The Holy Spirit indeed filled him and empowered him. He is accused by false witnesses, is charged with blasphemy and brought before the Sanhedrin. They were getting just a little tired of these Christians. Stephen had taken on the wrong synagogue. Also, he was a Hellenistic Jew, a foreigner and not one of their own.

In chapter seven, Stephen relates the whole history of the Jewish race from Abraham to Jesus. Here again we see the emphasis on Jesus as the completion and the climax of Jewish history. If you want to read about the whole Old Testament in one chapter, read Acts 7.

They convict Stephen of blasphemy and they stone him to death. He dies a martyr's death asking God to forgive his accusers. Notice the similarity between his death and that of Jesus. Both are falsely accused, both are charged with blasphemy and both ask God to forgive their accusers. Stephen is the first Christian martyr and the church is saying he truly followed Jesus even to the point of death, not on a cross, but by the ancient Jewish method of being stoned to death. It was very effective, a little quicker and you are just as dead.

Luke introduces us to one other person in this dialogue. We meet for the first time, Saul of Tarsus, (Acts 8:1) who would become the great apostle Paul. Here he is representing the Sanhedrin and consenting to this death. Was Paul also somewhat moved by the way Stephen died? I think he was. It was probably Paul who told Luke this story. Why would he relate it to Luke if it was not somehow significant to his developing faith in Jesus Christ? We will be hearing a great deal about Paul later in the Acts. Now the Jewish persecution of the Jerusalem church begins in earnest.

We see throughout these chapters of the Acts that Luke saw the church as the continuation of the ministry of Jesus. It has been given the power to preach, to heal, to forgive and to baptize. The church is a servant people. They speak God's word and do his will in all that they do. Their own lives become expendable for the greater good of all. Thus, they almost coveted persecution and martyrdom.

Healing for Luke was an important sign of the Kingdom of God. It shows God’s love and power at work within the community. Healing is not a right but a free gift of God for his people. The church is the conduit through whom God acts in the world. The church is filled with the Holy Spirit and speaks the word of God with boldness. It is first and foremost the very presence of Christ in the world. Luke has a very high view of ecclesiology, the theology of the church.

Note, it is the religious authorities who persecuted the church of Jesus Christ, not the common people. The church has no fight with the Jews. Anti-Semitism is not Christian. In fact it is anti-Christian. The church should, but has no always fought against any traces of anti-Semitism. We are rooted in Judaism. Our Faith must find its base in the Old Testament. We should never be anti-Semitic.

Questions for consideration:
In looking at the life of the early church,
1. How do we help one another?
2. Love one another?
3. Support one another in our church today?