Philip, Simon the Sorcerer, and the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8:4-40)

Acts 8:4-40

After the death of Stephen, the first martyr, the believers began to be scattered because of the persecution by Saul and by others. Philip was one of the scattered believers, and chapter 8 tells us of his encounters Simon the Sorcerer and the Ethiopian Eunuch, and their very different responses to the Holy Spirit.

As Philip is preaching and performing miracles, a man named Simon the Sorcerer comes to Philip, believes and is baptized. But from here, we see that Simon’s intentions are actually selfish. As Simon follows Philip, he tries to pay the disciples in order to be able to dispense the Holy Spirit in the same way Philip does. See, Simon wants the power that comes with

The Stoning of Stephen (Acts 7:54-8:4)

Acts 7:54-7:60

Acts 8:1-3

When we left off, Stephen was talking to the Jewish leaders, retelling Jesus’ story in light of the history of their own story. This ends with Stephen’s truthful accusation that they have rejected, and ultimately killed, the very Messiah that their whole history pointed towards. Given their track record, and given Stephen’s accusations, we can guess what will happen to Stephen. Up until now, those who threaten the Jewish leaders in power have been threatened, beaten and thrown in jail. At Stephen’s speaking the truth, the leaders essentially turn into a mob, drag him out of the city and stone him to death. Stephen becomes the first Christian martyr. (On an interesting side note: Luke specifically tells us that Saul witnessed this whole episode with Stephen. Keep this in mind as we work through Acts…)

This whole situation of Stephen’s martyrdom and the resulting situation of wider persecution of the church is set up as a conflict between those who are filled with the Holy Spirit and those who resist the Holy Spirit. Stephen says as much in verse 51, and Luke says as much in 55. The Jewish leaders resist the Holy Spirit and Stephen is full of the Holy Spirit. Interestingly enough, while the persecutors (including Saul) intended the persecution to stamp out this “false” new teaching

How Well Do We Know Our Story? (Acts 6:8-7:53)

Acts 6:8-15

Acts 7:1-53

We learned in the last section that one of the people who was chosen to help with the situation with the widows is a man named Stephen. Stephen begins to perform many miracles, and once again those in power begin to get afraid. They begin to bring false charges against Stephen and go so far as to persuade people to serve as false witnesses against him. The false witnesses say that Stephen has blasphemed against Moses and God. So these angry Jews bring Stephen before the Sanhedrin with the charges that Stephen “…never stops speaking against this holy place (the Temple) and against the law.” It’s interesting how transparent the concerns of the leaders are. The leaders are concerned because this new Jewish-Christian movement is taking the power that used to reside in the Temple and spreading it out among the whole Body of Christ. So how do they combat that? They accuse Stephen of speaking out against the Temple.

How does Stephen answer their accusations that he speaks against the Temple, Moses, God and the law? He tells the Jews

Racial Controversy In The Early Church (Acts 6:1-7)

Acts 6:1-7

As the disciples are faithful to preach the Gospel, God is faithful to keep adding to their number. As their numbers increase, the kinds of ministries that were needed to benefit the community also increased. It came to pass that one ministry that grew up was a ministry that helped to provide food for widows, both of Jewish heritage and non-Jewish heritage.

As often happens when there are ministries involving groups who aren’t yet used to living life together, a practical issue arises. The non-Jewish, or Hellenistic, widows claim that they are being overlooked in the distribution of food. Even in the midst of a ministry led by the Holy Spirit, these practical sorts of issues arise. Let’s look at how the Twelve handle the situation

Escape From Jail (Acts 5:12-42)

Acts 5:12-42

After the episode with Ananias and Sapphira, Luke wants to assure us that the Holy Spirit is still at work in the lives of the believers.  In the end, when someone refuses to be part of the work of the Holy Spirit, the work of the Holy Spirit moves on without his or her participation.

So the apostles continue to perform many signs and wonders.  The believers continue to meet together for teaching and worship, and their number continued to grow.

And, of course, those in power continued to grow more and more worried.  Verse 17 tells us that the High Priest and some members of the Sadducees were full of jealousy.  See, this new Jewish movement was taking their power away.  We see the continuing theme that we’ve mentioned before here again–power is no longer centered in the Temple.

Live Together, Die Alone (Acts 4:23-5:11)

Acts 4:23-5:11

The first half of this passage is in some ways very similar to Acts 2:42-47. When Peter and John get out of jail, they go back to be with the other believers. Once again, the believers are together and praying when the Holy Spirit falls on them, making the believers “one in heart and mind”. And once again, immediately after the Holy Spirit comes, Luke emphasizes the place that possessions have in their lives. First, Luke says that nobody even considered any of his possessions as his own. As though that weren’t revolutionary enough, though, Luke goes on to say that there were no needy people among them, because whenever someone had a need, people would sell their houses or lands, then bring the money to the apostles, so that those needs could be met.

Now, back in the section on Chapter 2 we talked about the differences between this and Socialism or Communism. Rather than revisit that section, I want to move on to the Story of Ananias and Sapphira. This is a familiar story, but I want us to keep it in context of Acts 4:31-37. Remember, the chapter and verse divisions were added hundreds of years after the Bible was written, so sometimes to get the full effect of a passage, we have to read past the chapter divisions.

So we have this extreme action of the early believers sharing possessions. Some would even sell possessions in order to meet the needs of other believers. We are told briefly of a man named Joseph who sold a field and then brought the money to the apostles. Then we are told of a couple named Ananias and Sapphira who sold a piece of property, except they kept some of the money back for themselves. In the end, they are each struck dead by God.

So here’s the question: Why were Ananias and Sapphira struck down by God?

Grasping For Power And Silencing The Message (Acts 4:1-22)

Acts 4:1-22

This story is the beginning of the pattern of disciples being arrested for teaching/preaching in the name of Jesus. But just what were Peter and John preaching? The priests, temple guard and Sadducees were “greatly disturbed” because Peter and John were “proclaiming in Jesus the resurrection of the dead.” According to Peter and John, this event that Jews had been waiting for, that they thought would happen at the end of time, had already begun to happen with Jesus. The rescue-by-God that was supposed to happen sometime in the future was now beginning to take place!

This is Good News, right? Any Jew should be excited that the day had finally come when God would come with power to rescue his people and set things straight, right? Well, not any Jew. Those in power don’t want their world disrupted, do they? Those in power are happy with the world as it is. Those in power don’t need God to come rescue people and set things straight. They are already doing just fine, thank you very much.

As N.T. Wright puts it in his commentary on this section,

The Afterlife Begins Now (Acts 3:11-26)

Acts 3:11-26

The people come to Peter, presumably wanting an explanation for how the man from verses 1-10 got healed. In the process, Peter begins to speak about Jesus. By now we should see that a pattern is emerging. When Peter, and later other disciples, begin to tell Jesus’ Story, they tell it in terms of Israel’s Story. Jesus did it on the road to Emmaus. Peter did it in chapter 2 during his sermon at Pentecost, and here he is doing it again. Peter begins by speaking of “the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob”, which is a direct quote from Exodus 3:6. Peter speaks of the prophets being fulfilled. Peter speaks of Moses and the Covenant. For Peter, what is going on now in the name of Jesus is still a continuation of the same Story that Israel has been a part of all along.

In the midst of telling the Story, Peter connects this man’s healing to 3 specific events in the Story. We already briefly mentioned the first one. In the midst of explaining how this man was healed, Peter references the Exodus

Jesus, the Temple and the Body of Christ (Acts 3:1-10)

Acts 3:1-10

The first thing we should notice when we read the story of this healing is how Peter and John treated the crippled man. Luke tells us that Peter and John looked straight at the man. Peter and John acknowledge the basic humanity of the man simply by looking straight at him and speaking. Now, if we are honest with ourselves, we will admit that this is sometimes not our first inclination. If we see someone with a physical difference or someone with mental challenges, many times the best we can do is look away so as not to react. What should we be doing?

Pentecost: There Is No “I” in “Church” (Acts 2:42-47)

Acts 2:42-47

In this passage, we have the first description of what the Church looks like after receiving the gift of the Holy Spirit. Keep in mind as we think about this passage that Luke has just told us that the believers number 3000. Those 3000 people make up the “they” in this section.

The first thing Luke tells us is that they were dedicated to four things: the apostles’ teaching, fellowship, the breaking of bread and prayer. Many times when we hear those things, we think of them being done in the church building on Sunday morning. And that is certainly part of it. But Luke doesn’t limit it to those things happening in the Temple, does he? These are things that the Church is to be dedicated to, not only when they are together in a formal worship setting, but always.

We also learn that they are meeting every day in the Temple courts as well as meeting together in homes and eating together. Wow. Every day, really? We have to keep in mind that in many ways these people are just like us. They have jobs. They have family members to attend to. Yet they made time to meet daily in the Temple courts, and they made time to eat together. I don’t know about you but that’s a challenge for me.

Right in the middle of these two sections are two verses that are terribly challenging to us today. Verses 44 & 45 say, “All the believers were together and held everything in common. Selling their possessions and goods, they gave to anyone as he had need.” Wait, what? Is Luke teaching Socialism or Communism here?