Read Acts 1-8:1.

Acts begins with a reference to the gospel of Luke. The author of both books describes the gospel as "an account of all that Jesus did and taught from the beginning until the day when he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen." The author of Acts notes that the apostles have experienced Jesus alive after his death: "he was seen by them over a period of forty days and spoke to them about the kingdom of God." Acts tells us that Jesus directed the disciples "not to leave Jerusalem" until they have been baptized with the Holy Spirit.

Before he "is lifted up" Jesus commissions the apostles "to bear witness" for him "in Jerusalem, and throughout all Judaea and Samaria, and even in the farthest corners of the earth." This reminds us of the end of Matthew's gospel, but there the commissioning takes place in Galilee rather than outside Jerusalem. In addition, the commissioning in Acts omits the charge to baptize "in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit." Most likely this specific language of baptism, reflecting the practice of some of the early churches, has been written back into the ascension story of Jesus by the author of the gospel of Matthew.

After being commissioned, we read that the apostles return to Jerusalem to the place where they were lodging. The eleven disciples, who are now apostles, are listed as: "Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James." Acts relates that they "were constantly at prayer, together with a group of women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers."

In the gospel of Mark the brothers of Jesus (who are named in Mark 6:3 as James, Joses, Judas and Simon) come with Mary, his mother, to stop his preaching and to bring him home. (Mk. 3:31) In the gospel of Mark there is no indication that the family of Jesus supported him during his ministry. The author of Acts, however, records that the family of Jesus were part of the Jerusalem community after his death, and the gospel of John reports that Mary and at least some of the brothers of Jesus traveled with him during his ministry. (Jn. 2:12) Perhaps the gospel of Mark relates a story criticizing the family of Jesus in order to counteract the influence of James, the brother of Jesus, in the church in Jerusalem.

Peter is clearly the original leader of the apostolic community in Jerusalem in the account of Acts of the Apostles. Peter suggests that a replacement be chosen for Judas, who betrayed Jesus. After two names are suggested, the apostles pray and then draw lots. When the lot falls to Matthias, he is chosen to be one of the twelve. We do not hear of Matthias again, however, because most of Acts concerns the ministry of Peter and Paul.

As the conclusion of the gospel of Luke noted, the disciples remained in Jerusalem in order to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit, which is given on Pentecost, the Jewish holiday seven weeks after Passover celebrating the gift of the law to Moses. The author of Acts sees the coming of the Holy Spirit as a replacement for the Jewish law. The covenant with the Jews is now extended to all those with faith. In the speeches of Peter and in his healing of a crippled man, Peter takes the place of Jesus in presenting this testimony to the world.

Peter tells the crowds who gather around him, "The name of Jesus, by awakening faith, has given strength to this man whom you see and know, and this faith has made him completely well as you can all see." Peter explains: "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers, has given the highest honor to his servant Jesus, whom you handed over for trial and disowned in Pilate's court . . . You asked for the reprieve of a murderer, and killed the Prince of life. But God raised him from the dead; of that we are witnesses."

Peter says that the people acted in ignorance and that the death of Jesus is "how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets: that his Messiah would suffer." What should they do? "Repent, therefore, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out." Peter is arrested by the Sadducees and brought before the Jewish rulers, elders and scribes in Jerusalem. He boldly testifies that the healing of the crippled man "was by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, and whom God raised from the dead." Moreover, Peter affirms that "There is no salvation through anyone else; in all the world no other name has been granted to mankind by which we can be saved." The Jewish rulers admonish Peter and the other disciples to refrain from teaching in the name of Jesus, but the apostles Peter and John reply, "Is it right in the eyes of God for us to obey you" rather than God?

It is interesting to note that "the name of Jesus" is central to the witness of Peter in the account of the author of the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. In Acts, Peter does not describe Jesus as the Son of God but as "Jesus of Nazareth," "Jesus Christ of Nazareth," and as "Jesus the Messiah." The key facts are that Jesus was crucified by the rulers of Jerusalem but raised from the dead by God. Faith -- trusting "in the name of Jesus the Messiah" because God has raised him from the dead -- is the way to healing and salvation.

The experience of Pentecost, the author of Acts reports, led to a general "sense of awe" among the followers of Jesus of Nazareth, in part because of the "many portents and signs brought about by the apostles." Therefore, those who followed the apostles were inspired to "sell their property and possessions and distribute to everyone according to his need." We also read that "they kept up their daily attendance at the temple, and, breaking bread in their homes, they shared their meals with unaffected joy, as they praised God and enjoyed the favor of the whole people."

The first apostolic community, as presented in Acts, is closely attached to the temple and is marked by prayer, holding property in common, giving to the poor, and experiencing various gifts of the Holy Spirit including speaking in tongues. This community includes the mother of Jesus and his brothers as well as the disciples and those in Jerusalem on Pentecost who responded to Peter's call to repentance. It is hard to believe that this community has rejected the Jewish law, especially when we hear James, the brother of Jesus, telling Paul about twenty-five years later that the Jerusalem church includes "thousands of converts" from "among the Jews, all of them staunch upholders of the law." (Acts 21:20)

The preaching of Peter, moreover, does not require Jews to break with their traditions. Peter says "The God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God of our fathers," has honored "his servant Jesus" by raising him from the dead. "Repent, therefore," Peter urges, "and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out." Peter says nothing about the Jewish law, but he affirms that God has sent "the Messiah appointed for you, that is, Jesus." Jesus has been taken up to heaven "until the times comes for the universal restoration of which God has spoken through his prophets." Then quoting from the nineteenth chapter of Deuteronomy, Peter identifies Jesus as the prophet foretold by Moses.

Peter is arrested because the chief priests and the Sadducees in Jerusalem are opposed to his proclamation about "the resurrection of the dead." In Acts the apostles are not persecuted because they claim that Jesus is the Son of God, but because they witness to his resurrection. We see later in Acts that the Pharisees believed in the resurrection of the dead, but the Sadducees did not. Acts tells us that Paul used this dispute to his advantage when he was brought before the Council of Jewish leaders in Jerusalem, for he identified himself with the beliefs of the Pharisees and thus caused an uproar among the Pharisees and Sadducees on the Council. (Acts 23:6-9)

Acts records that there are tensions within the Jerusalem church between Greek-speaking Jewish Christians and those who do not speak Greek. The division, between Jews who were educated and comfortable in Greek-speaking society and Jews who spoke only Aramaic (and perhaps Hebrew) and were critical of the compromises made by Greek-speaking Jews, was also present among Jewish Christians. The Greek-speaking members of the church in Jerusalem felt their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food. The apostles, therefore, appoint seven Greek-speaking men to oversee this distribution.

One of these, Stephen, witnesses in the synagogue of freedmen, which seems to be a Greek-speaking synagogue of former slaves who have come from various parts of the Roman empire. When Stephen is accused of blasphemy, he is hauled before the chief priests. In his defense Stephen reviews Jewish history, argues that the Jews like their forefathers "always resist the Holy Spirit," and claims to see "the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God." He is stoned to death in the presence of a young man named Saul, who will soon be transformed into the apostle Paul.

As the author of Acts writes these lines, he very likely knows of Paul's affirmation that Christ is "seated at God's right hand." (Col. 3:1) Moreover, the author of the gospel of Luke has taken over from the gospel of Mark several references to Jesus as "the Son of Man" and in his account of the trial of Jesus before the Jewish Council reports that Jesus said, "from now on, the Son of Man will be seated at the right hand of Almighty God." (Luke 22:69) Similarly, the gospels of Mark and Matthew report that Jesus affirmed before the high priest, "you will see the Son of Man seated at the right hand of the Almighty and coming with the clouds of heaven." (Mark 14:62)

It is intriguing that Paul does not use the phrase "Son of Man" in his letters, even though the phrase is common in all four of the New Testament gospels. If Paul had known of these gospels, or if he had known of a tradition reporting that Jesus had identified himself as the Son of Man who was to be seated at the right hand of God, surely Paul would have included this title in his letter to the Colossians.

It is probable, therefore, that the title "Son of Man" came into use in the church after the time of Paul, perhaps as a way of expressing and confirming the reign of Christ at the right hand of God to which Paul had already witnessed. If this is so, then the image of Jesus as the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of God is not a memory from the first days of the church but is written by the author of Acts into the speech of Stephen before the synagogue of freedmen.

For the author of the gospel of Luke and Acts, Jesus is both Messiah and Lord. Peter's speech on Pentecost affirms that Jesus is exalted "at God's right hand" because, as Peter explains, God has made Jesus "both Lord and Messiah." The book of Acts reports that Peter refers to Psalm 110:1 to verify this claim, for this verse affirms: "The Lord said to my Lord, 'Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies your footstool.'" As we noted earlier, Jews had read the Psalm to refer to David, as king of Israel, because in Hebrew the LORD (God) is speaking to "my Lord," who is clearly not God.

The identification of Jesus as Lord is first made by Paul. In 1 Corinthians 15:25 he proclaims that Christ must reign "until God has put all enemies under his feet," and in I Corinthians 15:27 he notes that this is verified by scripture (the reference is to Psalm 110:1). In Romans 8:34 he argues that Christ "is at God's right hand," and in Ephesians 1:20 we read that God not only "raised Christ from the dead" but also "enthroned him at his right hand in the heavenly realms." These images, which Paul used in his arguments with the early churches, are used again by the author of the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles in his reconstruction of the speech delivered by Peter on Pentecost and the testimony of Stephen before the synagogue of freedman.

Questions:

1) Can we understand why the preaching of the apostles and their followers might have offended many Jews in Jerusalem? In what ways are the apostles changing the meaning given to scripture?

2) To be Christian must we agree with Peter's assertion, as reported by the author of Acts, that God has given salvation in "no other name" than that of Jesus Christ of Nazareth?

3) Might the call to repentance have been the central proclamation of the early church? What might such a call to repentance mean for Christians today?