Stott's Introduction to Acts
Introduction in Luke
Since Luke and Acts are one work, Luke 1:1-4 should be taken as
applying to Acts as well. In that passage, Luke delineates five successive
stages: the historical events, the contemporary eyewitnesses, his own
personal research, the writing of the document, and readers.
Luke as Historian
Luke's education (physician—see Colossians 4:16), his companionship
with Paul (“we” passages), and his 2-year stay in Palestine
(spent interviewing other eye-witnesses?) suit him to be an adequate
historian.
The research of contemporary scholars like Sir Wiliam Ramsay and A.
N. Sherwin-White confirm Luke to be a first-rate historian.
Luke as Diplomat
But Luke was not merely recording the history of the early church.
He was obviously selective in his coverage because of his own purposes
for his work.
Theophilus was probably a pseudonym for a converted Roman official.
“Most excellent” was often used like “Your Excellency”
(see 23:26; 24:3; 26:25).
Luke seems to have three points of political apologetic:
HARMLESS: Roman officials were consistently friendly to Christianity.
Some had even become Christians (centurion at cross; Cornelius; Sergius
Paulus).
INNOCENT: Roman authorities could find no fault in Jesus
or his apostles. Specifically, see Paul before Philippian magistrates,
Gallio, Ephesian town-clerk, Felix, Festus, and Agrippa.
LAWFUL: Roman officials conceded that Christianity was a
religio licita because it was not a new religion, but rather
the purist form of Judaism. Jesus Christ fulfilled Old Testament prophecy,
and the early church enjoyed direct continuity with the Old Testament
people of God.
Christians should always be able on the same grounds to claim the
protection of the state (although the state may not grant it).
Luke also demonstrates that the early church was united. His narrative
shows that division between Jewish, Samaritan and Gentile Christians
was avoided, and that Peter, James and Paul were fundamentally united
in doctrine.
He especially presents Peter (1-13) and Paul (14-28) as apostles of
equal authority and parallel (though different) ministries. Both were
filled with the Holy Spirit (4:8 and 9:17; 13:9), preached the Word
with boldness (4:13, 31 and 9:27, 29), bore witness to Jews (2:22ff.
and 13:16ff.) and Gentiles (10:34ff. and 13:46ff.), received visions
which gave vital direction to the church (10:9ff. and 16:9), were imprisoned
for their testimony but miraculously set free (12:7ff. and 16:25ff.),
healed a cogenital cripple (3:2ff. and 14:8ff.), healed other sick people
(9:41 and 28:8), exorcized evil spirits (5:16 and 16:18), healed by
extensions of their bodies (5:15 and 19:12), raised the dead (9:36ff.
and 20:7ff.), called down God's judgment on a sorcerer (8:20ff. and
13:6ff.), and refused the worship of fellow humans (10:25-26 and 14:11ff.).
Luke as Theologian-Evangelist
Luke was both a theologian who was concerned that his message about
Jesus was based on reliable history, and an evangelist who used history
in the service of his theology. He knew that the validity of his message
stood or fell with the reliablity of the historical events upon which
it was based, but he was also primarily concerned with the saving significance
fo history rather than with history as mere bare facts.
The main theme of both works is salvation:
Salvation has been prepared by God. It is the culmination of centuries
of prophetic promise.
Salvation is bestowed by Christ. Through Jesus alone God extends
forgiveness and new spiritual life.
Salvation is offered to all peoples. Nobody is beyond the embrace
of his love. Jesus demonstrated compassion to those sections of the
community whom others despised, and the apostles took the gospel to
Gentiles.
As an evangelist, he preserves records of evangelistic speeches for
his audience.
Introduction in Acts
Vs. 1,2a makes it clear that Luke does not regard volume 1 as the record
of Jesus Christ and volume 2 as the record of the church. Rather, he
regards the volume 2 as recording the continuing ministry of
Jesus through (especially) the apostles through the agency of the Holy
Spirit. The watershed event which separates these two stages is the
ascension, recorded at the end of Luke and at the beginning of Acts.
The best title is “The Continuing Words and Deeds of Jesus by His
Spirit through His Apostles.”
This makes Christianity unique among all world religions. Other
religions regard their founders as having completed his mission during
his lifetime; Jesus only began his. The historical Jesus who lived
is one with the contemporary Jesus who lives. Just as God the Father
accomplished his work of redemption through Jesus by the Spirit, Jesus
is also accomplishing his work of world-evangelization through his
followers by the Spirit.
Vs. 2b-3 emphasizes the uniqueness of the apostles as foundation witnesses
of Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ chose them ( ”. . . whom he
had chosen . . . ”), including the replacement
for Judas (vs 24), and Paul (9:15; 22:14-15). They were not self-appointed,
or chosen by committee, etc.
Jesus Christ showed himself to them. To them he gave empirical proof
of his resurrection. This was a necessary requirement for apostleship,
since their mission above all else was to be witnesses of his resurrection
(1:22; 10:41). This explains why James and Paul could be apostles,
and why there can be none today (1 Corinthians 15:8).
Jesus Christ commissioned them. The instructions (“orders”
vs 2) he gave them was almost certainly the Great Commission (Luke 24:47;
Acts 1:8). They had unique authority to teach and preach as his official
spokemen (apostolos as “sent one”).
Jesus Christ promised them the Holy Spirit. This gift had been promised
by the Father in the Old Testament prophecies about the New Covenant,
by Jesus himself in the Upper Room discourse, and by John the Baptist
who called it a “baptism.”
NOTE: Each of these privileges apply to all Christians in a secondary
sense, but the apostles have them in a unique way.
Waiting for Pentecost (1:6-26)
Received their commission (1:6-8)
Their question makes sense, since Jesus was instructing them about
the kingdom of God and the Spirit. Old Testament prophecies connect
these two: when God's kingdom comes, his Spirit will be poured out.
Therefore, if the Spirit was to be shortly given, did that not mean
that God's kingdom was to begin shortly? They were thinking of the national
kingdom (“restoring the kingdom to Israel”), which is to begin
only after Jesus' return.
Jesus does not reject the notion of a future national kingdom, but
re-focuses them on their task: world evangelization. Before Jesus returns
to fulfill all of his promises to national Israel, he works through
his international Body to spread the gospel to every people-group. This
phase of God's kigndom will be spiritual in its character, international
in its membership, and gradual in its expansion.
Acts 1:8 is a table of contents for the book. Chapters 1-7 focus on
events in Jerusalem, chapter 8 focuses on the evangelization of Judea
and Samaria, while chapters 9-28 focus on the evangelization of Gentiles
increasingly distant from Jerusalem.
Saw Jesus go into heaven (1:9-12)
Luke and Acts supplement rather than contradict one another. Acts
contains the fuller description, though both accounts have unique features.
Luke stresses fiuve times that this event was visible. He records
it as history, witnessed by the apostles.
Jesus ascended not because heaven is “up there” or because
he had to travel to it. He could have simply vanished instantly, as
he had done before during his resurrection appearances. He ascended
gradually before them for their benefit—to communicate clearly
that the interim period was over, and that his departure was final.
Instead of waiting for him to appear again, they were to wait for the
Holy Spirit.
The message of the two angels reveals the importance of this event.
“You have seen him go. You will see him come. But between that
going and coming there must be another. The Spirit must come and you
must go—into the world dor Christ.”
The apostles committed two errors: hoping for political power (vs
6) and nostalgically longing for the heavenly Jesus. The forst is Utopianism,
the second is Peitism.
Persevered together in prayer (1:13-14)
They were united and persistent in their prayer. Presumably, they
prayed for the fulfillment of what Jesus promised them-the gift of the
Holy Spirit. This passage teaches us that God's promises do not render
prayer superfluous. Rather, his promises provide the basis for persistent,
believing prayer.
Replaced Judas with Matthias (1:15-26)
This passage contains three problems:
Does Luke's account of Judas' death contradict Matthew's? Harmonization:
Judas' body fell forward and burst after he had hung himself and the
body hung there for some time. The Jews bought the field with Judas'
betrayal money, which by Jewish legal fiction means that he bought
it. The field is called “Field of Blood” because it was
bought with blood money.
Does Peter interpret the Old Testament properly? Both passages are
imprecatory psalms (69 and 109) which call God's judgment down on
wicked men who persecute God's servant without cause. Peter had his
mind opened by Jesus to understand the Old Testament, and he evidently
saw these psalms as having ultimate, analogical(?) fulfillment in
the one who betrayed God's ultimate servant.
Was their method of choosing Matthias correct? G. Campbell Morgan
speaks for many others when he asserts that this was a mistake—Paul
was God's replacement. But in spite of the fact that Paul was Luke's
hero, his narrative contains no hint of disapproval. The necessity
of having accompanied Jesus Christ from the first excludes Paul from
the 12. They identified two equally qualified men, and then asked
God as the “heart-knower” to communicate his choice through
lots. Lots were sanctioned in the Old Testament, but are not used
in the church.
NOTE: The same three elements involved here (scripture, common sense,
and prayer) are the foundation for spiritual decision-making for all
Christians.
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