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Reflection on the book of Acts
Reflection on the book of Acts
Background of acts of the apostles
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The Book of Acts The book of Acts is known as 'the birth of the church'. Acts recounts the story of the early church from the time of Jesus' ascension to Paul's arrival as a prisoner in Rome. Acts was written by the author of Luke's gospel, Luke. Although the author does not name himself, evidence from the book itself proves that the author was Luke. Luke was a physician. Scriptural evidence of this includes Colossians 4:14: "Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings." Luke often used medical language. For instance, he finds the sailors bandaging the ship in Acts 27:17: "When the men had hoisted in aboard, they passed ropes under the ship itself to hold it together. Fearing that they would run aground on the sandbar of Syrtis, they lowered the sea anchor and let the ship be driven alone." These two verses along with others in the scripture prove that Luke was a doctor. Some even think that Luke was the first medical missionary. Luke was often a traveling companion of Paul. Luke served as a personal comfort to Paul. Luke appears to travel very often, and he is very familiar with nautical terms. This is supported in Acts 16:10-12: " (10) After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia, concluding that God had called us to preach the gospel to them. (11) From Troas we put out to sea and sailed straight for Samothrace, and the next day on to Neopolis. (12) From there we traveled to Phillipi, a Roman colony and the leading city of that district of Macedonia. And we stayed there several days." Because it is written that Luke was a doctor, and that he and Paul were called by God to preach the gospel, it is evident that Luke was a medical missionary. ... ... middle of paper ... ... always preached to the Jews first (13:5), and turned to the gentiles only after his fellow Jews had rejected him. "And when they were at Salamis, they preached the word of God in the synagogues of the Jews: and they had also John to their minister." The book of Acts is very important because of its explanation of the birth of the church. The authorship of the book may not be listed in the book, but after reading Acts and comparing it to Luke's first account, it is obvious that he is the author. Luke's gives much insight to the beginning of the church. A better understanding of where the church began and where it has progressed to can be gained after thoroughly reading the book. Bibliography: http://www.stpetersnottingham.org/bible/acts.htm Acts: The Birth of the Church, Blaiklock, New Jersey, 1980 The Holy Bible bibletutor.luthersem.edu
Luke was a Roman catholic before he converted over to Christianity. Luke was an eyewitness of the ministry, teaching, and life of Jesus. He made it his mission to teach the knowledge of Jesus and spread the religion Christianity. He wanted to reach the people in his communities and beyond. The Evangelist Luke wanted to tell the goods news that Jesus would return for his people. Luke’s concern was whether or not Christians could be good citizens of the Roman Empire, seeing that Jesus their founder had been killed for being a “political criminal”. Many people would have preceded them as revolutionaries (“From Jesus to Christ”). Christianity became a dominant way of life and worship in Europe many years after Luke wrote his gospel. In Medieval Europe, Luke’s gospel had greatly influenced the creators of many arts and dramas such as the Everyman play. Luke’s gospel opened many doors to help spread Christianity in Medieval Europe.
In the Gospel of Luke, it is emphasized that God cares for the poor and lowly.The Gospel of Luke was written on 80-90 AD. Luke was a Gentile who converted to Christianity. He is also the companion of Saint Paul and the author of Acts of the Apostles. Luke aims to reach to the lowly through Jesus, by bringing them liberty and good news that they too are welcomed in heaven. Jesus shows this in many acts such as recovering sight of the blind, releasing the imprisoned, and freeing the oppressed. As a result, Luke shows Jesus as a compassionate savior because he seeks to save those who are in need and give the lowly God’s mercy.
Luke Timothy Johnson uses Prophetic Jesus, Prophetic Church in order to make a strong point that when studying both Luke and Acts as a unit, rather than reading the canonical order in the Bible, gives us one of our best prophetic looks at the Church for all ages. By presenting this point Johnson hopes to light a fire in our churches of today by using the prophetic works of Luke, so that we as Christians will attend to the ways that Christ intended the church to be. In Johnson’s introduction he states that it is not wrong to study Luke and Acts separately as there are many ways to study the scripture, nevertheless it is wrong to look at Luke and see the prophetic ways of Jesus, and then looking at Acts as non-prophetic. Through seeing Luke’s
There has been much debate regarding who wrote the book of Acts. Professor Riggs of Auburn Theological Seminary said, “In recent years the tide of opinion has been turning, and is now strongly setting toward a first-century authorship” (Riggs, 38). The early view of the church states Luke is the author of Acts. External evidence agrees with tradition that Luke wrote the book of Acts. The early church fathers, Irenaeus, Clement of Alexandria, and Eusebius, provide evidence that Luke is the author (Lea & Black, 282). The Muratorian Canon (A.D. 190) contains a list of books from the New Testament and lists the author of Acts and the Third Gospel as Luke. There is also internal evidence that points to Luke as the author. In both Luke and Acts, the author uses medical phraseology. In Acts 28:8, the father of Publius was sick with a fever and had a bloody flux. Other instances can be found in Acts 10:10 and 16:16 (Riggs, 41-42). Luke was a physician and that would explain why he used medical terms when writing the book of Acts. Considering the external and internal evidence, Carson and Moo...
The Holy Bible, New American Standard Version. La Habra, California: THE LOCKMAN FOUNDATION. 1984. Luke 10:17, Acts 4:32-35. , Acts 5:1-8, Acts 11:24, Romans 15:7
Theearly Church faced several struggles such as maintaining the purity ofChristianity, defining the structure of the Church and surviving the constantattacks on Christians by the Roman Empire. One of the Church’s firststruggles! was to define itself vis-à-vis the Jewish tradition and theRoman World. Both Paul and the Book of Acts reveal questions and issues theearly Church wrestled with. For example: “Should Christianity be its ownreligion or a new sect of Judaism?” “Which books should be includedin the Bible and which were the works of heretics?”
The phrase, "Ye will surely say unto me this proverb. Physician heal thyself," is spoken by Jesus in the Gospel of Saint Luke. Saint Luke tells us that at the age of 30 Jesus began his public ministry. Prior to his preaching, he had worked as a simple carpenter in the city of Nazareth (New International Version Bible, Luke 3:23). Upon hearing about the arrest of John the Baptist, Jesus left Nazareth and went to Capernaum, a city close to the Jordan River. In Capernaum, Jesus began his teachings. Jesus would preach in synagogues and perform miracles: casting out demons, making the paralyzed walk, and relieving deadly fevers from the sick ("Capernaum").
The book of Luke, found after the books Matthew and Mark, focuses on the ministry of Jesus Christ but it also gives us a look into His birth and growth in totality. In this chapter we see a historical account of some of the journeys that Christ experienced. It is important to keep in mind that the Bible and all of its books do serve as historical accounts but each book is unique in the fact that they incorporate a theological timeline. The Bible is, conceivably, the most important book that has ever been written. It gives the world eyewitness accounts to historical events that helped not only shaped a region of the world but the whole entire world. It is nearly impossible to go through some formal societal education and have never once read a part of the bible or have heard a story that adapts from the stories within the bible. The bible has helped formed institutions, associations and so much more. By reading the Gospel of Luke we are truly reading what is meant for us to read as Christians. The principal plot in the book of Luke is the life of Jesus Christ, his sacrifice, His ability to beat death and remain perfect as the son of GOD despite being human as well. Jesus is seen as the perfect savior for humans in the book of Luke. Luke not only gives multiple examples of the power of Jesus but also it gives us a look at The Lord’s triumph over temptation. Luke also depicts Jesus as a man/GOD who had a very deep concentration on people and relationships. The book of Luke gives Jesus a loving characteristic but doesn’t shy away from showing that at times Jesus got angry too. Jesus showed a great deal of compassion to the sick, those in pain, the poor, and unambiguously the sinful. Jesus had genuine love for everyone. Throughout this...
The detailed gospel of Luke is written to Theophilus, (meaning, loved by God) by Luke, a Gentile doctor who was a possible slave and close companion to Paul. Luke wrote to Theophilus to prove with certainty that Jesus is God. The book of Luke, showed Jesus as God who paid attention to the women, the weak and the poor, and Luke noted detail before the miracles and after including the reaction of the crowds, which he described with the words, astonished, amazed, and wonder. Luke carefully researched as written in Luke 1:1-4, Jesus through the eye witness of the disciples and the intimate voice of Mary, as he retold her song of Praise in chapter 1:46-55.
Luke was a doctor and a co-worker with Paul (Colossians 4:14; Philemon v24). Because some spurious stories about Jesus were circulating, Luke decided to interview local eye-witnesses and people who had followed Jesus closely. Luke collated all the interviews into a single account, recording details not mentioned elsewhere, for example regarding the conception and birth of Jesus and Mary's extended family, as you might expect of a doctor.
The Book of Acts was written to provide a history of the early church. Acts emphasis the importance of the day of Pentecost and being empowered to be effective witnesses for Jesus Christ. Acts sheds light on the ministry gift of the Holy Spirit, which empowers, guides, teaches, and serves as our Counselor. When reading the Book of Acts many of the readers will be enlightened and encouraged by the many miracles that were being performed during this time by the disciples Peter, John, and Paul. The Book of Acts emphasizes the importance of obedience to God’s Word and the transformation that occurs as a result of knowing Christ. There are also many references to those that rejected the truth that the disciples preached about in Jesus Christ. Power, greed, and many other vices of the devil or evidenced in the book of Acts. Acts 1:8 serves as a good summary of the Book of Acts. Acts records the apostles being Christ's witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the rest of the surrounding world.
The Gospel of Luke centralizes the components of Jesus’ divinity, humanity, and ministry which contribute to the perception of Jesus portrayed by the narrator of Luke. Jesus’ divinity is demonstrated through his healings and miracles throughout the Gospel. His humanity is represented through the infancy narrative and also at the beginning of his Passion in the Garden of Gethsemane. Finally, Jesus’ public ministry serves as the most effective and important element of his life because of the essential teachings that he speaks of that give inside evidence to the formation of the modern day church.
From birth until his death, Jesus has healed so many people suffering from illnesses and diseases. Healing was a general characteristic of his ministry. Jesus proved to be an unselfish individual by providing infinite care for others. Those who came to him never went away unaided. Jesus saw those in need as his children and he couldn’t bear to see their suffering. His healings by others were seen as miracles. Jesus was compassionate to serve others in need so they can be forgiven for their sins. He did not discriminate and set no restrictions on where and when one should come and sought help from him. His purpose on earth was to eradicate the burden of people’s disease, sins and misery.
The foundation of the New Testament was created upon the preaching and teaching of the kingdom of God. Further, it was erected on the promise by Christ to build a church that could endure. Jesus states, “And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church, and the gates of Hades will not prevail against it” (Matt 16:18). Although Peter and the disciples were regenerated by faith, their early Judaism perspective did not hinder the manifestation of the Holy Spirit in Acts 2.
In the letter from Luke to the Apostles, he addresses the apostles on how they are to live and govern themselves as individuals and in community. These specifications are echoes of the passage in John 20:21 where Jesus says to his disciples, “As the Father has sent me, even so I send you.” The meaning of the phrase can be understood as, the apostles are to act as Jesus acted, for his actions were those set out by God the Father. In the Acts of the Apostles there are several examples where the apostles are directly in accordance with the prior actions/experiences of Jesus Christ; baptism by the Holy Spirit, curing the crippled man, and facing persecution.