Talk of JESUS . com

Category: Acts for a 21st c. Church

Acts of the Apostles + a History of Christ’s Church

Acts of the Apostles 1-28

Acts of the Apostles:
+ The first century Church SHARED Christ while suffering severe persecution.
+ Luke records a historic account of the Church which gives 21c Christians a context to SHARE the Gospel of Jesus Christ with others.

Read more about the Early Church & add your COMMENT on Scripture.

ACT now.

+ SHARE the Gospel history witnessed in the CURRENT chronological SERIES from ACTS of the APOSTLES.

Saul: Encouragement in Christ from Cypress
Now Joseph, a Levite of Cyprian birth, who was also called Barnabas by the apostles (which translated means Son of Encouragement) owned a tract of land. So he sold it, and brought the money and laid it at the apostles’ feet.
ACTS of the disciples of the Apostles 4:36-37 NASB20

Encouragement of Christ’s Apostles by Joseph of Cypress

“Just a moment,” you are likely thinking. “I remember this from That’s Not Fair! Possessions and Community, but I thought that now Luke is talking about Saul of Tarsus in Acts 9?”

Last time, Luke’s account included not only Saul of Tarsus on the road to Damascus, CALLED BY THE RISEN CHRIST JESUS, but also a two disciples of The Way: Ananias, to whom the Lord spoke in a vision, and Judas of Damascus (in the house on Straight Street where BOTH encouraged the blinded and FEARED Saul of Tarsus.)

παράκλησις – more than just Encouragement
```
click here for more encouragement
```
Of course if the Lord had appeared to you directly, as was the case with both Ananias and Saul, YOU too would obey. But just as Jesus had called James and John a descriptive nickname, “the Sons of Thunder,” and called “Simon son of John, Peter or ‘the Rock,’ so have Peter and the Apostles had named Joseph, Barnabas, or Son of Encouragement.
- paraklēsis Outline of Biblical Usage
  - a calling near, summons, (esp. for help)
  - importation, supplication, entreaty
  - exhortation, admonition, encouragement
  - consolation (14x), comfort, solace; that which affords comfort or refreshment
- thus of the Messianic salvation (so the Rabbis call the Messiah (or Christ, in Greek) the consoler, the comforter)
  - persuasive discourse, stirring address
    (the speech of Stephen to the sanhedrin?)
  - instructive, admonitory, conciliatory, powerful hortatory discourse
- (much of the preaching of Paul we are about to hear on his missionary journeys in Acts of the Apostles and his letters to the Churches.)
נַחֲמ֥וּ נַחֲמ֖וּ עַמִּ֑י יֹאמַ֖ר אֱלֹהֵיכֶֽם׃
2 דַּבְּר֞וּ עַל־לֵ֤ב יְרֽוּשָׁלִַ֙ם֙ וְקִרְא֣וּ אֵלֶ֔יהָ כִּ֤י מָֽלְאָה֙ צְבָאָ֔הּ כִּ֥י נִרְצָ֖ה עֲוֺנָ֑הּ כִּ֤י לָקְחָה֙ מִיַּ֣ד יְהוָ֔ה כִּפְלַ֖יִם בְּכָל־חַטֹּאתֶֽיהָ׃ ס
3 ק֣וֹל קוֹרֵ֔א בַּמִּדְבָּ֕ר פַּנּ֖וּ דֶּ֣רֶךְ יְהוָ֑ה יַשְּׁרוּ֙ בָּעֲרָבָ֔ה מְסִלָּ֖ה לֵאלֹהֵֽינוּ׃
Isaiah 40:1-3 “Comfort, comfort my people,” says your God.

Encouragement & Comfort

Encouragement and comfort become the Gospel Good NEWS to a God-pursued people. And let’s not forget the context of persecution of both Jews and Christians not only in Acts of the Apostles, but throughout the history of the world.

Skipping ahead just a bit in Luke’s account before we proceed with Saul of Tarsus:

ACTS 9:31

So the church throughout Judea, Galilee, and Samaria enjoyed peace, as it was being built up; and as it continued in the fear of the Lord and in the comfort G3874 of the Holy Spirit, it kept increasing.

And later in ACTS 11:19 Luke gives us the present context of Saul in Jerusalem in Acts 9:

So then those who were scattered because of the persecution that occurred in connection with Stephen made their way to Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch, speaking the word to no one except to Jews alone.
Acts 11:19 NASB20

Tarsus of Saul, Cypress of Joseph, Damascus of Ananias, Phoenicia (Lebanon) Antioch is in Syria – God into all the world…

Escape from Damascus
```
Previously..
```
Who is this Saul, Apostle to the Gentiles?

I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.

ACTS 9: of Saul in Damascus

Saul was with the disciples in Damascus for some time.

20 Immediately he began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues: “He is the Son of God.”

21 All who heard him were astounded and said, “Isn’t this the man in Jerusalem who was causing havoc for those who called on this name and came here for the purpose of taking them as prisoners to the chief priests?”

22 But Saul grew stronger and kept confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
```
Saul leaves Damascus, spends three years in the wilderness of Arabia, THEN returns.
```
23 After many days had passed, the Jews conspired to kill him, but Saul learned of their plot. So they were watching the gates day and night intending to kill him, but his disciples..

[NOTE Luke’s description, that these are now disciples of the Apostle Saul of Tarsus!]

..took him by night and lowered him in a large basket through an opening in the wall.
```
ACTS of SAUL OF TARSUS to be continued in Jerusalem...
```
March 9, 2022
Who is this Saul, Apostle to the Gentiles?
“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

Saul: a Jew of Some Reputation

We are familiar with Saul the first King of Israel, ultimately killed in battle then replaced by David. – שָׁאוּל

His Hebrew name šā’ûl means ‘desired,‘ however Saul of Tarsus was not the ‘hebrew of hebrews’ that any follower of The Way currently wants to meet.

A brilliant and well-educated man under the tutelage of Judah’s most respected Rabbi, Saul was an up-and-coming leader bound for greatness in the eyes of all of the sanhedrin. A keen observer of their political and religious tutelage, Saul seized his potential claim to fame just as the Apostles had disrupted all Jerusalem.

Saul: Witness at the Stoning of Stephen

ACTS 7 HNV

“Behold, I see the heavens opened, and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God!”

But they cried out with a loud voice, and stopped their ears, and rushed at him with one accord. They threw him out of the city, and stoned him.

The witnesses placed their garments at the feet of a young man named Sha’ul.

They stoned Stephen as he called out, saying,

“Lord Yeshua, receive my Spirit!”

He kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, “Lord, don’t hold this sin against them!” When he had said this, he fell asleep.

It had been some scene!

That was the day many disciples began fleeing Jerusalem and now, this Saul of Tarsus pursues them in hopes of more trials and executions like that of Stephen.

Damascus Road: Witness into all the World

Acts of Saul in Damascus

Click for English, Ukrainian & Russian translations of Деяния 9

10 Now there was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias; and the Lord said to him in a vision, “Ananias.” And he said, “Here I am, Lord.”

And the Lord said to him,

“Get up and go to the street called Straight, and inquire at the house of Judas for a man from Tarsus named Saul, for he is praying, and he has seen in a vision a man named Ananias come in and lay his hands on him, so that he might regain his sight.”
ACTS 9:11-12 NASB – The Word of the Lord to Ananias in a vision

We have already witnessed the Apostles laying hands on people who then received healing. This disciple of Jesus, Ananias, may have witnessed such signs or perhaps even the stoning of Stephen.
```
Remember? Click here.
```
At this time Peter stood up among the brothers and sisters (a group of about 120 people were there together), and said,
Acts of the Apostles 1:15

“Lord, I have heard from many people about this man, how much harm he did to Your saints in Jerusalem; and here he has authority from the chief priests to arrest all who call on Your name.”

Do you fear a high official of the priestly court who has authority to murder you?

Of course you do; but it is the Lord speaking in a vision to this saint in Damascus.

15 But the Lord said to him,

“Go, for he is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; for I will show him how much he must suffer in behalf of My name.”
ACTS of the Apostles 9:15-16 – The word of the Lord to Ananias

Ananias anoints Saul

So Ananias departed and entered the house,

He placed his hands on him and said,

“Brother Saul,

the Lord Jesus, who appeared to you on the road you were traveling, has sent me so that you may regain your sight and be filled with the Holy Spirit.

OBEDIENCE to the Lord! on the part of Ananias.

The Lord says, GO, and he goes to Saul. And though he has good reason to fear him, Ananias fears the Lord more. He also addresses Saul as ‘brother.’ [Click here to see the embrace of this greeting to the saints.]

18 And immediately something like fish scales fell from his eyes, and he regained his sight,

and he got up and was baptized; and he took food and was strengthened.

Saul: Now I can see!

Савл проповедует в Дамаске
```
Click for translation.
```
Савл провел несколько дней с учениками в Дамаске

²⁰Immediately he began proclaiming Jesus in the synagogues:

Yeshua is the Son of God.
ACTS of the Apostles 9:20b, Complete Jewish Bible – Proclamation of Saul of Tarsus

You have to picture this NEW witness of Saul

.. in the synagogues, saying, “He is the Son of God.” 21 All those hearing him continued to be amazed, and were saying,

“Isn’t this the man in Jerusalem who was causing havoc for those who called on this name and came here for the purpose of taking them as prisoners to the chief priests?”

But Saul grew stronger and kept confounding the Jews who lived in Damascus by proving that Jesus is the Messiah.
Acts of the Apostle Saul 9:22

Many Days – Saul some three years later..

Luke records a little more of Saul’s conversion story in ACTS of the Apostles 9; however his reference to later readers some three decades later begins, ‘ὡς δὲ ἐπληροῦντο..’ that is: ‘When many days had elapsed..’

Saul, later records in his letter to the church in Galatia:

but I went away to Arabia, and returned once more to Damascus.

Then three years later I went up to Jerusalem to become acquainted with Cephas, and stayed with him for fifteen days.
Paul’s letter to the Galatians 1:17b [above] & 18 NASB20
```
ACTS of the Apostles - To be continued...
```
February 28, 2022
Damascus Road: Witness into all the World
Witness from Jerusalem to Damascus

Of all places the Apostles would not have ever thought the risen Christ would anoint yet another Apostle, a road to Damascus likely would have been the last place to come to mind.

Jesus had led them to places beyond Galilee (now formally a part of Syria under the administration of Rome for the readers of ACTS) like Tyre and Sidon.

Jews had built synagogues in many cities of the Roman Empire. By the time Saul studies in Jerusalem and now pursues disciples of Jesus in his zeal for the LORD, the politics of Rome, Jerusalem and the major cities of Syria, Galilee, Samaria and Judea are not-so-delicately intertwined.

Syria Cilicia Phoenice

Damascus, of course, was of strategic importance to Rome in governing all of Syria including Jerusalem and the cities of the eastern Mediterranean.

Tarsus, Damascus & the eastern administrative shore of Syria under Rome

The Roman prefects / procurators of Judea were directly subordinate to the Syrian governor.
In particular, the Legate of Syria was the next authority in complaints against the governor of Judea, as can be seen from the lawsuit brought by the Jews against Pontius Pilate to Lucius Vitellius in AD 36 and the Samaritans brought before the legate Gaius in AD 51
source: List of Roman governors in Syria
```
Returning now to Luke's account in Jerusalem on the day the Sanhedrin executed Stephen..
```
ACTS of the Apostles 8:

Click above for translations in English, Ukrainian and Russian.

On that day a severe persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout the land of Judea and Samaria.

Devout men buried Stephen and mourned deeply over him.

Saul, however, was ravaging the church. He would enter house after house, drag off men and women, and put them in prison.
Дії 8 ACTS 8:3 CSB

ACTS 9:

שָׁאַל

..went to the high priest and asked for letters from him to the synagogues in Damascus..

Meanwhile, in Damascus..

10 There was a disciple in Damascus named Ananias..

Many Jews (including these Christian followers of the Way) lived in Damascus, a city with multiple synagogues. [v.2] These included a disciple named Ἰούδας [Judas, a common name of that time] [v.11].

From terrorizing Jews in Judea & Samaria to the road to Damascus

To the Roman Citizen born in Tarsus, Damascus will be a familiar stop along the roads from Jerusalem.

Now as he was traveling, it happened that he was approaching Damascus, and suddenly a light from heaven flashed around him; and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him,

“Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”
Acts 9:4b NASB – JESUS to Saul of Tarsus along the road to Damascus

5 And he said, “Who are You, Lord?”

“I am Jesus whom you are persecuting, but get up and enter the city, and it will be told to you what you must do.”
Acts of the Apostles 9:5b-6 NASB,
Response of the Lord to Saul of Tarsus with command for his leading into Damascus

7 The men who traveled with him stood speechless, hearing the voice but seeing no one.

Saul got up from the ground, and though his eyes were open, he could see nothing; and leading him by the hand, they brought him into Damascus.

Prayer and Fasting

9 And for three days he was without sight, and neither ate nor drank.
```
ACTS of an Apostle to the gentiles + to be continued...
```
February 26, 2022