Acts 9: Saul is chosen by the Lord

Saul was persecuting the Church. He was going to Damascus,

4 and he fell to the ground and heard a voice saying to him, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?”

He became blind until he met Ananias who was called by Jesus to help Saul:

15 But the Lord said to him, “Go, for he/Saul is a chosen instrument of Mine, to bear My name before the Gentiles and kings and the sons of Israel; 16 for I will show him how much he must suffer in behalf of My name.”


Jesus said that Saul is a σκευος εκλογης (skeuos eklogēs) ; a chosen vessel (instrument). Indeed, Saul did not attend any altar call to become a Christian and we don´t know of any baptism by the Spirit that made Saul talk in languages, however it is very clear that Saul was a persecutor of Jesus and became persecuted for Jesus.

Acts 8: εὐηγγελίσατο - preached

In Acts 7 and before, there was a community in Jerusalem who was sharing the bread; but this community faced a great persecution. Most Christians fleed from Jerusalem to other places after the death of Stephen, but wherever they went they spread the gospel. In particular, Philip preached to the eunuc who was reading Isaiah 53. 

35 Then Philip opened his mouth, and beginning from this Scripture he preached/εὐηγγελίσατο/euēngelisato Jesus to him.

When we read the gospel of Luke (for instance), it seems that the gospel/evangelium is about the coming of the kingdom of God, but in Acts, it becomes clearer that the Messiah is the Way to connect to the Lord. It was clear to the first Christians that they should evangelize, spread the gospel, spread who is Jesus.

Perhaps I have to adjust what the gospel is. In my mind, the gospel is all about being accepted by the Lord through Jesus, so I can rest in Him and perhaps rest of preaching. But there was some necessity of the first Christians to preach. Why? Perhaps because they discovered a great treasure, they were really glad and they had to spread the good news as in:

39 When they came up out of the water, the Spirit of the Lord snatched Philip away; and the eunuch no longer saw him, but went on his way rejoicing.

Acts 7: Stephen in the Sanhedrin

Stephen (Greek name) was falsely accused of "betraying" Israel by preaching that Jesus would destroy the temple and change the law of Moses. He was taken to be judged by the Sanhedrin - with the same high priest that condemned Jesus. In his discourse, he highlighted how Israel was unfaithful to the Lord. At the end, he said:

52 Which one of the prophets did your fathers not persecute? They killed those who had previously announced the coming of the Righteous One, and you have now become betrayers and murderers of Him; 53 you who received the Law as ordained by angels, and yet did not keep it.”

It is common to think that we should avoid confrontation to all costs, but Stephen knew that this Sanhedrin condemned Jesus, so they would condemn him too. Despite their fury:

55 But he, being full of the Holy Spirit, looked intently into heaven and saw the glory of God, and Jesus standing at the right hand of God; 56 and he said, “Behold, I see the heavens opened and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.” 

He saw the Son of Man, not site, but standing as supporting him at that moment. 

59 They went on stoning Stephen as he called on the Lord and said, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!”

Here he prays to Jesus as if Jesus was ready to receive him. For Stephen, his life was to serve the Messiah. Saul was there and witnessed this, perhaps judging him but also perplexed how the faith in Jesus was strong.

Acts 6: Greeks in the church of Jerusalem

In Jerusalem, the gospel is spreading among local and foreigner Jews- Jews that came from Greek speaking places. Widows were vulnerable at that time because there was no retirement from government at that time. Greek speaking widows complained that they were put in second place when the meal was distributed. The apostles proposed that the congregation chose 7 people to be in charge of this meal distribution. It is very interesting that all 7 chosen people had Greek names, specially, Stephen and Philip. The church in Jerusalem had a problem and they showed love in the solution when they put 7 people, very likely Jews from the diaspora (not from Jerusalem), in charge of the solution.  

From the very beginning, the church seemed to adopt a less ethnic view of the "people of the Lord". 

Acts 5: sin & death in the church

Ananias and Sapphira saw the great generosity of Barnabas and how he was praised. They decided to copy Barnabas in order to be praised too.
I know that the Lord is good and worth to be praised; however, I can't understand how the Lord is good when Peter said to Sapphira soon after his hushand has died:

8 And Peter responded to her, “Tell me whether you sold the land for [g]this price?” And she said, “Yes, for that price.” 9 Then Peter said to her, “Why is it that you have agreed together to put the Spirit of the Lord to the test? Behold, the feet of those who have buried your husband are at the door, and they will carry you out as well.”

I think that if I were in Peter's place, I would tell her directly that his husband has died in order to prevent her from dying.
The Lord is good and worth to be praised, but He humbles those who want to be praised, even those who claim to belong to Jesus.
In a way, Ananias and Sapphira were worse than the young rich guy who asked Jesus how to get eternal life.

We read in Acts 5:29:

29 But Peter and the apostles answered, “We must obey God rather than men.

Obey = πειθαρχεῖν / peitharchein
In bible.cc notation it is V-PNA :

• V:** Verb
• P:** Present (An ongoing, habitual lifestyle of obedience)
• N:** Infinitive ("**To** obey")
• A:** Active (We choose to do the obeying)

Peter states that he must obey the Lord instead men; and in a way, Ananias and Sapphira were focusing more on people than in the Lord. Disobedience and vainglory goes together.

Acts 4: σωθῆναι - to be saved, to be healed

In Acts 3, a crippled beggar is miraculously healed causing a great perplexity in Jerusalem. Peter and John were arrested by the Sadducees because they preached that the resurrected Jesus healed that man. As they had authority over the temple, they had soldiers who could arrest John and Peter. They stayed all night in prison to be judged in the following day. In the judgement, before very important people such as the chief priest Caiaphas (who had "judged" Jesus), Peter said that the crippled beggar was healed/saved by the name of Jesus and then:

11 He (Jesus) is the stone which was rejected by you, the builders, but which became the chief cornerstone. 12 And there is salvation/heal in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among mankind by which we must be saved/healed.”

Peter said that as the crippled beggar needed Jesus to be saved/healed, so does Caiphas, me and everyone else; but saved or healed from what? We are naturally fragmented, broken; but Jesus can make everyone who trusts in Him, whole.

In this world with social media, youtube, etc. a lot of people want to spread some original idea to call attention to himself; but here in Acts, the apostles were called to spread salvation in the name of Jesus; they were called to witness Jesus as the Messiah who resurrected from the death. In a way, it is burden to call attention to oneself and it is freedom to call attention to Jesus.

Acts 3: faith in the name of Jesus

Peter and John met a crippled beggar in the temple. He asked for money.

6 But Peter said, “I do not have silver and gold, but what I do have I give to you: In the name of Jesus Christ the Nazarene, walk!”

Peter and John had a great treasure: Jesus. We are naturally selfish; as we are rich we become afraid to share our wealth, but here it is different.

The man was healed and then, he praised the Lord.
Everybody was marveled. Peter made a speech where he talked about Jesus's death. He reminded that his listeners were guilt given that they asked for the release of Barabbas instead of Jesus. However, the name of Jesus is precious. Peter said:

16 And on the basis of faith in His name, it is the name of Jesus which has strengthened this man whom you see and know; and the faith which comes through Him has given him this perfect health in the presence of you all.

The crippled beggar trusted in the name of Jesus and was healed by Him. Peter said that Jesus was in the center of the Old Testament. 
To a Jew in Jerusalem, Jesus was crucified and was cursed by the Lord, but now, Peter (who denied Jesus) is proclaiming that Jesus is the Messiah, the one pointed by the Scriptures.
As it all happened in the temple, the Jewish leaders knew about this. They were against Jesus and against the message of the apostles, but how to deal with this great sign?