Acts 20: Paul's farewell

Nero became Caesar in 54 AD. Paul was in Ephesus and stayed there for three years. Acts 20 happens around 58 AD when the "peaceful years" of Nero’s reign were starting to fray. Paul was in his 3rd mission trip. He was heading Jerusalem but wanted to say goodbye to his friends of Ephesus. He went to Miletus, a city next to Ephesus and called his friends and church leaders from Ephesus to meet him there. It was the last time they were seeing each other because Paul would face a persecution and finally die in Rome for the gospel. There he said:

25-27 “And so this is good-bye. You’re not going to see me again, nor I you, you whom I have gone among for so long proclaiming the news of God’s inaugurated kingdom. I’ve done my best for you, given you my all, held back nothing of God’s will for you.

28 “Now it’s up to you. Be on your toes—both for yourselves and your congregation of sheep. The Holy Spirit has put you in charge of these people —God’s people they are— to guard and protect them. God himself thought they were worth dying for.

The Church is like a chain of love: Jesus, Peter, Paul, leaders in Ephesus, the congregation, etc. In his farewell, Paul asks them to take of the Ephesus congregation because God himself thought they were worth dying for. I must always remember that God himself thought I were worth dying for, despite being a sinner.

Acts 19: Who is great in Ephesus?

Ephesus was a great city with the great temple of Artemis, one of the Seven Wonders of the world. In his third mission trip, Paul taught first in a synagogue but he was not welcomed; so he decided to teach daily in the School of Tyrannus to gentiles. The Lord opened the eyes of the city to the point that Demetrius goddess sales plummeted. For him, the gospel preached by Paul was destroying the city, was destroying the great Artemis, but who was great in Ephesus? Certainly, Jesus, although not using strength. That is why Paul had to flee from Ephesus.

Acts 18: Paul was afraid in Corinth.

 Corinth was worse than Las Vegas:
AI: Corinth was the "Sin City" of the ancient world. It was a place of extreme wealth, intense idol worship (the Temple of Aphrodite had 1,000 ritual prostitutes), and litigious, aggressive people. It was an intimidating environment for a small group of tent makers.
Paul came from Athens, where he was mocked by the intellectual elite.
Paul had been already experienced persecution in many cities.

9 And the Lord said to Paul by a vision at night, “Do not be afraid any longer, but go on speaking and do not be silent; 10 for I am with you, and no one will attack you to harm you, for I have many people in this city.” 11 And he settled there for a year and six months, teaching the word of God among them.

Imagine the joy to listen from Jesus: "I am with you". Besides, Jesus told him there were many Christians in Corinth. Paul was certainly not alone.
Jesus kept Paul on the way, strengthening him.

Acts 17: Paul in Athens

Paul was used to preach first in synagogues, but in Acts 17 he is preaching in the marketplace where gentiles could listen to him.

18 And some of the Epicurean and Stoic philosophers as well were conversing with him. Some were saying, “What could this scavenger of tidbits want to say?” Others, “He seems to be a proclaimer of strange deities,”—because he was preaching Jesus and the resurrection. 19 And they took him and brought him to the Areopagus, saying, “May we know what this new teaching is which you are proclaiming?

The Greeks were like scholars of today: they are very curious, they like to ask questions, to learn new things, and they look to themselves as smart and rational people. The reaction of the philosophers resemble the reaction in a university.

AI: The primary goal of an Epicurean was not "wild partying" (a common misconception), but Ataraxia — a state of tranquil calm (as in nirvana?). Because the gods were in a state of perfect ataraxia, they would never "pollute" their peace by listening to human prayers, judging sins, or managing the universe. When Paul spoke of a God who "commands all men everywhere to repent" because He has "appointed a day on which He will judge the world" (Acts 17:30-31), he was attacking the very core of Epicurean peace. To an Epicurean, a body coming back to life was scientifically impossible and philosophically disgusting. The goal was to be free of the body, not to have it restored. They called Paul a spermológos ("seed-picker" or "babbler"). To these sophisticated philosophers, Paul sounded like a street-peddler selling "superstition" (Greek: deisidaimonia).


AI: The Stoics were the "Moralists". The Stoic did not seek "pleasure" like the Epicurean; they sought Virtue (aretē). They believed the universe was a rational, orderly system. To be happy, one must align their will with the "Providence" of the universe. They taught that you cannot control external events (sickness, war, poverty), but you can control your reaction to them. Stoics were Pantheists. They believed God was not a person outside the universe, but the "Soul of the World"—a divine, rational fire that permeated everything. They used "Logus" to describe the "Reason" that holds the stars in place and gives humans logic. It resembles Christianity but: Paul’s God was a Creator who made the world, not just a force that was the world. This God has a will and can be grieved. Stoics were famously proud of their self-sufficiency. Paul’s message was that humans are sinners who cannot save themselves and must repent. To a Stoic, "repentance" looked like weakness. Stoics believed in the "Great Conflagration"—that the universe is periodically destroyed by fire and starts over. They believed the soul might survive for a while but eventually merged back into the "Divine Fire." The idea of an individual, physical body rising from the dead was illogical to them.

Even though the stoics seemed more Christians, they thought that through reasoning (and their superior way to look things) they could get the answer for a better life. In Christianity, it is different: the Creator moves to his creatures, show love and call them to repentance and acceptance through Jesus.

Acts 16: Πίστευσον

In Acts 16, Paul , Silas, Timothy, Luke are in Philippi. Paul and Silas were put in jail, but at night, there was a great earthquake that set them free. The jailer was responsible for them and he thought that they had feed from prison (as any normal man). Then, he decided to take his own life because he was afraid of the Roman punishment. When he was about to kill himself, Paul shouted at him, claiming not do that. The jailer asked what he should do to be saved (from the Roman punishment). 

31 They said, “Believe/Πίστευσον in the Lord/Κύριον Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” 32 And they spoke the word of God to him together with all who were in his house. 33 And he took them that very hour of the night and washed their wounds, and immediately he was baptized, he and all his household. 34 And he brought them into his house and set [j]food before them, and was overjoyed, since he had become a believer in God together with his whole household.

It is very interesting that the jailer was afraid of the Romans, but this was the process that guide him and his family to Jesus. The Lord has his ways to call people to him.

Acts 15: what is necessary to be saved?

After many gentiles have believed in Jesus, Christian-Jews were saying that they should be circumcised in order to be saved. If I were living at that moment, I think that  would want to be circumcised due to the way I treat my health. When I don´t know exactly what to do in order to get something, I am careful -  so in order to have more assurance, I would agree on being circumcised. But, according to Paul, it would be an error. This kind of thought shows lack of trust that the blood of Christ is enough for me to be ok with the Lord.
However, I suppose that things are quite more complex.
James, the brother of Jesus, said:

19-21 “So here is my decision: We’re not going to unnecessarily burden non-Jewish people who turn to the Master. We’ll write them a letter and tell them, ‘Be careful to not get involved in activities connected with idols, to guard the morality of sex and marriage, to not serve food offensive to Jewish Christians—blood, for instance.’ This is basic wisdom from Moses, preached and honored for centuries now in city after city as we have met and kept the Sabbath.”

A Christian is one who belongs to Christ, who loves the Lord and loves other human beings. In doing so, his own body belongs to the Lord and he is to be in harmony with others. James was looking to how the Lord made a covenant with all the humanity and set it to all non Jews.

Acts 14: Lystra

In the first mission trip, Paul and Barnabas went to Lystra. They healed a cripled man from birth. The crowd was amazed and saw Paul and Barnabas as gods (Hermes/Paul and Zeus/Barnabas) due to the legend of Philemon and Baucis. In this legend, the two gods (Hermes,Zeus) came tot earth disguised as mortal men to test human hospitality. An elderly couple (Philemon and Baucis) welcomed them, so they were rewarded with a gold temple while the wicked city was destroyed by a flood. When the city saw the healed men, they associated Paul and Barnabas with these two gods and they were about to worship them but Paul and Barnabas forbade them to do so. They gave them this message:

15 and saying, “Men, why are you doing these things? We are also men, of the same nature as you, preaching the gospel to you, to turn from these useless things to a living God, who made the heaven and the earth and the sea, and everything that is in them. 16 In past generations He permitted all the nations to go their own ways; 17 yet He did not leave Himself without witness, in that He did good and gave you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness.” 18 And even by saying these things, only with difficulty did they restrain the crowds from offering sacrifices to them.

These "useless things" (ματαίων) refers to Hermes and Zeus. Thus, this message was somehow offensive too. They correctly refused to be praised and they also showed that their believes were wrong. Besides, the influence of their opponents made the crowd stone Paul.
It is very likely that Timothy from Lystra saw this, but not only that. After some time, Paul and Barnabas came back (return from the 1st mission trip) to organize the believers in a stronger community. 

Acts 13: the first mission trip

The church in Antioch was gathering different kinds of people: Barnabas - a levite Jews, Simon from Africa and Manaen who was raised together (syntrophos) with Herod Antipas (he should be rich). For outsiders, they were the Cristianos - people of Christ. They were strangely together because of Christ, that's why they called some attention from outsiders. The Holy Spirit spoke to send Saul and Barnabas to a mission. 
In Paphos they were requested by the proconsul Sergius Paulus because he wanted to analyze the gospel. Why? Perhaps, due to some disagreements when Saul and Barnabas preached there. The proconsul was assisted by a magician called Bar Jesus  who was against the gospel and was disturbing when Barnabas and Saul was preaching to the proconsul. Saul said:

9 But Saul, who was also known as Paul, filled with the Holy Spirit, stared at him, 10 and said, “You who are full of all deceit and fraud, you son of the devil, you enemy of all righteousness, will you not stop making crooked the straight ways of the Lord? 11 Now, behold, the hand of the Lord is upon you, and you will be blind and not see the sun for a time.” And immediately a mist and a darkness fell upon him, and he went about seeking those who would lead him by the hand. 

This event led the proconsul to believe in the gospel. Perhaps, Saul (Jewish name) began to use the name Paul (Roman name) as a way to be associated to Sergius Paulus .

The family of Sergius Paulus  was very influential in Pisidian Antioch. They went there (perhaps to a recommendation from the proconsul). There, Paul preaches:

MSG: 36-39 “David, of course, having completed the work God set out for him, has been in the grave, dust and ashes, a long time now. But the One God raised up—no dust and ashes for him! I want you to know, my very dear friends, that it is on account of this resurrected Jesus that the forgiveness of your sins can be promised. He accomplishes, in those who believe, everything that the Law of Moses could never make good on. But everyone who believes in this raised-up Jesus is declared good and right and whole before God.

Paul says in the synagogue that Jesus is the One to make us whole before God, and this can't be accomplished by the Mosaic Law. Thus, imagine the reaction of this message among the Jews!

Acts 12: the Lord is sovereign

In Acts 12, James (John's brother and very close to Jesus) was killed by Herod. As he was praised by the Jewish leaders for this, he went to kill Peter; however, Peter was miraculously set free from the jail. Therefore, the Lord can save whoever He wants. The Lord let Herod live and kill James, but the Lord made Herod die when he was boasting about being like a god.

Atcs 11: μετάνοιαν (metanoian)

Peter is questioned by other Jews how has he stayed with uncircumcised gentiles. He explains how the Lord conduct him to the gentiles. There, Peter saw the Holy Spirit moving in the gentiles.


In Acts 11:18 we read:

18 When they heard this, they quieted down and glorified God, saying, “Well then, God has also granted to the Gentiles the repentance that leads to life.”

Repentance is the translation from μετάνοιαν which means "change of mind" or in Christian terms, "conversion".
So the gentiles received from the Lord, the "change of mind" that leads to ζωὴν (zōēn)/life implying that they were dead.

Acts 10: Peter announces the kerygma to a gentile

 Acts 10: Peter announces the kerygma to a gentile

The Kerygma is what is announced, the good news. The Lord commands Peter to announce the Kerygma to a gentile that knew the Old Testament. He said:

37-38 “You know the story of what happened in Judea. It began in Galilee after John preached a total life-change. Then Jesus arrived from Nazareth, anointed by God with the Holy Spirit, ready for action. He went through the country helping people and healing everyone who was beaten down by the Devil. He was able to do all this because God was with him.

39-43 “And we saw it, saw it all, everything he did in the land of the Jews and in Jerusalem where they killed him, hung him from a cross. But in three days God had him up, alive, and out where he could be seen. Not everyone saw him—he wasn’t put on public display. Witnesses had been carefully handpicked by God beforehand—us! We were the ones, there to eat and drink with him after he came back from the dead. He commissioned us to announce this in public, to bear solemn witness that he is in fact the One whom God destined as Judge of the living and dead. But we’re not alone in this. Our witness that he is the means to forgiveness of sins is backed up by the witness of all the prophets.”

The Kerygma contains:
. the promises of the Old Testament are being fulfilled in Jesus.
. Jesus was anointed by water and by the Holy Spirit; He showed the power of the Kingdom of God through signs.
. Jesus was crucified.
. Jesus was resurrected by the Lord.
. Jesus is destined as Judge of the living and dead.
. Jesus commissioned the gospel to his disciples.
. Jesus is the means to forgiveness of sins.

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?

Acts 2: Proclaiming Jesus as the Messiah

Jerusalem was the center of the 3 Jewish feasts, one of them was the Feast of Pentecost, 50 days after the Passover. Acts 2 says that 10 days after the ascension of Jesus, foreign Jews from many places are in Jerusalem to celebrate Pentecost. In this occasion, the Holy Spirit came over the disciples and made them talk in other languages, attracting the attention of the foreigner Jews. Peter explained that they were in a very special moment in history - when prophecies are being fulfilled. He uses Psalm 16 as a prophecy to the resurrection of the Messiah, and Joel 2 to explain the coming of the Holy Spirit. Peter explained that Jesus is at the right or the Lord waiting for his enemies to under His feet as in Psalm 110. Peter said:

36 Therefore let all the house of Israel know for certain that God has made Him both Lord and Christ — this Jesus whom you crucified.”

Most of the listeners should have been 50 days before in the Passover when Jesus was crucified by their approval. Thus, given that everything Peter was saying were true, they became the enemies of the Lord. The logical question they made was: what can we do? Peter said:

8 Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Let this gift of the Holy Spirit be with me, changing my life so that I become more and more like Jesus.

Acts 1: How can evil be so powerful if Jesus is alive?

 In Acts 1:6, the disciples are with Jesus after resurrection. However, Rome is still in power. We read:

  

6 So, when they had come together, they began asking Him, saying, “Lord, is it at this time that You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?”

Somehow that is the question that we do sometimes: "if Jesus is with me, how can evil still hurt me? how can evil hurt your people?". The answer was:

7 But He said to them, “It is not for you to know periods of time or appointed times which the Father has set by His own authority; 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all Judea, and Samaria, and as far as the remotest part of the earth.”

 The Holy Spirit will give power to me and to the church so that I and the church will witness that Jesus is alive.

How can evil be so powerful if Jesus is alive?

The answer must be that the evil will be subjected by the powerful kindness of the church. Certainly that I don't have power in me to witness Jesus alive. This power comes through the Holy Spirit.