NBST 520 New Testament Orientation II
From Professor - Excellent job! Great post and interaction. I really appreciate that you caught the spirit of the assignment! 100/100 points!Hello church! Today we will be considering what the Jewish life was like just after Jesus was taken up to be with the Father in heaven. It is important to comprehend the setting and context of the Jewish people who were responsible for establishing the Christian Church. Learning about them helps us to understand the entire New Testament better. Some of you may have already guessed that we will be examining the book of Acts looking at Christianity from Luke’s perspective.
Before examining the book of Acts, I would like to discuss God’s perfect timing. You see, in the first century Roman rule, in a way, paved the path for the spread of the gospel message. During this period there was something called “Pax Romana”, which is the Latin word for “Roman peace.” According to Elwell and Yarbrough, “Historians have long observed that conditions in the first century turned out to be favorable for the spread of Christianity. There was relative peace, a common language (Greek), some level of social order enabling safe travel, and an increasing network of roads and sea routes.”[1] With that in mind, we will now head over to Acts.
Luke began writing about the early church for many reasons and he goes to great lengths to tell us about the Jewish lifestyle when the church was beginning to be established on its firm foundation.[2] Paul documented that religion was not new to the Jewish people, many of the traditions and ways of life carried over to this new life in Christ. The new Christian Church starts in the heart of Judaism with faithful Jewish people.[3] Paul was telling us that the church was the fulfillment of prophecy. I watched several videos in my New Testament class where Dr. Stacy states, “Christianity began as a legitimate movement within the piety of first-century Judaism.”[4] Right from the beginning, in the first chapter of Acts, we see baptism mentioned as something normal (Acts 1:5) which the Jews called “Mikvah”.[5] The Jews regularly participated in confession of sin, repentance, and commitment of faith in the act of baptism.[6] Furthermore, we see the followers of Christ being obedient when they return to Jerusalem and are gathered together as they did when Jesus was with them (Acts 1:12-14). In this case, they were being obedient to the instruction from Christ, Jesus told them to wait (Acts 1:4-5). According to Dr. Stacy, “the community gathered at Pentecost, believing that Jesus was not just Israel's Messiah, but God's son.”[7]
The Jewish people believed in the coming Kingdom of God and Luke is clear that he believed the Kingdom of God had arrived when he told the story about Peter’s explanation of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-40). Dr. Stacy is clear stating, “…it was not the end of the end” but “…the day of the Lord and the Kingdom of God it brings, is already here, but it still awaits its final and full fulfillment.”[8] The term Dr. Stacy uses often for this is “eschatological” or “the beginning of the end.”[9] At Pentecost, Peter’s sermon was so powerful that over 3,000 people were saved that day (Acts 2:40)! The church was cognizant of the poor and shared what they had with each other even to the point of selling what they had to grow the church and care for one another. They were living Christianity out to the fullest and God blessed them and their numbers increased daily (Acts 2:42-47, 4:32-35).
[1] Elwell, Walter A., and Robert W. Yarbrough, “Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and Theological Survey”, ed. Walter A. Elwell, Fourth Edition, Encountering Biblical Studies (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2022), 184.
[2] Robert Wayne Stacy, “The Jewish Setting of the Early Church in Acts”, Video Presentation by Liberty University, 00:00-00:36, 02:14-02:20.
[3] Ibid., 02:20-02:24.
[4] Ibid., 00:48-01:00.
[5] Ibid., 02:24-03:14.
[6] Ibid., 02:24-03:14.
[7] Robert Wayne Stacy, “Pentecost & the Eschatological Setting of the Early Church in Acts”, Video Presentation by Liberty University, 00:38-00:45.
[8] Ibid., 06:23-06:27, 08:47-08:58.
[9] Ibid., 00:16, 05:28, 06:11-06:20, 08:59.
Bibliography
Elwell, Walter A., and Robert W. Yarbrough. Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and Theological Survey. ed. Walter A. Elwell, Fourth Edition, Encountering Biblical Studies. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2022.
Stacy, Robert Wayne. The Jewish Setting of the Early Church in Acts. Video Presentation by Liberty University.
Stacy, Robert Wayne. Pentecost & the Eschatological Setting of the Early Church in Acts. Video Presentation by Liberty University.
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