Introduction
Before reading any book, it is helpful to ask the question: when and why did the author bother to write all this? Normally, an author has a specific goal in mind, and Luke was no exception. He appears to have had a number of reasons for writing Luke-Acts.
While Luke addressed his book to Theophilus (literally means lover of God), it is evident that he anticipated his writing having a far wider circulation. Indeed, he tells us that others had set about writing an account of all that Jesus had done (Luke 1:1ff). But Luke had taken the time to carefully research these things and produce Luke - Acts. One would not normally go to so much trouble to write something if it were intended purely for one private individual. It appears that Luke had a very wide audience in mind - including Roman officials, since parts of his writings seem to be specifically intended for Roman officials.
Firstly he wrote as a historian.
He himself had not been an eyewitness to the various events surrounding the ministry of Jesus, and even some of what is written in Acts (Note how he changes from "they" to "we" at times. ) So when Luke spent time (at least 2 years - see Acts 21:7 and 27:1) in
Luke records for us the first 30 or so years of the church.
Secondly he wrote as a diplomat (to give a defence)
As Luke writes he develops a quite powerful political apologetic. With Paul in prison, he no doubt was concerned about the attitude of some of the Roman officials towards Christianity. He goes out of his way to show:
• That the Romans officials were mostly friendly to Christianity, and that some even had become Christians - like the centurion at the cross, the centurion Cornelius, and Serius Paulus.
• That the Roman authorities could find no fault in either Jesus or his apostles. Jesus had been accused of serious offences, but neither Herod nor Pilate had found him guilty. Similarly, Luke tells us that Felix, Festus and Agrippa all failed to convict Paul of any offence.
• That the Roman authorities agreed that Christianity was a licensed religion, because it was really a form of Judaism. Hence Luke is at pains to show that the church community had a direct continuity with the OT people of God.
Writing as a diplomat, Luke wrote not only a political apologetic, but he also wrote as a peacemaker in the church. His writings set forth the picture that by God's providence the early church had remained a united church, despite the problems of trying to keep Jews and Samaritan and Gentile Christians in the one church!
He does this by showing that Peter, James and Paul were in agreement about the basics of the gospel message. He shows their ministries to be parallel, rather than divergent
Thirdly Luke wrote as the Theologian- Evangelist (to provide a guide)
Three basic truths reoccur time and time again in Luke's writings:
• Salvation has been prepared by God. It was not an afterthought, or something that "just happened".
• Salvation is given by Christ. (e.g. Acts 2:38-39)
• Salvation is offered to all peoples (e.g. by showing how Paul's ministry turned to the Gentiles) In his writing he shows us that despite all kinds of opposition, the Christian faith triumphed in reaching the centre of the then known world (Rome), thus showing us that believers empowered by the Holy Spirit had indeed been able to spread the gospel far and wide (Acts 1:8)
In understanding Acts we need to realise that it is written as a follow on volume to the Gospel of Luke, as is clear from Acts 1:1 (It is generally accepted that Luke wrote Acts about 63AD - very soon after the last event recorded in the book. Had Luke known the outcome of Paul's trial, he would almost certainly have told us about it). Often people think that Luke's Gospel is about the ministry of Jesus Christ, while Acts is about the Church of Jesus Christ from its birth in
It is interesting to note how Luke records for us that Jesus was not taken up to heaven until he had given clear instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen (Acts 1:2) Thus we see that Jesus deliberately made provision for the continuation of his ministry on earth by means of the apostles, directed from heaven through the Holy Spirit.
Luke shows us that the baptism of the Holy Spirit is a key event in redemptive history. It seems that Luke sees history in 3 phases: the period of
Relevance of Acts for today
In a sense, the book of Acts is an unfinished book. The theme of the book is mission - how the gospel spread from
Acts contains many ageless principles which all of God's children do well to heed, and to model their mission work on. It is also a book of great comfort - for we see that Jesus through the working of His Spirit, ensures that the mission of the church will be accomplished.
May the sermons on Acts over the coming months be a blessing to you.
Pastor Peter
June 2007
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