47-John 19 – Acts 16
Nov. 14, 2009
We will continue our study this week in the final chapters of the Gospel of John. Last week we looked through the first eighteen chapters of a Gospel that was different from the other three. John’s Gospel contains much more doctrine and shows his deep lifelong relationship with Jesus in his words. This week we will finish the Gospel of John beginning in Chapter 19 then move into the historical Book of Acts. When we left off last week Pilate had released the criminal Barabbas instead of the innocent Jesus. Now in Chapter 19 he sent the Lord to his soldiers to be scourged and mocked in preparation for crucifixion. This practice was to publicly weaken and humiliate the condemned before being nailed to the cross of wood. During this time Pilate became increasingly fearful that he was to be responsible for the death of someone as powerful as Jesus and tried to have Him freed. The Jews would not allow it so Pilate saved face by placing the blame in his own mind on the Jews. Jesus was then taken to the cross. Jesus was crucified under a sign that in three languages announced Him as King of the Jews. Before His last breath He transferred the care of His mother to the apostle John, and then said in verse 30 “It is finished!” Jesus was taken from the cross and placed into the unused tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. In Chapter 20 on Sunday morning Mary Magdalene came to the tomb of Jesus and found the stone door rolled away. She ran to Peter and told him in verse 2 “They have taken away the Lord out of the tomb, and we do not know where they have laid Him.” Peter and John ran to the tomb and Peter went inside and found the grave clothes lying on the bench as if the body was still there. They did not understand from the scriptures that Jesus must have risen from the dead as He said He would. The disciples returned to their homes. Mary stayed at the tomb weeping over Jesus when two angels appeared to her and asked why she wept. She turned to see Jesus standing there and thought He was the gardener. Jesus revealed Himself and told her to tell the disciples. Jesus appeared to His men and proved to them it was really Him. John then wrote in verse 30-31 the reason for his gospel “Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book;but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”
In the final chapter Jesus appeared to Peter when he went back to fishing and provided for him a catch when he had none. He then told Peter to take care of believers after He returned to His Father. Even though Peter had denied Jesus in His hour of need Jesus forgave him and told him to be the leader of the new group of believers that was to be known as the Christian church. This ends the Gospel of John. We will now begin the Book of Acts.
The Book of Acts is the only historical book in the New Testament. It was most likely written around 65-60 AD by Luke the Physician the writer of the Gospel of Luke. The Book of Acts is a continuation of Luke’s gospel account and covers the events during the first three decades of the newly formed church. Chapter 1 reveals that Jesus was on earth for forty days after His resurrection. During this time He spoke with His disciples and had many others see Him as proof that He did rise from the dead as He said. He told His men to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit that had been promised to them. When asked Jesus told the men that no one can know the time of His return, but they were given instructions in verse 7-8 “It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority;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 even to the remotest part of the earth.” After this Jesus was lifted up through the clouds and ascended to His Father. An angel appeared to the men and asked them why they were looking for Jesus. The angel said Jesus would return the same way as He left. The disciples then went to an upper room to wait. When they were there they numbered about one hundred twenty people. Peter took charge and they drew lots and chose Matthias to replace Judas in the twelve. The disciples waited in the upper room, in Chapter 2, until the Day of Pentecost when tongues of fire came from the sky and rested on those present. There was a sound of a great wind as each was indwelled by the Holy Spirit in the room. Each person was filled with the Spirit and went about speaking in languages they did not know. People from all over the world had come to Jerusalem for Pentecost heard the disciples speaking in the languages of their home countries. They accused them of being full of wine. Peter stepped up and said the men were not drunk, but it was as spoken of by the prophet Joel “AND IT SHALL BE IN THE LAST DAYS,’ God says, ‘THAT I WILL POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT ON ALL MANKIND; AND YOUR SONS AND YOUR DAUGHTERS SHALL PROPHESY, AND YOUR YOUNG MEN SHALL SEE VISIONS, AND YOUR OLD MEN SHALL DREAM DREAMS; EVEN ON MY BONDSLAVES, BOTH MEN AND WOMEN, I WILL IN THOSE DAYS POUR FORTH OF MY SPIRIT And they shall prophesy. ‘AND I WILL GRANT WONDERS IN THE SKY ABOVE AND SIGNS ON THE EARTH BELOW, BLOOD, AND FIRE, AND VAPOR OF SMOKE.‘THE SUN WILL BE TURNED INTO DARKNESS AND THE MOON INTO BLOOD, BEFORE THE GREAT AND GLORIOUS DAY OF THE LORD SHALL COME. ‘AND IT SHALL BE THAT EVERYONE WHO CALLS ON THE NAME OF THE LORD WILL BE SAVED.” Peter continued his sermon and by the time he finished three thousand were added to the newly born church. A new thing began to happen, the new believers sold their things and pooled their resources and rejoiced in what they had in common. In verse 47 the text says they were “praising God and having favor with all the people. And the Lord was adding to their number day by day those who were being saved.” In Chapter 3 Peter and John healed a lame beggar who had asked for alms. They had no money, but what they did have was Jesus Christ. This act allowed Peter to draw a crowd on Solomon’s Porch in the temple and speak his second major sermon to the people. He preached at the temple the Jews murder of Jesus and their need for redemption. Peter finished his sermon in Chapter 4 when the Sadducees and the captain of the guard placed Peter and John in jail for the night. Even though they were arrested five thousand more were added to the church from the sermon of Peter. The next day at trial Peter stood up to the high priest and the council. The council recognized Peter and John as men who had been with Jesus and did not know what to do with them. Peter and John were unfazed by their capture and continued to preach in the city. The church continued to grow and the people shared what they had. A precedent was set when Joseph a Cypriot Levite sold a piece of land and laid the proceeds at the apostle’s feet. This became significant, in Chapter 5 when Ananias and Sapphira his wife sold a piece of land and held back some of the money they promised. The Lord killed them for their disobedience. This shows that even in this age of grace God still expects His people to obey Him. The apostles led by Peter continued to preach and heal on Solomon’s Porch and add numbers to the church. The high priest who was a Sadducee had the apostles imprisoned in a jealous rage. An angel came to them that night and had them released from the jail. The next morning they were back preaching in the temple. They were brought before the council to explain their actions. A respected Pharisee named Gamaliel stood up and counseled that the men should be released. He reasoned correctly that if they were not of God they would soon disappear, but if they were of God nothing this council would do could stop them. The council took Gamaliel’s advice and released the men after having them flogged. The attitude of the released apostles was significant and revealed in verse 41 “So they went on their way from the presence of the Council, rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.” We need also to have this attitude when we suffer persecution as we go about doing the Lord’s work. Chapter 6 addresses an internal conflict within the rapidly growing church. The Greek Jews in the church complained that their widows were being neglected in the provision of food over the native Jewish widows. The problem was there were only twelve apostles and they could not do everything. They also were neglecting their duty of bringing the word of God to the people. They decided to select seven men from the congregation who were full of the Holy Spirit and wisdom to serve the church. The selected seven men and conferred to them their office by the laying on of hands. These men solved the problem and also began to teach and perform signs like the apostles. One of the seven, a man named Stephen was accused of blaspheming the words of Moses and God. Stephen was brought before the council and the text says in verse 15 “And fixing their gaze on him, all who were sitting in the Council saw his face like the face of an angel.”
In Chapter 7 Stephen gave his defense before the high priest and the council. His defense consisted of a history lesson to the Jews before he told them of their stiff-necked and rebellious ways. The council did not receive Stephen’s criticism well and took him out and stoned him to death. Stephen was filled with the Holy Spirit and accepted his martyrdom by the authorities. The executioners laid their robes at the feet of a young man named Saul.
In the beginning of Chapter 8 the text reveals that the young man Saul was in agreement with the stoning of Stephen and began a zealous systematic persecution of the church of God. The text then shifts to the region of Samaria where Phillip had been preaching Christ to the people there. Phillip’s preaching converted a magician named Simon and changed his ways. When the apostles heard of Phillip’s success they sent Peter and John to Samaria to give the new believers the Holy Spirit. In the early church the Holy Spirit did not indwell believers at the moment of salvation but was transferred by the laying on of hands by an apostle. This changed later as the church grew. Phillip was then told by an angel to travel south on the road from Jerusalem to Gaza. On the way he met an Ethiopian eunuch who was reading from the Book of Isaiah. The Spirit led Phillip to the eunuch’s chariot to ask him what he read. The man did not understand and requested a guide. He wanted to know who Isaiah spoke of in the passage he studied. Phillip Preached Jesus to the man and he believed and asked to be baptized. Chapter 9 contains the story of the conversion of Saul of Tarsus into the Apostle Paul. Saul traveled on the road to Damascus with letters authorizing him to capture any believer of Jesus and take them prisoner to Jerusalem. On the Damascus Road he was stopped by a bright light that was Jesus and turned from his earlier ways. He was led as a blind man to Damascus to the home of a believer named Ananias. When Saul arrived he was filled with the Holy Spirit, his sight was restored and he was baptized into the faith. The newly named and converted Paul then went throughout the city of Damascus preaching Jesus in the synagogue. People were amazed that this persecutor of the church was now its greatest advocate. The Jews plotted to kill Paul, but he escaped the city by being lowered in a basket from the city wall. It is revealed in other writings that Paul went into the wilderness and was taught new things by Jesus Himself before he went to Jerusalem and the other apostles. When he did go to Jerusalem he was feared by the other apostles until they were convinced of the truth of his conversion. After this the text shifted to the ministry of Peter for the next several chapters. Peter traveled throughout Judea, Samaria, and Galilee preaching Christ and healing the sick as Jesus did. In Joppa he came upon a devout disciple named Tabitha who had become sick and had died. When Peter came to the body he prayed and said “Tabitha arise” and the woman lived again. Many believed after witnessing this act. The apostles were doing the work Jesus told them to do. In Chapter 10 a Gentile man named Cornelius had a vision from an angel that came to him to have him summon Peter from a nearby town. Cornelius was a devout man who believed and honored the Jewish God and was well respected by all. Peter meanwhile, the next day went out to pray and was placed into a trance. He saw a vision of a sheet lowered from heaven with all kinds of animals, birds, and creeping things on it. Verse 13 said “A voice came to him, “Get up, Peter, kill and eat!” Peter replied that he had never eaten any unclean thing, but the voice replied in verse 15 “What God has cleansed, no longer consider unholy.” Peter was confused by the vision even until the men from Cornelius came to get him. The next day Peter went with the men to Cornelius and his family and understood the vision. He realized that “God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean.” He preached Jesus to the family and all were saved that day. The Jews were amazed to see the Holy Spirit given to Gentiles as well as Jews. In Chapter 11 Peter returned to Jerusalem and reported on his vision and the conversion of the Gentiles. The people were upset until they realized that God had opened a way to repentance also for the Gentiles. The end of the chapter told of the church in Antioch where many fled persecution after the death of Stephen. Greeks were getting saved and Barnabus went to Tarsus to tell Paul. People were first referred to as Christians in the city of Antioch. In Chapter 12 Peter was arrested by Herod and placed into prison. That evening an angel entered the prison and freed Peter from his chains and led him out unnoticed by the guards. When he came to the house of the mother of John Mark he was left standing at the door by a woman names Rhoda who was amazed to see him. He told the people there to report what had happened to James and the Brethren. Herod was angry at Peters escape and had all the guards executed. He then suffered a horrible death for his actions at the end of the chapter. In Chapter 13, Paul along with Barnabus and John Mark set out on the first missionary journey from Antioch to Cypress and Asia Minor. They went about preaching Jesus to the people they met. In Pisidia on the Sabbath many came and listened to Paul. The Jews argued amongst themselves so much it caused Paul to change course and reveal God’s plans for him in verse 46-47 “It was necessary that the word of God be spoken to you first; since you repudiate it and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles. “For so the Lord has commanded us, ‘I HAVE PLACED YOU AS A LIGHT FOR THE GENTILES, THAT YOU MAY BRING SALVATION TO THE END OF THE EARTH.’” The Gentiles rejoiced with his words. This new way, in Chapter 14 caused both acceptance and opposition among the people. In Iconium Paul’s words were received and many Jews and Gentiles were saved. This created opposition in the Jewish community and caused Paul to leave the city and escape being stoned. In the city of Lystra the people tried to make gods out of Barnabus and Paul to their dismay. The Jews then stoned Paul and dragged him from the city. The disciples thought he was dead but Paul returned to the city the next morning and continued to preach. They continued preaching in the cities they entered until they returned to Antioch. In Chapter 15 it was decided by the apostles to get together in Jerusalem to talk over the new developments in the growing church. The people needed to be on one accord to further the growth and stability of the church. It came before the council of apostles in Jerusalem that Jewish believers thought it necessary for Gentile believers to convert to Judaism and be circumcised to enter the church. James thought the matter over and found scripture that said to let the Gentile believers remain Gentiles and not place the burden of circumcision on them. The council thought they would select Judas called Barsabbas, and Silas, to accompany Paul and Barnabas to Antioch with a letter describing the findings of the council. They went to Antioch and delivered the message. From there Judas went out to spread the gospel while the others remained in Antioch and taught. In the end of the chapter Paul had a disagreement with Barnabus over John Mark and they split up and went their separate ways. Paul took Silas with him on his second missionary journey. Paul came to Derbe and Lystra and found a young believer named Timothy that he wanted to have accompany them on their journey. He had Timothy circumcised because his father was a Greek and they traveled together. The party traveled through the Phrygian and Galatian region because they were forbidden by the Holy Spirit to speak the Word in Asia. Paul had a vision in the city of Troas to go to Macedonia and preach the gospel there. Without this vision Christianity may not have spread past Jerusalem and the nearby regions. Paul and his party then set sail for the city of Philippi and converted a woman named Lydia there. Paul cast out a demon and the city was thrown into turmoil. Paul and Silas were imprisoned by the town authorities for their disruption of the city. They were beaten and placed into stocks. That night while Paul and Silas sang hymns in the jail an earthquake came and released the prisoners. The jailer was afraid and went to kill himself with his sword for allowing the prisoners to escape. Paul stopped him in Verse 28 with these words “Do not harm yourself, for we are all here!” The jailer was amazed and asked Paul and Silas in verse 30 “Sirs, what must I do to be saved?” They replied in verse 31 “Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.” The jailer then cleaned their wounds and immediately he and his entire household was baptized. He took them to his house and gave them food while his family rejoiced in their new found belief in the Lord. The police of the magistrates came to the jailer the next morning to release the prisoners but Paul told them they had imprisoned Roman citizens. The magistrates were afraid that these men were Romans and they had broken Roman law by imprisoning them without trial and asked that Paul and his party to leave the city. Paul stopped by the new believers and after encouraging them left the city. This ends our study for this week. Next week we will finish the Book of Acts and Begin the Book of Romans.