A Journey Through Luke & ActsНамуна

During the first century, most people around the Mediterranean lived in densely packed cities all ruled by the Roman empire. Each city was a diverse blend of cultures, ethnicities, and religions. Because of this, there were all sorts of temples for offering sacrifices to all sorts of gods, and each person had different gods to whom they gave their allegiance. But in every city you’d also find minority groups who wouldn’t worship these gods. The Israelites, also known as the Jews, claimed that there was one true God, and they sought to worship him alone.

All of these cities were connected by a network of roads built by the Roman empire, so it was easy to move around to do business and spread new ideas. The apostle Paul spent the second half of his life traveling these roads, announcing that Israel’s God had appointed a new King over the nations, one who didn’t rule with force and aggression but with self-sacrificing love. Paul served as a herald of this news as he invited all people to live under the loving rule of King Jesus.

The stories of Paul’s travels and how people received his message is what the third part of Acts is all about. In this section, Luke shows us how Paul and his coworkers moved out from their homebase, the city of Antioch, and into strategic cities throughout the empire. At each city, Paul’s custom was to go first to the Jewish synagogue to show his people how Jesus was the messianic fulfillment of the Hebrew Bible. Some believed his message and began living under Jesus’ reign, but others opposed Paul’s message. Some Jews felt jealous and lodged false accusations at the disciples, while some non-Jews felt their Roman way of life was being threatened and drove the disciples away. But opposition never stopped the Jesus movement. In fact, the persecution actually worked to propel it forward into new cities. Full of joy and the Holy Spirit, the disciples kept going.