Acts
Purpose
Acts is the story of how the good news of Jesus burst out of a small room in Jerusalem and traveled, by the power of the Holy Spirit, "to the end of the earth." As the second volume of Luke's two-part work, it picks up the narrative after the resurrection and ascension and traces the explosive growth of the early church across some thirty years. The risen Christ has poured out the promised Spirit, and that Spirit drives the whole book — empowering preaching, convicting hearts, healing the sick, calling leaders, and pushing the mission across every ethnic and geographic boundary the first disciples thought closed. Acts unfolds in a widening arc: the gospel takes root in Jerusalem, spreads through Judea and Samaria, and then, through the apostle Paul's missionary journeys, leaps into Asia Minor, Greece, and finally Rome itself, the heart of the empire. Along the way Luke introduces sermons that announce the gospel, portraits of a community sharing all things in common, the martyrdom of Stephen and James, the conversion of Paul, the Council at Jerusalem, and a succession of storms, trials, and speeches that set Paul, under house arrest in Rome, still proclaiming the kingdom "with all boldness and without hindrance."
Author
Traditionally Luke, the physician and companion of Paul
Time Period
Written c. 60-90 AD
Key Themes
- The Holy Spirit and the church
- Witness to the ends of the earth
- The mission to Gentiles
- Perseverance under persecution
- The unity of Jew and Gentile
Outline
The church in Jerusalem (ch. 1–7): the ascension, Pentecost, the early community, the healing at the temple, the martyrdom of Stephen. The church in Judea and Samaria (ch. 8–12): Philip in Samaria and the Ethiopian, the conversion of Saul, Peter's vision and Cornelius, the church at Antioch, and Peter's deliverance from prison. The mission to the ends of the earth (ch. 13–28): Paul's first journey and the Jerusalem Council; the second journey through Macedonia and Greece (Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, Corinth); the third journey and the riot at Ephesus; the journey to Jerusalem and arrest; the trials before Felix, Festus, and Agrippa; the voyage and shipwreck to Rome; and Paul preaching in the capital under guard.