The Book of Acts presents a historical record of the first three decades of the church. Luke, the author, presents the evolution of the Gospel from the Jewish community to a universal movement and the challenges that Jesus Christ’s apostles encountered in the process. The Book presents a change between Christ’s resurrection and the apostolic era. Apostles delivered the Gospel and proclaimed God’s name in different cities and to different individuals. The instructions to them were to leave blessings to those who welcomed them and to shake dust in the houses of those who rejected and turned them away. Therefore, the Book of Acts is a presentation of geographical, religious, and ethnic transitions of the Gospel and other themes that Luke outlines.
The Book of Acts begins by introducing the persecution of Stephen the martyr and that of the Church. Luke, the author, points out how believers were scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except for the apostles gathered in one place. Before the ascension of Jesus Christ, He gave his disciples the authority and power to proclaim the Gospel. Acts 1:8 “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Therefore, the apostles were responsible for ethnic advancement and proclamation of the Gospel.
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One of the major themes developed in the book of Acts 8 through Acts 12 is the Church’s persecution that hastened the spread of the Gospel. Saul Tarsus, who was once a persecutor of the Gospel is called to spread it, and he comes at the forefront of calling people to God. Luke portrays a theme of the transition of religions as Saul’s name changed to Paul and he was ordered to proclaim the Gospel to different places of the world: he preached even in Synagogues. The Gospel progressed to the Gentiles as it crossed the cultural barriers in Judea and Samaria. The Holy Spirit guided the apostles in teaching and spreading the Gospel across various communities because they needed to hear God’s word. In Acts 8:5 “Philip went down to a city in Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah there.” During His time in the world, Jesus had healed Samaritans; hence establishing a relationship with them; and Philip sought to take the Gospel to them amidst Gentiles and create an ally from the ministries in this region.
Apostles in Samaria sent Peter and John to Samaria after hearing that the Gentiles had accepted the word of God. Upon arriving here, they prayed for new believers to receive the Holy Spirit. Upon receiving the Gospel of Jesus Christs, several Gentiles were saved and baptized in the name of the Holy Spirit. After Peter and John completed their work in this town and added several Gentiles to the church, they set out to Jerusalem to preach the Gospel (Eagle, 2015). Therefore, the apostles fulfilled Jesus’ commissions the way He had instructed them that they would visit Jerusalem and Judea and then Samaria as the geographical locations for the proclamation of the Gospel.
Luke also identifies how the Gospel spread to various ethnicities through the apostles. Acts 8:26-40 provides the events that took place between Philip and an Ethiopian Eunuch. The angel of the Lord directed Philip to go toward the south to the road heading down from Jerusalem to Gaza where he met the Eunuch who was seated in his chariot, reading the prophet Isaiah (Willmington, 2018). The Spirit directed Philip to head towards the chariot, and it is then that Philip started proclaiming to the Ethiopian Eunuch the good news about Jesus. “As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, “Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized?” (Acts 8:36-37) Philip baptized him, and Luke demonstrates the spread of the Gospel across various ethnicities as the Ethiopian Eunuch was a black man whom the apostle led to Christ.
Acts Chapter 10 presents Peter preaching the Gospel to Cornelius and his household, and this was one of the paramount events in the history of Gentiles as recorded in the scriptures. Acts 10:24 “The following day they came to Caesarea. Cornelius was expecting them and had called together his relatives and close friends.” Cornelius was a devoted man who feared God, and the visions that God gave to him and Peter showed that the Gospel was not only meant for Jewish believers, but also for Gentiles to receive salvation. The chapter that the Gospel is universal and that God accepts all individuals to receive salvation regardless of their nationality. Therefore, Jesus summarized the Gospel and the ministry of Jesus of Nazareth and presented it to the Gentiles effectively in a non-Jewish manner.
In conclusion, the Book of Acts contains various themes from the transition of the Gospel across multiple communities. The segment of Acts 8-12 presents how the Holy Spirit guides apostles to different geographical locations to witness and proclaim the Gospel. The Holy Spirit directs individuals from various ethnic backgrounds to accept the Gospel, to be baptized, and receive salvation. People saw the power of Jesus as they got to know and understand that He reigns in all power and authority. Generally, Luke presents the historical background of the universality and the spread of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through His disciples after He ascended to Heaven.
References
Eagle, D. (2015). Two's Company but Three's a Crowd: A Study on the Crowd in the Book of Acts.
Willmington, H. (2018). A Biographical Study of Philip the Evangelist.
