Book of Acts: From Troas to Miletus

From Troas to Miletus

The Passage: Acts 20:15-38

Structure:

a. 20:15-18a, Arrival to Miletus and call for Ephesian’s elders

St. Paul’s speech:

parts 1 [v. 18b-24]:

  b. 20:18b-19, among you

    c. 20:20-21, I didn’t shrink

      d. 20:22-23, Holy Spirit

        e. 20:24, my life has no value

part 2 [v. 25-30]:

  b’. 20:25, among you

    c’. 20:26-27, I didn’t shrink

      d’. 20:28, Holy Spirit

        e’. 20:29-30, not sparing the flock

take away [31-38a]:

 f. 20:31, I admonished you with tears

  g. 20:32, I commend you to God

   h. 20:33-34, I coveted no one’s silver and gold

   h’. 20:35, I have shown that working hard we help the weak

  g’. 20:36, he knelt and prayed with all

 f’. 20:37-38a, weeping of all

a’. 20:38b, ship – departure from Miletus

Historical and geographical context:

This famous sermon is delivered in Miletus – we don’t have much information on St. Paul’s ministry here. Yet, he wants to avoid Ephesus – probably deciding not to risk his life there; his destination was Jerusalem (Acts 20:16,22).

There is also a minor chronological challenge – St. Luke reports in Acts 19:8 and 10 that the total time of St. Paul in Ephesus should account for 2 years and 3 months. At the same time, in his sermon he speaks of three years (20:31). This conundrum can be solved by understanding that he addresses leaders from the whole of Asia, not only the elders/bishops of Ephesus (cp. 20:16,18).

Theology:

Very personal speech. St. Paul is on his way to Jerusalem. Everyone tells him and everything points to the reality of the arrest. Meeting with people dear to his heart, whom he taught for about three years (see Historical and Geographical challenge), he is sharing his personal concerns or fears about the future of Asian congregations. On the other hand, they are sad to realize that most likely they won’t see him again…

Guidance of the Holy Spirit. On one hand, St. Paul encourages the leaders [elders and/or bishops] of the church saying that their ministry is not based on their own authority: it is the Holy Spirit that made them overseers to care for the church. Yet, the same Holy Spirit testified to the apostle that trip to Jerusalem will end up with imprisonment and afflictions (Acts 20:23). Establishment, comfort, and guidance during hardship of life are the elements of the ministry of the Third person of the Trinity.

Unity of the church. St. Paul addressing representatives from different congregations tells them that they are to care for the church – as we confess: one, holy, Christian (lit. universal/worldwide), apostolic church. One of the main challenges is a rise of men who will drive away disciples after themselves (Acts 20:30). For the apostle the unity of the church is based on the unity within the Godhead of Trinity – the relationship of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. Having example when his work (or the ministry of the Holy Spirit through him) was almost destroyed by schismatic distortions in the congregation of Corinth (cp. 1 Cor 1-4), he warns the leadership of the whole Asia to do “preventive maintenance”, commending them to God and the word of His grace (Acts 20:32).

Responsibility of the leaders of the church. Apart from keeping the unity in the Body of Christ (the church), St. Paul charges the leaders with paying close attention to themselves and to all the flock, caring for it (Acts 20:28). Close attention to themselves is not a sign of selfishness, but a practice of regular self-evaluation. Saying this in public, I believe, was Pauline attempt to establish and maintain the brotherhood mutual trust, commitment, and accountability. 

1 Corinthians: Church's Unity

Word of the Cross is the basis for Church's Unity

Text: 1:10 – 4:21

Outline:

A. 1:10-11, Report by Chloe's family

  B. 1:12-17, Divisions by the ministers

    C. 1:18-25, we preach Christ crucified

      D. 1:26-31, Consider your calling

    C'. 2:1-16, Wisdom of Christ crucified

  B'. 3:1 – 4:7, Ministry of apostles

A'. 4:8-21, I fathered you – family relationship

Comments: St. Paul is approaching the theme of division from a variety of angles: family unity, togetherness of apostles and ministers, the wisdom of Christ, and comparison with the world.

VISIONS: Cornelius and Simon

Visions of Cornelius and Simon  

The Passage: Acts 10:1-23

Structure:

a. 10:1-2, Cornelius, devout God-fearing man

  b. 10:3-6, angelic call to Cornelius

    c. 10:7-8, messengers are sent

      d. 10:9-16, the vision of Peter in a trans

    c’. 10:17-18, messengers arrive

  b’. 10:19-20, Holy Spirit addresses Peter

a’. 10:21-23a, Cornelius, devout God-fearing man  

Historical and geographical context:

Simon (St. Peter) stayed at the house of another Simon in Joppa – a tanner – for many days (Acts 9:43). The next two-part story is a part of St. Peter’s “pastoral vacation.”

Cornelius lives in Caesaria – about 40 miles north of Joppa, on the same Mediterranean shore. Note that the whole story takes 4 days. Day 1, Cornelius sees a vision and sends the men. His servants and a soldier arrive on the next day little after noon – at noon St. Peter was praying. The messengers stay overnight at Simon’s house, which makes it Day 2. Day 3, two servants, a soldier, Simon/Peter, and “some brothers from Joppa” went to Caesarea. (Acts 10:23). Day 4, the party arrived at Cornelius’ house (Acts 10:24).      

Theology:

Unity of the believers. The main point of these stories – visions of Cornelius and Peter, outpouring of the Holy Spirit during St. Peter’s sermon, and the reception of the news by Jerusalem congregation – is the unity of believers in God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob regardless of the national background.

Under the institutions of Torah there was a separation between Jews and God-fearing Gentiles. People were born or converted into Jewish lifestyle. Yet, a gentile who believed or trusted to God of Abraham, Isaak and Jacob did NOT have to convert – he or she could maintain a status of God-fearing believer. To be a God-fearing gentile is not the same as to have the fear of the LORD (cp. Pr. 1:7). This status had some ramifications – for example, a non–circumcised person could NOT participate in Passover ceremony – Seder. Later, in the times of the Second Temple, apparently there was a wall that would separate the “house of men” from “the house of women and gentiles”. It is possible that St. Paul mentions this partition in Eph. 2:14, building up his theological argument of universal grace.       

The most profound expression of the theology of unity is a meal together (apart for intimate relationship that reserved only for a husband-wife pair). Eating and drinking together creates a very special environment of companionship, trust, and ultimately love. Think about your own birthday parties – who do you want to see there? Or high school or college graduation? Or a wedding or wedding anniversary? Usually, you do not invite strangers there. No, you invite people who shared their lives with you, and you want this “togetherness” to go to another – deeper – level.  

That’s what triggered a harsh response on the side of the Jerusalem congregation – “you ate WITH them” (Acts 11:2-3), will talk about it in a couple of weeks. To be a God-fearing gentile would presuppose that a person would follow the dietary laws of Torah (Lev. 11). Therefore, the vision of Simon/Peter should be interpreted in this light – as a symbolic revelation of unity of brothers and sisters in Christ. Therefore, the vision of St. Peter is not about the food, it is about the communion of the saints where everyone has an equal part in the distribution of the Lord’s gifts because “God has no partiality” (Acts 10:34).       

Other themes:

Angel of God vs. the Angel of the LORD. The term angel (lit. messenger) in the Bible can be used in a variety of meanings. First – most obvious one – a specially created being (not a human) for a specific task God would require (cp. Geb 28:12). Second, it can be a human being who delivers a message of God. We have a whole Biblical book named after such a guy – Malichi, lit. my messenger (cp. Mal. 1:1; 3:1). Third, the Angel of the Lord – the Second person of the Trinity, appearing during the times of the Old Testament or technically before Incarnation (cp. Josh. 5:13-15; Judges 13:21-23; John 1:14). After the Incarnation in Christ humans are restored to their high position of creation leadership (cp. Ps. 8:3-5; 1 Cor. 6:1).

LIFE AMONG THE BELIEVERS

Life among the believers  

(click here for the video lesson)

The Passage: Acts 2:40-47

Structure:

a. 2:40-41, Save yourself; 3000 added

  b. 2:42, Life of the community (breaking bread)

    c. 2:43a, Awe came upon every soul.

      d. 2:43b, Signs and wonders through the apostles 

    c. 2:44-45, All who believed were together

  b’. 2:46-47a, Life of the community (breaking bread)

a’. 2:47b, LORD added to the number those who were being saved

Historical and geographical context:

We are going from the sermon of St. Peter into the life of the “Pentecostal community”. Two environments are mentioned here – homes of the believers and the Temple. We don’t know how long this period takes place but, knowing that St. Luke pays attention to liturgical features, we can contemplate two or three possibilities. One 8:27b-28 states the Ethiopian Eunuch was coming back from his pilgrimage to Jerusalem for worship. The feast of Pentecost should be celebrated for a whole week. Therefore, the Acts 2 – 8 could happen within one week! Then, the events would unfold really fast. There is a second reading – mentioning the worship at Jerusalem St. Luke directs our attention to the NEXT major festive period – the feast of Booths (7^th month days 15 to 22). It also required a pilgrimage for those who lived in the land, also pilgrimage was encouraged for those who would live outside the land (diaspora). For sure, there is a third possibility – we don’t now, which means it took very long – years or decades… Honestly, IMHO – I don’t like this answer for two reasons: first, St. Luke pays attention to the times (1:8). Second, this assumption is built on the evolutionary notion – everything takes so much time to develop.       

Theology:

Baptism and church outreach. Note that both verbs “baptized” and “added” are in passive voice. This is supported (explained) in v. 47. It is the LORD Who brings people to unity with the church. As our confession says (AC V) the Holy Spirit is the One Who works faith using the Word and the Sacraments. Here we see both – Bible-based sermon of St. Peter and the rite of the Holy Baptism. Using these two means the LORD added 3000 people to the communion of saints.

Unity among the believers. Though the idea is portrayed through the communal effort to have material possessions in common, it does not begin there. V. 43 says that “awe came upon every soul”. This “awe” follows the regular/daily godly lifestyle of the church: studying, fellowship, breaking of the bread (Holy Communion), and prayers (v. 42). That’s what first and foremost unites the church.

Signs and wonders. St. John in his Gospel begins to account for seven [miraculous] signs of Jesus at Cana of Galilee (Jn. 2:1-11). When Jesus commissions the Eleven (Mk. 16:15-18), He states that the signs will accompany their ministry. The first time we see it in the Book of Acts is here – 2:43. Yet, we don’t need to put the cart in front of the horse. Signs and wonders are not the basis for the proper spiritual assessment of someone’s ministry. Satan is very proficient in miraculous work (1 Cor. 1:22-24; 2 Cor. 12-15).           

Other themes: There are “spiritual” groups that teach that Christians should sell everything they own and bring the proceeds to the leadership of the church. They attempt to support their theology with Acts 2:44-45. However tempting this idea is, this teaching is not supported by the Scriptures. For at least two reasons. First, this is a descriptive passage in the Bible, not a prescriptive one. Second, as it could’ve been common practice for the fellowship in Jerusalem, the later development of the church show the stable congregations in Mediterranean area supporting themselves and the Jerusalem congregation by collecting their tights (10% of income).

Overview of the Bible: Song of Songs

 

Song of Songs  

Title: Son of Songs or Son of Solomon (1:1)

Date of writing: times of Solomon (around 1000 BC)

Structure: Dorsey, p. 200

a. 1:2 – 2:7, opening words of mutual love and desire

  b. 2:8-17, young man’s invitation to the young woman

    c. 3:1-5, young woman’s nighttime search

      d. 3:6 – 5:1, their wedding day

    c’. 5:2 – 7:10, young woman’s nighttime search 

  b’. 7:11 – 8:4, young woman’s invitation to the young man

a’. 8:5-14, closing words of mutual love and desire

Main themes: Usually, when people think about the Song of Songs, they think of it as a love song. Love – in a biblical sense – is a very important part of the book. Yet, I believe that the main theme is unity. Throughout the whole “performance” He and She are trying nothing else but be together. This togetherness also touches on some other themes – emotions of people, beauty of sexual relations within the married couple, partnership or headship of family dynamics, etc.   

Also, a good thematical starting point is the title – “song”. The book shows that the Gospel message can be presented as a beautiful and enigmatic “opera”, where visual and textual imagery reflect the theme(s) of the production. 

An important level that should not be neglected is eschatological yearning and consummation: already and not ye (1:2-4; 8:13-14).   

Main Characters: He, She, Choir, Robbers. Is “He” Solomon? Who is Shulamite?  

Reflection in other parts of the Bible:

Song of Songs is picking up the theme of marriage started by God’s ordinance during 6^th day of creation (Gen. 1:16-30; 2:18-24).

Song of Songs continue the chain of songs delivered by the prominent women in the Bible. Miriam picks up the song of Moses after the Red Sea crossing (Ex. 15). Deborah sings a song commemorating the victory of God over Canaanites (Judg. 5). Hannah sings a song glorifying God after the birth of Samuel (1 Sam. 2). 

Lutheran teaching:

On one hand The Book of Concord does not have any references to the Son of Songs. On the other, we build our teaching of chastity and purity of pre-marital relationship and marriage on the ideas and images of the Song, as St. Paul does it in his letters to Ephesians (chapter 5).

Also, a great theologian of Lutheran Orthodoxy Johann Gerhard (15-82-1637) in his volume of systematic theology derives a few images of the Church as a Bride of Christ [Christi sponsa] based on the Song of Songs. To name a few (Mitchell, p. 528-530):  

1. “A lily among thorns” (2:2) means that Church is beautiful, and should be separated from the sinful world, but is vulnerable to persecution.

2. the Church is a “dove” (2:14; 5:2; 6:9) and has “the eyes of dove” (1:15; 4:1; 5:12) – Gerhard explains is a sincerity of spirit (Mt. 10:10) and to the appearance of the Spirit in the form of a dove (Mt. 3:16).

3. “Awesome as an army with banners” (6:4,10) – Gerhard uses it to express the idea of the Church militant – the One constantly fighting with satan. Also, regardless of the outward appearance as a disordered crowd, she is an organized by the orders from above.    

Lutheran hymnody:

LSB 525 – “Crown Him with many crowns”

LSB 644 – “The Church’s one foundation”  

Relevancy of the Book:

Seeing images of YHWH and Israel and Christ and the Church in the relationship of Him and Her in the Book, modern reader can have a blessing from the passionate words of the Gospel with which God reaches out to us. The blossoming vineyard of the outreach should spread its branches covering the whole earth with the protective shade of His love, being defendant from foxes of the outer world.      

Memory verses:

8:7: Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised.