Big Ideas Simply Explained - The Bible Book

["","250 THE LAST SUPPER IN BRIEF PASSAGE Luke 22:7\u201338 THEME New symbolism of Passover SETTING c.29 ce An upper room of a house in Jerusalem on the night of the Passover feast. KEY FIGURES Jesus The Messiah and Son of God in the period leading up to His crucifixion. Peter and John Two of Jesus\u2019s disciples, who are sent by Jesus to prepare the Passover meal in Jerusalem. Judas Iscariot The disciple who goes on to betray Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane. A s opposition mounts to Since they are staying at Bethany, A Flemish miniature by Simon Jesus\u2019s ministry, Jesus just outside the city, they need Bening (c.1525\u201330) shows Jesus decides to spend time to find a room in which to share preparing to wash the feet of His privately with His closest disciples, the meal. Jesus sends Peter and disciple Peter, an act normally sharing with them the most John, two of His disciples, to performed by a servant. important occasion of the Jewish make the arrangements for the year, the Passover supper. During feast. \u201cWhere do you want us to guest room, where I may eat the this meal, they remember God\u2019s prepare for it?\u201d they ask (Luke 22:9). Passover with my disciples?\u2019\u201d (Luke rescue of their ancestors from Jesus tells them that as they enter 22:11). Jesus tells the two disciples slavery in Egypt. Like many the city, they will find a man that they will then be shown to a other Jews, they have traveled carrying a jar of water, quite an large upper room, where they can to Jerusalem so that they can unusual sight in an age when this prepare for the meal. share the Passover meal within was considered to be a woman\u2019s the walls of their holy city, in task. They are to follow him back Peter and John go to the city, proximity to the Temple, the to the house and say to the owner: and find everything just as Jesus focus of their worship of God. \u201cThe Teacher asks: \u2018Where is the has said. They buy all the elements that make the meal a reminder of","See also: Covenants 44\u201347 \u25a0 The Passover 72\u201373 \u25a0 The Baptism of Jesus THE GOSPELS 251 194\u201397 \u25a0 The Crucifixion 258\u201365 \u25a0 The Day of Pentecost 282\u201383 Herod\u2019s Jerusalem their ancestors\u2019 escape from Egypt: unleavened bread, roasted Seeking to establish his lamb, bitter herbs, and wine. reputation as Israel\u2019s ruler despite his association The table is set For whenever you eat with the Roman overlords, Later that day, Jesus and the rest this bread and drink Herod the Great, King of of the disciples arrive at the room this cup, you proclaim Judea (37\u20134 bce), decided to to share the meal. A low table is set, the Lord\u2019s death until refurbish the Second Temple. and Jesus and the disciples recline He aimed to nearly double around it, in the customary way. He comes. its overall footprint with a Stone jars filled with water stand 1 Corinthians 11:26 vast paved court, and this by the door, so that guests can wash work was still ongoing during their dusty feet before sitting down. a spiritual cleansing. All that Jesus the time of Jesus. According Usually, this task is done for them by is about to face in the next 24 hours to historian Flavius Josephus a servant, but to their surprise, the can be understood as Him serving (c.37\u2013100 ce), the Temple was disciples watch as Jesus strips off them in the ultimate way\u2014His \u201clike a snow-clad mountain His robe, ties a towel around His sacrifice will cleanse the stain of for all that was not gold was waist, and begins to wash their feet. sin from their lives. gleaming white.\u201d Situated alongside the Temple walls Peter is horrified: \u201cLord, are you Preparing the disciples was the Antonia Fortress, going to wash my feet?\u201d he asks As they eat bitter herbs and which Herod built to house (John 13:6). In answer, Jesus tells roasted lamb and remember the occupying armies. Other the disciple that unless he allows God\u2019s deliverance of the Israelites major sites included his palace, his feet to be washed by Him, Peter from Egypt, Jesus alludes to the the Praetorium, and the home will not be able to share the meal significance of the occasion. \u201cI have of the Roman governor. with Jesus, or all it symbolizes. eagerly desired to eat the Passover Jesus is setting His disciples an with you before I suffer,\u201d He says Jerusalem\u2019s population example here, turning the usual (Luke 22:15), knowing that this will around this time is estimated expectations of greatness on their be the last meal with His disciples at 40,000, though at festival head. Jesus, their honored leader, before His opponents lay hands times, pilgrims coming into is humbly serving them by washing on Him. As they share one of the the city to worship could their feet, an act that symbolizes traditional cups of wine around the increase that number to about table, Jesus notes with foreboding 250,000. However, many of Very truly I tell you, that He will not eat this meal with these visitors would not find no servant is greater them again \u201cuntil the kingdom of accommodation in the city; than his master, nor is a God comes\u201d (Luke 22:18). Just as instead, they would look for messenger greater than the Israelites have shared a last rooms in nearby villages\u2014 the one who sent him. meal in Egypt before their divinely such as Bethany, where Jesus ordained rescue and journey to and His disciples stayed. John 13:16 freedom, so this is Jesus\u2019s last meal before the events that will A model of Herod\u2019s Temple bring about a new freedom for the shows what it might have looked world in the kingdom of God. \u276f\u276f like. The Temple was 164 feet (50m) high and stood on the highest hill in Jerusalem.","252 THE LAST SUPPER This is my body; this is my blood In a Catholic mass, the The words that Jesus instructs In the 13th century, the great priest acts in persona His disciples to use when they theologian St. Thomas Aquinas Christi\u2014in the person re-enact this meal together have explained this concept: while of Christ. provoked controversy through the physical characteristics During the sacrament, the centuries. Known as the of the bread and wine stay the he says: \u201cTake this, words of institution, the phrases same, the \u201csubstance\u201d of them all of you, and eat of it: \u201cthis is my body\u201d and \u201cthis is is transformed into the very for this is my body my blood\u201d announce the special being of God. Other Christians which will be given significance of the elements understand the words to be up for you.\u201d of this special meal, now purely symbolic, inviting them Catholic dogma celebrated in the Eucharist. simply to remember Jesus\u2019s teaches that when suffering and sacrifice. In this phrase is spoken Churches have differing between these two views, a by the priest, views about the force of the third understanding suggests word \u201cis.\u201d For some Christians, that Jesus is spiritually present transubstantiation occurs. it means that Jesus becomes \u201calong with\u201d the bread and the This means that physically present in the wine when Christians today elements, an understanding celebrate the Eucharist. although the bread known as \u201ctransubstantiation.\u201d remains unchanged Taking the unleavened bread, covenant with humanity, which in appearance \u2026 Jesus lifts it up and thanks God will be sealed by the sacrifice for it, tears it apart, and then of His only son. \u2026 Catholics believe passes it to each of His disciples. that the essence \u201cThis is my body,\u201d He says, \u201cgiven Jesus has used the familiar of the bread has for you; do this in remembrance Passover meal to teach His become the body of me\u201d (Luke 22:19). Then, pouring disciples about His impending of Christ. out another cup of wine, He raises death. Since Moses\u2019s day, the lamb it in blessing, and gives it to at the Passover meal had been a them to share around: \u201cThis cup reminder of the blood of the lamb is the new covenant in my blood, that the Israelites painted on the which is poured out for you\u201d doorposts of their houses so that (Luke 22:20). God\u2019s angel would \u201cpass over\u201d their homes and only bring destruction Foretelling His death to the Egyptian overlords. Now With the words, \u201cThis is my body\u201d Jesus is offering Himself up as and \u201cThis is my blood,\u201d Jesus a new Passover lamb, a perfect brings a deeper significance to lamb in accordance with God\u2019s the Passover meal. He foretells that instructions to Moses. The goblet He will soon give Himself up for of wine symbolizing the blood of others, and during this last meal His sacrifice introduces the New with His disciples, He warns them Covenant\u2014the promise of eternal about the events that are about to life through Christ\u2014foretold by unfold: Jesus\u2019s arrest and trial, His Jeremiah (31:31\u201334). crucifixion, and, after three days, His resurrection. The Gospels make Judas leaves it clear that these are not events During the Passover meal, Jesus that will befall Jesus unexpectedly; also explains to His disciples that rather, they are part of God\u2019s plan. one of them will betray Him to the They are integral to His new authorities and trigger the events that will lead to His crucifixion.","THE GOSPELS 253 According to John, this too has I am the living bread intimate and informal. In some been foretold: \u201cThis is to fulfill this that came down from traditions, the ritual is called passage of Scripture: \u2018He who shared heaven. Whoever eats \u201ccommunion,\u201d because it is a my bread has turned against me\u2019\u201d this bread will live forever. sharing with Jesus; in Catholicism, (John 13:18). This bread is my flesh, it is called \u201cmass,\u201d from the Latin which I will give for words Ite, missa est, the dismissal, As the evening goes on, one the life of the world. the concluding rite of the Eucharist disciple fulfills this prophecy. during the medieval period. Judas Iscariot makes his excuses John 6:51 and leaves, because he has made What all forms of the Eucharist arrangements to betray Jesus later share is their connection to the that night. The remaining disciples meal that Jesus shared with His continue with their evening of food, disciples that final night before drink, prayer, and storytelling, until, His betrayal, arrest, and crucifixion. after a final hymn, they make their The Last Supper reveals the deeper way to the Garden of Gethsemane significance of Jesus\u2019s crucifixion on the Mount of Olives. and shows that He was well aware of His impending confrontation Everlasting sacrament Passover, which is celebrated with the forces of evil and death. Importantly, Jesus does not once a year, the Last Supper will As Jesus says in John 10:18, He envisage His last supper as being be shared more frequently, even gives His life freely: \u201cNo one takes a one-off occasion for His disciples. weekly in some church traditions. it from me, but I lay it down of my Just like the Passover meal, it will own accord. I have authority to lay serve as a reminder to Jesus\u2019s Today, the Last Supper remains it down and authority to take it up followers of the significance of a vital part of the life of the Church again. This command I received His life and death. As the first and is one of its \u201csacraments\u201d\u2014 from my Father.\u201d \u25a0 Christians gather in the days special activities that convey God\u2019s following Jesus\u2019s resurrection profound truth through physical Judas Iscariot (fifth from left) leans and ascension to heaven, they actions. There are many ways of back in shadow, his face turned away, share this meal together, joyfully celebrating the Last Supper; some in Leonardo da Vinci\u2019s The Last Supper. remembering that Jesus\u2019s death are highly formal, while others are This 19th-century copy of the painting has brought them life. Unlike is by Michael Kock.","254 IHTASHNADNEDEDHTLSOHIVUEOERFSROSHENIADNSONINCFETROMOSMATENH, E MATTHEW 26:45,BETRAYAL IN THE GARDEN IN BRIEF A fter the Last Supper, Jesus three Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, retires to the Garden of Mark, and Luke) write that Judas PASSAGE Gethsemane to pray, in betrays Jesus with a kiss, which Matthew 26:46\u201356; Mark an event which is often called the identifies Him to the guards. A kiss 14:42\u201352; Luke 22:47\u201353; \u201cAgony of Jesus.\u201d There He is was a significant gesture at the John 18:1-11 \u201cdeeply distressed and troubled,\u201d time, often given by a student to and tells His disciples: \u201cMy soul is a teacher as a sign of honor and THEME overwhelmed with sorrow to the respect. It is notable that Judas Betrayal of Jesus point of death\u201d (Mark 14:34). Jesus calls Jesus \u201crabbi\u201d and performs knows that the end is near, and this gesture of respect in the SETTING indeed, the Garden of Gethsemane very moment he hands Him to c.29 ce The Garden of is the place where Jesus is betrayed those who would kill Him. Gethsemane, Jerusalem, in the by one of His own followers. last week of the life of Jesus. Necessary betrayal This story is within the Gospel John is the only Gospel not to KEY FIGURES narratives called the Passion: the mention the kiss. Instead, he Jesus The Messiah and Son cycle of Jesus\u2019s arrest, crucifixion, focuses on a fight that breaks of God at the end of His time and resurrection. For the most out between the disciples and the on earth, as He prepares to part, all four Gospels agree in their guards, and one of the 12 (John be crucified in Jerusalem. depiction of the betrayal, albeit with says it is Peter) cuts the ear off a different emphases. Judas, one of soldier. Jesus stops the violence Judas Iscariot One of Jesus\u2019s the 12 disciples, leads the Temple and goes willingly\u2014according to 12 disciples, who betrays Him guards to Jesus in the garden. The Luke, He even heals the soldier\u2019s by leading the authorities to ear. He tells Peter \u201cPut your sword the Garden of Gethsemane. away! Shall I not drink the cup the Father has given me?\u201d (John 18:11). His \u201ccup\u201d here is a metaphor for His destiny. According to John 13, Jesus Judas kisses Jesus in this scene from the Santa Croce Altarpiece (1328) by Italian painter Ugolino di Nerio. The panel sat at the altar\u2019s predella (base) beside an image of the Last Supper.","See also: The Last Supper 248\u201353 \u25a0 Peter\u2019s Denial 256\u201357 \u25a0 THE GOSPELS 255 The Crucifixion 258\u201365 \u25a0 The Empty Tomb 268\u201371 Judas Iscariot Jerusalem at the time of Jesus The Greek version of the BEZETHA 2 Key: Hebrew name Hudahudas, 3 1. Garden of Judas means \u201cthe one who praises.\u201d No one knows what 15 4 Gethsemane \u201cIscariot\u201d truly means: some 14 2. Pool of Bethesda believe that it is the now- 3. Fortress of unknown place Judas came 13 12 from, while others have 9 5 Antonia suggested that the name 4. Herod\u2019s Temple might relate to a group of 11 5. Court of the Zealots called the Sicarii. 10 Gentiles Scholars have long debated 8 UPPER Valley of the Kidron 6. Pool of Siloam Judas\u2019s motives in betraying CITY 7. House of the Jesus. A popular theory was 1 Last Supper that Judas wanted to bring 8. Palace of about a war between Romans and Jews, and when Jesus Caiaphas did not make this happen, 9. Herod\u2019s Palace Judas turned Him in to the 10. Hasmonean officials. In the so-called \u201cGospel of Judas\u201d\u2014a 2nd- Palace century ce text composed by 11. Market a Gnostic writer, comprised of 12. Council House conversations between Judas 13. Pool of and Jesus\u2014Jesus Himself tells Judas to betray Him. Amygdalon 14. City Wall The betrayal ends with 15. Golgotha not one death, but two. Matthew 27 states that after 7 LOWER Jesus is condemned, Judas CITY returns the money and hangs himself in remorse. Acts 1:18 6 has a gory alternative: Judas buys a field with his blood Valley of Hinnom money and, falling down in it, dies, his body bursting open already knew that He would be only goes to the chief priests in the and his intestines spilling out. betrayed, and He knew that He was first place because he is possessed going to die. In fact, Jesus\u2019s death by Satan (Luke 22:3). and resurrection is a fundamental pillar of Christian theology, which Garden motif makes Judas\u2019s betrayal a crucial Whether it is the Hanging Gardens act: Matthew 26:56 states that the of Babylon or the Garden of Eden, betrayal is necessary so that the the garden is seen as a special writings of the prophets are fulfilled. place in the ancient Near East. Gardens\u2014especially those in the Judas, however, had his own desert\u2014were understood as places motives. Despite numerous where the divine can interact with theories, no one knows why he the earthly. While the Garden of decided to betray Jesus. According Gethsemane is not the Garden of to Matthew 26:14\u201316, Judas betrays Eden, the story of Jesus\u2019s betrayal Jesus for money and he receives is related to that in Genesis. Adam 30 pieces of silver for leading the and Eve\u2019s betrayal of God leads to guards to the garden. Luke agrees death entering the world, while that Judas received money, but Judas\u2019s betrayal of Jesus leads to declines to inform the reader of the Him conquering death. \u25a0 amount; according to Luke, Judas","256 ITTADHLOISKNIM\u2019NTAGKNANYBOOOWUU\u2019TRE MARK 14:71, PETER\u2019S DENIAL IN BRIEF P redicted by the prophets is especially upset by this claim of the Old Testament, the and argues that this will never PASSAGE disciples\u2019 abandonment happen: \u201ceven if all fall away on Matthew 26:31\u201335, 69\u201375; of Jesus in the period leading up account of you, I never will\u201d (26:33). Mark 14:27\u201331, 66\u201372; to the crucifixion has long been a At this, Jesus sets him right; He Luke 22:31\u201334, 54\u201365; conflicting issue for many readers tells Peter that before the rooster John 13:38, 18:25\u201327 of the New Testament. During crows, he will deny Him three the Last Supper, Jesus quotes times. Peter, however, remains THEME Zechariah 13:7, which foretold how: adamant\u2014he says he would Peter denies Christ \u201cThis very night you will all fall rather die alongside Jesus than away on account of me, for it is disown Him. SETTING written: \u2018I will strike the shepherd, c.29 ce Jerusalem, the and the sheep of the flock will be The denials courtyard of the High scattered\u2019\u201d (Matthew 26:31). Jesus\u2019s words come to fruition Priest right before the immediately after Judas betrays crucifixion of Jesus. Hearing this prophecy, the Him in the Garden of Gethsemane. disciples protest. Jesus tells them Guards take Jesus to the high KEY FIGURES that once He\u2014the figurative priest\u2019s house to stand trial. Peter Jesus The Messiah and Son shepherd\u2014is captured, His follows, waits in the courtyard, of God, in His final days before disciples, the sheep, will flee. Peter and is approached by three people His crucifixion. (John mentions two) who ask if he knows Jesus. Just as Jesus has Peter Also called Simon Peter, predicted, when questioned, Peter one of Jesus\u2019s inner circle and denies knowing Jesus, even after seemingly the leader of the he is identified as a Galilean by his disciples. Despite this, he still speech\u2014and is recognized as a fears the officials. disciple by a relative of the high priest\u2019s servant (Luke 22:59). Peter denies Christ in a miniature by 15th-century Italian artist Cristoforo de Predis. All four Gospels agree that Peter\u2019s first denial is to a servant girl who accuses him of being with Jesus.","See also: The Last Supper 248\u201353 \u25a0 Betrayal in the Garden 254\u201355 \u25a0 THE GOSPELS 257 The Crucifixion 258\u201365 \u25a0 The Empty Tomb 268\u201371 The Sanhedrin Peter\u2019s three denials, according to Mark\u2019s Gospel Described in all four Gospels, the Sanhedrin was a body of Accuser Peter elders and priests that met to discuss religious and political \u201cYou also were with that \u201cI don\u2019t know or matters. According to Acts, it Nazarene, Jesus.\u201d understand what you\u2019re convened several times a year. talking about.\u201d The term Sanhedrin comes from a Greek word meaning \u201cThis fellow is one \u201cAgain he denied it.\u201d \u201cassembly.\u201d There were lesser of them.\u201d Sanhedrins that could form in any town or province, but the \u201cSurely you are \u201cI don\u2019t know this man Great Sanhedrin was a large one of them, for you you\u2019re talking about.\u201d body of more than 70 elders that met in Jerusalem. It are a Galilean.\u201d gathered to discuss the Law and acted as a judiciary body. The third time Peter denies were required to take place after knowing Jesus, the rooster crows. daybreak if the Sanhedrin were to When Jesus met with Luke\u2019s Gospel also says that at sentence the defendant to death. the high priest elders, it is that Jesus turns to look at Peter generally assumed that He through an open window, as if Disciples forgiven is meeting with the Great acknowledging His words coming The Gospels give no reasons for Sanhedrin, whose members to pass; all accounts, however, the betrayal. Peter and the disciples will determine whether He describe how Peter weeps once are human, and may be afraid that has committed blasphemy. he realizes what he has done. they, too, will be arrested. The However, they are portrayed Gospels frequently describe the in the Gospels as corrupt: Symbolic dawn disciples as vulnerable and even Matthew writes that \u201cthe The crowing of the dawn rooster dimwitted: they constantly whole Sanhedrin were looking signifies not only the breaking of question Jesus and have difficulty for false evidence against dawn, but also that Jesus\u2019s fate understanding His parables. Some Jesus so that they could put has been decided upon. Dawn appear to be in denial that Jesus Him to death\u201d (26:59), an signifies the new life that Jesus will die. Their fallibility, however, accusation that is repeated will bring about through His shows that one does not have to in Mark\u2019s Gospel (14:55). death, as does the rooster itself, be perfect to be a servant of Christ. a symbol of fertility. However, the Peter denies Jesus, yet he is the Christ Before the High Priest coming of dawn is significant for one who will eventually hold the (c.1617), a painting by Gerrit van another reason: at the time, trials keys to heaven. \u25a0 Honthorst, illuminates a book containing the Mosaic Law, which Jesus is accused of breaking.","GODSTUHREELY TSHIOS MNANOWAFS MARK 15:39, THE CRUCIFIXION","","260 THE CRUCIFIXION IN BRIEF PASSAGE Matthew 27; Mark 15; Luke 23; John 18:28\u201319:42 THEME Jesus dies for the sins of many SETTING c. 29 ce The Antonia Fortress, Herod\u2019s Palace, and Golgotha, in Jerusalem. KEY FIGURES Jesus The Messiah and Son of God, accused of blasphemy and treason. Pontius Pilate Roman governor who tries Jesus. Herod Antipas Son of Herod the Great, who rules the regions of Galilee and Perea as client king for the Romans. Joseph of Arimathea A member of the Jewish ruling council, the Sanhedrin, who is sympathetic to Jesus. C onsidering the short length In the eyes of the Sanhedrin, the In Hieronymous Bosch\u2019s Mocking of each of the four Gospels, Jewish court that first tries Jesus, of Christ (c.1500), the gauntlet of the it is remarkable how much He is guilty of blasphemy, for which man crowning Him with thorns and the space the authors give to the build- the penalty is death. However, they spiked collar worn by the figure on the up to Jesus\u2019s crucifixion, known cannot enforce this: under the rules right symbolize the mockers\u2019 brutality. as the \u201cpassion narrative\u201d\u2014passion of the Roman occupation, they do meaning suffering. While the not have the authority to execute themselves, since doing so would Gospels (which differ in the level anyone, so, early in the morning, render them unclean and unable of detail but largely correspond) after Jesus\u2019s arrest and trial, they to participate in the religious are the accounts of the event drawn take Him to the palace of Pontius ceremonies later that day. Staying on by Christians, various historical Pilate, the Roman governor, which outside the palace, they send Jesus sources also mention Christ\u2019s trial is situated beside the Temple in in with their charges against Him: and crucifixion, including Annals the Antonia Fortress. As it is the \u201cWe have found this man subverting by the Roman historian Tacitus Passover festival, the Jewish our nation. He opposes payment of (56\u2013120 ce) and Flavius Josephus\u2019s leaders are careful not to set foot taxes to Caesar and claims to be Antiquities of the Jews of c.94 ce. inside Pontius Pilate\u2019s residence Messiah, a king\u201d (Luke 23:2).","THE GOSPELS 261 See also: The Suffering Servant 154\u201355 \u25a0 The Nature of Faith 236\u201341 \u25a0 The Last Supper 248\u201353 \u25a0 Betrayal in the Garden 254\u201355 \u25a0 The Empty Tomb 268\u201371 Foreseeing that Pilate would not \u201cDon\u2019t you hear the Pontius Pilate consider the charge of blasphemy testimony they are to be sufficiently serious to merit bringing against you?\u201d Appointed by the Emperor execution, they tell him that Jesus But Jesus made no reply. Tiberius, Pontius Pilate was is a threat to security and guilty of Matthew 27:13 the prefect (or governor) of treason against Caesar. They know Judea and the neighboring this will force Pilate to take action. under guard to Herod Antipas, the regions of Samaria and Jewish king appointed by Rome, Idumea from 26 to 36 ce. All four Gospels record Pilate who has jurisdiction in the region. He had a residence in the asking Jesus: \u201cAre you the king provincial capital of Caesarea of the Jews?\u201d Jesus asserts that Herod is delighted to see Jesus, and the use of the Antonia He is, but points out that He is not because he has heard the stories Fortress in Jerusalem. the kind of king who will cause a about Him and hopes to see some military threat to Rome. He says, of the miracles for which He is Pilate\u2019s responsibilities \u201cMy kingdom is not of this world\u201d famous. When Jesus simply stands included taxation, public (John 18:36). Impressed by the in silence before Herod, saying spending, and law and order. authenticity of Jesus\u2019s words, Pilate and doing nothing, Herod is His relationship with the realizes that Jesus does not pose frustrated. He orders his soldiers Jewish people was fragile, a direct threat to Caesar. He then to dress Jesus in a royal robe to particularly because he goes back to the Jewish authorities mock the claim that He is a king. repeatedly disregarded their and tells them that Jesus is innocent After they have had their fun, religious and social customs. of the charges they have brought Jesus is escorted back to Pilate. He minted coins bearing against Him. pagan religious symbols By this time, a crowd has and hung worship images Brought before Herod gathered at the palace. Pilate, of the emperor in Jerusalem. Pilate\u2019s verdict is not the one the who must now decide Jesus\u2019s fate, Sanhedrin want. They insist considers a way to let Him go free. In 36 ce, Pilate was again that Jesus has been inciting It is his custom during Passover forced back to Rome after rebellion, beginning in the region to release a prisoner (invariably the Samaritans (an offshoot of Galilee and spreading to one of the Jews\u2019 popular leaders) of Judaism) lodged an official Jerusalem itself. In Luke\u2019s Gospel to please the crowds who arrive complaint about him with the (23:6), on hearing of Jesus\u2019s link in Jerusalem for the festival. Pilate legate (in charge of provincial with Galilee, Pilate sends Him says to the crowd, \u201cThere is no governors) in Syria. Pilate basis for your charges against died shortly after his term of You disowned the Holy Jesus. Therefore, I will punish office in Palestine. According and Righteous One and Him and then release him.\u201d To to the Christian bishop and asked that a murderer his surprise, the crowd cries out, historian Eusebius of \u201cAway with this man! Release Caesarea, in Ecclesiastical be released to you. Barabbas to us\u201d (Luke 23:18). History, Pilate killed himself Acts 3:14 Pilate is unable to believe his \u276f\u276f on the orders of the Emperor Caligula in 39 ce.","262 THE CRUCIFIXION The route of the crucifixion taken by pilgrims This map of modern Jerusalem shows Convent of the 21 the \u201cstages of the cross\u201d, where different Sisters of Zion episodes on the road to Jesus\u2019s crucifixion are believed to have happened. 3 Church of the 8 4 Church of El-Omariye Holy Sepulchre Condemnation School 7 Church of Our VIA DOLOROSA Lady of the Spasm 13 12 11 10 9 Church of 6 5 St Veronica 14 Key: 8. The women of Jerusalem weep Ethiopian 1. Pilate condemns Jesus to die. for Jesus. Monastery 2. Jesus accepts His cross. 3. Jesus falls for the first time. 9. Jesus falls for the third time. Church of 4. Jesus meets His mother, Mary. 10. Jesus is stripped of His clothes. the Redeemer 5. Simon helps carry the cross. 11. Guards nail Jesus to the cross. 6. A woman called Veronica is said 12. Jesus dies on the cross. 13. Jesus is taken down from the cross. to have wiped the face of Jesus. 14. Jesus\u2019s body is placed in the tomb. 7. Jesus falls for a second time. Day of Preparation ears\u2014Barabbas is a hardened Jesus is handed to the Roman criminal, imprisoned for murder\u2014 guards to be crucified. They know Friday, the day before the but the Jewish authorities had the process, and are practiced Sabbath, was known as been weaving through the crowd, at inflicting suffering on their the Day of Preparation, inciting them to ask for Barabbas prisoners. First, Jesus is flogged, when Jews would prepare (Mark 15:11). then they dress Him in another themselves to keep the royal robe, twisting thorny branches Sabbath \u201choly,\u201d as instructed Sentenced by the mob together to make a crown. \u201cHail, by the fourth of the Ten According to Matthew\u2019s Gospel, King of the Jews!\u201d they cry in Commandments. Food would Pilate\u2019s wife, who had a disturbed mockery. Some spit, others prod be prepared and cooked, and night\u2019s sleep, then sends her Him with sticks, and still others errands completed so that husband a message. \u201cDon\u2019t have hit Him across the head (Matthew the Sabbath would be free anything to do with that innocent 27:30). Humiliated and beaten, for the worship of God. As man,\u201d she says, worried by a dream Jesus then begins His painful Jesus was crucified on the she has had (27:19). Once again, journey to the place where He will Day of Preparation, the Jewish Pilate asks the crowd: \u201cJesus be crucified, a publicly visible hill authorities requested that His or Barabbas,\u201d and together they called Golgotha (\u201cplace of the body be taken down from the reply, \u201cBarabbas.\u201d Asking what he skull\u201d), also known by the Latin cross and buried. This was a should do with Jesus, the people translation Calvary, just outside break from Roman custom, shout \u201cCrucify him! Crucify him!\u201d the city wall. Crucifixions serve as which was to leave the body Pilate realizes there would be a riot prominent reminders to the Jews on view as a deterrent. With if he didn\u2019t give the crowd what that the Romans are in charge. the Sabbath starting at sunset they wanted, so, taking a bowl of (around 6 pm), Jesus\u2019s body water, he washes his hands in full A heavy wooden beam, which was taken down after He view, saying, \u201cI am innocent of this will become the cross on which died (around 3 pm). man\u2019s blood\u201d (Matthew 27:24). He is crucified, is then thrust upon Jesus. Weakened from the flogging,","THE GOSPELS 263 He stumbles under the weight, The Way to Calvary, by Marco \u201cCome down from the prompting the soldiers who are Palmezzano (c.1460\u20131539) shows cross, if you are escorting Him to haul out of the Jesus carrying His cross. Victims of the Son of God!\u201d crowd an unsuspecting pilgrim crucifixion were required to carry their Matthew 27:40 called Simon to help Jesus carry own cross to the place of execution. the cross. While many look on, Speaking to His mother Mary, jeering and shouting, others follow, Twelve hours after His arrest, Jesus Jesus says \u201cDear woman, here is including women, who weep and looks down upon the crowd, who are your son,\u201d indicating John. And in wail. The mournful procession mocking Him and baying for His turn, He says to John, \u201cHere is your makes its way out to the hill. blood. \u201cFather, forgive them, for they mother.\u201d Even in His own pain, do not know what they are doing,\u201d Jesus makes arrangements for John Three crosses He says (Luke 23:34). Taking no to care for His grief-stricken mother. Along with Jesus, two criminals notice, the soldiers gamble for the are brought to be crucified. When clothes of the crucified men, again The darkness lasts for three they arrive, the soldiers set to fulfilling a prophecy in Psalm 22: hours, until the ninth hour of the work, nailing Jesus to the wooden \u201cThey divide my clothes among Jewish day, around 3 pm. As the \u276f\u276f crossbeams by His wrists and to them and cast lots for my garment.\u201d the wooden upright through His A crowd gathers to watch, and Michele da Verona\u2019s Crucifixion ankles, fulfilling a prophecy in the Jewish authorities begin to (c.1501) combines several scenes from Zechariah 12:10: \u201cThey will look hurl insults at Jesus: \u201cHe saved the event, including the centurion\u2019s on me, the one they have pierced.\u201d others; let Him save Himself if conversion and the proffering of a The three crosses are then hoisted He God\u2019s Messiah, the Chosen sponge soaked in vinegar. into position, with Jesus in the One\u201d (Luke 23:35). center. The charge against Jesus is nailed to the cross: \u201cThis is the Darkest hours King of the Jews\u201d (Matthew 27:37 At midday, the sky grows dark, and Luke 23:38). The chief priests the sun blotted out of sight. In the protest against the sign, saying it darkness, Jesus calls to the few implied that Pilate thought Jesus followers who have remained with was a king. It should say, they Him to the end: a small huddle of said, \u201cthis man claimed to be the women and His disciple John. King of the Jews\u201d (John 19:21). By retaining his description of Jesus, Pilate implies that those who demanded His death are the ones truly guilty of treason.","264 THE CRUCIFIXION And being found likened to a vineyard, charged with right to the end. The centurion in appearance as producing fine wine of holy lives for unwittingly blurts out the truth: a man, He humbled God. Here, Jesus tastes the best \u201cSurely this man was the Son of Himself by becoming they can offer, and it is sour. God\u201d (Mark 15:39). obedient to death\u2014 even death on a cross! Last breath As Jesus hangs dead on the Philippians 2:8 Just as Jesus had told His disciples cross, the Jewish authorities during His last supper with them ask the soldiers to finish off the life drains from His body, Jesus the night before, He had now given crucifixions and take down the grows weaker, but then He calls His life for them. Speaking with a bodies before nightfall, since the out in a loud voice: \u201cEloi, Eloi, lama loud voice, Jesus cries out, \u201cIt is next day would be the Sabbath. sabachthani,\u201d Aramaic for \u201cMy finished\u201d (John 19:30). With a final One of the soldiers pierces Jesus\u2019s God, my God, why have you prayer of trust in God, quoting from side with a spear, proving beyond forsaken me?\u201d (Matthew 27:46). Psalm 31, Jesus takes His last breath doubt that Jesus is dead. Again, the words draw directly and dies: \u201cFather, into your hands on Psalm 22, the ancient Hebrew I commit my spirit\u201d (Luke 23:46). Two Jewish noblemen and poem written by David. Having Matthew\u2019s Gospel goes on to record scholars, Joseph of Arimathea memorized the psalm as a young how the ground then shakes, tombs and Nicodemus, then get Pilate\u2019s boy, Jesus now recognizes that it split open, and the curtain of the permission to take Jesus\u2019s body describes His present experience: Temple in Jerusalem is rent in two. for burial in Joseph\u2019s garden tomb. \u201cAll who see me mock me. \u2026 all Matthew, Mark, and Luke record Anointed in sweet spices and my bones are out of joint\u201d (Psalm one of the Roman guards, who wrapped in linen, Jesus\u2019s body 22:7\u201314). Some of those around the has witnessed many frantic last is sealed in the tomb by a stone. cross mishear Jesus, thinking He moments of the crucified, being is calling for the prophet Elijah to astonished at Jesus\u2019s dignified Why Jesus died come and save Him. death, trusting in God as His Father The fact that Jesus died was central to early Christian belief. In the heat of the afternoon Crucially, Jesus is innocent of sun, with pain taking its toll on His body, Jesus cries out \u201cI thirst.\u201d Some of those nearby find a jar of sour wine\u2014a vinegarlike liquid considered to be a thirst-quenching drink for the poor\u2014and offer it to Jesus on a sponge at the end of a stick. The Israelites had often been Deposition from the Cross, by Antonio Allegri, c.1525, shows Mary swooning over the dead Christ, a detail that became a popular embellishment of the story in the Middle Ages.","THE GOSPELS 265 The symbol of the cross Jesus\u2019s life\u2019s work, but rather Crosses still represent death and the means through which He sacrifice, as at the Auckland War For Christians today, the cross fulfilled His greatest task of Memorial Museum, New Zealand, is a symbol of God\u2019s love and triumphing over sin and offering remembering soldiers killed in war. forgiveness. Yet, when Jesus forgiveness. This turned the died, it was clearly a symbol of symbolism of the cross on its Roman power and oppression head. As the Apostle Paul put and of violence and torture. it, \u201cthe message of the cross Many early Christians were also is foolishness to those who are crucified for their belief in Him. perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of As early Christian believers God\u201d (1 Corinthians 1:18). The shared the message that God cross became the universal sign had set up His kingdom on of Christian faith after the Earth through Jesus, God\u2019s true Christian conversion of the Son and king, they explained Roman Emperor Constantine that Jesus\u2019s death on the cross in the early 4th century. was not an embarrassing end to the charges that are brought Even though Jesus is innocent, otherwise drag them into eternal against Him. Although He is the crucifixion narrative does not death. By dying, the sinless for convicted and condemned to death present Him as a passive victim. the sinful, Jesus clears the way in an alarmingly short space of All through His suffering, Jesus is for a new relationship with God time, both Pilate and Herod are in control and not at the mercy of to which all people are invited. unable to find any grounds for His circumstances. As Jesus had capital punishment. Jesus does not taught earlier, \u201cNo one takes my Yet, as Jesus\u2019s body is sealed die because He presents a military life from me, but I lay it down of in the tomb for the Sabbath day, threat against the Roman Empire. my own accord\u201d (John 10:18). The no one has yet understood how His ministry has been filled with sinless Jesus took humanity\u2019s sin Jesus\u2019s death is, in fact, good miracles of healing and teaching onto Himself, willingly drinking the news. That life-transforming to \u201clove your enemies\u201d (Matthew world\u2019s cup of suffering (Matthew awareness would only be possible 5:44), not with criminal behavior 26:39) in order to save others from after the Sabbath had passed, or political revolution. Even the doing so. On the cross, Jesus was as the story continues on the Sanhedrin\u2019s charge that Jesus not a victim, but a savior. morning of Easter Day. \u25a0 had blasphemed against God by claiming to be God\u2019s special Dying to save sinners Fixing our eyes on Jesus, representative, the Messiah, is Jesus\u2019s cross is seen as the the pioneer and perfecter false, since Jesus is, in fact, who culmination of His life\u2019s work, rather He claims to be. than an unfortunate ending. When of faith. For the joy set Jesus declares, \u201cIt is finished,\u201d before Him He endured This lays the foundations for Christians believe He means that the cross, scorning its shame, the Church\u2019s teaching about the mission He had been sent to and sat down at the right Jesus\u2019s death: He did not die achieve is now complete: the hand of the throne of God. because of His own wrongdoings, kingdom of God has been set up but because of those of humankind. as Jesus\u2019s cross was raised into the Hebrews 12:2 By trying to protect their own air. This kingdom, in which Jesus positions of authority by getting is the king, is not a military state rid of Jesus as a troublemaker, that uses violence to coerce and condemning an innocent people into obedience, but rather man to death, the opponents of a kingdom of love, in which King Jesus represent the pride and self- Jesus lays down His life so people centeredness that characterize can be free from the sin that would the whole of humanity.","266 IRWNETHMOEENYMOYBUOERURKCMIONEMGEDOM LUKE 23:42, THE REPENTANT THIEF IN BRIEF J esus is crucified between As Jesus hangs on the cross, the two criminals on the hill of crowds taunt Him and tell Him to PASSAGE Golgotha, overlooking one come down if He really is God\u2019s Luke 23:39\u201343 of the roads into Jerusalem. The chosen king. The criminal on two men on either side of Him are Jesus\u2019s left joins in: \u201cAren\u2019t you the THEME \u201crobbers\u201d (Matthew 27:38) who Messiah?\u201d he asks. \u201cSave yourself It is never too late may well have been comrades and us!\u201d (Luke 23:39). As far as the for salvation of Barabbas, a resistance fighter thief is concerned, Jesus cannot against Roman occupation of be the savior if He is unable to put SETTING Judea. Jesus, who is Himself an end to their suffering. c.29 ce Golgotha, a hill being crucified on the charge of outside the walls of Jerusalem, rebellion, has taken Barabbas\u2019s The thief calls out during Jesus\u2019s crucifixion. place in execution, and occupies However, the second condemned the central of the three crosses. man realizes Jesus really is the KEY FIGURES savior. He sees now that the violent Jesus The Messiah and Son attempts of Barabbas and his of God, who is crucified by comrades to resist Roman the Roman authorities in place occupation had been misguided, of the criminal, Barabbas. and that God desires something far deeper than political nationalism: a The repentant thief The kingdom of people who follow Him criminal to Jesus\u2019s right: through humility and service. although unnamed in the Gospels, later Christian Calling over to the first man, the tradition calls him \u201cDismas\u201d repentant thief tells him to stop or \u201cDemas.\u201d mocking Jesus: while the two of them are hanging on their crosses The unrepentant thief for real offenses, Jesus\u2014despite A fellow revolutionary who dying in the place of a criminal\u2014 taunts Jesus; later tradition named him \u201cGestas.\u201d The penitent thief\u2019s soul is carried into paradise by angels in James Tissot\u2019s 1897 illustration. Tissot aimed to portray the people and setting of the Gospels as faithfully as possible.","THE GOSPELS 267 See also: The Divinity of Jesus 190\u201393 \u25a0 The Crucifixion 258\u201365 \u25a0 Salvation Through Faith 301 \u25a0 The Power of the Resurrection 304 \u201chas done nothing wrong\u201d (23:41). Jesus forgives many types of sins The thief then asks Jesus to \u201cremember me when You come The sinful The tax collector into Your kingdom\u201d (23:42). The woman \u201cToday salvation Jewish faith had long spoken about has come to this a kingdom beyond death, in which \u201cHer many sins have God\u2019s faithful people would enjoy been forgiven \u2026 whoever house, because this everlasting life. This, he realizes, man, too, is a is the kingdom of which Jesus is has been forgiven king. Jesus replies with assurance: little loves little.\u201d son of Abraham.\u201d \u201cTruly I tell you, today you will be Luke 19:9 with me in paradise\u201d (23:43). Luke 7:47 Deathbed salvation The repentant thief Romans and Jews The repentant thief illustrates a \u201cTruly I tell you, today at His crucifixion vital aspect of the Christian faith. you will be with me \u201cFather, forgive them, for Acceptance into God\u2019s kingdom they do not know what is not dependent upon good works in paradise.\u201d or a blameless life, since the thief Luke 23:43 they are doing.\u201d clearly had no time to amend his Luke 23:34 ways. Instead, Jesus freely gives places in His kingdom to those who recognize that He is their only hope. Jesus\u2019s promise to the thief, just moments before his death, is also part of the rationale for the later practice of deathbed confession and absolution, or last rites. In this, a dying person is given assurance in their final moments that their sins have been forgiven by God; it is never too late to repent. \u25a0 Crime and punishment in the time of Jesus Like any society, Jesus\u2019s world citizens, especially those who Dressed as a Roman soldier, had a complex system of law resisted their authority or slaves a man carries a replica of a Roman and punishments. In Jewish found guilty of wrongdoing. whip in a Good Friday procession law, the practice of reparation\u2014 Crucifixion was a humiliating in San Miguel de Allende, Mexico. giving back what was taken death, in which the victim was with interest\u2014was typical. stripped, flogged, and then Stoning to death was the form nailed to a horizontal beam of of capital punishment favored by wood through the wrists, and an the Jews for serious offenses. upright beam through the ankles. Jews detested it because of one However, the Romans\u2014the of their laws, which said \u201canyone occupying overlords\u2014routinely \u2026 hung on a pole is under God\u2019s used crucifixion to execute curse\u201d (Deuteronomy 21:23). criminals who were not Roman","268 IN BRIEF HBHSTHLAAEVVEEOSEENSSEBNAEEONWDLTDHIAEYORVEEETD PASSAGES Matthew 28:1\u201310; JOHN 20:29, THE EMPTY TOMB Mark 16:1\u20138; Luke 24:1\u201312; John 20:1\u201318 THEME The resurrection of Jesus SETTING Spring c.29 ce, during Passover The garden tomb of Joseph of Arimathea in Jerusalem. KEY FIGURES Mary Magdalene A prominent disciple of Jesus. Mary, the mother of the Apostle James A follower of Jesus in her own right. Salome Another follower, and probably the wife of Zebedee and the mother of the Apostles James and John. Jesus This story tells of the first encounters with Jesus after His resurrection. T he events of the first Easter morning are foundational for the whole of Christianity. One of the primary messages of Christian faith is that Jesus could not be held by the power of death. The Gospels give varying accounts of the dramatic events of that Sunday morning. Matthew, Luke, and Mark generally agree that Jesus was buried in haste late on Good Friday afternoon, with only the minimum of preparation, so that His body would be in the","THE GOSPELS 269 See also: The Divinity of Jesus 190\u201393 \u25a0 The Crucifixion 258\u201365 \u25a0 The Road to Emmaus 272\u201373 \u25a0 The Word Spreads 288\u201389 Turin Shroud empty on the Sunday morning, the linen cloths were found In Jesus\u2019s day, it was customary neatly folded where Jesus\u2019s for families to embalm a dead body had been (John 20:6\u20137). body in sweet-smelling spices, wrap it in linen cloth, and leave The Turin Shroud is a large it until only the bones remained. linen cloth kept in the cathedral From there, the skeletal remains in Turin, Italy. The cloth bears would be gathered up into an the faint image of a body, and a ossuary\u2014a bone box, or chest\u2014 bearded man\u2019s face. It is claimed which would then be placed to be Jesus\u2019s burial cloth, His in the family vault. image having been impressed on it when it was wound tightly After His crucifixion, Jesus around Him after death. This had been hastily wrapped in claim has been contested since linen cloth and placed in the the Middle Ages, and carbon tomb of Joseph of Arimathea. dating tests strongly suggest When the tomb was discovered the cloth is not old enough. grave by sunset, the start of the women stumble to the tomb in the sunset on Friday, no longer holds Jewish Sabbath day. The morning half light of dawn, clutching bags His body. Instead, the women see after Jesus\u2019s grief-stricken friends of spices, which they will use to a few strips of linen cloth, carefully observe the Saturday Sabbath, anoint Jesus\u2019s body and counteract folded on the spot where His body Mary Magdalene, Mary, the mother the anticipated odor of decay. had previously been. of the Apostle James, and another woman called Salome visit the The empty tomb In the Gospels of Matthew tomb to embalm Jesus\u2019s body, As the women approach the tomb, and Mark, the women then meet according to Jewish custom. The however, the ground shakes God\u2019s angel at the tomb (Luke violently. Out of their sight, an reports the presence of a second angel of God appears at the tomb\u2019s angel). The message the women entrance and rolls back the stone receive is one of reassurance: \u201cDo sealing it. The guards that the not be afraid, for I know that you Roman authorities had posted to are looking for Jesus, who was prevent the disciples from stealing crucified\u201d (Matthew 28:5); \u201cWhy \u276f\u276f Jesus\u2019s body had fainted with fear on seeing the angel and run off. Some of our women \u2026 went to the tomb early When the women arrive at the this morning but didn\u2019t tomb, they are astonished to see that it is already open. Wondering find His body. who has arrived before them, they Luke 24:22\u201323 look inside\u2014but there is no one there. The rocky ledge, where Jesus had been carefully laid down before In three Gospel accounts, an angel (or angels), shown here in Gustave Dor\u00e9\u2019s illustrated Bible of 1865, appears to Mary, the mother of James, and Mary Magdalene at the tomb\u2019s entrance.","270 THE EMPTY TOMB you into Galilee. There you will see simple word: \u201cGreetings\u201d (Matthew Him\u2019\u201d (Matthew 28:7). Galilee was 28:9). Falling to the ground, the do you look for the living among a significant place for the disciples, women cling to His feet, realizing the dead?\u201d (Luke 24:5); and an since it was where much of Jesus\u2019s what the angel had said was true\u2014 explanation for the empty tomb: ministry had taken place. Jesus is really alive\u2014and they \u201cHe has risen! He is not here!\u201d begin to worship Him. Stooping, (Mark 16:6). The resurrected Jesus Jesus encourages them to their The women, \u201cafraid yet filled with feet and tells them to go and pass The women struggle to joy\u201d (Matthew 28:8), turn from the on their joyful news. comprehend what the angel has tomb and head away to relate told them. Jesus\u2019s body has not these incredible events to the Women were not normally asked been stolen\u2014He is a living, other disciples. On the path, the to give testimony in Jesus\u2019s day, breathing human being again. The women suddenly come across a since they were considered to be women then hear the angel give man. It is Jesus, who utters one incapable of presenting the truth. them a task. \u201cGo quickly and tell Here was a clear signal that God\u2019s His disciples: \u2018He has risen from kingdom is turning expectations the dead and is going ahead of upside down, as women become the first to meet and then share news of the risen Jesus. The Gospel of John John\u2019s Gospel focuses on Mary Magdalene\u2019s experience that morning. Upon seeing the empty chamber, she immediately rushes back to tell the other disciples that \u201cthey have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don\u2019t know where they have put Him!\u201d (John 20:2). Peter and John race to the tomb and look inside, seeing for themselves that Jesus\u2019s body is gone. Peter and John leave, but Mary, overcome with emotion, stays by the tomb. She sees a man near her and, presuming it to be the gardener, says, \u201cSir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have put Him, and I will get Him\u201d (20:15). It isn\u2019t the gardener, however; it is Jesus. Through her tears, Mary does not recognize Jesus until He speaks her name. When Mary realizes who it is, she turns and clings to Him, crying \u201cRabboni!,\u201d the Aramaic word Raphael\u2019s The Resurrection of Christ (c.1501\u20131502) imagines the reaction of the Roman guards. Mathew\u2019s Gospel says they \u201cshook and became like dead men\u201d (28:4).","Thomas the Apostle doubts the THE GOSPELS 271 man before him is the risen Jesus until he touches His wounds. Jesus says, Mary Magdalene \u201cBlessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed\u201d (John 20:29). One of Jesus\u2019s closest followers, Mary Magdalene for \u201cteacher\u201d (20:16). Jesus gently Jesus\u2019s disciples begin to is remembered particularly tells her to return to the other understand the logic of what had for being one of the early disciples to share the news of His happened: if Jesus is alive, that witnesses to Jesus\u2019s resurrection. Back at the house means death is not all-powerful resurrection. Mary\u2019s name where they were gathered, Mary and that sin\u2014understood to be the indicates she was from the bursts in on the others, shouting, inevitable human tendency to turn town of Magdala Nunaya \u201cI have seen the Lord!\u201d (20:18). away from God, leading to death\u2014 on the shore of the Sea of does not have to mar human life Galilee. Luke 8:2 records Mary\u2019s mistake, thinking Jesus forever, but can be forgiven. that she received healing was the gardener, is a profound from Jesus when He cast discovery: just as God planted the Faith and reason seven demons out of her. Garden of Eden at the beginning All that Christianity believes Grateful for the wholeness of the Bible, now, through Jesus, about God\u2014forgiveness, salvation, that Jesus had given her, God is restoring that garden. and transformation\u2014depends on she became a prominent Jesus\u2019s resurrection. As Paul puts disciple, accompanying Jesus As Peter put it in his sermon a it in 1 Corinthians 15:14, \u201cif Christ on His final trip to Jerusalem few weeks later, human authorities has not been raised, our preaching and bearing witness to both may have killed Jesus, but God is useless and so is your faith.\u201d His crucifixion and burial raised Him to life (Acts 2:23\u201324). (Matthew: 27:56\u201361). Later Still, the accounts of Jesus\u2019s tradition associated Mary God has raised this resurrection raise many questions Magdalene with Mary Jesus to life, and we are and demands for events to be of Bethany, the prostitute explained in terms of natural who anointed Jesus\u2019s feet all witnesses of it. causes. In place of the Gospel\u2019s with expensive perfume while Acts 2:32 explanation, some have suggested He was in the house of Simon that the disciples experienced the Pharisee (Luke 7:36\u201350), mass-hallucination or that local although most modern biblical leaders hid Jesus\u2019s body to prevent scholars believe that this His disciples from removing it association is apocryphal. themselves and then proclaiming His resurrection. These theories It is noteworthy that do not explain why the disciples several of Jesus\u2019s most faithful would later allow themselves to be followers were women (Acts martyred for preaching a message 1:14) and that they continued they knew to be false. to play key roles in the life of the early Church. If the Gospels are to be taken literally, the women discovered an empty tomb; Jesus\u2019s body was never found, there or anywhere else; and the women and other disciples met Jesus, not just as a memory but as a living person. Discovering what the resurrection of Jesus means is the concern of the rest of the New Testament, and the ongoing task of the Church today. \u25a0","272 BUWWUSEHRROINLENEINNTHGOHETEWTORIATOULHRAKIDENH?DEUAWSRITTSH LUKE 24:32, ROAD TO EMMAUS IN BRIEF T he good news of Jesus\u2019s 7 miles (11km) from the city resurrection is first told to of Jerusalem. The two disciples, PASSAGE female disciples by angels, one of whom is named Cleopas, are Luke 24:13\u201335 who appear to them at Jesus\u2019s reflecting on recent events when empty tomb. The angels remind Jesus starts traveling alongside THEME the women that Jesus had already them. The disciples, however, do Witnessing Jesus\u2019s foretold His death and resurrection, not recognize Him. He probes them resurrection and the women subsequently about their conversation and they report the miracle to the other SETTING disciples. However, the disciples Jesus takes supper at Emmaus with c.29 ce Jerusalem, at the do not believe them. the disciples. Like other Renaissance end of Jesus\u2019s ministry. depictions of the event, Caravaggio\u2019s Later that same day, two of 1601 version includes an innkeeper not KEY FIGURES Jesus\u2019s disciples make their way mentioned in Luke\u2019s account. Jesus The Son of God, to a village called Emmaus, about crucified by the Romans but resurrected days later. Jesus\u2019s disciples A group of men and women who followed Jesus. They traveled with Him during His ministry and preached about Him and His teachings after His death. Peter Also called Simon Peter; one of Jesus\u2019s closest disciples, to whom Jesus appeared after the resurrection.","THE GOSPELS 273 See also: The Last Supper 248\u201353 \u25a0 The Crucifixion 258\u201365 \u25a0 The Empty Tomb 268\u201371 \u25a0 The Great Commission 274\u201377 explain the cause of their grief to Why are you troubled, and Women find Jesus\u2019s the \u201cstranger\u201d: the prophet and why do doubts rise in your empty tomb. miracle worker, Jesus, had died minds? Look at My hands on the cross three days before. and My feet. It is I Myself! Jesus appears to Touch me and see; a ghost Mary Magdalene They tell Him the story of the outside the tomb and to women at the tomb and, finally, does not have flesh and three other women. acknowledge their sorrow because bones, as you see I have. they had formerly believed Jesus Despite the was the Messiah. As they recount Luke 24:38 women\u2019s testimony, the recent events and admit to feeling disciples do\u00a0not believe disillusioned, they reveal their the dead. Unlike when the women denial of the truth of Jesus\u2019s first reported the news, the others the good news. resurrection\u2014while, unbeknown believe their story, and tell them Jesus appears to to them, He stands right before that \u201cit is true! The Lord has risen Peter and also walks with their eyes. Jesus then declares and has appeared to Simon\u201d (24:34). the two disciples on the\u00a0 them ignorant of the scriptures Shortly before He joined Cleopas road to Emmaus. and proceeds to explain how Jesus and the other disciple on the road, is, indeed, the Messiah. Still, the Jesus had appeared to Simon The disciples disciples do not comprehend who Peter in John 21. realize the truth of the man is or what He is saying. Jesus\u2019s resurrection Witnesses of Christ Jesus is recognized Jesus appears on several other and affirm their The disciples finally become aware occasions in the New Testament. faith in Him. of their companion\u2019s identity when In 1 Corinthians 15:5\u20138, Paul they stop for the evening and share provides a list of those who have a meal. Jesus takes the bread, and witnessed Him, including: Peter; after blessing and breaking it, He the 12 disciples; 500 men and gives it to the disciples\u2014an action women \u201cat the same time\u201d; James; reminiscent of the Last Supper in the apostles; and Paul, the letter- Luke 22. With that action, they writer himself. Other famous Gospel recognize Him as Jesus. accounts include Jesus appearing to Mary Magdalene (Mark 16; John Luke highlights this moment 20) and Thomas (John 20). These with an inversion of a metaphor stories function as proof for from the beginning of the story: Christians that Jesus died and at first, the disciples did not rose again; they also point to a recognize Jesus (24:16), but now, deeper theological belief that \u201ctheir eyes were opened and they Jesus conquered death and offers recognized Him\u201d (24:31). Before the everlasting life to others. \u25a0 disciples can even blink, however, Jesus disappears. Dumbfounded and embarrassed, they remark that they had felt their hearts burn while Jesus spoke to them on the road. Soon after their conversation, the disciples return to Jerusalem, find the other disciples, and share the good news\u2014also known as the Gospel\u2014that Jesus has risen from","274 IN BRIEF DNOGIFOASTACAIOLNIPLNDLSEMSAKE PASSAGE Matthew 28:16\u201320 MATTHEW 28:19, THE GREAT COMMISSION THEME Spreading the good news SETTING c.29 ce Around Galilee and Judea, during the 40 days following Jesus\u2019s resurrection. KEY FIGURES Jesus The risen Jesus, who is both familiar and unfamiliar to His disciples. He is often recognized by His actions or His words, or when He performs miracles. Peter A member of Jesus\u2019s inner circle of disciples and often a spokesman for the other disciples. The other disciples The remaining 10 disciples. F or the 40 days following His resurrection, Jesus spends time with His disciples, teaching them about the significance of His death and resurrection, and preparing them for the future. On the evening of His resurrection, He had told them, \u201cAs the Father has sent me, I am sending you\u201d (John 20:21). Although they have spent three years traveling with Jesus, only now do they begin to appreciate what He is asking them to do. In the past, He had sent them out to neighboring villages and towns to tell people about the kingdom of God that would soon be arriving through Jesus (Luke 9:1\u20136). Now,","See also: The Calling of the Disciples 200\u201303 \u25a0 Peter\u2019s Denial 256\u201357 \u25a0 THE GOSPELS 275 The Road to Emmaus 272\u201373 \u25a0 The Word Spreads 288\u201389 The Ascension however, He is sending them out The risen Christ appearing to His on a permanent mission that would disciples in the 40 days before His Forty days after Jesus\u2019s last the rest of their lives. Jesus ascension is depicted on a colorful, resurrection, He summons understands that it will take some carved wooden frieze in the Cathedral His disciples to a hillside persuasion to transform the fearful of Notre Dame, Paris, France. near Bethany, just outside disciples into bold ambassadors for Jerusalem. As He blesses His message and tells them that so, the net fills with so many fish and commissions them, He the Holy Spirit will support them. that it nearly breaks. One of the is \u201ctaken up before their very disciples exclaims, \u201cIt is the Lord!\u201d eyes\u201d and hidden from sight Inspiration at Galilee Peter immediately jumps out of the by a cloud (Acts 1:9). His At the end of the Passover festival, boat and wades to the shore, and ascension is the end of His the disciples return to Galilee, the other disciples follow in the earthly ministry; Christians where they had first met Jesus, vessel, towing the net full of fish. understand that He now and had been called to follow Him. On the shore, Jesus has already ministers in God\u2019s presence, Peter decides to go fishing and prepared a \u201cfire of burning coals\u201d praying for His disciples to several disciples accompany him. with fish and bread on it. He receive His Spirit and go out They catch nothing all night, but asks them to bring a few more and gather more followers. as morning breaks, they turn fish and they all sit down to eat Aspects of the ascension are toward the shore and see a man breakfast together. familiar. The hill is a reminder on the beach. He calls out to them, of the mountain where Moses \u201cFriends, haven\u2019t you any fish?\u201d After breakfast, Jesus turns to received God\u2019s Law, the cloud \u201cNo,\u201d they reply. He tells them to Peter and asks him, \u201cDo you truly is a visible image of God\u2019s throw the net out to the right of the love me?\u201d Peter says that he does. presence during the Exodus boat. Miraculously, when they do Then Jesus says, \u201cFeed my lambs.\u201d journey from Egypt, and Twice more, Jesus repeats the \u276f\u276f Heaven was long perceived as a physical realm above the Earth. Theologically, the significance of such imagery is to emphasize Jesus\u2019s divinity. The Ascension of Christ (1884) painted by the Polish artist Jan Matejko shows Christ in a cloud known as an \u201caureola,\u201d often used by artists to depict God or Christ.","276 THE GREAT COMMISSION The number 12 question, and both times Peter replies that he does. Both times, Throughout the Bible, the Jesus also instructs Peter to take number 12 recurs often, and care of His sheep\u2014a reference to signifies the complete people the family of believers. Peter, who of God. Early on, Abraham\u2019s had denied that he knew Jesus grandson Jacob has 12 sons. three times in the high priest\u2019s They become the fathers of courtyard during Jesus\u2019s trial, is the 12 tribes of Israel, God\u2019s now restored as a faithful disciple special people and a sign of of Christ and instructed to take His presence in the world. For care of the community of believers this reason, Jesus chooses 12 that would soon grow. disciples to be the foundation of a renewed family of God, Telling the world A 5th-century Roman mosaic from marked out by faith. After his During this period, Jesus often an eastern Mediterranean church has betrayal of Jesus, the disciples meets the disciples as they eat the cross as a central image, testimony have to find a replacement for together. On one occasion, He tells to the spread of Christianity at the time. Judas in order to restore their them to \u201cwait for the gift my Father It is now in the Louvre, Paris. number to 12. The criteria for promised, which you have heard apostleship was personal me speak about\u201d (Acts 1:4). The gift known as \u201cthe Great Commission.\u201d knowledge of Jesus\u2019s ministry, is God\u2019s Holy Spirit, whom He has First, He reminds the disciples of so that the apostle could told them is \u201cpower from on high\u201d the significance of His resurrection provide witness to the fact (Luke 24:49) that will strengthen from the dead: \u201cAll authority in and significance of Jesus\u2019s them in their mission. God\u2019s power heaven and on Earth has been life, death, resurrection, and will be essential, because Jesus is given to me\u201d (Matthew 28:18). ascension. The disciples chose sending them to take His message By defeating death, Jesus proves Matthias. The number 12 also not just to Judea and Galilee, but that God has validated His life and appears frequently in the Book also to Samaria (a region often teaching, and has granted Him of Revelation, referring to the avoided because of longstanding divine authority over all things. final completeness of God\u2019s political tension) and \u201cto the ends He then commissions the disciples worldwide family. of the earth\u2019\u201d (Acts 1:8). to bring others into His kingdom: \u201cTherefore go and make disciples The Tree of Life bore 12 crops At the end of the 40 days, in of all nations, baptizing them in the of fruit in John of Patmos\u2019s vision of His last moments with the disciples, name of the Father and of the Son Eden restored (Revelation 22:2), Jesus sums up all He has taught and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching one for every month. them in words that have become them to obey everything I have commanded you\u201d (Matthew 28:19\u2013 Declare His glory 20). Jesus will be with the disciples, among the nations, but is now entrusting His divine His marvelous deeds mission to human hands and feet. among all peoples. From disciples to apostles Psalm 96:3 Jesus\u2019s Great Commission signals a change in the identity of His closest followers. Throughout His ministry, the 12 have been called \u201cdisciples,\u201d which comes from a Greek word meaning \u201clearners\u2019\u201d or \u201cfollowers.\u201d Now, the 11 disciples remaining\u2014","THE GOSPELS 277 after Judas\u2019s betrayal and suicide\u2014 and faith. The Great Commission Therefore I want you have become \u201cApostles,\u201d from the subverts this idea. Rather than to know that God\u2019s Greek word meaning \u201csent.\u201d For people converging on Jerusalem, salvation has been three years, Jesus has drawn them the apostles must go from the city sent to the Gentiles, closer to Him, demonstrating the to the four corners of the world, and they will listen! reality of God\u2019s kingdom through even to those Gentiles who have stories, teaching, and miracles. no regard for Jewish faith at all. Acts 28:28 Now, His \u201cinner circle\u201d can no longer Baptism in the name of the Father, stay by His side, but must go and Son, and Holy Spirit becomes the ends of the known earth within announce the good news of Jesus initiation ritual for new believers. the first two centuries ce. Today, the and His resurrection to all the world. Those who are baptized must mission is as focused on sharing center their lives, not on the Temple the message of the resurrection as A blessing for all in Jerusalem, but on Jesus and His it is about journeying to the other The Great Commission must have presence in their lives through the side of the world. \u25a0 been both daunting and exciting Holy Spirit. The Great Commission for a group of ordinary men from thus fulfills an older promise given Galilee and Judea. For a long time, to Abraham that through his the Jewish people had thought descendants \u201call people on earth that the appeal of their God would will be blessed\u201d. bring people of all nations streaming to the Temple of Jerusalem. Converts, After two millennia, the Great or proselytes, would then have to Commission remains a regular commit to Jewish customs of life impetus of the Christian faith. The teachings of Jesus reached the Spread of early Christianity North Area mostly Christian Key: Sea by 325 ACE 1. Londinium Area mostly Christian 2. Lutetia 1 by 600 ACE 3. Colonia Spread of Christianity 4. Massalia 2 5. Rome Atlantic 3 EUROPE 6. Syracuse Ocean 7. Athens 8. Pergamum 26 4 10 11 Black Sea Caspian Sea 9. Ephesus 25 10. Sirmium 5 12 11. Byzantium 24 12. Sinope 13. Antioch 23 20 8 14. Damascus 7 15. Jerusalem 22 6 16. Alexandria 21 17. Memphis 9 18. Cyrene 19 13 19. Carthage Mediterranean Sea 14 20. Caesarea AFRICA 21. Tingis 16 15 22. Gades 18 23. Corduba ASIA 24. Carthago Nova 17 Red Sea 25. Tarraoo 26. Burdigala","REAPCEIVTSSETL,LAE","STI,OANND","280 INTRODUCTION Philip converts Paul is arrested in an official of the Jerusalem and is The Apostles receive Queen of Ethiopia the Holy Spirit on on the road to Gaza. imprisoned for two the feast of Pentecost years, after which in Jerusalem. he is taken to Rome. ACTS ACTS ACTS 2:1\u201347 8:26\u201338 21:17\u201326:32 ACTS ACTS 1 CORINTHIANS 3:1\u201310 9:1\u201330 12:27 Peter performs the Saul, a persecutor Paul tells the Apostles\u2019 first miracle of Christians, Corinthians they are the body of Christ when he heals a is miraculously beggar outside the converted on the and each one of Temple in Jerusalem. road to Damascus. them is a part of it. T he Acts of the Apostles Acts demonstrates the struggles \u201cspeak\u201d with the reader when is the first Christian work of the early Christians to deal face-to-face conversation was to trace the dissemination with persecution, hypocrisy, old impossible. They often followed of the Gospel message. Written jealousies, and the cultural divide the same basic structure: an by the author of the Gospel of Luke, between Jews and Gentiles. It also introduction of the author and the the book presents key events and narrates the spread of the Gospel recipients, a short prayer before the speeches in support of the mission through the eastern Roman main text of the letter, concluding that Jesus gave His followers: \u201cYou Empire by means of the preaching greetings to mutual acquaintances, will receive power when the Holy and church-founding efforts of and a brief blessing. Spirit comes on you; and you will Paul. Descriptions of Paul\u2019s ministry be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in Corinth, and the churches of Thirteen of the New Testament in all Judea and Samaria, and to Galatia, Ephesus, Philippi, and letters name Paul as their author. the ends of the Earth\u201d (Acts 1:8). It Thessalonica, provide valuable Most of them address churches or describes the coming of the Holy contextual material for the New groups of churches with which Paul Spirit at Pentecost, the witness Testament Epistles. had contact. Others (1\u20132 Timothy, of the disciples in Jerusalem and Titus, and Philemon) address Judea, and the persecution that The Epistles specific individuals, but with the drives the Apostles through the Part of a larger tradition of letter- apparent intention of being read Roman Empire. A pivotal point writing in the Greco-Roman world, in the recipient\u2019s churches. The is the conversion of the zealous the Epistles comprises 20 of the remaining letters (James, 1\u20132 Peter, persecutor Saul into the missionary 27 books of the New Testament. 1\u20133 John, and Jude) are known Paul, the most influential leader in Letters were taken to be a way for collectively as the \u201cgeneral\u201d or the early Church. the author to be \u201cpresent\u201d and \u201ccatholic\u201d (meaning \u201cuniversal\u201d) epistles. This designation indicates","ACTS, EPISTLES, AND REVELATION 281 Paul asserts the Paul warns against John of Patmos Trinity in a blessing \u201cfalse teachers\u201d in his receives a series at the end of a letter letter to the Philippians of dramatic and and urges belief in terrifying visions he writes to the of the apocalypse. Corinthians. the resurrection. 2 CORINTHIANS PHILIPPIANS 3 REVELATION 1\u201320 EPHESIANS JAMES REVELATION 2:1\u201310 2:14\u201326 21\u201322 Paul tells the Ephesians James rejects passive After the Final that personal faith and praises active Judgment, John\u2019s faith that honors God vision shows heaven salvation can only and Earth renewed in happen through faith, through good deeds. the New Jerusalem. not good deeds. that they were written to churches nature of the societies in which the or Luke. Some modern scholars scattered over a wide geographical recipients lived. One important area have also challenged authorship of range, or to all Christians wherever of discussion focuses on opponents certain Pauline epistles (especially they might be found. The Book of called \u201cfalse teachers,\u201d which are Ephesians) and 1\u20132 Peter. Revelation, while not a letter in its mentioned and\/or rebutted several entirety, begins with seven brief times in the Epistles. The false A new beginning letters to churches in Asia Minor. teachers included practices and Taken together, the Book of Acts Its apocalyptic message describing philosophies, such as Jewish and the New Testament Epistles Christ as the Final Judge of the legalism and mysticism, popular demonstrate that the resurrection wicked and vindicator of believers Greek philosophical and religious of the crucified Jesus was not the was partly an encouragement to ideas, speculation about angels and end of God\u2019s work in the world, those experiencing persecution. spiritual powers, and ascetic and but a new beginning through the ritual practices. Holy Spirit. The Epistles, while Academic debates written by men, are included in Given their nature as letters, the Fierce debate also rages about the canon because they are seen as Epistles give readers access to one the authorship of several Epistles. divinely inspired. They unpack the side of a conversation. Readers can Since the 2nd century CE, scholars significance of the Gospel message \u201coverhear\u201d the authors speak to have speculated about the of faith in Christ, in the service of congregations and individuals. The authorship of Hebrews. An \u201cteaching, rebuking, correcting, situation being addressed, however, early tradition attributed Hebrews and training in righteousness, must be inferred from the letters to Paul, but others credited Peter\u2019s so that the servant of God may themselves. This has led modern companion Silvanus, the early be equipped for every good work\u201d scholars to speculate about the preacher Apollos, or one of Paul\u2019s (2 Timothy 3:16\u201317). \u25a0 companions\u2014Barnabas, Priscilla,","282 FEWAIVWLOELENREDYADEOTRWNTSEHITEAWHNMADSASNIYGNS ACTS 2:43, THE DAY OF PENTECOST IN BRIEF J ust as thunder, lightning, pray, as they have done regularly and dense cloud accompany since His ascension, ten days PASSAGE the giving of the Torah in previously. Suddenly, a noise like Acts 2:1\u201347 Exodus, so dramatic phenomena that of a strong wind fills the house accompany the giving of God\u2019s where the disciples are meeting THEME Spirit at the beginning of Acts. and tongues of fire come to rest on The day of Pentecost This happens during the feast their heads. Impelled by a strange of Pentecost, or Shavu\u2019ot\u2014one of inner power, the disciples find SETTING three great pilgrimage festivals themselves speaking in languages c.29 ce Jerusalem. The city that each year brought throngs of they do not know. is full of Jewish pilgrims, Jews from across the known world who converge there annually to Jerusalem. Also in Jerusalem, A great confusion for the feast of Pentecost according to Acts, is the core group The disciples make so much noise (Shavu\u2019ot), seven weeks of Jesus\u2019s disciples, who have met to that a crowd gathers, including after Passover. many of the pilgrims who have come to Jerusalem from other parts KEY FIGURE of the world. These foreigners are Peter Despite his denial astonished because the disciples, of Jesus following Christ\u2019s who by now appear to have spilled arrest, Peter is again leader out onto the street, are miraculously among the core disciples. speaking to them in their native languages, telling them about the Other disciples According \u201cwonders of God.\u201d to Acts, the male disciples number about 120. Alongside In response to these strange them are Jesus\u2019s mother Mary happenings, some of the onlookers and the other female disciples. are skeptical and dismissive, accusing the disciples of being Celebrating the ascension (top) and Pentecost, this miniature is from La Somme le Roi, an illuminated manuscript produced in France between 1290 and 1300 and now held in the British Museum.","ACTS, EPISTLES, AND REVELATION 283 See also: The Calling of the Disciples 200\u201303 \u25a0 The Crucifixion 258\u201365 \u25a0 The Empty Tomb 268\u201371 \u25a0 The Great Commission 274\u201377 drunk. At this point, Peter, the All of them were put into the mouths of leading leader of the disciples, stands filled with the Holy figures in order to comment upon up and addresses the crowd. Spirit and began the events they describe. The strange phenomena they to speak in other are witnessing, he announces, are tongues as the Spirit Peter\u2019s speech begins with not the result of drunkenness, but the words of the Prophet Joel, who they are the work of God\u2014as enabled them. said the Spirit would be poured out foretold by the Prophet Joel in the Acts 2:4 on God\u2019s people at a critical point Hebrew scriptures. He reminds his in history: \u201cEven on my servants, listeners of Jesus, who was God\u2019s to be witnesses to His resurrection, both men and women, I will pour prophet and Messiah and whom beginning in Jerusalem (Acts 1:8). out my Spirit in those days, and the people of Jerusalem have At Pentecost, God gives His Spirit\u2014 they will prophesy. ... And everyone recently killed. This same Jesus, dramatically and emphatically\u2014 who calls on the name of the Lord God has now raised from the dead. to the disciples. Just as the Spirit will be saved\u201d (Joel 2:18\u201332). Peter enabled the disciples to speak in goes on to argue that God had Peter\u2019s speech has an other languages, so He inspires empowered Jesus\u2019s life and ministry, electrifying effect on the crowd, Peter\u2019s speech to the people of leading to His crucifixion. He quotes many of whom are \u201ccut to the Jerusalem. Some scholars, however, David\u2019s words that God would not heart\u201d and beg to know what they think that Luke\u2014the author of abandon His holy one to death can do in an attempt to make things Acts\u2014employed a literary device, (Psalm 16:8\u201311), noting that while right. Peter exhorts them to repent common among ancient Greek David\u2019s body was still in its tomb, and become baptized. According historians, in which speeches are God had raised Jesus and poured to the Book of Acts, some 3,000 out His Spirit as promised. Jesus pilgrims follow his command, had then risen into heaven in creating a massive increase in fulfillment of God\u2019s command that the number of believers. the Messiah sit at His right hand until God defeated all the Messiah\u2019s The Pentecost event enemies (Psalm 110:1). Luke reports Acts presents Peter\u2019s speech as that 3,000 of the assembled people a work of the Holy Spirit. At His of Jerusalem, convinced by Peter\u2019s ascension, Jesus promises that the words, repent their sins and receive Spirit would empower His disciples forgiveness and the Holy Spirit. \u25a0 The early Christian distributing the money that The Apostles Going Forth to community they raised according to people\u2019s Preach, a 15th-century miniature needs\u2014all in a spirit of gladness by the Limbourg brothers, shows Luke\u2019s account of the events of and generosity. the Christian community at work. Pentecost concludes with a brief description of the community All four elements were no that emerged in Jerusalem as a doubt present in the early result of that day\u2019s conversions. Christian community of This is marked, says Acts, by Jerusalem, but later in Acts, four elements: teaching by the Luke reveals tensions among Apostles; fellowship; the them as well. Attempting to breaking of bread; and prayer. win unwarranted regard, some The fellowship is radical: the lie about their generosity and believers are said to have are judged by the Holy Spirit owned everything in common, (Acts 5:3\u20135). For Christians selling their possessions and since, it has remained an inspiration and a challenge.","284 IN BRIEF IOWJNEFASTNLUHKASEZNACRAHMERTIESHOT, F PASSAGE Acts 3:1\u20135:42 ACTS 3:6, THE HEALING OF THE BEGGAR THEME The disciples work in Jesus\u2019s name SETTING c.29\u201331 ce Jerusalem. KEY FIGURES Peter A leader among the believers, twice imprisoned by the Sanhedrin but defiantly loyal to God. Peter was in Jesus\u2019s inner circle of disciples. John Brother of James, son of Zebedee. He is with Peter when they heal the beggar. Sanhedrin A supreme court in Jerusalem presided over by the high priest. A cts 3 tells the story of one of the first holy works performed by Jesus\u2019s disciples in the wake of His death, resurrection, and ascension. Peter and John approach a gate of the Temple in Jerusalem. It is a time of prayer, and they have come to pray, but they stop at the gate when they come across a beggar. Crippled from birth, this beggar is a familiar figure at the Temple; he is carried there each day by friends or family to beg for money from the worshippers who stream by. On this day, the beggar is being carried to what was referred to as","ACTS, EPISTLES, AND REVELATION 285 See also: The Raising of Lazarus 226\u201327 \u25a0 Peter\u2019s Denial 256\u201357 \u25a0 The Great Commission 274\u201377 \u25a0 The Day of Pentecost 282\u201383 \u25a0 The Word Spreads 288\u201389 the Beautiful Gate\u2014possibly the Peter (right) heals the lame man and jumping, and praising God\u201d bronze-clad Nicanor Gate, between in this detail from Renaissance master (3:8)\u2014a triumphant sight that the court of the Gentiles and the Raphael\u2019s depiction of the miracle. It is draws a large crowd. This gives court of the women. one of a set of tapestries by the artist Peter an opportunity to make depicting the works of Peter and Paul. a speech similar to the one he The beggar asks the disciples made at Pentecost: he reminds his for money, and both of them look beggar\u2019s feet and ankles heal in listeners of their guilt in handing him directly in the eyes. \u201cLook at an instant. He jumps up and walks Jesus over to be killed, telling them us!\u201d Peter says, and so the beggar for the first time in his life. Peter to \u201crepent \u2026 and turn to God\u201d (3:19). looks. \u201cSilver or gold I do not have, has just performed an astonishing, but what I do have I give you. In the awe-inspiring miracle\u2014the very Disciples on trial name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, kind, in fact, that Jesus used to Some 5,000 people are converted walk\u201d (Acts 3:4\u20136). Peter then takes perform before He was killed. that day, although some scholars the beggar by the hand and the suggest that this figure given by Powerful proof Luke is not meant to be taken Following Pentecost, Jesus\u2019s literally\u2014it simply suggests a large disciples continue to preach and number. However, while ordinary perform great works. Luke, the people react with jubilation and author of Acts, gives many awe to the healing of the beggar, examples of signs and wonders that it also attracts negative attention the disciples perform. As Jesus had from the authorities, who are promised them, His believers start greatly disturbed by the events. to do even greater things in His name than He himself did during That same evening, the Temple His three-year ministry. guards arrest the two Apostles and throw them into prison overnight, The healing of the beggar is, before bringing them before the as it were, the inaugural miracle of high priest and Sanhedrin the next the post-Pentecost order. According morning. Standing before them, a to Luke, the beggar goes with Peter Spirit-emboldened Peter speaks out and John into the Temple, \u201cwalking yet again about Jesus, in whose \u276f\u276f Almsgiving For people with disabilities\u2014 (giving to the poor) as one of It is by the name of such as Bartimaeus, the blind the three prime works of piety, Jesus Christ of Nazareth, man whom Jesus healed outside along with prayer and fasting whom you crucified but Jericho (Mark 10:46\u201352), and (Matthew 6:1\u20134). From the point whom God raised from the man at the Beautiful Gate\u2014 of view of beggars hoping to the dead, that this man begging was not demeaning, receive alms, location was key. stands before you healed. but simply one of the few ways Bartimaeus positioned himself they could make a living. Giving by one of the gates into Jericho, Acts 4:10 to the poor was encouraged by to benefit from the constant flow Jewish scripture\u2014\u201cI command of people into and out of the city; you to be open-handed toward the man at the Beautiful Gate \u2026 the poor and needy in your relied on the visiting pilgrims land\u201d (Deuteronomy 15:11)\u2014and who were especially aware, as by Jesus. In the Sermon on the they entered or left the Temple, Mount, He names almsgiving of their religious duty to give.","286 THE HEALING OF THE BEGGAR name the beggar has been healed. opposition they face from the After they prayed, the Baffled at such eloquence in the authorities, the believers pray to place where they were mouth of these two \u201cunschooled, God for renewed boldness in telling meeting was shaken. ordinary men\u201d (4:13)\u2014and by the the world about Jesus. They ask, undeniable fact that a great miracle \u201cLord, consider their threats and Acts 4:31 has taken place\u2014the council enable your servants to speak your commands the Apostles to keep word with great boldness\u201d (4:29). lied\u2014wanting to receive praise, silent from now on. The Greek word that Luke uses for they pretend to hand over all this boldness is parrhesia, also their property while keeping Peter and John\u2019s reply is simple: meaning \u201cfree speech,\u201d \u201cfrankness,\u201d some back for themselves. \u201cWhich is right in God\u2019s eyes: to even \u201cplain speaking.\u201d As a sign of listen to you, or to Him? You be the divine approval, the building where The community thrives, as judges! As for us, we cannot help the believers are meeting shakes. many more signs and miracles speaking about what we have seen lead to an impressive growth in and heard\u201d (4:19\u201320). The council Thereafter, the community of numbers. Inevitably, however, such members threaten them further, believers in Jerusalem prospers: success brings further jealousy and but with so much excitement at \u201call the believers were one in heart the miracle, the Sanhedrin has no and mind\u201d and they shared their option but to let the men go free. possessions among each other (4:32). Most but not all of the The second Pentecost believers are willing to take part Peter and John return to their in this. Acts 5 tells the story of community. What follows is Ananias and Sapphira, a couple sometimes called the \u201csecond who suddenly fall down and die Pentecost.\u201d Aware of the growing after Peter reveals that they have Peter heals Peter raises Tabitha, Paul exorcises a paralytic man a disciple, from the dead. a possessed girl. named Aeneas. (Acts 9:36\u201342) (Acts 16:16\u201318) (Acts 9:33\u201335) The miracles performed Paul cures Paul heals a by the Apostles show that Publius\u2019s father man who cannot Jesus was working through of dysentery. walk in Lystra. them and granting them (Acts 28:7\u20138) (Acts 14:7\u20139) spiritual authority. Paul raises a young man, Eutychus, from the dead. (Acts 20:9\u201312)","ACTS, EPISTLES, AND REVELATION 287 persecution from the authorities, end, the Apostles are flogged, once Simon Peter at which point Luke\u2019s narrative more told not to speak in Jesus\u2019s borders on comedy. Once more the name, and allowed to go free. Yet One of Jesus\u2019s closest disciples Apostles are arrested and thrown again they ignore the Sanhedrin\u2019s Simon Peter became a leading into prison, but during the night an orders. They continue, Luke writes, member of the early Church. angel comes and opens the prison joyfully \u201cteaching and proclaiming His real name was Simon, but doors, allowing them to go free. The the good news that Jesus is the Jesus called him \u201cRock\u201d: angel tells them to go back to the Messiah\u201d (Acts 5:42). \u201cPeter\u201d in Greek, \u201cCephas\u201d Temple and preach as they usually in Aramaic. He and his brother do. When morning comes, the Inherited leadership Andrew were both fishermen, Sanhedrin meets and sends for the Throughout this narrative, Luke and worked with another pair prisoners. Shocked officers return makes important theological of brothers, James and John. empty-handed with this report: points. With their bold Spirit- John\u2019s Gospel says Peter met \u201cWe found the jail securely locked, empowered preaching, confirmed Jesus through Andrew, who with the guards standing at the by God in signs and wonders, the was a disciple of John the doors; but when we opened them, Apostles have established that they Baptist. However, the Gospels we found no one inside\u201d (5:23). stand in a clear line of continuity of Mark and Luke report reaching back as far as Abraham, that Peter and Andrew were Outwitting the council Moses, and the prophets of the working as fishermen when Baffled once more, the Sanhedrin Hebrew scriptures. God has been Jesus called them to be then receive a report from the faithful: the great covenants He His disciples. Temple: the men imprisoned last made with Abraham and the night are there teaching the people. Hebrew patriarchs have found During the ministry of Yet again the Apostles are arrested. fulfillment in Jesus, the promised Jesus, Peter was one of the When upbraided for continuing to Messiah, whom God affirmed with inner circle of three disciples, teach about Jesus, they reply: \u201cWe miraculous works\u2014notably, the along with James and John, must obey God rather than human supreme miracle of His resurrection. but when Jesus was arrested, beings!\u201d (5:29). Infuriated, many of Now though, the traditional leaders Peter denied Him three times. the Sanhedrin want to put them of the Jews, the Sanhedrin refuse This failure marked a turning to death and are only dissuaded to accept Jesus as the Son of God, point in Peter\u2019s life; he was by the more cautious counsels of and so the leadership of God\u2019s forgiven by Jesus and soon a Pharisee named Gamaliel. In the people passes out of their hands emerged as a dauntless leader and to the Apostles. The believers in the early Church. He was People brought the are portrayed by Luke as the \u201cnew also the first to share the sick into the streets and Israel,\u201d true heirs of the covenant Christian message and baptism laid them on beds and promises of the Old Testament. with non-Jews. Peter was famously crucified upside- mats so that at least In this context, the fact that down during the persecution Peter\u2019s shadow might Peter and John heal the beggar in unleashed by Emperor Nero fall on some of them the name of Jesus is important. in 64\u201368 ce. Peter\u2019s speech acknowledges that as he passed by. not only are the disciples following Acts 5:15 in the tradition of Jesus\u2019s ministry, the power they are exercising is not their own: Jesus now works through them. Peter, John, and their fellow disciples have been empowered by the Holy Spirit to continue Jesus\u2019s work on Earth, and have been given the authority to carry out this task because of their faith in Him. \u25a0","288 HTAHEBEOTUOGTLODOJEDHSINMUESWS ACTS 8:35, THE WORD SPREADS IN BRIEF L ife for most of the believers garments. Luke\u2019s Gospel describes in Jerusalem is relatively Saul going from house to house, PASSAGE peaceful in the period after dragging off men and women Acts 7:54\u20138:40 Pentecost, despite some conflicts and throwing them into prison. between the Sanhedrin and the THEME Apostles. However, this changes From curse to blessing God\u2019s word is for everyone when the Sanhedrin, alarmed The Apostles stay in Jerusalem to by the evangelical success of face the persecution, while the rest SETTING a Hellenistic Christian called of the community scatter across c.32\u201335 ce The countryside Stephen, sentences him to death Judea and Samaria to escape the around Jerusalem. by stoning. Stephen\u2019s execution violence. However, what at first begins \u201ca great persecution\u201d seems like a setback leads to the KEY FIGURES against the Jerusalem Church, fulfillment of Jesus\u2019s prophecy Saul of Tarsus A Hellenistic masterminded by a young man at His ascension: \u201cYou will be my (Greek-speaking) Jew later called Saul, at whose feet Stephen\u2019s witnesses in Jerusalem, and \u2026 known as Paul. At this stage, killers had laid their outer to the ends of the Earth\u201d (Acts 1:8). he is a diehard persecutor of the fledgling Church. Proselytes and God-fearers Philip One of the \u201cSeven\u201d In the period after Jerusalem\u2019s proselytes and God-fearers were appointed to oversee the Temple was rebuilt in the 6th drawn to the teaching of Jesus distribution of food to widows century bce, there was a growth and His disciples. in Jerusalem. He spreads the in the number of \u201cproselytes\u201d\u2014 word of God. those who went through the full In Matthew\u2019s and Luke\u2019s rites of conversion to Judaism, Gospels, a Roman centurion Ethiopian official Chief including circumcision\u2014and whose servant Jesus heals may treasurer to the Queen of \u201cGod-fearers,\u201d who followed well be a God-fearer, as may the Ethiopia; a eunuch who is many Jewish religious practices Ethiopian official in Acts. Two baptized by Philip. without full conversion. This converts in Acts\u2014the centurion growth resulted partly from Cornelius, and Lydia, a cloth increased contact between dealer in Philippi\u2014are described Jews and non-Jews, and partly as God-fearers. Cornelius and because of the missionary zeal his household are baptized after of the Pharisees. Later, many hearing Peter preach, Lydia and hers after hearing Paul.","ACTS, EPISTLES, AND REVELATION 289 See also: Ruth and Naomi 108\u201309 \u25a0 The Suffering Servant 154\u201355 \u25a0 The Great Commission 274\u201377 \u25a0 The Day of Pentecost 282\u201383 \u25a0 The Road to Damascus 290\u201391 Wherever the believers go, they of the Suffering Servant Songs The Ethiopian eunuch is baptized \u201cpreach the word\u201d to the great joy from the Book of Isaiah, which by Philip the Evangelist, in a of those who hear and accept it. speaks of the arrival and suffering stained-glass window in Brackley, of the Messiah. Philip asks the England. This act symbolized the The Ethiopian eunuch if he understands what start of the Ethiopian Church. In Samaria, Philip, a former he is reading. The eunuch replies associate of the martyred Stephen, that he does not and invites Philip the \u201cgood news\u201d has spread from makes an impact. He was one of to sit with him to explain the Jerusalem into Judea and Samaria. seven men appointed to oversee passage. Philip agrees and tells Now, with the conversion of the the distribution of food to widows the man \u201cthe good news about Ethiopian, it pushes farther afield. in Jerusalem. Now in Samaria, Jesus,\u201d as predicted by Isaiah. he preaches to large crowds and Later, when they pass a stretch God of all performs dramatic healings. of water, the eunuch asks Philip The conversion of the eunuch to baptize him. Philip does so, shows a key difference between Luke describes two aspects and then the \u201cSpirit of the Lord\u201d Judaism and Christianity. For Jews, of the events that follow. On one miraculously takes Philip away, castration was unlawful, so, as a level is the persecution that depositing him on the coast near eunuch, the Ethiopian would not scatters the believers, who then Caesarea. The eunuch, meanwhile, have been allowed to worship in set out to preach the word. On the continues on his way, rejoicing. the Temple. God, however, prompts other is the direct intervention of Philip to baptize the man. The God, whose influence becomes Joy thus marks the spreading episode is seen as proof that the clear when He sets Philip a new of the Gospel\u2014a process that word of God was meant for the task. As Philip returns to Jerusalem Saul\u2019s persecution has only, in the whole world\u2014not just the Jews. \u25a0 from Samaria, an angel tells him to end, promoted. As Jesus foretold, take the road to Gaza. He sets out and sees a chariot ahead. God\u2019s Spirit tells Philip to catch up with it, and there he finds a high official of the Queen of Ethiopia, a eunuch who has been to Jerusalem to worship. The man is reading one They all paid close attention to what He said. For with shrieks, impure spirits came out of many, and many who were paralyzed or lame were healed. Acts 8:6\u20137","290 IPWEAHRMOSJMEECYSUOUTUSIN,AGRE ACTS 9:5, THE ROAD TO DAMASCUS IN BRIEF T he conversion of Paul on Saul, who has fallen to the ground, the road to Damascus is asks who is speaking. The voice PASSAGE one of the most dramatic replies, \u201cI am Jesus, whom you Acts 9:1\u201319 episodes in the Book of Acts. are persecuting. Now get up and The most fanatical persecutor go into the city, and you will be THEME of the early Christians has an told what you must do\u201d (9:5\u20136). Miraculous conversions overwhelming experience with the risen Jesus and becomes Finding himself blinded, Saul SETTING a member of the very community is taken into Damascus by his c.33\u201336 ce The road to he has previously attacked. Within traveling companions. After three Damascus, Syria, where many a short space of time, Paul became days, the Lord appears to a local Jews have become Christians. one of his new community\u2019s most believer named Ananias and tells eloquent preachers, earning him him to visit Saul. Ananias does as KEY FIGURES many converts but also the enmity the Lord says and baptizes Saul, Saul Better known by his of his former allies. Not once but who receives the Holy Spirit and Latin name Paul, Saul is twice he has to flee for his life. the return of his sight. initially a fanatical persecutor The arch-persecutor thus joins the of Christian believers. ranks of the persecuted. According to Luke, Saul is soon preaching about Jesus in the Ananias A Christian believer Saul\u2019s vision Damascus synagogues, arousing in Damascus who was a The story in Acts begins with the animosity of local Jews, who former disciple of Jesus. Paul, who is then known by his conspire to murder him. Described as a \u201cdevout Hebrew name, Saul, \u201cbreathing observer of the Law,\u201d he out murderous threats against the Lowered in a basket from the was sent to heal Paul and Lord\u2019s disciples\u201d (Acts 9:1). Armed city wall by his disciples, Saul bring him the Gospel. with warrants from the high priest, escapes the conspirators and goes he is on his way to Damascus to to Jerusalem, where he makes hunt down believers and bring them contact with the initially suspicious back to Jerusalem as prisoners. Just Apostles. Once again, his preaching outside the city, however, he has an earns him the hostility of certain extraordinary encounter. A \u201clight Jews\u2014probably the very group of from heaven\u201d flashes around him, diaspora Jews with whom he had and a voice says, \u201cSaul, Saul, why previously associated\u2014and he has do you persecute me?\u201d (9:3\u20134). to flee, this time to his home city of Tarsus. The conversion of Saul is so fundamental to the evolution of the early Church that Luke tells the","ACTS, EPISTLES, AND REVELATION 291 See also: The Word Spreads 288\u201389 \u25a0 The Council of Jerusalem 292\u201393 \u25a0 Paul\u2019s Arrest 294\u201395 \u25a0 The Power of the Resurrection 304\u201305 story three times (Acts 9, 22, and The drama of Paul\u2019s experience is Paul, Apostle to 26). His aim is clear: to establish captured by Caravaggio\u2019s Conversion the Gentiles Paul as an apostolic and prophetic on the Way to Damascus (1601), in figure, who was called, revealed, which the blinded Saul is thrown Paul was born in the city of and confirmed as such by God. into a pool of light. Tarsus, in today\u2019s Turkey, to a family of Hellenistic God\u2019s prophet Hebrew prophets who came before (Greek-speaking) Jews. The As in the rest of the Bible, God Him. As God reveals to Ananias, He well-educated young man works through signs and wonders, has selected the former enemy of had a knowledge of Greek but also through suffering. The His people to become His \u201cchosen thought and studied under fact that Paul is now persecuted instrument to proclaim My name the famous Pharisee Rabbi affirms both the power of God and to the Gentiles. \u2026 I will show him Gamaliel in Jerusalem. the status of Paul as God\u2019s prophet, how much he must suffer for my suffering with Jesus and the name\u201d (9:15\u201316). \u25a0 Paul makes reference to his conversion in his letters to the Galatians and Corinthians. Paul adds to Luke\u2019s account in Acts, saying he traveled from Damascus to Arabia after his conversion and that it was three years before he went to Jerusalem to meet Peter and the other Apostles. In the years that followed, Paul traveled around the eastern Mediterranean, preaching the Gospel and establishing communities of Christians in the major cities. The hostility of Jewish opponents led to his eventual arrest in Jerusalem and then transportation to Rome for trial. The New Testament gives no account of his death, but an early tradition asserts that he died by beheading during the persecution unleashed in 64 ce by the Roman Emperor Nero.","292 BHTHYEEFPIAURIRTHIHFEIAERDTS ACTS 15:9, THE COUNCIL OF JERUSALEM IN BRIEF T he growing influx of Barnabas deny this, insisting Gentile believers posed that circumcision is not necessary PASSAGE problems for the early for Gentile believers. The debate ACTS 15:1\u201335 Church. Questions arose as to becomes so heated that the Antioch whether they should be regarded church sends a delegation, led by THEME as full members of the Church, or Paul and Barnabas, to consult the Accommodating Gentiles have to meet further requirements elders of the founding church in to put them on an equal footing a meeting that became known as SETTING with Jewish followers of Christ. the Council of Jerusalem. c.49 ce Antioch and Jerusalem. According to Acts, these burning The Council meets KEY FIGURES questions come to a head in Antioch In Jerusalem, much like in Antioch, Paul The Apostle argues in after Paul\u2019s return to the city at the the debate becomes vigorous. Peter both Antioch and Jerusalem end of his first missionary journey. speaks first, insisting that faith against an insistence on Jewish believers, having recently alone is necessary for salvation. Gentile circumcision. arrived from Judea, are teaching that He cites the recent conversion of all believers must be circumcised, the Roman centurion Cornelius Barnabas Paul\u2019s longtime according to the Law of Moses. and his household, who heard the friend accompanies him on Paul and his long-standing ally Gospel from Peter and believed. his journey to Jerusalem. God confirmed their salvation by filling them with the Holy Spirit, Peter The Apostle speaks just as He did with Jewish decisively at the Council of believers. God, Peter says, \u201cdid Jerusalem against the need not discriminate between us and for circumcision. them, for He purified their hearts by faith\u201d (Acts 15:9). As a result, no James A leader of the extra yoke, such as circumcision, Jerusalem church, James sums should be placed on their necks. up the Council\u2019s findings. Following further testimony from A Bible study card (c.1900) illustrates Acts 15:22\u201333, in which the Gentile believers of Antioch are told which of Moses\u2019s Laws they must keep.","ACTS, EPISTLES, AND REVELATION 293 See also: The Nature of Faith 236\u201341 \u25a0 The Word Spreads 288\u201389 \u25a0 Salvation Through Faith 301 \u25a0 The Power of the Resurrection 304\u201305 Paul and Barnabas, James, an The rest of mankind The elders of the Church increasingly influential leader in may seek the Lord, meet in Jerusalem. the Jerusalem church, cites the even all the Gentiles prophet Amos to show that it was who bear my name. Some argue that because always God\u2019s intention that people Christianity is the fulfillment from other nations would \u201cseek Acts 15:17 the Lord\u201d (15:17). Like Peter, he of promises made in the concludes that \u201cwe should not Pentateuch \u2026 make it difficult for the Gentiles who are turning to God\u201d (15:19). \u2026 Gentiles converting to Christianity should be A compromise between God and His people, as circumcised, according James proposes a compromise: reflected in a famous clause from to Mosaic Law. there will be no circumcision for the letter the Council sends to the Gentile believers, but they will be believers in Antioch: \u201cIt seemed But the Council decides that required to observe certain Jewish good to the Holy Spirit and to us salvation does not require dietary and cleanliness laws, not to burden you\u201d (15:28). In the chiefly to ensure that Jewish and new \u201ckingdom\u201d that is therefore adherence to the Law \u2026 Gentile believers can eat together. established, Gentile believers James\u2019s proposal is accepted, and enjoy full and equal citizenship ... and makes no faith so believers from Jerusalem are with Jewish ones. Faith alone distinction between chosen to go back to Antioch with gives entry. With these truths Paul and Barnabas, bearing a letter firmly established, the rest of Acts Gentile and Jew. confirming the Council\u2019s resolutions. is dominated at the human level by Paul, God\u2019s \u201cchosen instrument\u201d This decision preserves The Council of Jerusalem is a (9:15), for bringing the message the unity of the Church watershed. It stresses above all the of the Gospel to the Gentiles. \u25a0 and takes its reach beyond importance of understanding that God wants to reach out to Gentiles, that of Judaism. as He did with Cornelius and his household, and the Gentile converts Paul and Barnabas made in their travels. This creates a consensus Paul and Peter\u2019s fight at Antioch In his letter to the Galatians, yet you live like a Gentile \u2026 Paul describes a combative How is it, then, that you force encounter in Antioch with the Gentiles to follow Jewish Apostle Peter over Jewish customs?\u201d (2:14). dietary laws. Paul publicly accuses Peter of inconsistency These were difficult issues and hypocrisy because Peter for leaders of the early Church. sometimes eats with Gentile As shown at the Council of believers, but at other times Jerusalem, Peter and other refrains from doing so for fear Church leaders eventually agree of offending Jewish visitors from that outreach to the Gentiles Jerusalem (Galatians 2:11\u201312). was God\u2019s initiative through Paul argues, \u201cYou are a Jew, Christ and could not be ignored by the Church.","294 IFOWOAUODLRRLMASOINHTWCITPEEHRSTAHTOTOEFIRGTSOHDAESOWAFAY ACTS 24:14, PAUL\u2019S ARREST IN BRIEF D espite it leading to his this. \u201cI am going to Jerusalem,\u201d he arrest and near lynching tells friends, \u201cnot knowing what PASSAGE at the hands of a mob, the will happen to me there. I only Acts 21:17\u201328:31 Apostle Paul\u2019s decision to return to know that in every city the Holy Jerusalem from Rome is made for Spirit warns me that \u2026 hardships THEME a simple and virtuous reason: he are facing me\u201d (Acts 20:22\u201323). Faith under trial wants to hand over money that has been collected among Gentile Pain and trials SETTING churches to relieve the poor of It is not long until Paul must face c.57\u201360 ce Jerusalem and the Judean Church. The intent is these hardships. His first act Caesarea Maritima. generous, yet, as Luke makes clear, upon arriving in Jerusalem is to by traveling to the Jewish capital, meet with James, the leader of KEY FIGURES Paul is entering dangerous territory. the Judean Church, who warns Paul An Apostle of Christ. The Apostle is only too aware of him that many believers in Judea think Paul is subverting the Law Claudius Lysias A tribune of Moses because of a rumor that (high-ranking military officer) Paul has been teaching Jews to in command of the Roman abandon their obedience to that garrison in Jerusalem. law. To prove them wrong, he suggests that Paul join four local Roman procurators believers who are about to undergo Governors of Judea, first a Jewish purification rite. Paul Marcus Antonius Felix agrees and reaches the last day of c.52\u201360 ce, then Porcius the rite before he is spotted in the Festus c.60\u201362 ce. Temple by Jews from Asia. He has also been seen in the company of a Agrippa II Great-grandson Greek from Ephesus, and the Jews of Herod the Great. A Roman- assume he has sacrilegiously taken appointed king whose realms include Galilee. The arrest of Paul is a popular subject in religious artwork, such as this fresco from the Papal Basilica of St. Paul Outside the Walls, which was built on the site of Paul\u2019s burial.","ACTS, EPISTLES, AND REVELATION 295 See also: Peter\u2019s Denial 256\u201357 \u25a0 The Crucifixion 258\u201365 \u25a0 The Word Spreads 288\u201389 \u25a0 The Road to Damascus 290\u201391 the Greek into parts of the Temple My brothers \u2026 I stand Persecution forbidden to Gentiles. A riot ensues on trial because of the and martyrdom in which, according to Acts, the hope of the resurrection Asian Jews drag Paul from the For prophets in the Bible, Temple and try to kill him. He is of the dead. faithfulness to God draws saved only by the intervention of Acts 23:6 hostility. Jeremiah speaks for a Roman commander who takes many when he begs God to him into protective custody and, death, and he is sent on to Rome \u201cthink of how I suffer reproach after discovering a plot within the to live under house arrest for a for your sake\u201d (Jeremiah Jewish Sanhedrin to murder Paul, further two years, before he 15:15). Likewise, Jesus makes sends him to the headquarters of eventually gains his freedom. clear in the New Testament the Roman governor, Felix. that just as He will suffer, Gospel parallels so will the disciples that Paul remains a prisoner there Throughout the trials of Paul, there spread His message: \u201cthey for two years until Felix is replaced are parallels with the account in will seize you and persecute by another Roman governor, Festus, Luke\u2019s Gospel of the trial of Jesus, you \u2026 all on account of my who reviews the case alongside who, like Paul, strived to spread the name\u201d (Luke 21:12). the Herodian King Agrippa. He word of God amid often barbaric proposes another meeting with opposition. Unlike his portrayal of The changing meaning of the Sanhedrin, but Paul, revealing Jesus, who remained largely silent the Greek word transliterated that he is a Roman citizen, insists during His torments and judgment, as \u201cmartyr\u201d reflects this on his case being referred to Rome. in Acts Luke records three major close link between preaching speeches in which Paul defends and suffering. In the New While imprisoned, Paul tells himself and his record. Moreover, Testament, the word occurs the story of his conversion outside Paul advocates for his own holiness often, meaning \u201cwitness\u201d\u2014 Damascus twice and portrays the with a vehemence that Jesus does someone who bears witness risen Jesus he encountered there not display, arguing that he is not to Christ. By the end of the as the fulfillment of all that God has merely a Jew, but a Pharisee, and 1st century ce, as witnessing promised the Jewish people. In the thus, like all Pharisees, fully believes increasingly began to lead to end, Festus and Agrippa can find in bodily resurrection, like that persecution and death, the no just cause to sentence Paul to experienced by Jesus. word took on its modern meaning of one who suffers I am saying nothing Although the trajectories of and dies for the sake of their beyond what the prophets Jesus and Paul are not identical\u2014 religious beliefs. Paul himself after all, within biblical scripture was beheaded on the orders and Moses said would Paul escapes his mission alive\u2014 of Emperor Nero. happen\u2014that the Messiah both men represent devout teachers would \u2026 bring the message of the word of God who, despite of light to his own people suffering, choose to persist under the burden of their holy mission. \u25a0 and to the Gentiles. Acts 26:22\u201323","296 LNBLOOOOVVATEESETIINSS,VIKPTYA,IINTISTDIEN.DNOIOTTTE,DSPORNEOOSUTD. 1 CORINTHIANS 13:4, THE WAY OF LOVE IN BRIEF T he Apostle Paul\u2019s letters Paul\u2019s extended \u201chymn\u201d to love, to the Corinthians are which itself forms the heart of a PASSAGE his response to various discourse by Paul on how believers 1 Corinthians 13:1\u201313 questions the Corinthian believers should behave and relate when have sent him on topics ranging they meet for worship. THEME from marriage and divorce to the Love is everlasting use of spiritual gifts, such as For Paul, as for all other New speaking in tongues. In his first Testament writers, love is the SETTING letter, he describes seven things touchstone of the Christian faith; 54 ce Ephesus, a province that love is and does\u2014love is this begins with God\u2019s love. In in modern-day Turkey. patient; is kind; rejoices with the words of John\u2019s Gospel: \u201cGod truth; protects; trusts; hopes; and so loved the world\u201d (3:16) that He KEY FIGURES perseveres; and, eight that it is not sent His own son to die for the Paul Apostle who became a or does not do\u2014does not envy or sins of man. That son, Jesus, Christian after Jesus\u2019s death. boast; is not proud, rude, self- shows that same love with acts One of the leading figures in seeking, or easily angered; keeps of mercy, healing, and forgiveness, the early Church, he travels no record of wrongs; and does not and tells His followers that love is extensively, preaching the delight in evil. This is the core of the greatest commandment of all: word of God. love your neighbor, and \u201clove the Lord your God with all your heart Corinthian believers The \u2026 with all your soul and with all community in Corinth, who your mind\u201d (Matthew 22:37). are prone to factionalism and cliquishness. Above all else Writing to the Romans, Paul says: \u201cyou shall not commit adultery,\u201d \u201cyou shall not murder,\u201d \u201cyou shall not steal,\u201d \u201cyou shall not covet,\u201d which are summed up in one The martyrs Spes, Caritas, and Fides, or Hope, Love (a modern translation for Caritas), and Faith, named after the three virtues, depicted in the Church of St. Martin, Cumbria, England.","ACTS, EPISTLES, AND REVELATION 297 See also: The Golden Rule 210\u201311 \u25a0 The Road to Damascus 290\u201391 \u25a0 Paul\u2019s Arrest 294\u201395 \u25a0 Fruits of the Spirit 300 Types of love in the Bible Agape\u2014Divine love Eros\u2014Romantic love Corinth Love found between God and Jesus, The \u201cerotic\u201d or romantic love between Jesus and His disciples, believers and two lovers (spouses), as depicted in The believers in Corinth were God, and also among believers. Song of Songs. citizens of a rich, culturally diverse metropolis. Much of Philia\u2014Brotherly love Storge\u2014Familial love its prosperity was because Love found in close friendships, such The love between family members, as of its location on the isthmus as that between Jonathan and David shown in the Bible between Jacob and connecting the Peloponnese in the Old Testament. Isaac, or Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. with the rest of mainland Greece, commanding not one command: \u201cLove your neighbor things last: faith, hope, and love. but two trade routes: from the as yourself\u201d (Romans 13:9). Writing Of these three, Paul writes, the south to the north between to the Corinthians, Paul applies this greatest is love. Love is produced the Peloponnese and the rest \u201croyal law\u201d in a particular context. by God\u2019s Spirit and should guide of the mainland, and west to The Corinthians, he believes, are the use of the Spirit\u2019s gifts. While east between the Adriatic and far too individualistic. They pride tongues and other gifts may fade Aegean seas. The capital of themselves on spiritual gifts, such and cease, love brings humility, the Roman province of Achaea, as speaking in tongues or prophecy, unity, and peace. Corinth had sizable foreign in a way that causes division. Love communities, which included is missing, and Paul highlights the Apostle of love Egyptians and Jews, as well emptiness this causes in the first Some describe Paul as the \u201cApostle as many native Greeks. part of his hymn: \u201cif I speak in the of love.\u201d As he writes in his letter tongues of \u2026 angels, but do not to the Galatians\u2014where the issue According to Acts 18:1\u201311, have love, I am only a resounding is \u201cJudaising\u201d believers trying to Paul arrived in Corinth for the gong or a clanging cymbal\u201d impose circumcision on Gentile first time around 50 ce during (1 Corinthians 13:1). believers\u2014\u201cneither circumcision his second missionary journey, nor uncircumcision has any value. and stayed for 18 months with The last section of Paul\u2019s letter The only thing that counts is a Jew, Aquila, and his wife, begins with the declaration, \u201clove faith expressing itself through Priscilla. The couple had fled never fails\u201d (13:8). In a world of love\u201d (Galatians 5:6). \u25a0 from Rome the year before, constant change, he says, just three after the Jews were expelled from the city. The fractious church Paul helped to establish in Corinth remained close to his heart, and was the recipient of a number of the Apostle\u2019s letters and appeals. Two of these letters became part of the New Testament as the books of 1 and 2 Corinthians.","298 LOTAAOHNNFREDDTDHGTTERJHHEAEEHSCOLFUEEOLSYLOVLECFSOHPOTWRIHFRISESIGTHTOIDP 2 CORINTHIANS 13:14, THE HOLY TRINITY IN BRIEF T he church in Corinth, dignity of the three persons. It which the Apostle Paul had is thus one of the most complete PASSAGE founded and led for several references in the New Testament 2 Corinthians 13:1\u201314 years, faced many difficulties after to the concept of the Trinity. Paul left to continue his missionary THEME work, mainly arising from the arrival Three in one The Trinity of teachers opposed to Paul. These The New Testament affirms that problems prompted two letters there is only one true God, yet also SETTING from the Apostle to correct and asserts that the Father is God, 54\u201355 ce Corinth, a major city redeem the wayward church. in Greece and the provincial capital of the Roman province Writing from Ephesus in Asia of Achaea. It was occupied by Minor, Paul takes a sharp tone Rome until around 521 ce. in 2 Corinthians, but ends on a gentle note. In the final paragraph KEY FIGURES (13:11\u201314), he exhorts his readers Paul The Apostle who to become spiritually mature and to founded the church at Corinth come together, reminding them in around 50 ce during his that God is hard at work among ministry in the Aegean. them to this end. Paul then ends by blessing the entire congregation, The Corinthians Christians concluding, \u201cMay the grace of the in the troubled church of Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of Corinth, who have been led God, and the fellowship of the Holy astray by teachers opposed Spirit be with you all\u201d (13:14). to Paul. In this blessing, Paul combines three ideas about the relationship of God, Christ, and the Holy Spirit to Christians, affirming the equal The Holy Trinity (1440) by the Master of the Darmstadt, an anonymous artist from Germany, shows God holding the body of His Son, and the Holy Spirit represented by a dove."]