Week Two: Luke-Acts, 1-2 Thessalonians

Did you keep up with the Week One reading?  How was your experience different than reading a traditional Bible?  Did you feel drawn in to a captivating story?  Did Jesus become more tangible, more personal?  Our journey continues in Week Two through Luke’s second volume, which picks up right where the first volume ended.  It ends with two of Paul’s earliest letters, those to the church in Thessalonica.

While Luke described the life and ministry of Jesus, Acts details the ministry He commissioned to His disciples.  Just before Jesus returned to heaven, He told them to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.  This statement sets the trajectory of the rest of the book, with the “ends of the earth” indicating Europe, specifically Rome.

While you read this week, do you see the model of ministry that Jesus laid out?  As the apostles travelled, they went first to the synagogues, then out into the public square.  They were hosted by people from all walks of life, and they continued Christ’s example of healing the weak and the afflicted.  They followed His instructions so well that they began to be identified as Christians.  This model of bringing the message first to the Jews and then to the Gentiles is intensified in Luke’s focal character transition from Peter to Paul. 

The apostles moved out from Jerusalem, marking the six panels of Acts, each one ending with a statement that the church grew in believers.  This growth was often explosive, and you might be curious how so many people could be reached in relatively short time.  In many examples, when Luke tells us that an entire household came to know the Lord, he uses the Greek word “oikos,” which is really a person’s entire sphere of influence, including family, servants, friends, and even colleagues.  Our modern minds may picture the 4 person nuclear family of the jailer getting saved, but in reality, it might have been 20-50 people!

The ministry of Jesus is not the only model given to His Christian witnesses.  Anyone who followed Christ was warned that he too, must suffer.  Much of the progress made by the apostles was due to hardship and persecution driving them from one area to the next.  They were never very comfortable.  It is this message that Paul also shared with the Thessalonians, who were experiencing a great deal of persecution.  While Paul’s first letter to the church at Thessalonica is full of instruction and encouragement, an excellent guide for any church, his second letter was sent to dispel rumors that Christ had already returned.  They worried that their suffering was in vain, if Christ had already returned and nothing changed.  New and seasoned Christians alike must be reminded often that our Savior has not asked us to undergo any suffering that He has not already endured.

In our weekly discussions, we’ll continue to ask the same questions:

1. What’s something you noticed for the first time?

2. What questions did you have?

3. Was there anything that bothered you?

4. What did you learn about loving God?

5. What did you learn about loving others?