Story 1: Introduction to Acts

The Aftermath of the Cross in Jerusalem

Acts is the book of the Bible that tells the remarkable story of what happened after Jesus Christ died and rose again.  The Lord made the way for a New Covenant between God and those who choose to trust in Him.  Acts is the story of how the victory of Christ unfolded in human history after Christ ascended into Heaven.  Luke was the man who was given the privilege of telling that story.  He is the same man that wrote the story of Christ’s ministry on earth in the book of Luke.  He wanted to provide an account of how the Holy Spirit came in a powerful way and emboldened the apostles to proclaim the Good News of Christ’s work and establish His Church all over the known world.

Luke was a doctor.  He never met Christ.  His salvation was brought to him by others who were faithful to proclaim the Gospel.  They told him how Jesus had healed the blind and shown mercy to sinners and calmed the sea.  He was told about the deep wisdom and power of the things Jesus taught, and how they sliced through the lies and deceptions of this world and the corrupt religions leaders of the time. They explained to Luke how the Jewish leaders were so angry that they raised up a riot in the city of Jerusalem and convinced Pontius Pilate to have Jesus killed on a cross.

Luke heard these stories, and he believed that Jesus was the Son of God. He believed it was the most important story in the world.  It was the Great Truth, and it was imbued with the power of God.  Luke wanted to make sure that everyone knew what really happened, so he began a careful investigated the stories of Jesus’ life.  He interviewed the people who were there and travelled with the men who carried the message all over the world.  And then Luke wrote it down so that many more people would understand what happened when God came to earth.  We have the privilege of studying the account that Luke recorded, often hearing firsthand accounts of the events in the story.

But before we delve into Luke’s writings, let’s consider what was happening on the ground after the death and resurrection of Christ.  After Jesus was killed, there was great confusion for the people of Jerusalem.  Who was this Jesus?  Was He the Messiah?  If He was, why did He die?  Why hadn’t He raised up an army and lead Israel to victory over the Roman Empire?  Wasn’t the Messiah supposed to bring in the new Kingdom as the prophets foretold?  When was He going to raise up the nation of Israel to rule over all the nations of the earth?

If Jesus wasn’t the Messiah, how had He accomplished all of those amazing miracles?  Only someone sent by God could heal the blind and cast out demons.

Many of the people who were in Jerusalem on the day Christ died had been healed by Jesus.  They were no longer blind or lame.  It couldn’t be denied.  Many had family members and neighbors who had been freed from terrible, chronic diseases.  Jesus had even raised some from the dead!  They had seen it with their own eyes.  And His teaching was so beautiful and true!  Many had travelled miles and miles to hear Him teach.  They would camp out under the stars all night just to hear Him speak again the next day.

The most powerful religious leaders in Israel had declared that Jesus was a fraud and a blasphemer.  If they were right, then Jesus was either a crazed or deeply corrupt man.  If they were wrong, then they had just killed a servant of God.  The Jewish people had to choose who to believe. If their religious leaders were wrong, then that put the entire structure of their religious system…their entire culture…at peril.  If their leaders were right, then all the hope and beauty of the message of Christ was lost.

The city of Jerusalem murmured on and on. Why had the sky gone so mysteriously dark on the day that Jesus died?  Why had an earthquake struck right as Jesus cried out to God on the cross?  What about the rumors that the curtain to the Holy of Holies had torn from top to bottom in the Temple at that very moment?

To add to this confusion, the disciples of Jesus were saying that He had risen from the dead.  The tomb where He had been buried was found empty. The priests said it was because the disciples had come and stolen the body in the night.  But how could those common men sneak past highly trained Roman guards? How could they have removed a huge, sealed boulder from the tomb’s entrance without anyone noticing?

Pretty soon, new rumors began to emerge.  There was talk that Jesus kept appearing to His followers. Some were saying that He wasn’t just a prophet or a messenger from God.  They were saying He was God Himself.  Once again, if it wasn’t true, it was a terrible blasphemy.  If it was true, then the priests had just put God to death on a cross, and the people in Jerusalem had helped them!

All of Jerusalem was alive with shock and wonder at all the things that had happened around the death of Jesus.  And nobody, not even Jesus’ disciples, understood the amazing things that were to come.

For the disciples, the day Jesus died was terribly painful.  Here they had found a true leader, who performed wonderful miracles and always did the exact right thing.  Best of all, they knew that Jesus really, truly loved them. And how they loved Him, too. They were so devoted to Jesus that they had walked away from everything to follow Him.  The only problem was they didn’t understand where Jesus was going.   

Just like everyone else in Israel, the disciples expected Jesus to rise up as king and conquer the Roman Empire.  Yet suddenly, He was being beaten and then tortured on a cross. On the day Jesus was crucified, the city of Jerusalem was in an uproar.  Masses of people who had come to celebrate Passover stood along the sides of the streets as Jesus carried the cross to His crucifixion.

But when Jesus appeared after He rose again, He did not show Himself to the masses.  He came to the faithful ones who were wholly devoted to Him.  It is interesting that while we know the stories of when Christ first met His disciples after He rose again, the disciples did not tell us a great deal of what He taught them in the weeks that followed.  What we do know is that in the midst of the rumors and the danger that surrounded those who followed Christ, the small band of followers drew back into their community and began to pray.  And that is where our story begins.