Acts to Revelation | Episode 1
Dave Stotts: Hi, I'm Dave Stotts.
In our previous series of "Drive Thru History," we traveled
all over Israel to share the life of Jesus
as recorded in the gospels.
We spent 18 episodes covering his birth, ministry, death, and
resurrection as recorded in the biblical accounts of Matthew,
Mark, Luke, and John.
We explored more than 50 ancient sites to cover the history,
archaeology, geography, and traditions related to the most
significant life ever lived.
At the end of our last series, Jesus had just left the scene.
His final commission for his followers, "Go and make
disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of
the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching
them to obey everything I have commanded you,"
Matthew 28:19 and 20.
Yet he instructed them to wait here in Jerusalem and do nothing
until they received a mysterious gift from God.
Jesus' final words in the Gospel of Luke, "Stay in the city until
you have been clothed with power from on high," Luke 24:49.
For the past several weeks, Jesus' followers had been on an
emotional roller coaster, to say the least.
They had gone from complete despair, having seen their rabbi
tortured, killed, and entombed, to amazed and overjoyed as they
encountered Jesus miraculously alive again.
And just as they were reveling in this glorious moment,
Jesus was gone again.
But not before giving his men a mission and promising that,
one day, he would return.
In this series of "Drive Thru History," we are going to
explore what happened next as we investigate the period of time
following Jesus' resurrection, and look at the amazing lives
of the very first Christians, beginning here in Jerusalem.
And using the book of Acts as our roadmap, we'll be traveling
throughout the Mediterranean region as we take a look at the
people, places, and events that launched the Christian faith.
At the beginning of our last series on the gospels, we began
with the question, who was the most significant person
to have ever lived?
I think when you examine his extraordinary life, it's easy
to see why most historians agree that, as the bumper sticker
says, Jesus is the answer.
But the story didn't end there.
It couldn't have ended there.
So, what did happen next?
Obviously, the life of Jesus had enormous significance throughout
the world, even to today, some 2.000 years later.
So, how has the influence of this one man from a little
village in Galilee carried on over that much time?
Well, we don't have enough gas to drive through
that much history, at least not in this trip anyway.
But I will tell you the beginning of that amazing story.
This is "Drive Thru History: Acts and the Early Christians."
Dave: Getting to spend time in Israel is just
about the coolest thing in the world.
Seeing the places talked about in the Bible,
it's probably my favorite adventure.
You just never know what you'll see next.
Maybe it's the ruins of a place mentioned in Jesus' ministry,
or maybe it's just knowing you're walking where
New Testament accounts took place.
It can make history come alive in a new way.
After the four gospels, the next chronological account
in the Bible is known as the book of Acts,
or the Acts of the Apostles.
According to most scholars, Luke wrote acts as a continuation
of his gospel account.
In fact, many have called the book of Acts part two
of the Gospel of Luke.
According to the book of Colossians in the New Testament,
Luke was a doctor.
He was also a loyal companion of the Apostle Paul.
Many scholars believe Luke's two-volume treatise was used to
support Paul's legal defense in Rome in about 62 AD.
As a history buff, I'm always looking for my sources
to pass the credibility test, so I appreciate Luke.
The whole point for Luke compiling his two books was
to collect the evidence and present the case for Jesus
and his followers.
Luke wrote his two-volume set as a careful record of history,
what he calls an orderly account for a man named Theophilus.
Derived from the Greek, Theophilus means friend of God.
Some Bible dictionaries have slight variations,
including lover of God or loved of God.
Anyways, we don't really know much about this guy.
Most scholars agree that Theophilus
was the person responsible for financially sponsoring
Luke's research and writing.
Many scholars believe that he was an important Roman official
connected to the trial of Paul, while others believe that he
was a wealthy relative of the emperor himself.
Looking back, here's the beginning of Luke's gospel.
"Since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the
beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for
you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the
certainty of the things you have been taught," Luke 1:3 and 4.
Similarly, the book of Acts begins, "In my former book,
Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and
to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven after giving
instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles
he had chosen.
After his suffering, he presented himself to them,
and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive.
He appeared to them over a period of 40 days, and spoke
about the kingdom of God," Acts 1:1 through 3.
Not only did Luke set out to write an orderly account, he has
passed the test of a true historian on multiple occasions.
In fact, during a period of skepticism in Europe during the
mid-1800s, many scholars challenged Luke's writings based
on a lack of archaeological evidence for his accounts.
One of the greatest archaeologists of all time, Sir
William Ramsey, was so convinced of this that he traveled
throughout Asia Minor, Greece, and other places to document the
physical evidence to refute Luke's history.
After years of study in the field, Ramsey discovered the
total opposite, and completely reversed his position.
"Luke is a historian of the first rank; not merely
are his statements of fact trustworthy, he is possessed
of the true historic sense.
In short, this author should be placed along
with the greatest of historians."
Another famous scholar, A.N.
Sherwin-White, went on to say, "For Acts, the confirmation
of historicity is overwhelming.
Any attempt to reject its basic historicity must
now appear absurd."
As an interesting side note, Luke writes much
of Acts in third person narrative,
referring to the apostles as they.
However, about midway through the book, certain narratives
are written in the first person perspective of we.
It appears that Luke joined Paul's missionary teams
from time to time, including a few adventures at sea.
That means that Luke was more than just a great historian,
but he was an eyewitness to some of the history himself.
We'll explore those accounts in later episodes.
So, having set the stage for the rest of the story,
and establishing the credibility of our primary source, Luke,
let's return to our initial cast of characters.
But first, let me introduce you to another character
from the past.
This is the 1976 Land Rover that we used in
the "Drive Thru History" series on the gospels.
It's on loan to me by a friend and an Israeli rancher,
who's owned it forever, and he's used it for all kinds
of special tasks.
He said he wouldn't sell it because it's become
like a member of the family.
And like any member of the family, it's got a name.
He named this Steve McQueen.
Now, I've never asked him, but I would imagine that Steve McQueen
got its name from being dependable, down to earth,
hardworking, adventuresome, debonair, and ruggedly handsome.
There are certain types of things
that just get better with age.
I would certainly say a nice, sharp Wisconsin cheddar,
I think we can add Land Rovers to the list.
At over 40 years old, Steve McQueen is looking
as rugged and cool as he ever did.
I can't wait to see where he takes me next.
Okay, back to Acts.
Jesus had just ascended to heaven from the Mount of Olives.
By the way, that's something you don't see every day, right?
But then again, Jesus' disciples had seen quite
a few extraordinary things during the past 3 years or so.
This one, however, must have felt kind of final.
So, stunned and confused, his followers returned across
the Kidron Valley to Jerusalem and the upper room
where they were staying.
Acts tells us the group was still comprised of the main
figures from the gospels, the 11 remaining apostles,
including Peter, John, and James; and a number of women,
including Mary the mother of Jesus.
Now, before going on, we just want to address the elephant in
the room with respect to some of the classic artwork used
in "Drive Thru History," namely elements that sometimes
don't seem to belong.
We understand that sometimes, artists include elements from
their own life experience that don't match the first century
time period of the New Testament.
However, we like to use these images because
of their historical importance in the world of classic art.
And it's kind of fun to see how the styles change
over the centuries.
But don't worry, if we see something that's a little
too out of place, we try to steer clear of it.
Dave: As you may recall from our gospel series,
this location on Mount Zion, west of the Temple Mount,
is known as the Cenacle.
This has been venerated as the traditional site for the upper
room since at least the fourth century AD, with evidence
of a church here dating as far back to the second century.
Now, much of this structure dates to the 12th century, but
inside, there's an awesome chamber that gives us a sense
for the size of the upper room that existed here during
the events recorded in Acts.
So, likely from a place near here, the group was
reflecting on the final words of Jesus just delivered
from the Mount of Olives.
"Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father
promised, which you have heard me speak about.
For John baptized with water, but in a few days,
you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit," Acts 1:4.
"You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you,
and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea
and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth," Acts 1:8.
In all, there were about 120 followers of Jesus waiting here
in Jerusalem, as he commanded.
They were constantly in prayer, anxiously awaiting
whatever would happen next.
Peter, the brash Galilean fisherman,
was a leader of the group.
Now, as you may recall, Peter was the man who had denied
even knowing Jesus just a few weeks earlier.
Now he, along with John and James and the other apostles,
was leading this ragtag alliance
as they were hiding out in Jerusalem.
But things were different now.
Peter had changed.
They had all changed.
They had witnessed their leader raised from the dead.
They now knew that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah,
the Son of God.
And this eyewitness perspective changed everything.
Peter's first order of business was to replace Judas Iscariot.
Now, as you may recall, Judas was the apostle who betrayed
Jesus, and then killed himself because
of his guilty conscience.
If you look behind me, you can see Akeldama,
or the field of blood, the field that was purchased
with Judas' blood money.
Now, as with everything the apostles did,
they prayed about the matter first.
And ultimately, they picked a man named Matthias
to complete the 12 again.
The group of disciples continued to meet
and pray together in the upper room.
Another week or so went by, and it was now 49 days since
Passover, 49 days since Jesus was put to death on a Roman
cross outside the walls of Jerusalem.
The next holy day on Israel's calendar was the festival
of weeks, also known as Shavuot in Hebrew,
which was originally a harvest festival.
Later, the day was also used to commemorate the giving of the
law to Moses on Mount Sinai.
Weeks comes from an expression in Leviticus 23:16, which
instructs the Israelites to count 7 weeks, or 49 days,
from the end of Passover to the beginning of the next feast
in their annual cycle of holy days.
The English word "Pentecost" comes from a Greek derivation
of the word, meaning 50, or 50th day.
The Israelites had been celebrating Pentecost
for centuries.
However, this one would be something quite different.
Here's what we learn from Acts chapter 2.
"When the day of Pentecost came,
they were all together in one place.
Suddenly, a sound like the blowing of a violent wind came
from heaven and filled the whole house where they were sitting.
They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire
that separated and came to rest on each of them.
All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak
in other tongues as the Spirit enabled them.
Now, there were staying in Jerusalem God-fearing Jews
from every nation under heaven.
When they heard this sound, a crowd came together
in bewilderment because each one heard their
own language being spoken.
Utterly amazed, they asked, "Aren't all these
who are speaking Galileans?
Then how is it that each of us hears them
in our native language?
We hear them declaring the wonders of God
in our own tongues."
Amazed and perplexed, they asked one another,
"What does this mean?"
Acts 2:1 through 12.
Now, Luke never tells us what was going through the mind
of the disciples during all this, but it had to have been
a mind-blowing moment.
The sound of violent wind from heaven, floating tongues
of fire, speaking languages you had never studied.
Not your average, everyday occurrence.
But then again, this was a hugely significant moment
in human history.
This was the moment that the Spirit of God himself
was coming to dwell in the hearts of men.
Dave: Now, this big moment, and the commotion
that went with it, did not go unnoticed.
Rumors started spreading through the streets of Jerusalem,
and crowds began to gather in this area here west
of the temple complex.
At some point, Peter moved to the front of the crowds
with newfound boldness.
He raised his voice, addressing the crowd,
delivering what many consider his first sermon.
Peter started with background that would have been familiar
to his local audience.
He referenced Hebrew prophecy and the promise of God to pour
out his Spirit as a sign of the coming day of the Lord.
He then connected what everyone had just witnessed
to the fulfilment of God's centuries-old promise.
He then went on to declare other promises to the Israelites,
including the long-awaited Messiah taking
the throne of King David.
Peter then connected these promises to Jesus, who they
had crucified, but who God raised from the dead.
"God has raised this Jesus to life,
and we are all witnesses of it.
Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the
Father the promised Holy Spirit, and has poured out what you now
see and hear," Acts 2:32 and 33.
"'Therefore, let all Israel be assured of this.
God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and
Messiah.' When the people heard this, they were cut to the
heart, and said to Peter and the other apostles, 'Brothers, what
shall we do?' Peter replied, 'Repent and be baptized, every
one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of
your sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The promise is for you and your children, and for all who
are far off, for all whom the Lord our God will call,"
Acts 2:36 through 39.
This account in Acts goes on to tell us that about 3.000 people
accepted Peter's message and were baptized that day.
From 120 disciples in hiding to a public movement of over 3.000
followers of Jesus in one day, it was the beginning
of what would later be called the Christian church.
In fact, many Christians today consider the miraculous events
at Pentecost to be the birthday of Christianity.
However, unknown to many, the earliest church
was almost all Jewish.
At this point, there was no such thing
as a religion called Christianity.
All of these earliest followers of Jesus had also
been followers of Judaism.
They simply acknowledged Jesus to be their Lord,
their Savior, and their Messiah.
Speaking of strangers from a strange land visiting Jerusalem
and having their lives changed, I couldn't help finding new
inspiration for myself, being once again in Jerusalem.
And I also couldn't help appreciating all the colorful
people here from all over the world.
On this trip, I met a gentleman named Boaz,
who was from Australia.
He had mastered the art of something called throat singing.
I had never heard it up close, especially not with the little
shakers that created rhythms that let's just say
were impossible to ignore.
Dave: So, what do you do when you encounter exotic
talents from strange foreigners?
Well, you teach them the "Drive Thru History"
theme song, of course.
Dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun, dun.
Can you do it in your throat like--
Dave: Now, it may take a few years or a few hundred before
throat singing catches on in the States, but getting to hear
our theme in the most unique way was a real trip.
Thanks, Boaz.
Dave: Now, let's return to Pentecost and all those foreign
languages being spoken there.
What exactly was happening?
Why were thousands of Jewish pilgrims in Jerusalem able
to hear the disciples speak in their own native tongues?
"Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and residents
of Mesopotamia, Judea, and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia,
Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya belonging
to Cyrene, and visitors from Rome, both Jews and proselytes,
Cretans and Arabians.
We hear them telling in our own tongues the mighty works
of God," Acts 2:8 through 11.
Some people are confused to hear that Jews traveled to Jerusalem
from many outside nations for the ancient Festival of Weeks.
Didn't Jews live in Judea and Galilee, the land of Israel?
However, a large number of Jews had been living outside
of their homeland for hundreds of years.
Residents from the northern kingdom of Israel were exiled
by the Assyrians starting in the eighth century BC.
And residents of the southern kingdom of Judah were exiled
by the Babylonians starting in the sixth century BC.
This launched a period known as the diaspora, which comes
from the Greek word meaning scattering.
The diaspora was the scattering of the Israelite population
from the land of its geographic origin.
During the first century, the Jews of the diaspora were still
scattered throughout the Mediterranean region and beyond.
The long list of places mentioned in Acts 2
is consistent with the archaeological evidence related
to the widespread distribution of Judaism at the time.
These Jewish communities retained much
of their cultural and religious identity.
Wherever they lived, they still paid taxes
for the benefit of the temple.
And they still made occasional trips to Jerusalem
for the holy festivals.
So, with so many Jews from so many nations all here in
Jerusalem for the holy Festival of Pentecost, it was the perfect
setup for the preaching of the gospel for the very first time.
Indeed, many of these initial 3.000 believers would return
to their homelands and share the gospel with others
Peter's sermon at Pentecost represented the launching pad
for the spreading of the gospel of Jesus Christ
to these various parts of the world.
After the miraculous events at Pentecost, the disciples
continued to preach the gospel in and around Jerusalem.
The growing number of Jesus followers would meet together
in homes for meals, fellowship, and prayer.
They sold their possessions and gave to those in need,
and demonstrated their love for their neighbor.
And daily, the apostles would go up there to preach the gospel
on the temple grounds themselves.
Although the temple area is now covered by a Muslim shrine
known as the Dome of the Rock, this is the same place
where the apostles went each day.
Specifically, they would meet unbelievers at a place known
as Solomon's Colonnade, or Solomon's Porch.
This was the large, flat area on the Temple Mount right in front
of the beautiful gates that led into the temple courts.
Within a short period of time, this new movement
was known as The Way.
Most historians agree that this came from the very words of
Jesus, when he said, "I am the way, and the truth,
No one comes to the Father except through me," John 14:6.
Now, remember that most of these early first followers
of Jesus were Jews.
That's why this movement was referred to as a sect
of Judaism known as The Way.
This group was growing steadily, and the religious leaders
here in Jerusalem were taking notice.
They thought that they had rid themselves of this Jesus
of Nazareth before the last Passover.
His disciples had all but disappeared in fear and shame.
Now, things had changed again.
These followers of Jesus had come out of hiding, and were
boldly proclaiming the gospel of Jesus right here
on the temple grounds.
This was not going unnoticed.
This new way was threatening the established religious order.
Dave Stotts