November 18 - Acts 7-8: Persecution Scatters the Message to New Lands

Today’s Reading: Acts 7-8

The Message

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

Persecution caused the church to move beyond Jerusalem.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

Stephen argued that the Jews refused to listen to God even when God gave them His Word.
The crowd rioted and stoned him. As he died, Stephen saw Jesus and asked that no one be punished.
Saul encouraged Stephen's murderers.
The church scattered due to persecution. Philip healed many in a Samaritan city. Two Apostles helped them receive the Holy Spirit. Simon, a newly-baptized magician, wanted to pay the Apostles to give the Holy Spirit. They condemned his attempt to buy authority from God. He asked for forgiveness.
God sent Philip to teach a high-ranking Ethiopian leader. He was baptized.

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

Stephen's death provided the first proof that the world would hate Jesus' Disciples because they hated God.

Jesus warned the Apostles several times that they would be persecuted because the world did not like the Father nor Jesus. Stephen suffered the first martyrdom because He called out the Council for being stubborn even though they had God's Word. Obeying God does not always lead to peace and tranquility. Stephen died because he wanted them to realize how they and their ancestors missed God.

Stephen modeled Jesus' teachings on enemies as well as a view on death Jesus' Disciples should have.

Jesus wanted His Disciples to love their enemies and not resist them. Stephen neither pleaded for his life nor asked that God punish the ones killing Him. He saw Jesus beside God and asked that they not be punished for killing him. He had no reason to fear death—when Jesus' Disciples are murdered, they are given the gift of being with God sooner rather than later. Stephen did everything but thank them for helping him see Jesus.

Saul encouraged those who killed Stephen.

We will read about this in a few days. Saul thought he was doing God's Will. He will later realize his mistake.

The persecution in Jerusalem forced the Message out of Jerusalem.

Tradition states that these events in chapters 7-8 could have happened 10 years after Jesus' Resurrection. Whether or not this is true is unknown; however, one thing that we should realize is that persecution can be the best cause of evangelism far and wide. When God's Chosen People move, they take God's Message with them. Persecution should not be ignored, but we should realize that persecution can only lead others to a quick reunion with God or cause the Message to spread underground. It cannot stop God's Will.

Simon misunderstood how God works though he had a good heart.

Magicians, before the Internet, paid to learn how to do tricks, unless they developed them at home or had a mentor teach them for free. Simon thought the gift of the Holy Spirit was a magic trick—a sustained illusion. He was naïve in his new faith. When the Apostles showed him he misunderstood how God worked he quickly changed his mind. He had work to do to change his ways, but he had the heart to do it. God's Chosen People are not perfect. They have hearts willing to change.

God sent Philip to one man because the man wanted to obey God.

The story of Philip with the Ethiopian eunuch is interesting, not because of a strange fact within but because of the lack of an interesting plot twist. It seems to be a fairly routine conversion story—Philip goes to a man reading Scripture and helps him realize Jesus is the Messiah God pointed to in Scripture. The man becomes a disciple and is baptized. I think this story could have been remarkable to Luke for one (or more) of three reasons: 1) the man is African, not Jewish. He was most likely a proselyte. 2) The man is a powerful ruler in his country and may have helped many at home become disciples of Jesus. 3) He could have returned to the area and become one of the leaders in the church. What we should see is that God cares for anyone willing to obey Him. This one man travelling home from Jerusalem was important enough for God to send a delegate out of a city to help him understand the Scripture and how it pointed to Jesus.

How have you misunderstood how God works?

October 5 - John 1:15-51; Matthew 4; Luke 4-5: Jesus Tempted and Teaching

Today’s Reading: John 1:15-51; Matthew 4; Luke 4-5

The Message

English Standard Version

Thought to Guide Your Reading

Jesus was tempted to cut straight to the goal of His Ministry. He turned it down.

Summary in 100 Words or Less

Jesus passed all three temptations given by the Devil.
He went throughout Galilee healing the sick. Nazareth rejected and threw Him out of the city.
Jesus taught the massive crowds from a boat.
John pointed everyone to Jesus, the one who would baptize with the Holy Spirit. Andrew and Simon (now named Peter) followed Jesus because of John the Baptizer. James and John also followed Jesus.
Philip called Nathanael to join.
Jesus forgave the sins of a paraplegic. To prove His Authority, He healed them man, too.
Jesus ate with sinners because they needed an invitation to a changed life.

How Today’s Reading Contributes to the Gospel: God is Setting All Things Right

John the Baptizer understood his purpose and remained content with it.

The Old Testament was full of examples of people having power and instead of staying content with setting things right they exercised their power to the fullest extent. John the Baptizer, however, understood his purpose was to call people to Jesus. He did just that. When God's Chosen Messengers stay behind the Message, God can set things right.

Philip told Nathanael to "Come, see for yourself" (John 1:46).

It is a small thing, but Philip's statement when Nathanael questioned Jesus' Authority provides the best response anyone can have when dealing with another person's prejudices. The answer wasn't a refutation of Nathanael's prejudice or an attack on his character. Racists, bigots, etc. need to see their prejudices are wrong because it prevents them from seeing the truth, not because it is inhumane or uncultured. When they see how God works through the people considered worthless based on their background, they give glory to God.

The Devil's three temptations touch the most dear parts of a person's life.

The first dealt with a physical problem—hunger. Jesus would not perform cheap parlor tricks to solve His physical problems. The second dealt with pride. Even as the Son of God He would not force God to perform cheap parlor tricks to prove His Faithfulness. With the third, Jesus could have finished His Ministry by gaining control of the entire world. He could have backstabbed the Devil by worshiping long enough to get the power then setting things right afterwards; however, He would have compromised His Holiness in the process. Shortcuts in ministry meant to bring more people to Jesus will eventually fail because we sacrificed our holiness—God's Power in us. The world will be won to God through seeing His Awesome Holiness, not His cheap parlor tricks.

Jesus' answer to his Nazarene neighbors describes a huge problem in God's Kingdom—familiarity.

The two examples Jesus used, Elijah and Elisha, were two of the greatest prophets Israel had. Yet during their days, no Israelite would listen to them. We struggle to hear hard truths from people we know well. When we know a person's weaknesses, it's hard to see beyond that to listen to their challenges.

Jesus came to set things right in the world, not only to heal the sick.

This was mentioned yesterday, but today's passage has another example of the same. Jesus first healed the lame man's relationship with God. Then Jesus healed the man to prove His Authority. The priority was on the relationship with God. The physical issues were healed, but were secondary to the main goal—set things right with God. This was the reason He ate with sinners, not because they were outcasts but because they were outsiders. They needed their relationship set right. Jesus came to set things right—first relationally, then physically.

Are you helping the outsider set their relationship with God right?