Category Archives: Looking in Luke

Looking in Luke – Labeled Groups

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The Kingdom is about people, and as you look in Luke, he presents individuals and different groups with various labels (some good, some groups needed work). Paul talks about the Body of Christ being made of many people; each using their gift for the good of the Body. In Acts, priest and Pharisees are included in this new Jesus Movement called the Way. Yes, some were firmly planted in their denominational views of the Law.

Pentecost – Acts 2:5-11

Pentecost is one of the three feast that you were to go to Jerusalem for. The Diaspora complicated these annual feasts; distance, time, and travel limited participation making it very special to be there. The Jews are our first labeled group. (“Jew” is used 82 times by Luke (Gospel and Acts) according to Mounce Reverse Interlinear New Testament.) The list of nations is impressive and some people traveled for months to be there: Parthians, and Medes, and Elamites, and the dwellers in Mesopotamia, and in Judaea, and Cappadocia, in Pontus, and Asia, Phrygia, and Pamphylia, in Egypt, and in the parts of Libya about Cyrene, and strangers of Rome, Jews and proselytes, Cretes and Arabians. (KJV) I have been told that some people would come for Passover and stay for seven months. That may have been a once in a lifetime trip.

Not all Jews welcomed this new message, even with the Mighty Wind and Flames of Fire over people’s heads. The times the term, Jew, is used, they may be negative or just neutral.

Disciples – Starting in Acts 6

Strong’s Greek: 3101. μαθητής (mathétés) — Disciple, learner, pupil

I am staying with the labels in Acts for this post. So, start in Chapter 1 and go to 5; believers became disciples. This was not a “peace, love, and joy” time period. Jesus died and ascended to Heaven, but the people that killed Him were still in control. They were not happy with this new movement or sect in Judaism. Choosing to be part of it may not have been a “light” decision.

In Acts 6 we start to see the complexity of Jerusalem and maybe some attitudes. The Hellenistic Jews were complaining about Hebraic Jews. We might pass over that today, but Hellenistic Jews may have talked and dressed differently. Some ugly history might have been raising its head also. The Holy Spirit was binding them together and getting them ready to go to the world.

Priest joined! Acts 6:7

Priest became obedient to the faith. Not all priests were Sadducees. I doubt that Zechariah, John’s father, was part of the “political” party. In the “solar system of the Temple” priest confessing Jesus was major. Jesus, miracles, and changed lives; the Holy Spirit touched men that were at the core of Temple life.

Synagogues and Pharisees

When Judea/Jerusalem joined the Diaspora because of Babylon, some did not want to lose their religion and customs. So, the synagogue was created to keep the Jewish way of life alive. Synagogues became the center of a Jewish community life.

The Pharisees were the driving force behind the synagogues. Some people wanted to regain/maintain their religion’s connection with God because there was no Temple worship. In this time period the Law was interrupted and codified. Jesus was not against the Law, just the explanations that added rules to God’s Word. Christians have done something similar in our different denominations by creating specific rules that sets them apart from everyone else. 

These sites offer a good look at these groups from two different time periods. (And slightly different groups.)

Synagogue of the Freedmen – Acts 6:9

The busy Chapter 6 continues with freed slaves disagreeing with Deacon Stephen. Take note that the places where they are from were also represented on Pentecost and some are places where Saul/Paul would minister: Cilicia and Asia.

Samaria – Acts 8:14

I will start with the land. It is part of what was promised to Abraham and was given to Joseph (Ephraim). This land is important to God and He did not want the unfaithful Israelites of the Northern Kingdom defiling it. King Omri, father of King Ahab, bought, named it, and made Samaria his capital city. Things went downhill from there and God sent many prophets to bring the people back to Him.

2 Kings 17 has the king of Assyria removing the people (the first Diaspora) and bring in Gentiles to live there. Assyria had to bring back an exiled priest to teach the settlers how to worship the Lord. All of this and some bad things with the Greeks, set the stage for the labels and attitudes we read in the Gospels about Jews and Samarians.

Jesus set the stage for Acts 8 with John 4, the woman at the well, and Luke 17, healing a leper. His plan was stated in Matthew 24 in the Great Commission and restated in Acts 1:8 (Look in Luke:) where He included Samaria and the ends of the earth.

The Way – Acts 9:2

The future Paul was going to Damascus to shackle the Way. Well, that did not work. But we see Paul in the Way in Acts 19 with a riot. By the Way, in Acts 22:4 Paul restates his testimony. 2 Corinthians 11:32+33 tells of the Way he escaped. In Acts 24:14, Paul was a leader in the Way, and in vs 22 Felix wanted out of the Way.

Cornelius/Gentiles – Acts 10

Cornelius had labels: devout, God-fearing, generous, and a regular in pray.

Circumcised believers gave labels: uncircumcised, impure, and unclean (11:2 and 8). Everyone had to be like them to be right. This idea stayed around and shows itself again in 15:5 and 21:20. When synagogues in Gentile cities went after Paul, I have no doubt that these concepts were the sparks that started the fires.

Christians – Acts 11:26

  • Acts 11:26 – We were first called Christians here. Antioch of Syria was a thriving center of the Way. It was in land controlled by Rome.
  • 1 Peter 4:16 – “If you suffer as a Christian.” Peter wrote this to Believers he may have never met, but he certainly was in the area.
  • Acts 26:28 – King Agrippa “mocked” Paul’s ability to convert him so quickly to be a Christian. This was said in front of a Roman governor.

This list was for affect, not for the order they occurred; I would switch Peter and Agrippa’s statements. The reason for that order was to show the label of Christians in the first century. I know it has changed, or has it? Maybe it has gone full circle. Roman was not a good place for Christians. Christ vs Caesar, guess who felt threatened? To be sure Jews did not like the name Christian, it ran into the idea of Messiah.

Christ | The amazing name Christ: meaning and etymology See the Christ and Rome section.

Acts 13:31 – Those who traveled with Jesus.

This is part of Paul’s first recorded “sermon”; it was given at a synagogue in Pisidian Antioch. The rest of that thought is “and now witness to the Jews”. I bet labels and paradigms have given you a thought. Was Paul talking about the 12, 70, 120, or 500? Even if we include “from Galilee to Jerusalem”; does that really help? Does our statement include Joseph and Justus (Acts 1:23) and all of the women that are mentioned in the Holy Week narratives? I love and honor what the Holy Spirit had written for us, but we were not told everything.

I never thought about all of the synagogues and places of prayer Paul and his teams went to in their travels and letters. From Rome, all across the Levant, to Alexanderia there were Jewish communities. God’s plan for Jews and Gentiles, especially in what we know as Turkey, has been carefully executed. The history and the people groups in this plan include Hittites, Assyria, Greeks and Persians, and Celts/Gauls. There were trade, travel, and communications between these places and Jerusalem, so Jesus, Pentecost, and the Way were not new news in these towns.

Just a thought on Paul’s sermon. It sounds like Stephen’s defense to the Sanhedrin; it had a similar response too.    

Areopagus, the Men of Athens – Acts 17:22

Paul changed his sermon format, but Jesus raising from the dead was in both. Labels, stereotypes, or self-applied titles are Athenians, foreigners, Epicurean, Stoic, and philosophers. Rome was infatuated with all things Greek and had renamed Ares Rock to Mars Hill. The message of Jesus Christ and Him crucified found wanting ears even here.  

What was the Areopagus? | GotQuestions.org

The Nazarene – Acts 24:5

This is a well-traveled label:

  • A person with a special vow to God.
  • A monicker for the Savior stemming from the word netzer.
  • A town in Galilee and a person from that town.
  • An insult.
  • An identifier of Jesus.
  • Another name for the Way. I am pretty sure it was meant to be an insult.
  • It is used a lot in Pentecostal circles in America for a dramatic effect.

The lawyer in 24:5 may have said it to alarm Felix, see Acts 6:14. Paul uses the Way.

Your translation may have Nazarene, or Nazareth, or both in the New Testament. The prophecy in Matthew 2 refers to netzer, or branch.

The Root, The Branch, The Fruit – The Christmas Story

Strong’s Greek: 3480. Ναζωραῖος (Nazóraios) — Nazarene, Nazareth, Nazareneszzz

Are there other labels and titles to be explored while Looking in Luke, sure but this post is very long.

Looking in Luke – Paul, Silas, and Timothy

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My objective for this edition of Looking in Luke was to comment on the training and mentorship of Paul, Silas, and Timothy. But; I quickly found legend, tradition, and objective observers. From my prospective the Bible is not legend or tradition. However, many legends and traditions have been started from things in the Bible; some are useful. An objective observer is an interesting classification, that deserves a moment (some of this is meant to be amusing).

To call yourself an objective observer probably means you are not. It would make sense that one person from each side of the argument has to call you that. (To shorten this, I will call objective observers: Double O or OO.) Double Os are rare, like four-leaf clovers. I am sure they exist because I googled them. The most common colloquialism for OO’s are spies who can legally kill. I associated Double Os with four-leaf clovers because four-leaf clovers, from my years of hunting them, can be increased by adding fertilizer, especially the organic animal type, all over the field.

Luke

The third Gospel and Acts have been attributed to Luke since the 2nd to the 4th century and beyond. No one challenged that or claimed it as their own, even though there is no identified author for the books. Actually, Luke is only mentioned three times in the New Testament and they all come from Paul – Colossians 4:14, 2 Timothy 4:11, and Philemon 1:24. Ignoring the OO’s, can you imagine sharing the triumphs and tragedies of the Apostle Paul. I know experts want to attribute Luke’s knowledge to Documents Q and L, but what if he actually talked to Mary, Matthew, Mark, John, and the other Apostles, and some of those 500 witnesses. Yes, I have heard the tradition that puts him in the 70/72 that Jesus sent out to preach and prepare for His trip to Jerusalem.

I am thankful the Holy Spirit directed what was included in the Bible. My terms of teaching and mentorship, I could include OJT, are diluted forms of the 24/7 traveling, living, and serving these men were trained with. Timothy’s “training” lasted for years and Paul still thought it necessary to write two epistles to him. My “comments” are a “know in Part” highlight-reel of what these men lived.

Paul

Paul was a student of the respected Pharisee Rabbi Gamaliel. Gamaliel’s inspired instructions in Acts 5 were forgotten by Chapter 8. The questions a student ask are important. What did it take to get Saul to ask the right questions? A bright light knocked him off his high horse and blinded him for several days. Acts 9 tells some of what happened.

In Galatians 1, Paul adds to his story; Acts 26 is the third version. Galatians 1:16-19 tells an important part of Paul’s educational journey; he went into Arabia. About three years, possibly by himself and alone with God, he then returns to do mission. 2 Corinthians 12:2 is another verse on Paul’s education, he is “caught up to the third heaven”; that is quite an educational fieldtrip.

This learning experience is mentioned in Galatians 2:1 and is part of the reason for this post. Acts 11:30 and 12:25 are timestamps that frame a living-faith lesson for Paul and Barnabas before their mission trip in Chapter 13. The narrative’s setting is Passover, and the story is Peter’s arrest by Herod and release by Jesus; that lesson plan certainly covered the objective of divine purpose and intervention.  

A verse to highlight my “know in part” comment is Titus 3:12. Paul was going to winter in Nicopolis; it took me a while to find Nicopolis on the internet. It is not on any of the helpful lines on my map for Paul’s missions’ trips (I use those all the time:). I found a city on the Ionian Sea in the region of Epirus, which is near Macedonia and Achaia. (Just to the left of my page crease.)

Know in Part

The last two people I want to comment on is Silas and Timothy, or is that Silvanus and Timotheus. I do wish I could be a Double O, but instead I will say I am confused. (God bless translators:)

The Holy Spirit may not be the source for my questions; my lack of knowledge in Greek, the original writers, translator choices, and footnotes carry the questions of Mark. Bible Gateway has many translations and paraphrases and with the click of the mouse you can have chapters, verses, and list of target words in verses. You might choose to believe there are four different people, or three, or two, or become a post-modernist and just invalidate the Book because of the variations in spelling.

Since I am Looking in Luke, I compared the entries in Acts to the other Letters. Silvanus is preferred over Silas and Timothy over Timotheus. Because so many reference works key off of the KJV, I focused on it – Timotheus is preferred, but in critical places, there was Timothy. Me? I will stick with Silas and Timothy and read the footnotes. After all, we know there was one man named Saul/Paul and another named Simon/Cephas/Peter. FYI Saul became Paul in Acts 13:9 while confronting Elymas on the first mission trip. Yes, there is a lot of I did not go into.

Silas

  • A leader of the church in Jerusalem.
  • A faithful witness.
  • Prophet who would encourage.
  • Fellow worker with Paul who was beaten for Christ.
  • A Roman citizen! Why/how he was in Jerusalem; he may have had a backstory like Paul.
  • He could sing.
  • A friend, co-worker, and example for Timothy.
  • Was with Paul when several Epistles were written. Did he help with the content?
  • Possibly helped Peter.

BibleGateway – Keyword Search: Silas   or use Silvanus and change the translation.

I did not do a search on Silas, so I do not know any legends or traditions about him. His time with Paul speaks for itself and I think the world is better for what he did.

Timothy

Timothy, like Paul, was a product of the Diaspora; he was a half-Jew who lived outside of Israel. The most important thing for me is the prophecy that was spoke over him, that called him to the ministry. He had a godly legacy and influence in his mother and grandmother. It is even possible that he/they had heard Paul speak before; this was at least the second time Paul was in Lystra. The area they lived in (Phrygia) is one that is mentioned in Acts 2. Because of his parents he should have known at least two languages: Greek and Hebrew/Aramaic. Was he a Roman citizen? We do not know but he was “good ground” and was primed to produce a “bumper crop”.

Luke writes Timothy into his story in the 16th Chapter of Acts, and then mentions him again in 17,18,19, and 20. Timothy’s educational foundation had already been laid when Paul became his rabbi. Paul then spent the rest of his life building on that foundation.

Timothy’s first lesson in 16:3-5 was painful and a real test of his commitment to this life. It is a little ironic considering the initial message Paul and Silas were spreading.

The curriculum, lessons, hands on experience, and homework for Timothy is best read starting in Acts 16:6 and going through Hebrews and his release from jail.  His resume, assignments, and monikers from Paul can be seen in following these verses: BibleGateway – Keyword Search: Timothy

Phrygia – Encyclopedia of The Bible – Bible Gateway  This article contains some on the Jews of the Diaspora.