The Apostles of Christ ...

One could say the “Apostles of Christ” begin in the aftermath of Jesus Christ.  The writers of the Old Testament all had a direct connection with Jesus Christ through the means of prophecy and vision.  But they all lacked the history of His life.  They knew Him but only through the means that a prophet can know God, through inspiration.  And finding other people/prophets with similar experiences was going to be rare.  The Apostles of Christ had this same means of inspiration, but it was buffeted by the deeds, and witnesses, and stories of Jesus that were common in the first century after the ascension of Jesus Christ.  Imagine being a writer, and on your journey of mission, encountering another person who had a direct exposure to Jesus.  You would not be alone in talking about Him, you would be in a crowd of witnesses.  Everyone from young children who may have sat on His lap, to those whose bodies were fully restored because they did nothing but touch the hem of His garments as He walked by.  The Apostles would apt’ly be called prophets, but they lived in an age, where exposure to Jesus was not just a rare thing, it was a more common thing.

In our first volume of “A Second Look”, we studied the authors who had direct personal experience with Jesus Christ.  Those authors included Jude and James (likely His brothers as well as disciples).  They also included John (the beloved), Peter (the little rock), and Matthew (the former tax collector).  Between these men the story of the gospel was told very well.  However, while the story of our salvation is a great start, the story of our evangelism would seem to follow next.  It is the chronicles of that evangelistic message of the early Christian church, where the letters of the Apostles seem to add great context to our doctrines and understanding of God.  We will begin our study of this next phase of the work, with the author Luke (the physician).  Luke wrote another version of the gospel, inspired by the Holy Spirit, and with ample second-hand testimony by others who witnessed it.  Luke then went on to write the next chapter “The Acts of the Apostles” meant to show how the work would spread across the region.  During his travels with fellow apostle Paul (formerly Saul the Pharisee); it is believed Luke likely wrote the book or letter to the Hebrews. 

Understand that there is absolute unity among the disciples and apostles in pointing the new believer to Jesus Christ.  But beyond that, philosophy, perspective, education, and personal histories are all different.  Different parts of the body of the church, that present different attributes, each important, and each part of the Mosaic that makes up the body of Christ (His church).  There were no entirely separate denominations in these early days.  But there was a rift coming, between what the church would become in Rome, and what the church remained in the rest of the world.  Luke and Paul traveled together through much of these early evangelistic missions.  But that does not make them identical twins in what either wrote.  How could it?  Paul was a former Pharisee.  Luke was a current physician.  Both educated, but Luke was a gentile.  Both were converts, but both came from a completely different upbringing.  Just like all the others.  Jesus did not pick 12 men, then later 70 more disciples, as well as the women He invited to carry the gospel, because they were all cookie cutter images of each other.  He picked them for their diversity.  And He intended for them to cover each other’s weaknesses, and nuture each other’s strengths.  One body made of different parts.

In the end, most all of the passionate followers of Jesus, did not die deaths from old age, in comfort.  They died martyr’s deaths before their time, because of the fury of Satan against Jesus and His church.  Jewish persecution mounted the first attacks.  Which was followed by Roman persecution in the later years.  The early Christian faith was not born in a time with no opposition, but perhaps in a time when opposition was at its greatest.  Yet the ones who seem to have known Him best died these deaths and did not keep silent.  For a knowledge of Jesus does not inspire silence in us, but demonstrations of love in us, even to those who would name themselves our mortal enemies.  If today, we call ourselves Christian, yet pray for the death of our enemies, perhaps it reveals just how little we truly know Jesus Christ.  Perhaps instead we should take a second look at what has been written and see if we can find insight, that Jesus will lead us to find.  For now, let us put away our preconceptions, and read as if it were the first time, what has been preserved through miracle for us to freely read.