Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today”, Thursday, July 11, 2013

Reader’s Guide: “The Word for Today” Thursday, July 11, 2013 Read – Acts 14:1-7 Driven out of Antioch of Pisidia, Paul and Barnabas make their way to a town called Iconium. Once again it is important for Luke’s readers to hear that Paul and Barnabas went immediately to the synagogue in Iconium. The mission is still to the Jewish people. The results prove promising at the beginning. Luke tells us that many, both Jews and Gentiles, became believers. Though the proclamation is made first to the Jews, the practice of proclaiming to all that began in Antioch of Syria comes into play here. However, once again it is “unbelieving Jews” who stir up the Gentiles and a plot begins against Paul and Barnabas. What does it mean to be an “unbelieving Jew?” Luke really does not address that question, but it is almost certainly whether or not one accepts Jesus as the Messiah that determines if one is a believing Jew or not. “Unbelieving Jews” are those who do not believe that Jesus is the Messiah – that he was crucified and yet God raised him from the dead and that forgiveness is proclaimed in his name. The core message is what determines whether or not one is a Christian Jew or an unbelieving Jew. Once again the response is mixed – some believe and others don’t. And in the end Paul and Barnabas are again driven out of town. Luke tells us they fled when they heard of the threats against them. Sometimes we might think that we are to stay in a situation no matter how difficult it is and that to flee would somehow be to abandon Jesus. Hardship may come but the opportunity to avoid it is also possible. Perhaps sometimes the best we can do is to flee from trouble as well. Careful readers of Acts have noticed that for one of only two instances, both in chapter 14, Luke refers to Paul and Barnabas as apostles. Luke has been very careful to distinguish the central core in Jerusalem – those who were with Jesus from the time of his ministry in Galilee until his ascension – as the only Apostles. Why is Luke inconsistent at this point? I mentioned earlier that, as with the gospel writers, Luke likely had a number of individual stories to fit together. It is from these various sources that Luke has created the storyline of the book of Acts. It may well be that the source used by Luke about the ministry of Paul in Galatia referred to Paul as an apostle. After all Paul was insistent in his letters that he was as much of an apostle as the others. Perhaps Luke decided to let the reference stand in deference to Paul – although if Luke were pressed he would have insisted on calling only the Jerusalem core Apostles.