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Lauren Ashley Herring
Rick Rasberry
BIBL 364: B01
10/7/2019
Thematic Analysis Essay 3
Within the book of Acts, we see the reestablishment of the disciples after Jesus parted with this
world, and we also see the struggles and quarrels that come from attempting to help the church of Christ
grow, which came with persecutions and many missionary journeys. In the third movement within the book
of Acts illustrates the three missionary journeys of Paul, including Paul’s ministry during his imprisonment
in Jerusalem, Caesarea, and Rome. Paul’s journeys include teaching the Gospel, performing miracles and
attempting to unite the Jews and the Gentiles.
Acts 1:8 says, “You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my
witnesses in Jerusalem and, and all in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth.” (New
International Version). This segment of Acts develops the theme of “spreading the Gospel” since
Paul was attempting to convert people to Christianity and going out onto the lands and
performing miracles in Jesus’ name to lead them to Christ. The only acceptable assumption
concerning the geographic target of the book of Acts is to the ends of the earth. Within Acts 1:8
it says, “be my witnesses in Jerusalem and, all in Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth”
(New International Version). This stipulates that everyone on the entirety of earth needs to hear
about Jesus and what He did for all of us. This segment of Acts develops the theme of “spreading
the Gospel” since Paul was attempting to convert people to Christianity and going out onto the
lands and performing miracles in Jesus’ name to lead them to Christ. The only acceptable
assumption concerning the geographic target of the book of Acts is to the ends of the earth.
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Within Acts 1:8 it says, “be my witnesses in Jerusalem and, all in Judea and Samaria and to the
ends of the earth.” (New International Version). This stipulates that everyone on the entirety of
earth needs to hear about Jesus and what He did for all of us. While the first act covers the
witness in Jerusalem and the second covers the witness in Judea and Samaria, the third
movement includes sharing His story to the ends of the earth. In doing this, Paul traveled to 18
different places to share the truth of the Gospel and to start Jesus’ instruction to spread His story.
I believe that the following themes are the most important themes that are developed by
Luke: God’s sovereignty, The Kingdom of God, Prayer, and the true Israel. Whether it be from
within the community or from external forces, God is always be there to help in the ways that He
finds appropriate. This ultimately shows that in the end, the Gospel will win, and Jesus will reign
forever. The first concept of the Kingdom of God consists of the disciples believing that Jesus
was coming back to rule over Jerusalem as their King, and that they were going to be leaders in
the earthly kingdom. Another concept that God reveals later throughout Acts is that the true
Kingdom of God represents the spreading of the Gospel and acquiring new “subjects” for God to
love, and to provide and care for. While looking at both concepts of what the Kingdom of God
will look like, we can see that it will be a combination of both, because Jesus will return and rule
the earth in Jerusalem during the Millennium. Luke explains why we should pray by using Jesus
as the perfect example for how Christians should pray. Jesus is presented as the perfect man of
prayer, one who can show others how to be obedient and intimate with the Father. He embodies
someone who can listen and take His Father’s word to heart without arguing or complaining.
Luke goes on to explain that the expansion and growth of Jesus’ ministry is due to His constant
prayer to His Father. As He begins to proceed sharing the Gospel, He is patient and accepts
whatever happens because it is in God’s will. He learns how to be still in the storm and explores
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how He can let God take control over His life. Jesus continuously prays for His people while on
earth and while He sits upon His throne in Heaven. This wards off negative and evil spirits from
the disciples to ensure spiritual longevity. Throughout Acts, the leaders and the church attempt to
follow in Jesus’ footsteps, praying to God and using prayer as a stronghold for spiritual stability
against any foe. Prayer shows them that God is always present, and the ways of God, allowing
them to continue Jesus’ work on earth and to spread the Gospel. Luke became very focused on
the question that was raised by many Israelites during his time: “Who is considered the ‘people
of God’ and who receives the divine promises from God?” Rereading the book of Acts can
reveal the idea of “togetherness,” which includes the welcoming of all people to love and accept
Jesus Christ in their heart. Paul preaches to the Gentiles just as he preaches to the Jews, because
in God’s eyes, all are the same. Luke explains how the “people of God” are not limited to one
race or nation, but they consist of every person who believes in the Gospel. Luke shows the
convergence towards the main goal of preaching the Gospel to the “ends of the earth” throughout
the book of Acts by using addressing several problems or themes that can be seen in today’s
modern world as well. By using these themes, he explains the meaning of every theme and
informs people how to deal with such matters.
Paul is known as the apostle to the Gentiles and is described as bridging the gap between
Judaism and the pagan world. According to Webster-Merriam dictionary, a Pagan is described as
someone “a follower of a polytheistic religion (as in ancient Rome)” (Merriam-Webster, 2019).
While preaching to the Jews, Paul stuck with what worked best, and that included setting the
record straight about the story of Jesus and performing miracles for many people to see. We can
see that this method worked perfectly fine for the Jews in Acts 14:8-10, when Paul used the
power of Christ to heal a man who could not walk. Of course, we see that this method isn’t
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always the best way to reach out to others, because later in Acts 14, Paul is stoned, dragged out
of the city, and left for dead. This didn’t stop Paul though; he stood up and walked back into the
city to continue sharing the Good news. While attempting to reach out and grab the pagans’
attention, Paul presents the Gospel to them in a way that no one else had done before. He applied
the Gospel to the way the natural world works, such as using the abundance of rain and crops as
an example of God’s protection and preservation of men. Using examples that the pagans can
apply to their lives and see with their eyes is more beneficial because pagans focus on what is
right in front of them. We can assume that Paul used this method of conveying the Gospel due to
the pagans knowing nothing of the Hebrew Bible, nor what Jesus did to save us all on the cross.
Paul did convey the message of Christ, but he just approached it from a different perspective to
show them that God accepts and understands all.
In Acts 13:46-47, Paul and Barnabas started to share the message of the Lord, and a
substantial amount of people showed up to hear the message. This, in turn, made the Jews very
jealous, so “they insulted Paul and spoke against everything he said” (New International
Version). Paul and Barnabas addressed their incivility by explaining that the Jews had made
themselves unworthy of eternal life, and they left to preach the message to the Gentiles. As a
result of this, the Gentiles were very happy and started to praise what they had heard of the Lord.
In Acts 18:6, Paul preached to the Jews and Gentiles, trying his hardest to win them over. When
the Jews finally started to insult him, Paul explained that their fate was in their own hands, and
that he was going to preach to the Gentiles. In Acts 28:25-28, Paul asked the Jewish leaders of
Rome to meet and to give him a chance to explain and convey the message that he was destined
to share. After Paul laid out the foundations of Christianity, using the Law of Moses and the
Books of the Prophets to try to win them over, the leaders could not agree among themselves, so
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they started to leave. Paul stopped them and explained that they were stubborn and ultimately
told them that God would never heal them because of their cold hearts. And again, Paul told
them that he was going to preach to the Gentiles. Throughout all of Paul’s messages, Paul
addressed both Jew and Gentile people and yet only one group was ready and eager to hear the
message. Jews “sat on their high horse” so to speak and wouldn’t even give a thought about what
Paul was saying. They closed off their hearts and minds because of their ignorance and because
of this, Paul shut off their opportunity to eternal life. I believe that Luke included these instances
of Paul being rejected by Jews as an example to show that both Jews and Gentiles are equal
under God and that we all are sinners who need redemption.
The third movement of the book of Acts covers several themes that are essential to
understanding the Christian faith. Although the disciples endure several hardships within the
book of Acts, all the hardships can be used as an example for Christians everywhere. Right
before Jesus ascends into the sky on a cloud, He tells His apostles to spread His testimony to
everyone to the ends of the earth. As Acts continues, the disciples decide to do as Jesus had
instructed them to do, and they started to spread the message to different nations, telling
everyone that they met about the story of Jesus. Paul starts to think outside of the box when it he
starts to preach to the Pagans. Because of their radical beliefs, Paul decided to apply the Gospel
to their lives and their beliefs. When preaching to the Jews, Paul used miracles and applied it
directly to the Gospel. But when he preached to the Pagans, Paul used examples that related to
their everyday lives such as the provision of rain and the abundance of crops. Paul’s patience is
tested by the Jews several times throughout the book of Acts due to their cold hearts and closed
minds. They rejected and mocked Paul, and when that would happen, he would leave them and
preach to the Gentiles. This showed that there is no difference between any race nor nation,
OO
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because we are all sinners. Acts is a beautiful and intriguing book that shows the inclusiveness
and love of Christianity which is only given by Jesus Christ.
