Isaiah 10:20—22; Joel 2:28—32; Acts 2:1—42; Romans 9:6—8, 24—28; 11:1—5
Although the history of the people of Israel was so largely a story of rebellion against God’s will for them, the prophets never doubted that God would find some way to accomplish His purposes. One form which this conviction sometimes took was "the doctrine of the remnant," which taught that even though the nation as a whole might become apostate and perish, there would always be a small group of the faithful, like the 7000 in the days of Elijah who did not bow their knees to Baal (I Kings 19:18), whom God could use as the nucleus of a new and better Israel.
The classical statement of this doctrine is Isaiah 10:20—22.
When Jesus the Messiah was repudiated by his own people, his twelve apostles became the whole of this faithful remnant. The next chapter in the Bible story tells of the renewal of Israel’s life which began with the apostles on the day of Pentecost. The number twelve is itself significant,
for it is the number of the tribes of Israel and suggests immediately that the apostles were already Israel in miniature—the fresh sprout of an old tree, from which a new and more imposing plant would grow. As we have already learned, the new Israel was to be based upon a new and more spiritual covenant and would be open to all the nations of the world. By his death and resurrection, Jesus Christ had burst not only the bonds of death, but also the shackles of Law and national pride.
The prophets had told of many signs which would accompany the beginning of the Kingdom of God. All the descriptions are poetical and some merely fanciful, but amongst the pictures they drew one of the most remarkable is that of the outpouring of the Spirit of God upon great numbers of people, so that the gift of prophecy (i.e., of eloquent speech in the name of God) would no longer be the possession of a small
professional class, but of many simple and untrained persons: ". - . your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions." (Joel 2:28—32)
This oracle provides the principal text for Peter’s speech in Acts 2 (note verse 16). A short the after the resurrection and ascension of our Lord, the apostles assembled in a room in Jerusalem, presumably to celebrate the Je\s’ish feast of Pentecost. While they were there, perhaps engaged in prayer and singing and in discussing the marvelous events which had recently transpired, there came over the whole group a tremendous sense of the presence of the Holy
Spirit of God." It was a sudden dramatic experience which could be compared only to "a rushing mighty wind" and to "cloven tongues like as of fire" sitting upon them (vv. 2f).
Immediately they went out and began to speak to the crowds which had gathered in Jerusalem for the festival from all over the world and spoke with such fervor and conviction that 3000 persons are said to have joined the Church that day (41). So the Christian, the universal, the Catholic Church began—the new Israel which was intended to bring God’s saving power to "Parthians and Medes and Elamites" and all the peoples of the world (9—11). The Holy Spirit was to be the Church’s permanent possession; baptism was to be the means of entrance into it (38); fidelity to apostolic teaching and continuity in apostolic life the chief marks of its character; and Holy Communion the principal act of its common worship (42).
Readers naturally ask, "Did the apostles actually speak foreign
languages at Pentecost?" It would be presumptuous simply to answer
"No," as though such things are impossible, but it is true that elsewhere in the New Testament there is evidence that "speaking with tongues"
ordinarily meant highly emotional, even unintelligible, discourse rather than speaking a foreign language (those who are interested might read Paul’s discussion of the subject in I Cor. 14 1—33). The phenomena described in Acts 2:4—11 are best understood this way and the
statement that "every man heard . . . in his own tongue" as the author’s attempt to picture in a dramatic way the future proclamation of the Gospel in all the languages of the world. The story of Babel in Genesis 11:1—9 is a parable of the way in which sin had destroyed the unity of the human race; Acts 2:11 is a parable of the restoration of that unity through the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The fragmentary readings suggested from Romans 9—11 (9:6—8, 24—28; 11:1—5) are intended to show how Paul pictured the relationship of the Old and the New Israel. This whole section of Romans is devoted to the theme and it is worth reading for those who have the time and a commentary to help them understand it. The fragments are enough however, to show that Paul saw in the Christian Church the true heir and successor of Israel. Christians are "the children of promise" (9:8); they now are God’s "people" and His "beloved"
(9:25); they are "the remnant" of which the prophet spoke (9:27; 11:5).
Lest we should be tempted to feel smugly superior as we read these words, it might be well to read the rest of chapter 11 too and see how Paul warns his Christian readers against spiritual arrogance, especially toward the Jews. God still loves His ancient people, and the followers of Christ must also regard them with affection as their own spiritual
brethren. All men are sinners and subject to judgment, the Christian no less than the Jew. Although the Jewish people seem temporarily
estranged from Christ, they have their part to play in God’s plan and Paul feels sure He will one day bring them into His fold (vv. 25—32).
XXIII. THE CHURCH AT JERUSALEM
Deuteronomy 24:17—22; Acts 4:32—37; 5:12—42;
6:8—15; 7:55—60;
I Corinthians 16:1—4
God’s demand for a spirit of brotherhood was a cardinal element of Old
Testament faith. Ideally, Israel was intended to be so organized that the poor could always count on the help of their wealthier brethren. This ideal was, of course, never attained in actual practice, and throughout most of its history the nation’s life was characterized by callous disregard for the rights of the weak and helpless. The prophets never ceased to denounce this as rebellion against the Divine Law and declared that when God passed final judgment upon His people, the greed of their ruling classes and the spirit of selfishness which pervaded the community would be a major count against them. We have already seen a good example of this kind of prophetic preaching in Ezekiel 34:
1—16. The present passage, from Deuteronomy (24:17—22), shows in a different way how seriously the religious leaders of the old Israel attempted to incorporate essential principles of social justice into the basic law of the nation.
It is not surprising that when the disciples of Jesus organized the first community of the new Israel, in Jerusalem, they tried to make it conform to the law of brotherhood by putting all property into a common fund and having the church assume responsibility for the fundamental needs of all its members (Acts 4:32—37). Since later churches were not organized in this way, it is obvious that the experiment did not work out in practice, but the example of the
Jerusalem church remains as an incentive to Christians of today to seek the same end in more practical ways, and as a continual rebuke to members of the church who feel no sense of responsibility for human beings less fortunate than themselves.
The Church, as the continuing organ of Christ’s work on earth (the
"body" of Christ) felt the obligation of continuing his activities of healing and preaching. Our second passage from Acts (5:12—42)
illustrates this phase of the Church’s work and the success which seems generally to have attended it. We see how the fame of the apostles’
healing power spread (vv. 12—16) and how there grew up even a superstitious veneration for the wonder-working gifts of Peter, the head of the Jerusalem church (15). The spread of the Gospel was not due so much to the disciples’ oratorical skill and their capacity for fine-spun argument as to the unmistakable evidence that the power of God to heal and to bless was at work amongst them. But they preached as well as healed, and the present passage gives a good summary of the kind of preaching in which they engaged (30—32). One notices that it was not moralistic or "intellectual" (although in the this kind of preaching also would find its proper place). The apostolic preaching was a simple,
straightforward proclamation of the fact that the power of God—the Holy Spirit—had become available to all men through the death,
resurrection and ascension of Jesus Christ. In other passages where more extensive examples of preaching are given (as in Peter’s sermon at
Pentecost), we see that the apostles laid considerable emphasis upon the fact that God’s work in Christ had been accomplished in fulfillment of the promises given in ancient times to the people of Israel.
We observe, then, that among the marks of the earliest Church were: a spirit of brotherliness, a consciousness of God’s present and available power, and a deep conviction that both true brotherhood and spiritual power have their source in the kingly rule of Christ. But there is one other mark of the Church that must also be noticed—that of a
willingness to suffer for the name of Christ. In the story of the Jerusalem church we can see foreshadowings of the coming of the age of the
martyrs. In the passage we have just been looking at we read of the arrest, imprisonment and trial of the apostles (17—41). Although they were released on this occasion through the counsel of Gamaliel, a wise leader of the Pharisees and (according to Acts 22:3) the teacher of St.
Paul, Acts goes on to tell of other imprisonments and of the execution of at least one of the original twelve (12:1—3). The honor of being the first martyr, however, goes not to one of the apostles, but to a humbler
Jerusalem Christian, Stephen (Acts 6:8—15; 7:55—60), a member of a group within the Church called the Hellenists (KJV "Grecians"),
probably meaning "Greek speaking Jews" (see Acts 6:1—3). Because of their Greek background these men were more willing than the original apostles to see that the Christian Gospel involved a radical break with Judaism (6:14). Consequently they aroused far more violent antagonism in the Jewish community (7:54). Stephen, one of the leaders of this group, became the prototype of all the later company of martyrs who gave their lives for the Faith. Like them he died with a vision of the reigning Christ in his heart (7:55) and words of forgiveness on his lips (v. 6o).
For various reasons the Jerusalem community did not long continue to hold a dominating position in the Christian world. As we shall see, the center of the Church’s life shifted from Judea to the lands and cities of the Gentiles. But the lesson of brotherhood was not forgotten and it is pleasant to read that when the Christians ("the Saints") at Jerusalem fell upon evil days, special arrangements were made in the Gentile churches to raise funds for the support of the now weakened and impoverished mother church (I Cor. 16: 1—4).