Introduction
The church is based on Jesus Christ as its central figure, whom Christians believe was God dwelling among humans around over 2000 years ago. The book of Acts provides a detailed account of the establishment and proliferation of the early church. From the previous gospels, the disciples of Jesus are seen to be under strict and constant training by their master Jesus Christ. Jesus’ ministry was characterized by often clashing with the elders and leaders of the Judaic religion that practiced and adhered to the laws of guidance given by Moses to the nation of Israel years back. The difference made Jesus and the disciples significantly differ from the religious leaders in charge of controlling the population. The leaders had the power to persecute, jail, torture, and even kill the minority followers of Christ and ultimately crucify Jesus. The book of Acts provides an accurate record outlining the beginning of the early church, the challenges it faced, and the spread to far regions of the world.
Discussion
After the death and ascension of Jesus to heaven, the disciples are pictured as frail, weak, and confused individuals since they had nobody to cover them among the crowd. Following the threats faced by the followers, they opted to hide for a duration of 40 days as per the instruction Jesus gave them. On several occasions, their master appeared to give them assurance based on their actions. This was after Jesus had died and resurrected on the third day as promised. The followers were stricken by the arrest and crucifixion of their master on the cross by the governing body. They found it challenging to cope with the pressure from their political leaders and spread the word of God that Jesus instructed them to continue preaching. During the ministry, Jesus Christ promised not to leave the disciples alone but to give a helper that would guide them in all aspects of their actions. The aide would strengthen them in the physical absence of Jesus among them to spread the gospel (Bradshaw, 2020). The main theme of the founders of the early church was the coming of the kingdom of God.
The disciples believed that they had to be twelve in number as per their masters’ standards therefore purposed to replace one of their own who died. Judas Iscariot betrayed their master to the religious leaders who wanted to kill Jesus for teaching against their beliefs in the Mosaic Law. They hated Jesus for being referred to as the Messiah because they thought the Lord would withdraw earthly power from them. After working together with the soldiers to arrest Christ, Judas was convicted and chose to commit suicide following the guilt of betraying the Lord. The disciples voted to decide on the person to replace Judas between Joseph, also called Barsabbas, and Matthias. They did not have the power to directly appoint the followers as Christ did. After casting the votes, they chose Matthias to become one of them (Smith, 2021). At this point, the church was weak and could not trust the disciples because they were unable to preach the gospel of God to the people accordingly.
The helper Christ had promised to send to the disciples after ascending to heaven came on the day of Pentecost. At the time, Israel was a cosmopolitan nation that acted as a link between three continents, namely Europe, Asia, and Africa. In the book of Acts 1:1-3, the Holy Spirit landed on them, and they started speaking in tongues that nobody could easily utter. This power to speak in tongues was accurate as they were heard by people from diverse tribes in the world speaking of the words of Christ in their native languages. It remains a mystery how they were able to comprehend different dialects ranging from African to Arabic and native European languages. The transition of the 12 disciples from ordinary Hebrew men to courageous healers and preachers caught the rabbis of the Mosaic Law by surprise. At this moment, the disciples were first involved in preaching at the synagogues.
Preaching, teaching, and performing miracles were common activities among the followers. Chapter three of the book of Acts introduced Peter and John, Disciples of Christ, walking into the temple and having an encounter with a disabled man that was a beggar. The person was seated at the entrance of a synagogue called the beautiful gate and was healed by using the name of Jesus. The cured man was amazed after receiving the healing and went ahead to mention that the name of Jesus made a miracle. The Pharisees and teachers of the law were unhappy about the information since they had told people not to mention anything about the power of Christ. The Bible accounts for the belief of around 3,000 men in a day. The miracles performed by the disciples were core drivers to strengthen the faith of the believers who existed during the foundation of the church. The government hated this ministry because the disciples became famous through the practices across the countries.
A man named Saul from Tarsus was among the students of the Mosaic Law. Saul spent most of his childhood studying in Jerusalem and realized that the teachings of the disciples did not match the content they learned. Saul was promoted to the Sanhedrin that was a senior council that had led to the crucifixion of Christ (Acts 8:1-2). It is understood that when it came to matters concerning the law, no person would challenge Saul. Furthermore, the individual hated the disciples and their teachings that revolved around Jesus as the Messiah, citing it as blasphemy.
Saul began persecuting Christians that trusted and belied Christ was their God. Furthermore, Saul initiated direct attacks on leaders of the Christians to prevent the gospel from spreading. The individual oversaw the death of Stephen, who became the first martyr in the history of the church. Disciples and other followers of Christ were intimidated and reduced the preaching they had begun. The man Saul, according to Acts1-3, persecuted Christians by taking them to prison. Saul supervised a prolonged period of deaths in the early church, especially in Jerusalem because it was the center of worship.
Saul embarked on a journey to Damascus to significant the persecution of early believers. The followers worshipped secretly in each other’s households, echoing the words of Jesus Christ to encourage one another. Saul, alongside others in the quest to end Christianity, experienced an extraordinary conversion. According to Acts chapter 9, “and as he journeyed, he came near Damascus: and suddenly there shined round about him a light from heaven. And he fell to the earth and heard a voice saying unto him, Saul, Saul, why persecutes thou me?” Saul became blind for three days and gained sight while already in Damascus.
Saul’s name changed to Paul and became contrary to the expectations of many people, became a believer too. The individual continued teaching about Jesus to the gentiles and laid a strong foundation for the Christian generations to come. Although Paul never saw Christ during the ministry on earth, it is believed that Saul succeeded in meeting the glory of the Lord God and sat on the right-hand side. In addition, Saul became the disciple who ministered specifically to the gentiles all over the world. In the book of Acts 15, which was about 50 years AD, there was a crucial meeting to determine whether circumcision was necessary among those who had been converted. The early Christian faith had not made it clear if one needed to be circumcised to receive salvation. Peter tackled this issue with significant wisdom obtained from the Holy Spirit and explained that God did not judge people by flesh but by their hearts.
Paul realized that the Romans were against the teachings, which prompted the disciple’s migration to Macedonia. Paul traveled to Greece and preached to the gentiles located in that region. After which, the follower felt that there was limited time to preach the gospel of God and went to Troas. The individual had to speak to the early believers in the late hours of the night, and it happened that a man called Eutychus fell asleep during the teachings of the word of God. As recorded in the book of Acts chapter 20:8-12, the person fell from the third-floor window out of being tired and died. Paul performed a miracle in this town by holding the man and raising the person from death. Moreover, Paul proceeded to preach the word of God to different parts of the world. Paul spoke to elders at Ephesus, where the disciple had spent an extended period preaching the gospel mainly based on repentance. Paul bid farewell to them in an emotional way, encouraging them that the second coming of Christ was nearby.
Paul acted as the strongest disciple in steering the gospel by encouraging Peter and other disciples in their low times. It was clear to the early church that they would be opposed by the world. Christ had assured them that they would be hated because the world hated Jesus and the teaching of God. During the celebration of Passover in Jerusalem, Paul was tried before Festus following the actions and the spread of the word of God to the people. The follower was accused of many things by the Jews, which had no proof according to Acts 25. Festus consulted Agrippa, who tried Paul based on having committed crimes against Caesar and the Jews. While undergoing trial, Paul explained to the king about the calling that happened on the journey to Damascus.
Conclusion
In summary, early churches experienced a difficult moment in trying to lay a foundation for modern world Christianity. They mainly practiced sharing among themselves based on each other’s needs. It set a good example of the endurance of persecution, just like the way Paul and other disciples were prisoned. The believers were forced to worship in secret places to evade the opposition of the non-believers of Christ.
References
Bradshaw, P. F. (2020). Doing what the early church did?Theology, 123(3), 183-190.
Smith, A. (2021). Incarceration on trial: The imprisonment of Paul and Silas in Acts 16.Journal of Biblical Literature, 140(4), 797-817.