Bible Study series: Acts 8:1b-4. There was a general persecution ,and Saul also persecutes them. Everywhere the Christians went, they preached the gospel. Only the apostles remained in Jerusalem.
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At the link to the original post, next, I write more commentary and dig a little deeper into the Greek. I also offer a section titled Observations for Discipleship at the end. Check it out!
In this post, links are provided in the commentary section for further study.
Let’s begin.
Scripture: Acts 8:1b-4
1b And so on that day there was a severe persecution against the church in Jerusalem. Everyone except the apostles was scattered to the region of Judea and Samaria. 2 Devout men took Stephen up for burial and lamented for him.
3 Saul was devastating the church, going from household to household, dragging off both men and women and putting them in prison.
4 And so those who were dispersed spread out, preaching the word. (Acts 8:1b-4)
Comments:
Recall that in Acts 8:1a Paul heartily approved of the death of Stephen and even watched overt the clothing at his feet, laid there by those who threw the stones at Stephen.
Here are the verses to remind us:
The witnesses laid aside their clothes in front of a young man named Saul. 59 And they kept stoning Stephen who called out, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” 60 Taking to his knees, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lord, do not charge this sin to them!” After he said this, he fell asleep. 81a And Saul gladly approved of his death. (Acts 7:58-8:1a)
1b:
“Except the apostles”: Why were they exempt, even though they may have felt the heat in Jerusalem? Peter denounced the Sanhedrin as pushing Roman authorities to execute Jesus. Stephen was martyred, and he also preached hard against the Sanhedrin, telling them that they too bore some responsibility in the death of the Righteous One. The difference is that he went further and preached against the temple, which symbolized Judaism and the power-base of the Sanhedrin.
Bruce says that the persecution was directed against the Hellenistic Jewish converts (1988, comment on 1b-2). Bock somewhat agrees and adds that the Hebrew Christians “felt a greater loyalty to Jerusalem” (comment on v. 1, p. 319). However, Peterson, referring to other commentators (Witherington and Bauckham), says that the apostles did not experience no persecution, but Acts 1-6 has stressed how much the people of Jerusalem respected the apostles, so they did not disperse (for now) (comment on v. 1)
Eventually, however, the leaders too will be subjected to persecution, even another martyrdom, that of James, son of Zebedee, brother of John (Acts 12:1-3). But the church was still strong in Jerusalem, so strong that they could hold a council there (Acts 15:35). So the persecution came and went. And it could be that God ordained to set Jerusalem up as the spiritual capital and kept the Messianic Jewish leaders there.
Polhill: “They were scattered like one scatters seed. But scattered seeds grow, and the irony is that the persecution and scattering of the Christians only led to their further increase. With the dispersal of the Hellenist Christians, the fulfillment of the second phase of Jesus’ commission began—the witness to all Judea and Samaria (8:1b; cf. 1:8)” (comment on v. 1).
2:
Grief at the death of a hero or loved one is right. When you grieve, don’t believe that you are not trusting the Lord. The Scripture states that we should not grieve like those who have no hope, implying that we can grieve with hope (1 Thess. 4:13).
Bock teaches me that the Mishnah (a written compilation of oral traditions or interpretations of the Torah, finally written down in about A.D. 200) says that a man who was stoned can be buried but no lamentation should be offered (Sanh. 6:5-6). Here the devout men did not obey this rule and rightly offered heartfelt and vocal grief.
3:
“church”: In Greek it is ekklēsia (pronounced ek-klay-see-ah) and the meaning has roots in both Hebrew and Greek. It literally means “the ones called out” or “the called out” or “the summoned” who gather together. It describes an assembly or gathering.
Please see this post for fuller definitions.
Fellowship is so important for believers. Don’t believe the lie circulating in American society, particularly in social media, that not going to church is good enough. People who skip constant fellowship are prone to sin and self-deception and satanic attacks. We need each other.
This link has a list of the famous “one another” verses, like “love one another.”
Further, since American Christianity is undergoing discussion on the sizes of churches, let me add: the earliest Christian community met either in houses (Acts 2:46) or in Solomon’s Colonnade in Jerusalem (Acts 3:11; 5:12) or a large number in Antioch (11:26), which could hold a large gathering—call it a mega-church—and presumably in mid-sized gatherings. Size does not matter, since it varies so widely.
Moreover, I’m not a church planter (or planner), as of this writing, but one thing that impresses me about all those above references is that the apostles, as they planted churches, were guided by the Spirit—always—and they were also deliberate about setting them up and establishing them. Planning is Scriptural. So wisdom says: listen to the Spirit and plan. Listen as you plan and be ready to drop your plans at a moment notice, when the Spirit says so. God will grow the church as we proclaim the good news.
“both men and women”: if women are included in being persecuted and thrown in jail, then why can they not minister in the church? It is clear from this verse that they were effective teachers and preachers. Some of them must have been very vocal and drew the attention of Saul and his henchmen. If they were silent, why bother with hunting them down? Today, womankind in the church need to step up and no longer listen to the naysayers who take verses out of context that seem to restrict women.
Whom did Saul (and presumably his team because by himself he could not physically drag them and put them in prison) target foremost? Thousands joined the Messianic Jesus. Most were ordinary people of no social status. Saul was intelligent enough to direct his energies against a certain class. Which one? A large number of priests became obedient to the Jesus Movement (Acts 6:7). Logically he would target them first and probably had access to a record that said which order of service they belonged to and where they lived.
Further, could it be also true that when Saul hunted down these Messianic Jews as far as Damascus, with warrants from the High Council (Sanhedrin), some of the Sanhedrin’s children or grandchildren joined the Messianic Jews (Acts 9:1-3)? We don’t know for sure, but the high priest did grant him letters to search the synagogues there. However, it is probably the case that they were ordinary Jesus followers in a large Jewish community in Damascus and not related to the Sanhedrin in any way, but it does make me think that something deeper was going on.
In any case, Saul is about to get his comeuppance from Jesus himself, but not before devastating the church further.
“household to household”: Acts is about salvation of entire households and meeting in those saved households (2:2, 46; 5:42; 8:3, but be careful of persecution in 8:3! 10:2; 11:14; 16:15, 31, 34; 20:20; 21:8). Paul probably “home-invaded” church meetings in houses (Polhill, comment v. 3).
“Luke implies that Saul is opposing the true Israel, those who have responded to Jesus as Messiah” (Peterson, comment on v. 3). “These people, he thought, were not merely misguided enthusiasts whose sincere embracing of error called for patient enlightenment; they were deliberate imposters, proclaiming that God had raised from the tomb to be Lord and Messiah a man whose manner of death was sufficient to show that the divine curse rested on him” (Bruce, comment on v. 3).
4:
Persecution scattered the people, and they preached the gospel. God was prying them out of the holy city, for outreach, just as Jesus commissioned (1:8).
“preaching”: “Preaching or spreading the good news” is traditional and better, however.
Let’s bring in these verses:
19 And so those who were scattered from the trouble that happened with Stephen went as far as Phoenicia and Cyprus and Antioch, speaking the word except to Jews alone. 20 But certain men from among them were Cypriots and Cyrenians, after going to Antioch, began speaking also to the Greeks, preaching the good news of the Lord Jesus. (Acts 11:19-20)
The move of God was not restricted to the apostles and other major leaders. Ordinary people ministered the word. The same is true of you. You too can preach the word. Learn it and tell your story about how the resurrected and ascended Lord changed your life.
“word”: it is the very versatile Greek noun logos (pronounced lah-goss or loh-gohss), and in this case it means “the message of the gospel.” Since Peter and Stephen in their sermons quoted from the OT, we can be sure that many of these who were scattered did the same, particularly the Messianic prophecies. If they did not know those prophecies, however, then they just told their story of what the resurrected Messiah did for them and in them. That’s what our message is too. In the meantime, learn those prophecies!
Please click on for a table of them:
That link has a table of quoted verses in both the OT and NT. However, Jesus also fulfills the major themes and patterns of the OT, like the sacrificial system and all the covenants..
People have the deepest need to receive solid teaching. Never become so outlandishly supernatural and entertaining that you neglect the reasonable and rational side of preaching the gospel and teaching the Bible. Yes, the book of Acts is very charismatic, but it is also very orderly and rational and logical.
On the other side of the word Word, people get so intellectual that they build up an exclusive Christian caste of intelligentsia that believe they alone can teach and understand the Word. Not true. Just study Scripture with Bible helps and walk in the Spirit, as they did in Acts. Combining Word and Spirit is the balanced life.
In any case, v. 4 reveals that ordinary people were preaching the word, wherever they went. God’s great work was destined by God himself to keep going.
In his comment on v. 4, Schnabel tell us that material between 8:4 and 11:19 illustrate traveling from place to place.
Philip traveling to Samaria (8:5-13)
Peter and John through Samaria (8:14-15)
Philip traveling toward Gaza (8:26-39)
Philip traveling along the coast from Azotus to Caesarea (8:40)
Saul converted near Damascus and encountering believers (9:1-13)
Saul traveling to Jerusalem (9:23-29)
Peter traveling through the Plain of Sharon to Lydda and Joppa (9:32-43)
Peter traveling to Caesarea (10:1-48)
Peter traveling to Jerusalem (11:1-18)
GrowApp for Acts 8:1b-4
1. God’s people still suffer persecution today. Do you pray for them?
2. Church father Tertullian said (paraphrased), “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” This means that the church grows during tough times. How have tough times in your own life caused personal growth? Or in the life of someone you know? Tell your story.
RELATED
The Historical Reliability of the Book of Acts
Book of Acts and Paul’s Epistles: Match Made in Heaven?
SOURCES
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