Pain’s Propulsion

March 29, 2024 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

On that day a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem, and all except the apostles were scattered throughout Judea and Samaria.
Acts 8:1 (NIV)

This year marks a couple of anniversaries for my family and me.

January 1 was the 135th anniversary of my great-grandfather Vander Well’s arrival at Ellis Island. He arrived on the Holland America Line, though I suspect his ship wasn’t nearly as comfortable as the HAL Eurodam that Wendy and I enjoyed a couple of months ago. He was traveling by himself. It is believed that the death of his father, followed by his mother’s marriage to an older man who’d once been her teacher, angered him enough to leave his family and emigrate to America as a young man all by himself. It’s wild for me to think how fleeing his family’s issues changed life for both himself and his descendants.

This year is also the 20th anniversary of my move to Pella from Des Moines, which is my hometown. To be honest, moving to Pella was not my idea, nor did I initially want to make the move. The reasons for doing so are intertwined with no longer important issues in my first marriage. Like my great-grandfather, it was family issues that propelled the move. It is wild for me to think just how much the move to Pella has changed the course of my life, ultimately for the positive, in so many ways. At this point, I can’t imagine ever leaving Pella.

In today’s chapter, the resentment of the Jewish Temple establishment finally spills over against the growing Jesus Movement. With the stoning of Stephen, the Temple rulers began a crackdown in which believers in Jerusalem were sought out, arrested, and thrown in prison. As a result, many believers fled Jerusalem to find refuge in other towns throughout Judea and Samaria.

What’s fascinating is to reflect back on Jesus’ commission to the first disciples before His ascension: “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus made it clear to His disciples that the mission was to spread out from Jerusalem, through Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Yet, through the first seven chapters of Acts, there’s no evidence that the Apostles and the exploding number of new believers had any intention of leaving Jerusalem. In fact, as the persecution breaks out, the Apostles (Jesus’ original disciples) stay in Jerusalem while the other believers flee. Were they waiting for Jesus to send them instructions? Whatever the reason, today’s chapter makes it evident that it was persecution that moved believers with Jesus’ message to Judea and Samaria as Jesus originally intended.

Along my own life journey, I’ve learned that God sometimes uses difficult circumstances to propel me to the place I’m supposed to be, where God has purposes for me I could never have known or expected. When unexpected and uncomfortable events arise, I have to remember that God may ultimately have purposes for me in the pain that I couldn’t possibly imagine.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Uncategorized

Wells and Walls

March 28, 2024 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

“You stiff-necked people! Your hearts and ears are still uncircumcised. You are just like your ancestors: You always resist the Holy Spirit!”
Acts 7:51 (NIV)

Of late, I’ve been reading a series of posts by a fascinating Orthodox believer and mystic in Ireland. I’d never heard of this before, but there are a great number of “holy wells” scattered across Ireland and he’s been seeking them out and documenting the adventure. There are all sorts of legends and stories that surround each well and many of them are located in extremely remote locations. Finding some of them sounds like a bit of a pilgrimage in and of itself. No matter how hard they are to find, I’m always surprised at the photos showing many people had been there and left tokens of their visit. Many obviously still believe that these wells are “thin places” where the veil between the physical realm and the spiritual realm is more permeable.

I find the “holy well” phenomenon intriguing, and it’s obviously rooted in the history of 1500 years ago when wells, and fresh water, were more critical for survival. With Jesus’ claim to be “living water springing up to eternal life,” it makes sense how a well could take on layers of metaphorical and spiritual significance. It’s unlike anything I’ve experienced here in America, though our modern history only goes back a couple of hundred years and was arguably rooted in more “enlightened” times.

Along my life journey, it has always been church buildings that I have observed people treating like sacred spaces. I can remember being taught this as a child, literally as if the building was holy and had some special divine indwelling. While I fully understand that a building dedicated to the gathering of believers in worship can take on all sorts of significance for people, the very idea of a church building goes against the core of what Jesus taught.

In today’s chapter, a young believer named Stephen is brought before the same religious rulers who conspired to have Jesus killed. The charges against him included him “speaking against this holy place” (meaning the Temple in Jerusalem) as Stephen quoted Jesus saying He would “destroy this Temple and rebuild it in three days.” For the Jews, the Temple was sacred, so when Stephen argues that “God does not dwell in houses made with human hands” he was taken out and stoned to death.

One of the things that I love most about Jesus was that He moved God’s presence out of buildings with walls made with human hands to the table where “two or three are gathered” over a good meal and conversation. God is there because God indwells the believers at the table, and there’s a shared presence in the gathering together. My body is the temple. God’s Spirit is in me and goes everywhere I go. To ignore this and believe that God resides in a sacred church building down the street where I visit Him on Sunday means I don’t get Jesus’ teaching at all. In fact, it makes me no different than the stiff-necked religious rulers throwing stones at Stephen.

So, in the quiet this morning I am reminded once again that God is in me, and my body is the temple. This means that the divine is a part of every piece of my day, even the mundane and ordinary bits. It means that when Wendy and I gather for coffee and our usual blueberry and spinach smoothies in just a few minutes there is something holy taking place if we will simply take time to recognize it. And, I don’t have to go hunting in remote locations to find a holy well, though that does seem like a really fun adventure.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Growing Things Change

March 27, 2024 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

In those days when the number of disciples was increasing, the Hellenistic Jews among them complained against the Hebraic Jews because their widows were being overlooked in the daily distribution of food.

Opposition arose, however, from members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (as it was called)—Jews of Cyrene and Alexandria as well as the provinces of Cilicia and Asia—who began to argue with Stephen.
Acts 6:1,9 (NIV)

I saw a funny meme the other day of a father holding his three-month-old baby. The baby had doubled in weight in the three months since birth. At this rate of growth, the father calculated, the kid would weigh trillions of pounds by the time it was ten years old.

Healthy things grow…
Growing things change…
Change challenges me…
Challenge leads me to trust God…
Trusting God leads to obedience…
Obedience leads to health…
Healthy things grow…

A friend shared this with me many years ago, and I know that I have referenced it at least once before (After blogging for 17 years, I’m bound to repeat a few things!). I have always loved this little mantra because I have experienced it to be true in my life, and I have observed it to be true in both others and in healthy and growing human systems.

The early Jesus Movement was an organic, growing human system. In the first six chapters of Acts, Luke references the growing number of believers five times. At the beginning of the book, Luke records the number of believers right after Jesus’ ascension as about 120. In chapter 4, Luke numbers the believers at 5,000. He’s mentioned rapid growth twice since mentioning the 5,000.

Growing things change…

Having been a leader in a number of different systems and organizations along my life journey, I can only imagine the changes required by the Apostles to accommodate the rapid pace of growth. It was not only a change in numbers, but in geography too. Many of the first believers on the day of Pentecost in the second chapter were from all over the known world. In today’s chapter, Stephen is sharing Jesus’ teaching with a synagogue outside the Temple. The cozy little group of early believers sharing all things in common wouldn’t have been cozy for long.

Change challenges me…

Luke records the first challenges faced by the growing Movement in today’s chapter. There is a challenge from within in the form of anger between ethnic factions within the Movement. There were also challenges from without in the form of false accusations made against them to the Temple rulers who had already persecuted the Apostles.

Challenge leads me to trust God…

Luke also records in today’s chapter that the Apostles appointed more men to help with the daily duties the Movement had established for caring for the daily needs of its members. The needs of the system are expanding, and with it the system has to distribute responsibilities to more members of the system. This, in itself, requires trust not only in the members taking on the responsibilities but also in God to provide for and enable a rapidly growing organism.

In the quiet this morning, my meditation on the changes in the early Jesus Movement has me thinking about change in general. Life never stops changing. I’m facing some life changes right now, in fact. This means there will always be challenges. How I handle the change is, I believe, a barometer of my spiritual health. I can follow the path of trust and obedience to greater levels of spiritual health and growth, or I can follow the path of anger, resentment, complaint, and depression which becomes an unhealthy cycle for me and everyone around me.

Lord, help me trust and obey that I might spiritually grow with every challenge.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Bullies

March 26, 2024 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name.
Acts 5:41 (NIV)

I was only six years old the first time I was bullied. It was in the school bathroom. An older kid in a really mean voice and threatening posture told me to give him whatever money was in my pockets. When I responded that I didn’t have any, he got mad and said he didn’t believe me. When I insisted, he told me he was going to find me after school and beat me up.

Power is the modus operandi of the Kingdoms of this World. Even children on the playground learn how to leverage power (I’m older and much larger than you) and threats (give me your lunch money or I’ll beat you up) for personal gain at the expense of the weak.

Bullying doesn’t end as we grow older. It just gets more insidious and protected by larger systems both legal and illegal. The power changes (power to fire, the power to harass, the power to ostracize, the power to cancel) as do the threats (do what you’re told, don’t question those in power or make waves, prove your loyalty to those in power and/or their dogma, keep your mouth shut). Along my life journey, I have experienced forms of bullying in business, in churches, and in academia.

I just read a fascinating investigative journalism piece the other day about one of the largest and most powerful tech companies in the world. Former employees spoke on record about the toxic corporate culture they experienced. At its root, the culture was just a systemic adult form of bullying.

In today’s chapter, Jesus’ disciples and the fledgling Jesus Movement continue to face off with the same institutional religious system at the Temple. In yesterday’s chapter, Peter and John were jailed and threatened by the bullies in charge to keep their mouths shut, or else. It didn’t work. The believers continued to meet each day at the Temple and proclaim that Jesus rose from the dead and was the Messiah.

It doesn’t take a genius to predict what a bully is going to do when the victim refuses to comply. The playbook is pretty simple. Use force to increase the pain and pressure. Non-compliance is always a threat to a bully because other victims under their thumb might get the idea that they can rebel, too. Ultimately, the bully must also decide if it’s easier to simply get rid of the non-compliant threat.

The bullies in charge of the Temple try to ostracize Jesus’ disciples by making it known that anyone who associates with them will find things becoming very uncomfortable for them. The bullies then bring the Apostles in for questioning. Many of them wanted to put all of them to death and snuff out the threat. Cooler heads prevail and it is decided to increase the pain and pressure. They have the Apostles flogged with 39 lashes. This was known as “40 minus one” because tradition held that 40 lashes would kill a man, so 39 lashes would bring a man just to the point of death without doing him in.

The Apostles left their lashing “rejoicing.” Jesus had prophesied that they would suffer as He had suffered. They celebrated the event as an honor to have walked in their Master’s sandals and to have suffered the wrath of the same bullies.

In the quiet this morning, I am reminded that bullies eventually lose their power when those under their domination no longer fear their power nor the painful consequences of standing up to them. I think of a brave man standing in front of a tank in Tiananmen Square. I think of young black people facing fire hoses and police dogs on the streets of Birmingham. I think of a lone, unbowed Russian dissident dying in an arctic gulag.

In both of their “trials” in front of the Temple bullies, Peter says the same thing. “We must obey God rather than you.” And, that is what God tells me time and time again throughout the Great Story. Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell.” This means that if/when push comes to shove the real question for me is, “Do I really believe what I say I believe?”

Peter and the early disciples certainly did.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Compelled

March 25, 2024 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

“As for us, we cannot help speaking about what we have seen and heard.”
Acts 4:20 (NIV)

I gave a message yesterday to our local gathering of Jesus’ followers. As I got up to deliver the message I realized that the page with the message I had prepared and all my notes was still back in my home office sitting on my desk. Believe it or not, I didn’t freak out. The truth is that I have forgotten my message at home before. I just started speaking. The words just came to me. It’s always been this way.

In today’s chapter, Peter and John are arrested and thrown into the Temple jail overnight. The next morning they are brought before the Temple rulers. Luke is careful to document the names of the leaders who were there because for his contemporary readers, it was a who’s who of the Jewish authorities.

Annas was like the godfather of the Temple and its lucrative financial operations. The Temple wasn’t just a religious system. It was a business, which is why Jesus got righteously angry, turned over the tables of the moneychangers, and declared that Annas and his mob had turned the Temple “into a den of thieves.” Annas had been the high priest, but the Romans deposed him. So, Annas did what the head of all mob families do. He made sure a string of his sons and sons-in-law held the office of high priest, but everyone knew that it was Annas pulling the strings. On the night Jesus was arrested, the first place they took Him was Annas’ house.

Luke also takes care to note that the Temple leaders who arrested Peter and John were from a religious Jewish sect known as Sadducees. The Sadducees didn’t believe in resurrection or an afterlife, and it was Peter and John’s claims that Jesus was resurrected and they had witnessed it that made the Temple leaders want to shut them up, and fast.

The following day, when Peter and John are brought before the same men who conspired to have Jesus crucified, the two former fishermen from Galilee boldly and articulately repeat their message. Jesus, whom they had killed a few weeks before, had been risen from the dead. The religious leaders were in a bind. Peter and John had clearly performed a miracle, healing a well-known, local man that everyone knew had been lame his whole life. Peter and John were unschooled blue-collar deplorables from Galilee, but when they opened their mouths, they spoke with boldness and authority, reciting scriptures like they’d been to the finest rabbinical schools. So, they did the only thing they could do. They tried to bully Peter and John with threats and commanded them to keep their mouths shut.

Peter and John respond by making it clear that they can’t shut up. What they heard, saw, and experienced with Jesus compels them to speak. That’s just what they’re going to do.

As I read Peter and John’s message in the previous chapter, and their defense in today’s chapter, I could not help but remember Jesus’ words to them: “When you are brought before synagogues, rulers and authorities, do not worry about how you will defend yourselves or what you will say, for the Holy Spirit will teach you at that time what you should say.”

In the quiet this morning, I think back to when I was a young teenager and I surrendered my life to Jesus. In an experience I can’t ever forget, God told me I would proclaim His Word. From that moment on, I found that I could just start talking about Jesus, and the words would come. I have multiple people have asked me how I write these posts every weekday. It’s the same way. Some mornings I stare at a blank screen with no earthly idea what to write. I start typing, and the words come. And, what Peter and John said to the bullies who tried to shut them up in today’s chapter resonates with me. I can’t stop. I’m compelled by what I have seen, heard, and experienced following Jesus.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Third Place Witness

March 22, 2024 Tom Vander Well 2 Comments

“You killed the author of life, but God raised him from the dead. We are witnesses of this.”

“Now, fellow Israelites, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders.”

“Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord…”
Acts 3:15, 17, 19 (NIV)

About the time I was in college, I remember the coffee shop phenomenon began to explode. It was my grandfather who first introduced me to a daily cup o’ Joe. I was in high school and I spent that week drinking Taster’s Choice instant. Coffee was the pot of Folgers my parents made, or else it was whatever they were brewing at the greasy spoon or the 7-11.

Suddenly, there were specialty coffee shops popping up everywhere offering different varieties and flavors of coffee beans made in special ways. Freshly roasted coffee beans from exotic places were freshly roasted and brewed for you in comfortable and intimate spaces where you wanted to hang out and enjoy your java.

In those days, everyone was talking about “a third place.” You had your home, and you had your workplace, but everyone needed “a third place” to hang out, to meet with others, and to enjoy being. Coffee shops became popular third places to be and they remain so to this day. Even in our small town here in Iowa, you can choose from three different coffee shops within a few yards of one another.

In today’s chapter, it is still the early days of the Jesus Movement. Before His ascension, Jesus told His disciples, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Jesus told them to start in Jerusalem. There, on the day of Pentecost and the beginning of the Festival of Weeks, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit happened. Jewish pilgrims from all over the known world had come to Jerusalem for the festival. When the Holy Spirit poured into the disciples, they began proclaiming Jesus’ message in all of the various native tongues represented in the crowd. About three thousand people believed in Jesus and were baptized that day. And, most of those three thousand would go back to their native lands throughout the known world when the festival was over and tell others about Jesus, His message, and the amazing things they’d experienced.

Talk about effective word-of-mouth marketing.

For Peter and the core group of disciples. They are still in Jerusalem, and each day they go to the Temple. The Temple wasn’t just a building. It was an entire complex with courtyards and areas where people gathered. The Temple was their third place. It’s where everyone went, not only to worship and follow prescribed offerings and sacrifices, but to hang out, to converse, and to socialize. It is where Jesus hung out when He was in Jerusalem. It’s where everyone hung out when they were in Jerusalem. And so, it is where Peter and John go.

When I go to a coffee shop uptown or to the pub, I typically always run into people I know. There are usual crowds that I can make a safe bet will be there. Friends and acquaintances will pop in for a pour-over or a pint and stop to chat.

The Temple would have been the same way. In today’s chapter, Peter and John heal a beggar at one of the Temple gates. It became a sensation because everyone knew that beggar. He was there begging every day at the same place. He was a regular and all the regulars passed by him. In the Temple courts, Peter and John would have recognized regulars. Some of the religious leaders who tried and convicted Jesus would have been there, and perhaps the very Temple guards who arrested Jesus in the Garden and were the first to strike Jesus’ face with their unjust blows. All of these people would have been in the Temple when Jesus was teaching there just a few weeks before. Peter and John probably even knew people by name. They had gotten to know certain individuals when they were there every day, all day, with Jesus. That’s what happens when you hang out regularly in a “third place.”

It is this regular crowd of good religious Jews that crowds around Peter, John, and the ecstatic, jumping-for-joy, and formerly lame beggar from the Beautiful Gate. When the crowd of regulars gather around, Peter delivers to them his message.

Peter doesn’t mince words. He calls out this crowd of regulars with the leaders and soldiers listening in. Peter states that they, this group of regulars, had rejected, wronged, and killed an innocent Jesus. But this isn’t a message of anger and condemnation, it is an offering of a second chance. Peter proclaims Jesus’ resurrection, which he and John had witnessed. “You and the religious leaders were ignorant,” Peter says. Now, he offers forgiveness, redemption, and salvation if they will simply repent and believe.

In the quiet this morning, I think back to my early days of being a disciple. In those days I was taught that being a “witness” involved standing on street corners, knocking on doors, and parroting a scripted and well-rehearsed pitch to strangers. I won’t deny that some people responded. The Lord works in mysterious ways, as they say.

But today’s chapter reminds me that being my witness begins at home, in my third place with all the regulars just as the Jesus Movement began with Peter and John’s witness in Jerusalem, in the Temple. My witness is woven into all the “third places” I frequent. It is in the way I greet people with kindness. It is my patience with the barista or pub tender who is so busy I feel ignored. It is my generosity in the tips I leave or the pint I buy for the person next to me. It is in the gentleness and mercy with which I relate to individuals who may have wronged me, or who simply rub me the wrong way.

The institutional church I grew up in loved to cram being a “witness” into programs, processes, and prescribed pitches. But, the further I get in my journey, the more I have come to realize and embrace that my “witness” as a disciple of Jesus is how I interact with the regulars in my life. It begins at home with my most intimate loved ones, at my place of work with my colleagues, and in the third places I frequent with friends and community. If my witness doesn’t start here, it will never make it to the ends of the earth.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Purpose & Timing

March 21, 2024 Tom Vander Well 1 Comment

When the day of Pentecost came, they were all together in one place.
Acts 2:1 (NIV)

One of the things I’ve observed throughout the Great Story is the fact that God does things with both purpose and timing. The purpose and timing happening in today’s chapter can easily go unnoticed by the modern and casual reader.

In reading and meditating on the first two chapters of Acts, I couldn’t help but notice a pattern:

Before His ministry began, Jesus spent 40 days of preparation fasting, and praying. He was then baptized by John, the Holy Spirit descended on Him, and His ministry was effectively launched.

Before their ministry began, Jesus’ disciples spent 40 days of preparation. According to their own testimony, the risen Jesus appeared to them during this period and taught them. They were then baptized in the Holy Spirit and their ministry was effectively launched. (FYI: At this point, the disciples [“follower”] became known as apostles [“sent”]).

But that’s just the top layer. The pattern gets even deeper and better, because the events of Jesus’ crucifixion, resurrection, and the outpouring of Holy Spirit are purposefully timed. They correlate to events and festivals God established through Moses back in Exodus and Leviticus at the time God established His law. What God was doing through Moses and the Law are linked to what God was doing through Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

The Passover festival was a celebration of God’s deliverance of His people in the final climactic plague on the Egyptians that led to the end of their slavery and the beginning of their freedom. In that plague, death came to the first-born male of every household unless the blood of a sacrificial lamb was spread across the door. The spirit of death “passed over” the households whose doors were covered in the blood of the lamb.

Jesus’ death and subsequent resurrection at the time of the Passover festival marked God’s deliverance for any who believes, leading to the end of slavery to sin and the beginning of spiritual freedom. Jesus became the sacrificial lamb, His blood poured out for all. His victory over death and resurrection made it possible for death to pass over any and all who would believe.

Pentecost was another ancient Hebrew festival, known as the Festival of Weeks. The first fruits of the harvest were celebrated and brought to the Temple as offerings. It was also traditionally commemorated as the day when God gave Moses the Law back in the book of Exodus.

So on the day of commemoration of God giving the Law through Moses, God gave the Holy Spirit to all believers. In His Message on the Mountain, Jesus said, “I didn’t come to abolish the Law (of Moses) and the Prophets, but to fulfill them.” The outpouring of the Holy Spirit was this fulfillment. To the believers in Corinth Paul wrote: “You show that you are a letter from Christ, the result of our ministry, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.” (emphasis added).

In kicking off the harvest celebration by the bringing of first-fruit offerings, Jesus has all of the disciples, the first fruits of His early ministry. As He once told them, “I tell you, open your eyes and look at the fields! They are ripe for harvest.” With the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the launched ministry of taking Jesus’ Message to the world, it is a celebration of a spiritual harvest of souls reaping eternal life.

In the quiet this morning, I find myself comforted in the reminder that God works with purpose and timing. I believe this is not only true in the events described in today’s chapter, but in my life, as well. There was a lot that the Apostles still didn’t see or understand about what was happening. In the same way, I often find myself on life’s road without clarity or understanding of what God is doing or where I’m clearly being led. Nevertheless, I know God works with purpose and timing, and I will continue to trust that today as I press on in the journey.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Book Summary List, Chapter-a-Day

Acts (Mar-Apr 2024)

March 20, 2024 Tom Vander Well 2 Comments

Each photo below corresponds to a chapter-a-day post for the book of Acts published by Tom Vander Well in March and April of 2024. Click on the photo linked to each chapter to read the post.

You’re all caught up! Posts will be added here as they are published. Click on the image below for easy access to other recent posts indexed by book.

Chapter-a-Day

The Unknown Disciples

March 20, 2024 Tom Vander Well 2 Comments

“Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
Acts 1:21-22 (NIV)

Over the centuries, followers of Jesus in many different varieties have adopted certain texts that are regularly used in corporate gatherings. One of them is known as the Apostle’s Creed, which is a statement of core beliefs. Among the stated beliefs is that of “the holy catholic Church.” For those of the Protestant persuasion, this statement prompts a lot of head-scratching. “Wait a minute. We’re not Catholic!?”

The word catholic is an adjective meaning “broad or wide-ranging in tastes, interests, or the like; having sympathies with all; broad-minded; liberal.” The Apostles Creed isn’t referring to the institution of the Roman Catholic Church, but rather it is referring to all believers around the globe of every persuasion.

Along my journey, it has been my observation that most believers don’t give this specific belief statement much thought. We tend to think in terms of our particular silo like loyal fans of a particular sports team. We stay in our lane, attend our team’s gatherings, and largely don’t think much about the other teams in our league, let alone in other leagues around the world. Yet, the Great Story ends with a picture of eternity in which there are people of “every tribe and language and people and nation.”

Today we begin our chapter-a-day trek through the Acts of the Apostles or just Acts. It is the history of the early Jesus Movement from Jesus’. resurrection through the first, roughly, thirty years. It is written by Dr. Luke, the same man who investigated and wrote an account of Jesus’ story that we know by his name, Luke. A physician by vocation, Luke became a follower of Jesus whose investigation into the Jesus story led him to become an associate of the Apostles. He eventually traveled with the Apostle Paul, writing some of Acts of the Apostles as an eyewitness account of what happened.

What struck me in Luke’s opening chapter was his mention of just how many followers were around during Jesus’ resurrection and in the earliest days of the Movement. I tend to think just in terms of the eleven disciples (the Twelve, minus Judas) and the Marys who were at the tomb. Luke describes about a hundred and twenty people who were regularly meeting together with Jesus’ disciples after the resurrection. When it came time to fill Judas’ open position in the Twelve, the stipulation was that it had to be a person who had been a follower and member of Jesus’ entourage from His baptism all the way through to His resurrection. There were enough of them that two were appointed who then drew straws.

I contemplated these 120 unnamed, largely forgotten believers. Many of them had been just as faithful in following Jesus throughout His ministry as the Twelve had been. It wasn’t just the Twelve and a few women who interacted with the risen Jesus. In his letter to the believers in Corinth, Paul states the total number of people who witnessed the risen Jesus was around 500 over the 40 days between His resurrection and ascension. Paul even states that most of them were still alive if the Corinthians wanted to corroborate his statement.

In the quiet this morning, I meditated on the fact that relatively few individuals got mentioned and top billing in the history of the Jesus Movement. There was a whole host of unknown, unmentioned followers who had their own personal Jesus story. They were a crucial part of participating in and carrying out Jesus’ mission. It is not unlike the realization of what it means when I say the Apostles Creed and state that I believe in the “holy, catholic Church.” I’m stating that I believe there are fellow believers of different persuasions around the world, but do I really think about them in more than a mental acknowledgment that they exist?

For the past several years, Wendy and I have regularly prayed for a group of orphans being raised in an orphanage on the other side of the world. We have photos and names of each one of the orphans in a little photo album. We pray for them each by name as part of our daily prayers. We support the work that is providing for them. It’s amazing how, over time, our prayers have led to genuine care and concern for them. It’s a small thing, but it’s a tangible way to put action to our belief statement. If I really believe what I say I believe, I want to be both mindful and active in supporting all of the unknown and (to me) anonymous disciples around the world.

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Chapter-a-Day

Testimony & Verdict

March 19, 2024 Tom Vander Well Leave a comment

Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.
John 21:25 (NIV)

Last year I had the opportunity to give a legal deposition. It was my first time doing so, and it was an interesting experience giving testimony before a judge, court recorder, and opposing attorneys. Before the deposition, I found myself thinking a lot about the way I wanted to respond to questions. My prevailing desire was to keep my answers very clear and concise, sticking to what I knew was true based on my experience.

Today’s chapter concludes John’s account of Jesus’ story, and it ends with a fascinating bit of hyperbole observing that if every story about Jesus were written down all the world’s libraries couldn’t hold the sheer volume. That final thought reminds me as a reader that in writing his account, John had a difficult task. How do I testify to everything I saw, heard, and experienced as a disciple of Jesus in a way that is clear, concise, and communicates what is true? In crafting his testimony, John let specific numbers guide him.

Numbers play a role throughout the Great Story. Even the most casual reader will notice the recurrence of certain numbers. Different numbers have particular symbolic meanings. The number seven, for example, signifies completeness as in the seven days of creation after which God considered creation complete and called it “very good.” Three is considered a divine number as in the number of the Trinity: God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost.

John appears to have been conscious of these numbers in structuring his testimony. He chose seven “signs” or miracles to share as well as seven “I am” statements that Jesus made. Three also makes recurring appearances as in sharing three times the risen Jesus appeared to the disciples. It’s as if John structured his testimony using those numbers as a guide to provide a “complete” and “divine” account to his readers.

John ends his account by describing the events of the third time the risen Jesus was present with the disciples. John lists seven of the disciples who went fishing on the Sea of Galilee. After getting skunked all night, morning arrives and Jesus calls to them from shore, telling them to cast their net on the right side of the boat. When they did there were so many fish in the net they couldn’t pull the haul into the boat. They had to tow it to the shore where they found Jesus was making a breakfast of grilled fish and bread (a little homage to the feeding of the 5,000 with fish and bread that John described back in chapter six).

John then shares that Jesus asked Peter to affirm his love three times, followed by three commands to Peter to “feed” and “take care” of Jesus’ “sheep.” Peter denied Jesus three times. With three affirmations and commands, Peter is restored to his position of leadership among the disciples. Jesus then foreshadows for Peter that he will one day follow Jesus in stretching out his hands in crucifixion. When Peter asks Jesus about John’s fate, Jesus says, “What’s it to you if I want him to live until I return?”

John is admittedly addressing what may have been a couple of FAQs of his contemporary first-century believers. He states quite directly that rumors were saying that he wouldn’t die, and he puts that rumor to rest. I also wonder if there weren’t those who wondered, “Why is Peter the leader of the Jesus Movement if he denied Jesus?” John’s final chapter would quell any doubt about Peter being Jesus’ appointed, “rock solid” leader.

In the quiet this morning, I am reflecting on this chapter-a-day trek through John. I have been struck this time by the beautiful and thoughtful way that John structured his account and emphasized his testimony to the truth of what he witnessed. This is John’s deposition. He uses the noun for “witness” or “testimony” 14 times and the verb for “testify” 33 times. I find upon reflection that he has given clear and concise testimony to what he knew to be true about Jesus based on his experience.

Once again, as a reader, he leaves me to decide if I believe his testimony and what verdict I will personally render regarding the question “Who is Jesus?”

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

Wayfarer

Monthly Archives: March 2024

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