The Interpretive JourneyNew Testament

14. Letters15. Gospels 16. Acts 17. Revelation

Unit 4

NT – Acts

• Introduction

– Four versions of the life and ministry of Jesus, one story of the birth and growth of the early church

– Title?• “The continuing acts of Jesus by his Spirit through the apostles and

other early Christian leaders” • “Acts” for short

– Acts presents unique interpretive challenges• Normative – the church in every age should imitate the early church• Descriptive – early church valuable and inspiring, but not necessarily

binding on us

• Acts: a sequel to Luke

– Luke produced a single work in two parts: Luke-Acts.

– Luke intended to link these two books together• Compare Luke 1:1-4 with Acts 1:1-2• Thematic and structural parallels between the two books• Definite overlap between the ending of Luke and the

beginning of Acts

– What Jesus began to do during his earthly ministry he now continues to do through his Spirit-empowered followers.

• What kind of book is Acts?

– Acts is a story that focuses on key church leaders.

– Acts is theological history.

• As a historian Luke composes a reliable record of what happened in the move of the gospel from Jerusalem to Rome.

• As a theologian, Luke tells the story for the purpose of advancing the Christian faith.

• Both historian and theologian?

– Luke shapes his story for theological purposes. How do we find theology in a story?

• Ask the standard story questions• Pay attention to clues and instructions from the author• Look carefully at direct discourse

– Single most helpful guideline g look for repeated themes and patterns.

• Why did Luke write Acts?

“Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught.”

– Luke 1:1-4

– Acts as a comprehensive discipleship manual?

– Luke shows believers that what God promised in the OT and fulfilled in Jesus, he now continues to work out through his church.

Spirit Church Gospel World

– Luke’s purposes/themes:• Holy Spirit• God’s sovereignty• Church• Prayer• Suffering• Gentiles• Witness

• How is Acts organized? Acts 1:8 holds the key to understanding how Luke

organizes his story of the triumphant expansion of the gospel from Jerusalem (heart of Israel) to Rome (heart of the empire).

Acts 1-6 “in Jerusalem” Peter

Acts 7-12 “in Judea and Samaria”

Acts 13-28 “to the ends of the earth” Paul

In the very last verse of Acts, we find Paul in a Roman prison, but the gospel of Jesus Christ marches on … “without hindrance” (last word in the Greek text).

• Grasping the message of Acts

– We read Acts in the much the same way that we read the Gospels

– One major interpretive challenge:

Normative Descriptive

Acts is normative so that the church in every age should imitate the experiences and practices of the early church.

Acts is merely descriptive of what was valuable and inspiring in the early church, but not necessarily binding on us today.

– We suggest that we interpret Acts as both normative and descriptive. Difficulty is knowing what is normative and what is merely descriptive.

– Guidelines for discerning what is normative.

• Look for what Luke intended to communicate.• Look for positive and negative examples in the

characters of the story.• Read individual episodes in light of the overall story.• Look to other parts of Acts for clarification.• Look for repeated patterns and themes.

NT – Revelation

• Introduction

– Your initial response to reading Revelation?

– “revelation of Jesus Christ” (Rev. 1:1)• “revelation” – unveiling or open display• “of Jesus Christ” – both about Jesus and from Jesus

– In this “final chapter” of the Bible, God pulls back the curtain to give his people a glimpse of his plans for human history—plans that center around Jesus.

• Historical context

– Persecution of Christians is becoming more intense and widespread.• 1:9; 2:3, 9-10, 13; 3:8; 6:9• Emperor Domitian (A.D. 81-96)

“Caesar is Lord”

or

“Jesus is Lord”

– But some Christians are turning away from Christ and compromising with the world system.

– Revelation has a double-edged message

Comfort for those suffering persecution

Warning for the complacent and compromising

• Literary genre? – A letter

• Opens and closes like a NT letter (1:4-5; 22:21)• Whole book is a letter, not just chapters 2-3 • Like other NT letters, Revelation is situational• The central theme may be overcoming

Promise to those who “overcome” at end of the seven messages in chapters 2-3

Revelation 2-3

Believers “overcame him [Satan] by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; they did not love their lives so much as to shrink from death”

Revelation 12:11

“He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son”

Revelation 21:7

– A prophetic letter (1:3; 22:6-7, 10, 18-19)

“Blessed is the one who reads the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear it and take to heart what is written in it, because the time is near.” —Revelation 1:3

• Includes both prediction and proclamation with an emphasis on proclamation.

• Revelation is not just about the future; it is about what God wants in the here and now.

• An “unsealed” or open book (22:10)

– A prophetic-apocalyptic letter

“The revelation [apocalypsis] of Jesus Christ, which God gave him to show his servants what must soon take place. He made it known by sending his angel to his servant John.

—Revelation 1:3

• “Apocalyptic” – Literature in which God promises to intervene in human

history to overthrow evil and establish his kingdom– Intensified form of Hebrew prophecy written during time

of crisis– Ezekiel, Daniel, Zechariah in the OT– Abundance of strange and bizarre images (picture

language)

• What is the purpose of Revelation?

– Readers enter the symbolic world created by the images of Revelation to get heavenly perspective on their own world.

– Revelation uses prophetic counter-images to answer the question: “Who is Lord?”

– Main message: “God will win!”

• Interpreting Revelation

– Traditional approaches:

• Preterist • Historicist• Futurist• Idealist

– Guidelines for reading Revelation:

• Read Revelation with humility.• Try to discover the message to the original readers.• Don’t try to detect a strict chronological map of future

events.• Take Revelation seriously, but don’t always take it

literally.• Pay attention when John identifies an image.• Look to the OT and historical-cultural context when

interpreting images and symbols.• Above all, focus on the main idea and don’t press all the

details.

• How does Revelation unfold?

– Introduction (1:1-3:22)– Vision of God and the Lamb (4:1-5:14)– Opening of the Seven Seals (6:1-8:1)– Sounding of the Seven Trumpets (8:2-11:19)– People of God vs. Powers of Evil (12:1-14:20)– Pouring out of the Seven Bowls (15:1-16:21)– Judgment of Babylon (17:1-19:5)– God’s Ultimate Victory (19:6-22:5)– Conclusion (22:6-21)