City Life Starter

Written by Paul Lane

The Word

1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
Acts 1:1-3 (ESV)

Reflection

Theophilus and Job are two characters in the Bible that we don’t know existed for sure.  Some think that Job was only an archetype, created to teach a lesson.  Similarly, some think that Theophilus was a created character, to protect the believers from troubles with the Roman authorities.  I hope they are real people whom I can meet in Heaven.  It would be such a joy to take them on a tour of our modern lives and to thank them for what they left for us.  Their stories have been such a help in my life.

The evidence is very strong that Theophilus existed, but there’s a good chance that that was not his actual name.  At the time of the writing of the book of Acts, probably 60 AD, Roman society couldn’t distinguish Christians from Jews but was sensitive to anyone who was not loyal to Roman authority.  So, if Theophilus was a person of social position, he would have to be careful with how his associations would be perceived, hence Theophilus is probably a pseudonym.

That said, it should be noted that Luke is writing to this person, Theophilus, some pretty fantastic things. Luke is claiming that Jesus was raised from the dead and that there was another kingdom that one should be loyal to.  Either of these claims could be seen as a sign of disloyalty to Rome and could result in the death penalty.

Application

It is interesting to look at the lives of early Christians and to compare them to our own.  And it seems that they did some crazy things.  But they have gone on and as it says in Hebrews, they are cheering us on:

1 In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2 until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.
Acts 1:1-3 (ESV)

It is our time to live lives of desperate longing for the Kingdom of God and continual seeking His purposes in our lives.  There is a crowd that is cheering us on.  Let us take on life and whatever God has for us.  We can be confident of the goodness of it.

Prayer

Dear Lord, I pray for Your grace to be showered upon me and that Your encouragement will overwhelm me and drive me on to do the things You have prepared for me to do.  Let it be that I continue the Book of Acts according to Your will.  In Jesus’ name I pray, Amen.