Have you ever wondered why Stephen reviewed Israel’s history with the experts in the Law? Did he not realize they already knew these stories? Probably by memory? Or was he doing something else? This week we read through Stephen’s entire speech, his murder, and what happened as a result of it. Because this was an…
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This week we finished up with Acts chapter 5, and there was much rejoicing! We took a step outside the Christian bubble to look at this section from the angle of the Sanhedrin. We discussed the irony in their refusal to speak the name of Jesus and how Gamaliel’s response to the situation was probably…
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This week our guest teacher, Craig Bondy, guided the class in a more accurate understanding of the high priesthood in the Old Testament versus that of first century Judea. Building on this, we looked up a number of passages in the Gospels and Acts which refer to the High Priest as either Annas or Caiaphas….
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This week we retraced our steps in Acts 5:17-24 to more closely examine the second arrest story of the nascent church. We learned that Luke often uses a literary technique—the phrase “they/he rose up”—to emphasize a shift in the story line. We studied the motivation behind the second arrest and learned that it was more…
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This week we compared and contrasted the arrest narratives from Acts 4 and Acts 5. Though some scholars have contended the arrest in Acts 5 is a doublet of Acts 4, when examined closely for similarities and differences, it’s clear that the arrests have completely different catalysts, circumstances surrounding the arrest, and final outcomes (see…
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