a. What miraculous event marks the beginning of the mission in Jerusalem, and how does Luke describe the growth of the church in Jerusalem?

“When the day of Pentecost had come, they were all together in one place. And suddenly from heaven there came a sound like the rush of a violent wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. Divided tongues, as of fire, appeared among them, and a tongue rested on each of them. All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit and began to speak in other languages, as the Spirit gave them ability” (Acts 2:1-4). This miraculous event marks the first instance in Acts in which the apostles were imbued with the Holy Spirit and begin their mission. In this particular instance, the apostles speak in languages unknown to them, but in languages known by witnesses of the event, about God as we can see in Acts 2:11: “in our own languages we hear them speaking about God’s deeds of power.” Then, after a long speech by Peter telling these witnesses about fulfilled prophecies and the power of God, the Bible states, “that day about three thousand persons were added” (Acts 2:41), illustrating the phenomenal success of Peter’s speech. Luke describes the growth of the church in Jerusalem as happening very quickly. For example, as I previously stated, three thousand people who witnessed the miraculous apostolic event converted in a day, and then later in Acts 4:4, another five thousand started to believe as a result of both the miraculous healing of a lame man and a short speech that followed. The growth of the church in Jerusalem is not met without challenges, however, as priests, the captain of the temple, and the Sadducees arrested Peter and John for proclaiming that in Jesus there is the resurrection of the dead.

b. What forms of opposition do the disciples encounter, and how they overcome this opposition?

The disciples faced arrest on multiple occasions, the first being the one I mentioned above where the elders of church in Jerusalem arrested the disciples for spreading the word of Jesus. They overcame this by acting boldly and telling the council that the formerly lame man standing before them was healed by the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, to which the council had nothing to say in opposition. Then, the council ordered Peter and John not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus, but Peter and John refused and the council let them go, “finding no way to punish them because of the people, for all of them praised God for what had happened” (Acts 4:21). The disciples were arrested a second time (Acts 5:17-42) simply because they were healing the sick and performing miracles in the name of Jesus Christ. “Then the high priest took action; he and all who were with him (that is, the sect of the Sadducees), being filled with jealousy, arrested the apostles and put them in the public prison. But during the night an angel of the Lord opened the prison doors, brought them out, and said, ‘Go, stand in the temple and tell the people the whole message about this life.’ When they heard this, they entered the temple at daybreak and went on with their teaching” (Acts 5:17-21). After this, they were again captured and brought before the council, but again, they were released after a Pharisee in the council named Gamaliel convinced the rest of the council that they may be fighting against God by killing the disciples.

c. How do these early events, and the story of the mission to the Samaritans and to the Ethiopian eunuch (8:1-40) illustrate Jesus’ assertion in 1:8 that the growth of the church is unfolding according to (divine) plan?

Acts 1:8 says, “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” The early events as well as the story of the mission to the Samaritans and to the Ethiopian eunuch illustrate Jesus’ assertion that the growth of the church is unfolding according to divine plan because the disciples first began preaching and (successfully) converting people in Jerusalem before coming under severe persecution. As a result of this, all except the apostles were scattered throughout the countryside of Judea and Samaria (just as predicted in 1:8) proclaiming the word. “Philip went down to the city of Samaria and proclaimed the Messiah to them. The crowds with one accord listened eagerly to what was said by Philip, hearing and seeing the signs that he did… there was great joy in that city” (Acts 8:5-8). Philip then was ordered by an angel of the Lord to go south of Jerusalem towards Gaza, where he found an Ethiopian eunuch returning home in a chariot and reading the prophet Isaiah. Philip joined the eunuch in the chariot, first helping the eunuch to understand the scripture of Isaiah and them proclaiming the good news about Jesus. “As they were going along the road, they came to some water; and the eunuch said, ‘Look, here is water! What is to prevent me from being baptized’… Philip and the eunuch, went down into the water, and Philip baptized him” (Acts 8:36-39). This shows the spread of the good news about Jesus is happening almost exactly as Jesus said it would.