Acts

What makes Acts special?

Acts is the second volume of a two-part work written by the same person who wrote Luke. In Luke, the writer told “all that Jesus did and taught from the very first until he was taken to heaven” (Acts 1.1,2). And this is where Acts begins. Jesus is about to go up to heaven, but before he does, he tells his disciples to “tell everyone about me in Jerusalem, in all Judea, in Samaria, and everywhere in the world.” Then he promises to send the Holy Spirit who will give power to all his followers (1.8).

Why was Acts written?

The writer of Acts wanted to show that nothing could keep the good news about Jesus from spreading everywhere. But that is only part of the story. Acts also tells about how the earliest followers struggled to decide who could belong to God's people. Since Jesus' first followers were Jews, it was only natural for many of them to think Jesus' message was only for Jews. But the Spirit showed them that Jesus came to invite people from every nation and race to be part of God's people. Acts 15 tells about the important meeting in Jerusalem where early church leaders agreed that the Spirit of God was leading them to reach out to both Jews and Gentiles with the good news about Jesus.

What's the story behind the scene?

The writer of Luke and Acts followed the same style of writing used by historians and public speakers of the time. He knows many details about the people and places the apostles visited and about how those who spread the good news did miracles in Jesus' name.

Acts also tells about the man named Saul (Paul), a loyal Jew who had been working to put an end to the Jesus movement (Acts 8.1-3; 9.1,2). While he was on a trip to arrest some of Jesus' followers, Saul saw Jesus in a vision that changed his life. He became a follower of Jesus and a great preacher of the good news. Much of the second half of Acts tells about Paul's preaching and experiences, which included many journeys throughout the lands that bordered the Mediterranean Sea on the east and north. He took the message about Jesus as far as Rome, the world's most important city at that time (28.16-31). See the map on MAP16 to get a picture of the large area that Paul and others reached with the good news about Jesus.

How is Acts constructed?

The message about Jesus spread outward from Jerusalem in growing circles. The following outline shows how Acts can be divided into major sections according to how the good news spread throughout the known world, starting in Jerusalem and going out all the way to Rome, the capital city of the huge Roman Empire.