From the time when Jesus ascended into heaven to the present day, Jesus sovereignly works through His children to continue to spread the gospel. For a time, the apostles of Jesus did not have either Jesus with them or His Spirit. During this time, though, the eleven apostles continued to seek God even as they chose a new apostle to take the place of Judas Iscariot. The apostles of Jesus spent this time waiting but not waiting and doing nothing. They prayed and worshiped God together. During one of the times of worship and prayer, the Spirit of God descended upon each one of them. Empowered by the Spirit, they went out preaching and telling people about Jesus in all different languages as the Spirit gave them utterance. As they were preaching, Peter stood up and addressed the gathering crowd and began to preach about Jesus and the crowd’s need for Him. As Peter preached, God pricked many in their hearts and they were convicted of their sins. After Peter’s sermon, many were baptized. During the time after this, the apostles continued to make new disciples of Jesus through the power of the Spirit. The Spirit was working mightily through the apostles. Just like before, the apostles and the disciples gathered together to worship and to pray to God. During these gatherings, they partook of the Lord’s Supper. They fellowshipped and gathered many times. God continued to add to their fellowship daily as many as were called. As the message of Jesus spread to many people, the growth
Luke was a medical doctor, a missionary, and evangelist, a historian, a researcher, and the writer of the third Gospel. The book of Luke was written in a formal literacy introduction noting his purpose in writing, his methodology, and the attempts others had made in such writing. Luke is the author of the book and it was written in AD 60 in Caesarea. According to Hindson and Elmer Luke’s purpose is to give “an orderly sequence” of the events about Christ’s birth, life, and sacrificial death followed by his resurrection and ascension back to heaven. The occasion calling for Luke to write his Gospel was that Theophilus, and other new believers like him, needed a clear account of the life and ministry of Jesus as an aid to confirm his faith
Jesus’ departure also created anxiety and questions amongst the apostles (Pentecost, 1981). Thus, in the narrative of John 13:36-14:31, Jesus lovingly admonishes the apostles with the command of “Let not your heart be troubled” (Wiersbe, 2007). As a consequence of this command, Jesus promised the apostles a place in heaven along with Christ’s return (John 14:3), assurance that Christ was the way to the Father (John 14:6), and a permanent, indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit (John 14:16; Acts 13:52) who would be the apostle’s teacher (Luke 12:12) in Jesus’ absence (Gromacki, 1978). Most profound is the fact that with Jesus’ ascension into heaven, the apostles would benefit in Jesus’ absence (John 14:9) with greater spiritual power (Pentecost, 1981). Additionally, Jesus also revealed the divine essence of the Godhead (John 14:9) while further defining the true essence of Christianity, “Ye in me, I in you” (Gromacki, 1978).
Many people do not know that loving your enemy is the heart of the gospel. Although loving and praying for your enemy may seem impossible at times, it is written in the gospel of Matthew that loving your enemy is loving God. In Matthew 5:43, Jesus teaches about loving your enemy, praying for your enemy, and shows examples of loving your enemy.
The disciples are witnesses to the decent and gifts of the Holy Spirit. Then by their witness the are to proclaim the gospel to Jerusalem, Judea, Samar and to the all the ends of
The fundamental theme presented in chapter twenty five and twenty six of David W. Dorries book Spirit Filled Christology maintains that Jesus came, not only as a pathway for salvation, but also to lead as an example of the Spirit’s movements and to empower His church with supernatural abilities to further the ministry that He began. In order to expound upon his statements, Dorries uses historical context.
Acts of the Apostles chronicles the rapid advancement of the Gospel by way of the gift of the Holy Spirit. “The Holy Spirit in the Acts of the Apostles: The Charismatic Community in Mission” takes into account the narratives succeeding Pentecost including Spirit Baptisms from Samaria to Ephesus (Acts
The gospel of Luke and John are gospels about Jesus and John the Baptist. They have several differences and similarities. The Gospel of Luke describes the conception and birth of John the Baptist and Jesus while the gospel of Luke describes their life after birth. Summaries, variances, and connections of these two gospels are discussed below.
18 And Jesus came and said to them, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. 19 Go therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in[a] the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I have commanded you. And behold, I am with you always, to the end of the age.”
They had enjoyed a time of fellowship with Jesus and teaching from Him. But He was now preparing them to understand that he was going to leave them. This was one of the factors that were going to turn these believers world upside down and bring and opportunity to turn the world upside down. Because he was teaching his disciples. He said to them, “The Son of Man is
Beare, Francis Wright. "Mission of the Disciples and the Mission Charge: Matthew 10 and Parallels." Journal of Biblical Literature, vol. 89, no. 1, Mar. 1970, pp. 1-13.
The Gospel of Judas was discovered in the late 1970’s near El Minya in Egypt however the gospel was not available to scholars until 2006 when National Geographic published a translation of the Coptic text. The Gospel of Judas, believed to be written sometime in the second century, contains sixteen chapters that document Jesus teaching spiritual matters and cosmology to Judas. In 2006, when the translation was released, National Geographic came out and said that this text reveals Judas as the perfect gnostic where his act of betrayal is righteous and allows him to surpass all other disciples. One of the major problems with the release of this translation was that scholars, like April DeConick, began realizing that some words and phrases
All of the Gospels have a special and important message within them. It is the Gospel of Luke that today’s Christians need the most, because of the powerful message that it provides. It seems as though today's Christians have lost the understanding that God loves everyone and that Jesus came for everyone.
In chapters 15 and 16 of John, Jesus prepared his disciples for his departure. Part of that preparation was disclosure of the coming of the Holy Spirit and his work (John 15:26). Immediately preceding this He referred to the rejection of the Jews in spite of the testimony of the miraculous signs he had performed (15:24-25). He then made reference to the testimony of the coming Holy Spirit whom he described as the “Advocate” (15:26) and instructed the apostles that they too must testify. It was the Spirit that fueled their later fulfillment of Jesus’ instructions and accredited their testimony with miracles. The Spirit of Truth bore witness to the truth of their words with his power. In this way, he was, indeed, their advocate as well as their companion in ministry and in their walk with God.
Short summary: Jesus was taken up into Heaven (in the clouds). Jesus giving his apostles instruction before his ascension of God’s promise. Jesus said, “You will receive the Spirit and be my witness.” The believers cast lots to replace Judas, Matthias was chosen to replace Judas.
Each of the four Gospels contains points in ecclesiology. In the Great Commission, Jesus’ last instruction to the Apostles is to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing and teaching people (Matthew 28:19-20). For Jesus’ mission to continue and for his Church to grow, discipleship is necessary. Discipleship is a prominent theme in all four Gospels, for purposes of this essay, only the Gospels of John and Luke-Acts will be analyzed. The similarities regarding discipleship in these Gospels include images of the net and fishing, and the sheep/shepherd/sheepfold. The differences include the preparing of the Twelve to carry on Jesus' ministry in Luke, and service to the community and passing of authority in John's Gospel.