N.T. Wright - Acts For Everyone, Part One

Copyright 2008 Nicholas Thomas Wright

First published in 2008 in Great Britain by
Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge
36 Causton Street
London SW1P 4ST

and in the United States of America by
Westminster John Knox Press
100 Witherspoon Street
Louisville, KY 40202

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British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

ISBN: 978-0-281-05308-7 (U.K. edition)

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is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

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On the very first occasion when someone stood up in public to tell people about Jesus, he made it very clear: this message is for everyone.

It was a great day sometimes called the birthday of the church. The great wind of Gods spirit had swept through Jesus followers and filled them with a new joy and a sense of Gods presence and power. Their leader, Peter, who only a few weeks before had been crying like a baby because hed lied and cursed and denied even knowing Jesus, found himself on his feet explaining to a huge crowd that something had happened which had changed the world for ever. What God had done for him, Peter, he was beginning to do for the whole world: new life, forgiveness, new hope and power were opening up like spring flowers after a long winter. A new age had begun in which the living God was going to do new things in the world beginning then and there with the individuals who were listening to him. This promise is for you, he said, and for your children, and for everyone who is far away (Acts 2.39). It wasnt just for the person standing next to you. It was for everyone.

Within a remarkably short time this came true to such an extent that the young movement spread throughout much of the known world. And one way in which the everyone promise worked out was through the writings of the early Christian leaders. These short works mostly letters and stories about Jesus were widely circulated and eagerly read. They were never intended for either a religious or intellectual elite. From the very beginning they were meant for everyone.

That is as true today as it was then. Of course, it matters that some people give time and care to the historical evidence, the meaning of the original words (the early Christians wrote in Greek), and the exact and particular force of what different writers were saying about God, Jesus, the world and themselves. This series is based quite closely on that sort of work. But the point of it all is that the message can get out to everyone, especially to people who wouldnt normally read a book with footnotes and Greek words in it. Thats the sort of person for whom these books are written. And thats why theres a glossary, in the back, of the key words that you cant really get along without, with a simple description of what they mean. Whenever you see a word in bold type in the text, you can go to the back and remind yourself whats going on.

There are of course many translations of the New Testament available today. The one I offer here is designed for the same kind of reader: one who mightnt necessarily understand the more formal, sometimes even ponderous, tones of some of the standard ones. I have of course tried to keep as close to the original as I can. But my main aim has been to be sure that the words can speak not just to some people, but to everyone.

The book of Acts, which I quoted a moment ago, is full of the energy and excitement of the early Christians as they found God doing new things all over the place and learned to take the good news of Jesus around the world. Its also full of the puzzles and problems that churches faced then and face today crises over leadership, money, ethnic divisions, theology and ethics, not to mention serious clashes with political and religious authorities. Its comforting to know that normal church life, even in the time of the first apostles, was neither trouble-free nor plain sailing, just as its encouraging to know that even in the midst of all their difficulties the early church was able to take the gospel forward in such dynamic ways. Actually, plain sailing reminds us that this is the book where more journeys take place, including several across the sea, than anywhere else in the Bible with the last journey, in particular, including a terrific storm and a dramatic shipwreck. There isnt a dull page in Acts. But, equally importantly, the whole book reminds us that whatever journey we are making, in our own lives, our spirituality, our following of Jesus, and our work for his kingdom, his spirit will guide us too, and make us fruitful in his service. So here it is: Acts for everyone!

To

John Pritchard and Mark Bryant
Fellow workers for the kingdom of God

The Eastern Mediterranean in the First Century AD

1Dear Theophilus,

The previous book which I wrote had to do with everything Jesus began to do and teach. 2I took the story as far as the day when he was taken up, once he had given instructions through the holy spirit to his chosen apostles.

3He showed himself to them alive, after his suffering, by many proofs. He was seen by them for forty days, during which he spoke about Gods kingdom. 4As they were having a meal together, he told them not to go away from Jerusalem, but to wait, as he put it, for the Fathers promise, which I was telling you about earlier. 5John baptized with water, you see; but in a few days from now you will be baptized with the holy spirit.

The English playwright Alan Bennett wrote a famous play about the equally famous madness of a well-known king. In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, England had four kings in succession all called George, and the third of them George III, in other words suffered for a fair amount of his reign from some kind of mental illness, probably porphyria. So Bennett called his play The Madness of George III.

But when they came to make a movie of the play, the movie makers faced a problem. Moviegoers were used to sequels: Spiderman II, Superman III, and so on. A title like that meant that there had been an earlier film of the same name. So they were worried that if people saw a title like The Madness of George III they would assume they had missed the first two films in the sequence and perhaps they wouldnt go to see what they took to be the third. So the filmmakers just called the movie The Madness of King George.

The opening paragraph of the book we are now going to read declares, clearly and solidly, that, unlike Bennetts play and film, it is indeed a sequel. There has been a previous book, and this one continues the story. In fact, it even suggests a kind of title: The Deeds and Teaching of King Jesus II