Reading Luke/Acts Together #50
Acts 1:12-14 is a short little segment, but it intrigues me quite a bit. If you’ve been to the Holy Land with me, you know that “They returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives” is a journey of no more than 15 minutes! It’s all about it being the Sabbath, how far Jews by custom will walk on the Sabbath. They’re back in the city, waiting for what’s next.
And the “they”? People with names! I love Luke’s bothering to list Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James, Simon and Judas – not the betrayer Judas, but another, so common was the name back then! These guys are in our beautiful stained glass windows, and there’s always been a little cottage industry of books about them – but the truth is, we know so very little.
We do know they were real people with names, names given by their parents, known to friends, family and coworkers. None could flash an impressive resume. Like a few billion other people, they would not normally be remembered. I love that thought near the end of George Eliot’s Middlemarch: “The growing good of the world is partly dependent on unhistoric acts; and that things are not so ill with you and me as they might have been, is half owing to the number who lived faithfully a hidden life, and rest in unvisited tombs.” James’s tomb, the climax to the Camino in Santiago de Compostela, is visited by many (including us last week!); and Peter’s tomb has been found in Rome and draws more visitors each year.
The 11in Acts 1 are remembered, not because of any big accomplishments. Peter, John, James and Philip have little cameo appearances in Acts when they did something important for Jesus. Truth is, these 11 are remembered 100% because they were closely associated with Jesus. Good cause to be remembered eternally.
The number 11 is haunting, reminding us that 1 is missing, one who’d been with them, a beloved one of Jesus, present at the Last Supper, his feet washed by Jesus. In Jesus Christ Superstar, after Judas dies, the crowd somberly sings “Poor old Judas.” Poor all of them though, losing a beloved one, his betrayal something the others knew they might just have done themselves.
Wonderfully, Luke adds that these eleven guys were “with the women.” We read about them in Luke chapter 8, Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna “and many others.” The Bible might sound patriarchal to our ears, but in its day, the Bible was a bit on the revolutionary side. A great rabbi, the Messiah himself with a good number of women in his entourage!
Most importantly, Mary, the mother of Jesus was there. I just love that she was with Jesus’ followers after his death and resurrection. I so wish we knew more about her thoughts, loves, habits and life. So lovely that his mother is part of her son’s following post-Easter!
And Jesus’ brothers were there. You’ve probably heard me say that perhaps the greatest proof that Jesus was … Jesus, that he really was God come down to earth, the savior and hope of the world, is that his brother James, and the other boys too, joined in and led the early Church. If anyone could have raised his hand to say Uh, he was nothing special, or Smart guy, but no Messiah, it would have been the brother who grew up with him and knew him best.
We can google the names of these, the first Christians, and find their stories in Scripture. Peter overcoming his denials to preach powerfully; Thomas overcoming his doubts; James and John, sons of Zebedee, leading and then becoming martyrs. I love the mention of Simon the Zealot (who has a great role in Jesus Christ Superstar), as he should be called Simon the ex-Zealot, the Zealots being those who wanted to engage in violent guerilla warfare against the Romans.
All of these in this diverse gathering of people “were of one accord.” The Greek word doesn’t imply sweet, harmonious, bland niceness. They had one priority, a fixation on their singular mission to take up the gauntlet from Jesus and continue his work. Prayer was the key – not asking God for favors, but staying on intimate terms with God and attentive to whatever God was asking of them. That’s how the power flows into them: such a small little band of unqualified people, starting a counter-cultural movement in a hostile world with politicians everybody loathed. Within two centuries, the Church had won over more than half the known world! Could we somehow be like them – of one accord, intimate with God’s heart and mind, ready to do any and everything to fulfill Christ’s mission to the world?