Today's reading wasn't the most exciting, but it wasn't bad and it went pretty quick. Jesus's disciples continue their proselytizing, choosing seven men to do... some kind of function on behalf of the church (I seriously can't figure out what it is! Sorry!). One of these guys is named Stephen, and almost immediately he upsets the Jewish authorities and is arrested. Once imprisoned, he makes a long speech summarizing all the events of the Old Testament, accusing the priests of being "stiff-necked people, uncircumcised in heart and ears [who] always resist the Holy Spirit" (Acts 7:51). Not altogether pleased with this accusation, the Jews stone him to death, making him the first Christian martyr... Unless you count Jesus, I guess!
The disciples continue their mission, traveling as far as Samaria and Ethiopia to perform baptisms, but are constantly butting heads with a guy named Saul, who freaking hates their movement. However, one day when Saul is traveling to Damascus -- on the hunt for Christians who he can imprison in Jerusalem -- he hears Jesus's voice telling him to CUT THE CRAP! Saul subsequently goes blind and fasts for three days.
Meanwhile, a fellow named Ananias gets a message from Jesus or God or someone to "rise and go to the street called Straight, and at the house of Judas look for a man of Tarsus named Saul" (Acts 9:11). At first, Ananias is like, "No way, he's a jerk!" but Jesus/God/Zeus/who knows?! explains that Saul is "a chosen instrument... to carry [God's] name before the Gentiles and kings and the children of Israel" (Acts 9:15). Ananias consents, Saul regains his sight, and immediately starts preaching about how cool Jesus is.
When the Jewish leaders get wind of this, they are understandably pretty pissed, and plot to have Saul killed. He overhears their plans and manages to escape in the middle of the night, a la King David way back in... 2 Samuel, was it? It's pretty funny that he escapes in this manner, since David was escaping from King Saul, and this guy is Saul of Tarsus. Is that a coincidence? Who the hell knows!
Meanwhile, Peter keeps on doing his thing, healing a crippled man and raising a woman named Tabitha from the dead.
In chapter 10, a guy named Cornelius is told to find Peter. While he is on his way, Peter has a strange vision where God tells him to "kill and eat" (Acts 10:13). Peter objects, saying that he has never eaten anything unclean, but God tells him to SHUT UP AND DO IT, because "what God has made clean, do not call common" (Acts 10:15).
The big message of this chapter -- and much of the book, it seems -- is that God shows no partiality. Anyone can be a Christian, whether they were born a Jew or a Gentile.
Not everyone is willing to embrace this concept, however, and when Peter goes back to Jerusalem a group called "the circumcision party" (Acts 11:2) chastise him for eating with non-Jews. The circumcision party! Wow. If I ever start a punk rock band, that's what we'll be called. Anyway, Peter doesn't really care about what they say and goes to Antioch, where a number of Gentiles join the church and start using the name Christians for the first time.
Not all is fine and dandy in the ancient Near East, however; in chapter 12, James is killed and Peter is arrested. Luckily, an angel helps him escape jail, but the same cannot be said for his pal. We'll miss you, James!
...Who the hell were you, anyway?
Herod also meets his grisly end in chapter 12, when "an angel of the Lord [strikes] him down, because he did not give God the glory, and he [is] eaten by worms and [breathes] his last" (Acts 12:23).
It should also be noted that everyone important in Jesus's ministry gets a SUPER COOL nickname! I'm not sure why, but it's fun. They're kind of like a 1980s rock band in that way. Peter, as you may remember, is actually named Simon; John goes by Mark; Simeon goes by NIGER; and Saul will eventually change his name to Paul, although he considered Spyder for awhile.
The whole gang keeps preaching and converting, scornfully informing the Jewish leaders that "since you thrust [the word of God] aside and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold, we are turning to the Gentiles" (Acts 13:46). They travel all over the Near East and Mediterranean, where they are generally pretty popular -- a crowd from Lystra refer to Paul and Barnabas as Hermes and Zeus respectively -- but they also narrowly escape danger, like when the same crowd attempts to stone them to death. But our disciple friends are made of tough stuff, and keep on keeping on!
More of this wildness tomorrow. See you then!
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