Halina Murphy

Honors 211
Walker
March 21, 2014

The Domino Effect: How Gods Word Spread throughout the World

Christianity is practiced by more in the world than any other religion today. One might

wonder how Christianity, only practiced by a few faithful people at the start, grew to be practiced

by over 2.1 billion people currently. Christianity rose out of the teachings of Jesus Christ,

whose teachings still appeal to so many because he served as a very real embodiment of

hope in the midst of human suffering and because near-unshakable faith by those closest to

him reinforced his commanding authority. Because of both, hope for the common man and

woman and a profound endorsement of his mission, Christianity continued to build on itself.

Two books of the Bible, Luke and the Acts of the Apostles, provide us with particularly powerful

evidence of Jesus ever-growing influence.

From before he was born, Jesus was a symbol of hope to the people of Israel. For

thousands of years, Jews were primarily subject to foreign rule. The Roman government ruled

the Mediterranean area now known as Palestine, where Jesus was born, during the first century.

History tells us that the Jewish community accepted their freedom in their governing system and

in maintaining their traditions, but under Roman rule, everything was subject to Roman

authority. Jewish leaders fought for their belief in one God in the face of conflicting religions,

whereas the surrounding cultures and those who had previously governed the Jews practiced

polytheism. The Jewish people awaited a Messiah, a leader God had promised who would

bring them spiritual renewal and political freedom from centuries of foreign oppression. This is

what the people of Israel would eventually receive in Jesus Christ. For centuries, they held out

hope.
 The birth of Jesus signals the first momentous step toward fulfillment of that hope and

the missionary drive it, in turn, created. The first chapter of the Gospel of Luke foretells this

event. The angel Gabriel visits Mary and tells her she would conceive and bear a son named

Jesus. Gabriel tells her that he will be greatand the Lord God will give to him the throne of

his ancestor David (1 Luke 32). The second chapter of the Gospel of Luke shows Mary and

Joseph traveling from Nazareth to Bethlehem to be counted in a census. With no room for the

two of them to stay in the inn, Mary gives birth to her firstborn son and lays him in a manger.

From the beginning, although he is the Son of God, Jesus human parents are common people,

and he comes from humble, earthly roots. Following Jesus birth, the angel Gabriel appears to

shepherds in a nearby field and brings them the good news; he tells them to find this Savior,

who is the Messiah, the Lord (2 Luke 10-11). The shepherds go to Bethlehem and find the child

lying not in stately comfort, but, rather, in a simple manger. Touched by the notion of God

becoming one of them, human, they return, and are the first in the Gospel of Luke to spread the

word of the birth of the Messiah.

The Israelites hopes in Jesus grew as he grew. Mary and Joseph later bring Jesus to the

Temple in Jerusalem to present him as a young boy to the Lord. Simeon, a righteous and devout

man looking forward to the freedom of Israel, sees the child and immediately recognizes him as

the Messiah to guide the people of Israel. He takes Jesus into his arms and praises God, calling

Jesus a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel (2:32). Also in

the Temple was a prophet, Anna, of the tribe Asher. At the sight of this, she began to praise God

and speak about Jesus to everyone awaiting the redemption of Jerusalem. Even as a young boy,

therefore, Jesus is recognized as the Son of God, the one to save all from their sins. He is so

identified by both a devout man and a prophet, as well as those in the Temple who look to them
for religious enlightenment. Similarly, at the age of twelve, Jesus accompanies his parents and a

large group of their relatives to Jerusalem on a pilgrimage following Passover. On the day of

their return, Jesus lingers in the Temple, but Mary and Joseph assume he had gone ahead with

the group. After a day of travel, Mary and Joseph realize Jesus is missing and return to Jerusalem

to find him, sitting among the teachers in the Temple, listening and asking questions. The elders

in the Temple were amazed at his learning, especially for his young age. Luke concludes his

account of Jesus childhood with this episode, but notes that Jesus continues to grow in wisdom

and divine favor. This section of the Gospel of Luke is a key part in not only the growth of Jesus,

but also in the beginning of the spread of Christianity. Jesus curiosity about the elders

knowledge of God and Jewish history builds as he grows; eventually, he assumes the role of

the elders and preaches the word of God to others. It was at this key point in the Gospel of Luke

that Jesus takes the name father from Joseph and addresses it to God his Father in heaven. The

learned Israelites who populated the Temples during Jesus childhood were amazed by his

simultaneous humanity and otherworldly brilliance. They were, accordingly, the next to become

his followers.

As Jesus becomes an adult, hope in his divinity and his mission to save his faithful

following reaches fruition. As Jesus is baptized, heaven is opened, and the Holy Spirit comes to

him in the form of a dove as a voice from heaven says: You are my Son, the Beloved; with you

I am well pleased (3:21). Following this, Jesus is filled with the Holy Spirit and is led by the

Spirit into the wilderness, where he is tested by the devil. The devil comes to him when he is

famished, and says that if he were the Son of God, he would command a stone to become a loaf

of bread. Jesus expresses control over his body, and replies, One does not live on bread alone

(4:4). Jesus continues to refuse the devils temptations and returns to Galilee after forty days; his
faith has only been strengthened. A report about Jesus remarkable resistance to otherworldly

temptations spreads through the surrounding country, and hope in his mission continues to build.

It is at this time that his ministry begins. Jesus begins his public ministry when he turns thirty

years old. Up until this point, Jesus was responsible and faithful in his family life. Before he

embraced public duties, he showed fidelity and concern for domestic ones. After assuming his

public role, his duties grow to more than being just a good example; they entail preaching to

others to follow him and act as he does. Following the temptations he faced in the desert, Jesus

begins to teach in the synagogues and is praised by all. The Gospel of Luke emphasizes this

transition from a boy to man and all of its accompanying new responsibilities. Before his journey

in the desert, Jesus listened to the elders of the Temple. But after being filled with the Holy Spirit

and rejecting the devils offers three times in the desert, Jesus has enough experience and faith in

God to preach the word of God on his own. Now it is Jesus himself, and not the Temple elders,

who preach his message, and listeners continue to follow him.

Even as crowds are persuaded to turn from Jesus before they crucify him, their hope is

only temporarily stifled. Jesus himself starts the doubting process by challenging his faithful, by

pushing them to follow Gods laws and be true to Gods word. In his rejection at Nazareth, He

startles and mocks hypocritical worshippers in the synagogue with compliments about the

Gentiles who seem to show more faith in God than the so-called Chosen Ones of Israel. Further,

Jesus acceptance of outsiders is a key theme throughout the Gospel of Luke and one that draws

him many detractors, especially from the established leaders. Isaiah had prophesized that the

Messiah would come in the power of the Holy Spirit to bring freedom to those oppressed by sin,

so Jesus comes to set these people free. Jesus teaches that Gods power alone can save people

from emptiness and poverty of spirit. However, there were many in his established Jewish
community that shunned the poor, weak, and helpless and chose to condemn sinners rather than

seek them out for saving. By the end of the Book of Luke, Jesus has a large crowd of followers,

including his twelve faithful disciples. However, with the chief priests and scribes and others

in his established community increasingly persuaded to refuse Jesus call, they decide, in

mob fashion, to crucify him instead. Betrayed by one of his own, the one-time disciple

Judas Iscariot, Jesus seems to have abandoned his now seemingly outlandish claims and,

accordingly, his mission. After he is seized, he is again betrayed, this time by his Rock,

his closest disciple Peter. Peter denies knowing Jesus three separate times. Once Jesus is

taken away, the faith his followers once had in him dwindles. Pontius Pilate sentences Jesus

to death, and soldiers put a cross on his back to carry on the road to Calvary. As soldiers lead

him away, they seize Simon from Cyrene, who lightens Jesus load by carrying the base of the

cross. Many people, including some of Jesus followers, follow Jesus and Simon up the road,

mourning and weeping for him. At perhaps Christianitys lowest point, once Jesus is hung on the

cross, the rulers sneer and say, He saved others; let him save himself if he is Gods Messiah,

the Chosen One (23:25). After his last breath, people who had gathered just to witness leave.

But his true followers and those who knew him, including the women who had followed him on

his way to Calvary, stay with him. Still, after multiple betrayals by two of his closest followers

and then suffering and dying like any other human, Jesus hardly appears like a Messiah.

Nonetheless, hope rises anew after Jesus death. While the apostles grow in love and

admiration for Jesus while he lives, Jesus miraculous resurrection naturally cements their

devotion. Following Jesus crucifixion, Joseph, a member of the Council and a man who had not

consented to the decision to put Jesus to death, asks for Jesus body. He takes it down, wraps it in

linen cloth, and places it in a tomb. The women who had come with Jesus to Calvary prepare
spices and perfumes for the body. When the woman go to the tomb early in the morning, they do

not find the body of Jesus. Two men appear to them and tell them that Jesus had risen from the

dead on the third day, and the women return from the tomb and tell the rest of Jesus followers.

Jesus later appears to his disciples, showing them the wounds on his hands and feet. They

recognize him, and he says to them, This is what I told you while I was still with you:

Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, Prophets, and the

Psalms (24 Luke 44). He tells them that after the Messiah suffers and rises from the dead,

repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached to all nations, starting in Jerusalem. Jesus

lifts up his hands and blesses the disciples, and is then taken up into heaven. His disciples

worship him and return to Jerusalem with great news; they remain at the Temple to praise God as

Jesus instructs them. Jesus continues to heighten their steadfast faith: After his suffering he

presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them during forty days

and speaking about the kingdom of God (1 Acts 3). Further, Jesus emphasizes their own

important role in spreading his message. They are effectively ordained by him; they would

receive the Holy Spirit and be his witnesses to the ends of the earth. Jesus calls his apostles his

witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth (1 Acts 8). In yet

another miracle, Jesus dramatically ascends to heavenlifted up, accompanied by men in white

robes and then whisked away in a cover of cloud. The effect must have been profound and life-

changing, not only for the apostles who viewed it but for all those who hear the story. Even

Judas betrayal of Jesus before his death fails to tarnish this image. Peter explains that the event

was long ago predicted and indeed a necessary fulfillment of that Scriptural prediction: Friends,

the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit through David foretold concerning Judas,

who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus (1 Acts 16). In yet another miracle, Pentecost,
rushing, violent wind, tongues of fire resting on and among the apostles, and the ability to

suddenly speak in foreign languages prove compellingthis time, not only to the disciples, but

to the many in Jerusalem who witnessed it. The effect is mesmerizing and convincing. As stated

in Acts 2, the crowd, amazed and astonished, ask, Are not all these who are speaking

Galileans? And how is it that we hear, each of us, in our own native language? In our own

languages we hear them speaking about Gods deeds of power (2 Acts 7, 11). Peter drives the

point home and reminds the assembled Israelites of the various miracles God performed through

Jesus while alive and even after death. He tells them that Jesus, given to the people by God with

deeds of power, wonders, and signs that God performed through him, handed his disciples the

definite plan and knowledge of God (2 Acts 23). Further, Peter reminds the crowd that the facts

of Jesus life, death, resurrection, and ascension to sit at Gods right hand had been foretold by

David, the greatest of prophets. Peter, elected by Jesus as the leader of the apostles, describes the

life, crucifixion, and resurrection of Jesus, and he gives proof from Scripture that Jesus is the

Messiah. He scolds the people for crucifying the Messiah, and encourages them to repent and be

baptized. The combined effects of Peters address are compelling; when the crowd hears him,

They were cut to the heart and said to Peter and to the other apostles, Brothers, what should we

do? (2 Acts 37). When Peter, in turn, exhorts them to repent and be baptized, the response is

instantaneous; that day, about three thousand people are baptized and devote themselves to the

apostles teaching and fellowship and further spreading his word throughout the world. Awe

overcomes these first converts, because many wonders and signs were being done by the

apostles. Beyond the ongoing miracles, however, was a day-to-day goodwill among the

believers, a life shared with glad and generous hearts (2 Acts 46). This unrelenting faith, first

by the apostles and then by the first converts, grew further still. As Acts 2 concludes, day by
day the Lord added to their number those who were being saved (2 Acts 47). The Book of Luke

highlights the importance of Jesus followers to the spread of his word. His disciples set an

example for how followers of God should act and gain additional followers in doing so. Luke

does this despite weak moments of faithfulness, by his own disciples. Judas Iscariot betrays Jesus

by handing him over to the soldiers, and Peter, Jesus seemingly closest follower, denies even

knowing Jesus. In spite of these seemingly crushing episodes of human frailty, or more,

however, there has always been one or more people who stay faithful to Jesus. Even when his

own disciples lose faith, women weep for him on his road to Calvary. Every instance where

someone loses faith, we see that there is someone else who stays with Jesus.