The Gospel narratives conclude with eleven apostles in place (Judas Iscariot having previously committed suicide). And, immediately following Christ's ascension into heaven, we are informed by the author of the book of Acts that the eleven chose Matthias to replace Judas (Acts 1:12-26). Moreover, as any good student of the New Testament knows, Jesus Christ commissioned them to "go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you." (Matthew 28:19-20, NLT) Indeed, while he was still with them, this same Gospel informs us that Christ had predicted that his Gospel would be preached throughout the world before the end of the age (Matthew 24:14).
So, with twelve men designated to carry Christ's message to the world, why was an Apostle Paul necessary? In answering that question, we must not forget that Christ's apostles and first disciples were all Jews. According to the book of Acts, this small group of Jewish disciples were gathered at Jerusalem to observe the Day of Pentecost, and they were surrounded by observant Jews from all of the nations of the Roman world (Acts 2:1-11). During the gathering, of course, the Holy Spirit settled over each of the disciples in the form of flames of fire, and the multilingual group of Jews surrounding them all understood what the disciples were saying in their native language. Then, as we all know, Peter stood up and delivered a very compelling sermon, and we are informed that about three thousand of these people (Jews) became Christ's disciples as a consequence of everything that had happened that day (Acts 2:14-41). And, at the end of the chapter, we are further informed that "each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved." (Verse 47)
Continuing with the account in Acts, we are informed that the apostles and early disciples focused on Jerusalem. In the third chapter of the book, we find John and Peter healing and preaching at the Temple. In the next chapter, we find Peter and John hauled before the Jewish Council to explain their activities in Christ's name (Acts 4). In the fifth chapter, we read: "The apostles were performing many miraculous signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers were meeting regularly at the Temple in the area known as Solomon’s Colonnade." (Verse 12) And, after yet another audience before the Council, we read: "And every day, in the Temple and from house to house, they continued to teach and preach this message: 'Jesus is the Messiah.'" (Verse 42)
In the sixth chapter, we learn that the twelve apostles decided that the Jerusalem Church had grown enough to appoint seven men to take care of administrative matters so that they could devote themselves to preaching (verses 1-6). As a consequence, we are told that "God’s message continued to spread. The number of believers greatly increased in Jerusalem, and many of the Jewish priests were converted, too." (Verse 7) Later in the same chapter, we see one of the men designated by the apostles (Stephen) debating with "Jews from Cyrene, Alexandria, Cilicia, and the province of Asia." (Verse 9)
In the following chapter, we are informed that Stephen delivered a sermon that was so powerful that it infuriated the Jewish leaders, and that he was stoned to death as a consequence of their rage (Acts 7:1-59). Interestingly, in connection with this event, we are introduced to someone named Saul. In the eighth chapter, we are informed that "A great wave of persecution began that day, sweeping over the church in Jerusalem; and all the believers except the apostles were scattered through the regions of Judea and Samaria" (verse 1), and that they spread the Good News about Jesus to those regions (verse 4). Later, in the same chapter, we find an account of Philip's conversion of an Ethiopian Jew (verses 26-39).
Do we begin to discern a pattern in all of this? In the first eight chapters of the book of Acts, the Church is portrayed as being entirely composed of Jews! In these chapters, ALL of the work of the twelve apostles (and the men whom they appointed to assist them) is portrayed as taking place in and around Jerusalem. As we have seen, it is only after the Church is persecuted that we begin to see people evangelizing in other areas of Judea and Samaria. In other words, the apostles were NOT fulfilling the commission which Jesus Christ had given to them - to preach his message to the world! After many years since Christ's ascension into heaven, the Church was still wholly Jewish in both its composition and character.
This being the reality within the Church, do we really think that it is a coincidence that the story of Saul's conversion is related in the very next chapter (Acts 9)? Even so, initially, we read that "Saul stayed with the apostles and went all around Jerusalem with them, preaching boldly in the name of the Lord." (Verse 28) Did you catch that? The twelve apostles were still focused in and around Jerusalem!
Indeed, it isn't until the tenth chapter that we find mention of a captain in the Roman army being instructed by an angel to contact the Apostle Peter (Acts 10:1-7). As far as we know, this is the first time a Gentile was approached with the Gospel, and it was at the instigation of one of God's angels!
However, before Cornelius' emissaries had arrived to summon the apostle to his household, we are informed that Peter fell into a trance and was given a vision of a large sheet being lowered to the earth from heaven, and it was filled with animals which were designated as unclean by Torah (Acts 10:9-12). Then Peter heard a voice instructing him to arise, kill, and eat (verse 13). Even so, we are informed that Peter protested that he had never eaten anything that was unclean to the Jews (verse 14). Finally, the voice told him, "Do not call something unclean if God has made it clean." (Verse 15)
Later, after the emissaries from Cornelius arrived, we are told that Peter finally understood why God had given him that vision - that it applied to these Gentiles. We read that Peter told them: "You know it is against our laws for a Jewish man to enter a Gentile home like this or to associate with you. But God has shown me that I should no longer think of anyone as impure or unclean." (Verse 28) Then, after Cornelius had told him about his own visitation by the angel, we read that Peter said: "I see very clearly that God shows no favoritism. In every nation he accepts those who fear him and do what is right." (Verses 34-35) In other words, despite Christ's clear instructions before he ascended to heaven, God had to personally intervene to make clear to Peter and the other apostles that he wanted them to carry his message to the Gentiles!
That this was something new is made very clear at the beginning of the next chapter. We read there: "Soon the news reached the apostles and other believers in Judea that the Gentiles had received the word of God. But when Peter arrived back in Jerusalem, the Jewish believers criticized him. 'You entered the home of Gentiles and even ate with them!' they said. Then Peter told them exactly what had happened." (Acts 11:1-4) After listening to Peter's explanation, we are informed that "they stopped objecting and began praising God. They said, 'We can see that God has also given the Gentiles the privilege of repenting of their sins and receiving eternal life.'" (Verse 18)
In other words, what had been a wholly Jewish Church, finally, began to understand that God intended for Gentiles to be drawn into his Church! Indeed, it is in this context that we read: "Meanwhile, the believers who had been scattered during the persecution after Stephen’s death traveled as far as Phoenicia, Cyprus, and Antioch of Syria. They preached the word of God, but only to Jews. However, some of the believers who went to Antioch from Cyprus and Cyrene began preaching to the Gentiles about the Lord Jesus. The power of the Lord was with them, and a large number of these Gentiles believed and turned to the Lord." (Acts 11:19-21)
Continuing with the account in Acts, we read: "When the church at Jerusalem heard what had happened, they sent Barnabas to Antioch. When he arrived and saw this evidence of God’s blessing, he was filled with joy, and he encouraged the believers to stay true to the Lord. Barnabas was a good man, full of the Holy Spirit and strong in faith. And many people were brought to the Lord. Then Barnabas went on to Tarsus to look for Saul. When he found him, he brought him back to Antioch. Both of them stayed there with the church for a full year, teaching large crowds of people. (It was at Antioch that the believers were first called Christians.)" (Acts 11:22-26) I ask again, do we think that Saul's (Paul's) mission to the Gentiles was happenstance? Was the timing of all of this just coincidence? OR Did God raise up Paul to fulfill the commission which the twelve had previously failed to perform?
Then, beginning in the thirteenth chapter and occupying most of the remainder of the book of Acts, the author's narrative is preoccupied with Paul's missionary efforts among the Gentiles of the Eastern Roman Empire. In the meantime, we learn in the fifteenth chapter of this account that some of the Jewish Christians felt that the Gentile ones should be required to observe the tenets of God's covenant with Israel. Interestingly, in that narrative, we continue to find Peter, James, and the other apostles headquartered in Jerusalem!
Moreover, we find that most of the rest of the New Testament is composed of a collection of Paul's epistles to various Gentile congregations of the Church! Indeed, in his epistle to the saints of Galatia, Paul wrote that "the same God who worked through Peter as the apostle to the Jews also worked through me as the apostle to the Gentiles. In fact, James, Peter, and John, who were known as pillars of the church, recognized the gift God had given me, and they accepted Barnabas and me as their co-workers. They encouraged us to keep preaching to the Gentiles, while they continued their work with the Jews." (Galatians 2:8-9)
Now, certainly, both the first epistle attributed to the Apostle Peter and tradition, suggest that Peter later pivoted to a larger role within the Gentile part of the Church; but that was clearly a later development (and one for which Paul and his companions were largely responsible). Likewise, the epistle attributed to James was addressed "To the twelve tribes in the Dispersion." (James 1:1) Hence, we have seen that the book of Acts and the epistles of Paul make very clear that Paul was raised up by God to fulfill the commission which the twelve had steadfastly neglected to complete. Indeed, in my humble opinion, if you believe in God and the inspiration of Scripture, this is the only logical explanation for the material we find there. What do you think?
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