seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Acts 5:12 The apostles performed many signs and wonders among the people. And all the believers used to meet together in Solomon’s Colonnade. 13 No one else dared join them, even though they were highly regarded by the people. 14 Nevertheless, more and more men and women believed in the Lord and were added to their number. 15 As a result, people brought the sick into the streets and laid them on beds and mats so that at least Peter’s shadow might fall on some of them as he passed by. 16 Crowds gathered also from the towns around Jerusalem, bringing their sick and those tormented by impure spirits, and all of them were healed.
When I started posting this morning... and ran into verse 13.... well, I went "whoa" and went right to the commentaries.None of the rest dared join them: The community of Christians had a marvelous reputation for integrity, and everybody knew it was a serious thing to be a follower of Jesus. An Ananias and Sapphira incident would reduce the level of casual commitment.
Increasingly added to the Lord: New believers were added: Added to the Lord, not to a “church” or to a person or even to a movement, but to God Himself. They were added in multitudes.
i. The mention of multitudes of both men and women is Luke’s way of reminding us that the cleansing of the church connected with Ananias and Sapphira did no lasting damage.
That at least the shadow of Peter passing by might fall on some of them: Our text does not specifically say people were healed by Peter’s shadow; it merely tells us people thought it would, and they took action based on this belief. We don’t know for certain if people were actually healed when the shadow of Peter passed over them.
I don't think Guzik [the commentarian] got it right this time. He says the death of Ananias and Sapphira reduced the level of casual commitment.... but 13 says no one else would join them. Do you think Dr. Luke meant that no one would say they were going to join the church without giving everything to the church?
When I was in my early teens, I went to the Presbyterian Church at the end of the path at my paternal grandmom's place. They would read the "doctrine" during every service. I thought of them as the "I Believes". Anyway.... the doctrine said "I believe in the Holy catholic church". Well, my maternal grandmother told me our family was Protestant Irish. That was a conflict for me.... so, when I got to those words... I wouldn't say the word "catholic" because I'm not a Catholic. But the word has two meanings. One is a member of the church run by the Pope and the other means "including a wide variety of things; all-embracing".
Well... those were some words I could get behind.... I Believe in the Holy All Embracing Church!
The church used to be for healing and help. People financed the church by selling everything they had to join up... After all, they wouldn't need a sofa and chairs anymore... they would be basking in the love of God with their buddies at Solomons Colonnade. They would be part of the prayer group that thanked God every time someone was healed. What would they need with a lighted nightstand?
Crowds brought their sick or maimed ... but the church... well, that was apparently another matter. After all, the Centurian wasn't Jewish but Jesus healed his servant. You didn't have to join the club or give them your credit card number. You only had to wait for the shadow to cross the path of the patient.
No one else would join.
