PETER AND PAUL IN ACTS OF THE APOSTLES

The book of Acts of the Apostles is the second volume of the work of the evangelist Luke. The first is the third gospel. Because it is an extensive book, its reading may present some difficulty of understanding for the beginning reader. Thus, this text outlines, in broad outline, aspects that may help to understand, as a whole, this exciting New Testament book. In general, it is possible to understand Acts from the performance of two men of strong personality, but completely submissive to God: Peter (1 to 12) and Paul (13 to 28).

The Apostle Peter acted in a delicate moment in the history of the Church: his early years. He witnessed the ascension of Christ (1.1-11) and the coming of the Holy Spirit on the disciples, which marked the beginning of the creation of the Church (2.1-13). It was he who made the first sermon, when three thousand people converted to Jesus. He performed "many signs and wonders" (3: 5,12,15), faced the Sanhedrin (Israel's supreme court), suffered persecutions and arrests (5: 17,18; 12: 1-3).

Peter and the other disciples, as Jews they were, "continued to meet together in the temple courts" (2:46; 3). But after Stephen's discourse on the Sanhedrin and his subsequent death (6: 8, 7), "a great persecution broke out against the church in Jerusalem" (8: 1). Christianity, which had emerged as a renewal of the Jewish faith, gradually drifted away from Judaism. It was in these difficult days in the history of the Church that Peter exercised his leadership. Although the Jews thought that the Messiah was theirs, Peter, led by God, went to the Gentiles and preached Christ to them, laying the foundations of the great movement that was about to begin under the leadership of the Apostle Paul.

Paul is the "minister of Jesus Christ to the Gentiles" (Rom.15.16). While Peter remained in Israel tending the Jewish church, he departed, Roman empire within, preaching the gospel to non-Jews. Luke, who accompanied him, reported that he undertook three missionary journeys, arriving in the corners of the empire until he was imprisoned in Rome for the sake of the gospel around the year 60. There he was held under house arrest for two years. Surprisingly, Luke does not report Paul's condemnation or acquittal. He finishes his work giving the impression that the gospel is not arrested even if its messengers are found (28.30,31).

Acts of the Apostles is a book worth reading. His narrative is a call to the testimony of Christ. It is the story of men and women who had the mission of being "the light of the world" and "the salt of the earth" (Mt 5:13) as more important than their lives. Although it bears the action of only two apostles, by the degree of commitment to the gospel that their characters present, it can be inferred that much more was accomplished by the action of the other apostles and leaders. This book of the evangelist Luke points to the Church, in the postmodern world, the way forward: to proclaim Christ.

Antônio Maia – M.Div.

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