Basic HTML Version
their enemies put it: ..You have
filled Jerusalem with your doc–
trine" (Acts
5:28).
Practically
everyone knew something of the
truth- even the opposition. The
apostles' message was not done in a
corner. All Jerusalem knew of this
new way of life. There was no for–
getting the things Jesus had said
and done.
Later Peter took Christianity to
the first genti le family. In his prí–
vate sermon to the ltalian Corne–
Jius, he said: " And we are witnesses
of all things which He [Jesus] did
both in the land of the Jews and in
J erusalem ..." (Acts 10:39). So it
was not just the knowledge of the
resurrection, but
the who/e
of what
J esus did and said that was public
knowledge.
The Gospel Writers
What was the relationship to the
J erusalem church of the individual
gospel writers?
We begin this study with a physi–
cian named Luke. Luke was respon–
sible for writ ing more than a quarter
of the New Testament. We know
that he was well-educated because
he used polished Greek- including
800 words that are not used else–
where in the New Testament.
But how was the Jerusalem
church significant to .Luke's writ–
ings? Luke was acquainted with
key members of tbat church. Says
The New Bib/e Dictionary:
"Through i ntima te contact over
many years with ... Christian lead–
ers (e.g., Philip, Timothy, Silas,
Mark,
Barnabas,
James,
the broth–
er of Jesus, etc.) and as ...
he was
in Jerusalem,
Caesarea and otber
places int imately associated with
J esus and bis first apostles, Luke
had the very best opportunity to
obtain first-hand knowledge .
... That he definitely and purpose–
full y made full use of these oppor–
tunit ies is claimed by him in Luke
1:
1-4, and is corroborated by tbe
s t erl ing quality a nd
historical
accuracy
of both Luke and Acts"
(page
756).
Note that Mark and
James were both members of the
J erusalem cburch. Now we turn to
yet another important biblical writ–
er .
Paul and the Jerusalem Church
Paul is known for the fact that his
February 1985
calling and training was
not
under
the aegis of the original apostles.
Yet even he was not unconnected
from tbe J erusalem churcb. Three
years after h is dramatic conversion
to Christianity, Paul went up to
J erusalem and stayed witb Peter
for
15
days (Gal.
1: 18).
What do
you suppose Peter and Paul dis–
cussed? Matters totally unrelated
to the life and teaching of Jesus of
Nazareth? Or did they compare
notes on how they were called to be
apostles and discuss all that Jesus
had said and done?
Fourteen years after that, the
apostle Paul returned to Jerusalem
(GaJ. 2:1). He communicated to
the Jerusalem church th.e gospel he
had preacbed among the gentiles.
He even expounded it to a prívate
audience of Peter and the Jeading
apostles (verse
2).
They compared
notes.
Because Paul was forced to
defend bis apostleship to tbe Gala–
tian cburches, sorne have gotten a
false impression of his att itude
toward the Jerusalem church. In
fact he had great respect for that
church and pointed the churches
under bis care and supervision in
the direction of Jerusalem. Ex–
plains
The New Bible Dictionary:
" Indeed , throughout the firs t gen–
eration, it was 'the church'
par
excellence.
...
This is noticeable in
the attitude of Paul
who impressed
it on his churches
(Rom.
15:27).
His final visit to Jerusalem was in
recognition of this spiritual prima–
cy" (page 230) .
So we see that the two men
who wrote about half of the New
Testament-Luke and Paul–
were intimately connected to the
J e rusalem church. Luke h ad
access to eyewitness accounts of
the gospel. Paul explained to Peter
a nd the other leading apost les
what he had been preaching to the
gentiles-and received their bless–
ing. Any human error was rooted
out. Luke wrote to Theophilus so
that he would
"know the certainty
of those things" that " Jesus began
both to do a nd teach" (Luke
1:4 ;
Acts
1:1).
The Witness of James
Peter was chosen to take the gos–
pel to the first genti le family. He
had concluded bis prívate sermon
to Cornelius with an account of
the resurrection. S imon Peter said:
" Him God raised up the third day,
and shewed him openly; not to all
the people, bu t
unto witnesses
chosen before of God,
even to us,
who did eat and drink with him
after he rose from the dead" (Acts
1
0 : 40~41 ,
AV). One of these spe–
cial witnesses was James , the
brother of Jesus (I Cor.
15:7) .
Eventually J ames became a pil–
lar apostle in the Jerusalem church
(Gal. 2:9). When Peter had mirac–
ulously escaped jail , he told the
brethren at Mark's mother's house,
" Go tell these things
to James
and
to the brethren" (Acts
12:17).
Paul
refers to James as one of the three
pillar apostles based at Jerusalem
along with Peter and John (Gal.
2:9) .
Years later Paul visits J erusalem
for the final time. Luke records:
" And when we had cometo Jerusa–
lem, the brethren received us glad–
ly. On the foll owing day Paul went
in with us
to James,
and all the
elders were present" (Acts 21: 17-
18).
Both the Bible and later tradi–
tion show that the apost le Peter
traveled al l over Judea a nd
Samaria with the gospel message.
Someone had to mind the Jerusa–
lem church while be was away.
J ames, in effect , became the pre–
siding pastor .
Who better than James? He had
lived with Jesus from the very first.
He saw his Savior's manner of life
in every si tuation- both in the
family and on the job. Though he
wa5 not a part of the original apos–
tolic band, James knew what J esus
would have said and not said. Any–
one trying to distort the gospel tra–
dition (oral or written) would have
run right squarely into J ames.
Clearly both Peter and Paul had
respect for J ames. The gospel tradi–
tion was safe with him.
Peter as Preserver of the Gospel
One cannot write about the New
Testament without confronting Pe–
ter. Already we have met him a
number of times in this article.
Peter was the chief apostle. He is
putfirst
in all four New Testament
lists. His name is mentioned 21
O
times in the New Testament. I t was
to him that the gospel to the cir-
27