The Book of Acts Chapter 6
Originally posted Friday, May 9, 2008
General Comment: The phenomenal growth of the
community has created administrative and logistic problems. In a system of
sharing among so many there would be a need to keep track of who members are and where they were located as well as their needs. Collection of material goods and
money as well as accounting and distribution would be a task requiring
specialists. Without a system, some of the members could easily slip though the
safety net. Luke writes of a representative situation and the solution
which will provide a remedy.
Acts Chapter 6:1-7 Choosing
the Seven
Two
groups of Jewish Christians are involved in this passage. The Hellenists are
Greek speaking Jews of the Diaspora who have returned to live in Judea, mostly
in Jerusalem. The Hebrews are Aramaic speaking Jews who are residents of
Jerusalem. The language and cultural differences would have resulted
in differing groups establishing separate neighborhoods and Synagogues.
Similar patterns occurred in large cities such as Chicago, New York and
San Francisco in which a wide variety of immigrants settled
as America became industrialized in the nineteenth and early
twentieth centuries.
The
issue was raised by the Hellenists who were concerned that their widows were
not receiving proper or equal attention in the sharing of food (care for
"Widows and Orphans" was a solemn duty commanded by God. Their
neglect is often mentioned by the Prophets as a source of God's
displeasure). The Hebrews are cited as the cause of the problem.
Perhaps this reflected a natural bias to protect the interests of one's
own group against these "others." After all the Hellenists
had recently returned and had been exposed to a more permissive
Greek culture, weakening their strict attention to traditional Jewish
practices. And they spoke Greek! The situation was not too dissimilar than
modern day attitudes toward immigrants in our country.
When
the report of the situation was brought to the Apostles' attention they called
together the "whole community of the disciples." This would not be
the thousands Luke has suggested as the number of believers. More likely it is
the original core group that had gathered on Pentecost, approximately one
hundred twenty (1:15). The issue is
greater than the Hellenists' widows. It is a matter of vocation. The Apostles
were called to serve the word of God (preach and teach) and to pray for the
mission, not to "keep accounts." Their answer is to establish a Board
of Deacons (the Greek word for Deacon is also used for one who serves).
The leadership group is instructed to pick seven men of good standing, "full of
the Spirit and of wisdom." Six of the seven are Hellenists and one is a
Gentile convert to Judaism (proselyte) from Antioch (Syria) who then
converted to Christianity. This seventh person, Nicolaus, may represent a
third community of Christians. It would not be unreasonable to think
that new Gentile converts to Judaism would move to the center of
their new found faith.
The
passage ends with mention of the conversion of "many of the priests."
We tend to think of the priests as a group in opposition to the Christian
community. While this was certainly the case for the more important upper
levels of priests, the chief priests for example, there were thousands of
priests in Jerusalem and in Palestine. They were arranged in divisions, serving
in the Temple on rotation. Most were minor functionaries with little
responsibility and with limited resources. Josephus writes of priests who
starved to death during famines. Why would a priest be attracted to
Christianity? One reason was that at that time all Christians were Jews or
converts to Judaism. They worshipped in the Temple, met in Synagogues and
maintained typical Jewish practices with respect to Sabbath and food. Another
reason and perhaps more important, was the Christian concept of community
cohesiveness, the sharing in small groups and caring for the needs of all. A
poor priest, and there were many, would see such a community as quite inviting.
Indeed it was this same quality of the early Gentile Christian communities that
proved very attractive to other Gentiles. The conversion of priests was also a
benefit to the community for many were literate and well versed in the Old Testament
which was becoming a major resource in portraying Jesus as the
Messiah, especially in the Psalms and the Prophets. A number of Biblical
scholars have suggested that Matthew was a Temple priest.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
An
interesting model for delegation of responsibility is found in Exod. 18:13-27 where Moses, on the
advice of his father-in-law, Jethro, appointed judges to share the burden
which was wearing Moses out with trivial cases rather than attending to his
greater leadership function as God's prophet.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
Acts Chapter 6:8-15 The
Arrest of Stephen
One
of the seven Deacons who were appointed to "keep accounts" was
Stephen, "a man full of faith and the Holy Spirit." His
career was rather short lived and his contribution to the life of the
community extends beyond keeping accounts. Luke indicates he was empowered to
work "wonders and signs." a designation previously limited to
Jesus and the Apostles. For a reason not clearly stated by Luke the
members of the Synagogue of the Freedmen (libertinus) have brought false
charges against Stephen. This follows a debate between Stephen and members of
the Synagogue, no doubt regarding Jesus as Messiah, in which Stephen's
wisdom could not be confuted. Such Synagogues were made up of
Hellenists who may have been in competition with Christian Hellenists
over issues of status and influence. Seeing the inroads the Christians had made
in Hellenist neighborhoods and the leadership exercised by Stephen, they may
have thought it to their benefit to be rid of him. The charge is blasphemy
against Moses and God which may have been true enough in their minds if Stephen
referred to Jesus in ways similar to those used by Peter in his several
sermons. They were able to stir up enough concern that Stephen was arrested and
brought before the Council, the same group Peter had addressed and which had ordered
him to cease his preaching in Jesus' name. There the Freedmen brought false
witnesses who gave testimony regarding what Jesus had said about destroying the
Temple and altering the customs Moses had handed down in torah.
The
chapter ends at an inopportune place, leaving an image of Stephen standing
before the Council with its members gazing on his angelic face.
____________________________________________________________________________________________________
The
Synagogue of the Freedmen is a generic name for semi-public associations
of Jewish slaves from various parts of the empire. They had been freed by
the Romans. Such associations were involved in reading and study of Torah but
would not have the functions of village Synagogues such judicial decisions,
weddings or other Jewish community rites. They could be trade associations or a
collection of men from a specific country who had gravitated to Jerusalem and
settled in segregated neighborhoods. We know of such associations established
by Christians in Rome.
No comments:
Post a Comment