Transition to Jesus
Published by Stanley Pouw in 2017 · 9 July 2017
The book of Acts, written by Luke, describes the early years of the church and is really a book of transitions. It is the beginning of the New Covenant. It's the beginnings as the church begins to form itself and separate itself from Judaism. The old things of Judaism faded out very slowly, and the new gradually phased in. The writer of Hebrews gives us the theology of the change from Judaism to Jesus.
He says, for example, that Moses, David, Joshua and all of those great characters of Judaism have all been replaced by Jesus. Then he goes beyond that and says that the laws, the ceremonies, the rituals and the patterns of the Old Testament have given way to a whole grace kind of life. No longer are we ruled by externals, but we are ruled by the Holy Spirit within our hearts.
God's people, Israel, have given way to God's people, the church. The system of multiple sacrifices has given way to the “once for all” sacrifice of Jesus. All the way through Hebrews, we saw the viewpoint of the New Covenant as it means the old is set aside. Hebrews 8:13 even says, "The old is obsolete and ready to vanish away." And the book of Acts gives us the history "from Judaism to Jesus.”
The history of the book of Acts gives to us many insights into the depth of Judaism as we see people coming to Jesus Christ, receiving Him as Savior, being introduced to the church by the baptism of the Holy Spirit at salvation, identifying with the church in every way but still hanging on to features of Judaism. We also see other Jews who see Christ, who in their minds believe it but aren't willing to leave Judaism and become a Christian.
As we study Acts, we see in actuality and in history what the book of Hebrews said was the fact that we must change from Judaism to Jesus. But you cannot go to the book of Acts and just take these things and frame them as a theology. The reason that does not work is because things are in a state of flux.
In Acts 19:2, it says that Paul met some disciples, and he said to them, “Did you receive the Holy Spirit when you believed?” That simple statement has very serious implications. Paul says in Romans 8:9, “Now if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he is not His.” Yet here you have this statement that may indicate that there is a gap between when you are saved and when you get the Holy Spirit. We will study that later.
And transition is not easy for a Jew, because Judaism is not just a religion. It is as much a nationalism as it is a culture and a race. It is a way of life, it is a heritage. Jewish people are in love with Judaism, and rightly so. It was ordained of God. It is a point of pride, a divine institution, and it doesn't die easily. We see that today. Jewish people who come to Jesus Christ, have great difficulty in breaking with all of those traditions.
The church needs to do everything it can to incorporate them and at the same time allow those old institutions to die out. When the church was born, Judaism in God's eyes became a dead issue, but the burial took an awfully long time. The early church had just been formed in Acts 2, the day of Pentecost, and after Peter preached 3,000 were saved. They were fellowshipping and having communion and all.
In Acts 2:47, it says, "They were praising God and having favor with all the people." Now watch, "And the Lord added to the church daily such as should be saved." Notice this is the church, separated from Israel altogether. Verse 47 continues, “And the Lord added to the church daily.” But then look at Acts 3:1, "Now Peter and John went up together to the temple at the hour of prayer, being the ninth hour.”
The church had already been established. And Peter and John were the two primary leaders in the church, and yet after the establishment of the church, they were still going to the temple at the prescribed Jewish prayer hours. Judaism died very slowly, because it was so much a way of life for so many years. These Christians were first of all and for most of their lives Jews. There were patterns that were difficult to change.
So there was flux in the book of Acts, and that many of Jews who are coming to Christ are finding it hard to get to all the features of Christianity. Not only because of the strength of Judaism but secondly, because all of the features of Christianity hadn't been revealed yet. They really didn't know what to substitute for it. Even when the church was born, for the most part, the church was born in a synagogue.
In Acts 19:8 when Paul comes to Ephesus, he went into the synagogue and spoke boldly for three months. He just ministered right within that framework. Aquila and Priscilla were Christians when Paul came to Corinth, but they met him at the synagogue, so there were Christians still attending the synagogue. When Apollos came to Ephesus, Acts 18:26 says he began to speak at the synagogue and Aquila and Priscilla heard him.
Only later in Ephesus, in 1 Corinthians 16:19 Paul writes and says, “Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.” It was years before the church moved out of the synagogue and had an identity all its own. Acts portrays all of this flux. There are also other things in the book of Acts that are transitional.
When the Jews really got angry, sometimes the church was forced out of the synagogue. For example, in Corinth, in Acts 18:6, the people opposed Paul and he shook out his clothes and said, "Your blood be on your heads. From now on, I'm going to the Gentiles." He went out and started Christianity in a Gentile house.
So there were times that the church did move out, but for the most part, it maintained an interesting relationship with Judaism. This is the reason that in the book of Acts Christian people started going back to Judaism and others going back to Christianity. That is characteristic of this period of history. The Holy Spirit was doing unique things, special things, initiating things that are not the norm for all of the Christian's life.
Let's look at three persons and groups in transition: 1) Paul, 2) Apollos and 3) twelve disciples of John the Baptist. All three of them are pictured in transition from Judaism to Jesus. All had some connection with John the Baptist, who represented the last Old Testament prophet. Jesus himself said in Matthew 11:11, "Among them that are born of women, there have not risen greater than John the Baptist."
All of them were Messianic Jews who came to Christ through John. They were slowly coming over to Jesus and letting John fade away. John wanted that to happen when he said in John 3:30, “He must increase, but I must decrease." That doesn't mean we minimize the Old Testament. The principles, morals, standards, and truths of the Old Testament are timeless, but the ceremonies and rituals went away when the New Covenant came in.
Let us look first at Paul. Acts 18:18, “So Paul still remained a good while. Then he took leave of the brethren and sailed for Syria, and Priscilla and Aquila were with him. He had his hair cut off at Cenchrea, for he had taken a vow.” Here Paul is in transition. Before Paul became a Christian, he was Jew, absolutely entrenched in Judaism. This shows how he had just as tough a time making the transition as anybody else did.
Philippians 3:5-6 says about Paul, “Circumcised the eighth day, of the stock of Israel, of the tribe of Benjamin, a Hebrew of the Hebrews; concerning the law, a Pharisee; 6 concerning zeal, persecuting the church; concerning the righteousness which is in the law, blameless.” He was a Jew at the limit of Judaism's capacities. Yet he became a Christian.
Being a Christian is an instant miracle, but the transition takes time and old features of Judaism died slowly even in Paul's life. By the time he gets to Philippians, a lot more was transformed. He says in Philippians 3:7-8, “But what things were gain to me, these I have counted loss for Christ. 8 Yet indeed I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish, that I may gain Christ.”
From now on, Paul says, I'm not interested anymore in ceremonies and in rituals. I only know one thing, I want to know Christ. In Colossians he said not philosophy, not legalism, and not carnality but only the knowledge of Christ is important. Because of that, the Lord wanted Paul, in verse 18, "to still remain a good while in Corinth." God said, "I will take care of all circumstances." Paul’s heart was so blessed that he took the vow in gratitude to God.
Now Syria is where Palestine is, where Jerusalem is. Paul is in Greece about 1,500-miles away, and boats didn't go real fast in that day. Note that verse 18 continues, “he took with him Priscilla and Aquila." The only way that Paul is going to take them is if there's somebody else to take the responsibility of pastoring that people, right? For a year and a half he raised up adequate spiritual leaders for the city of Corinth.
Verse 18, “He had his hair cut off at Cenchrea, for he had taken a vow.” In the Old Testament, there was a certain kind of vow that had to do with your hair, it was called a Nazirite vow, which means to promise something. A Nazirite literally was saying, "God, I promise to consecrate myself totally to You.”
How long did those vows last? The Bible doesn't say. The Mishna regulations say that a Nazirite vow could be 30 days, 60 days, or 100 days. Paul's was probably a 30-day vow. "Why did God only allow that once in a while?" Remember, they didn't have the Holy Spirit yet. We don't need to take a Nazirite vow today, because we are to be separated from the moment we are saved till the moment we meet Jesus, right?
Why did he make this vow?" Usually it was made in gratitude to God for special deliverance or special blessing. Had Paul had special deliverance in Corinth? Yes. Had he had special blessing? Absolutely. Paul was blessed and thrilled with what God had done in allowing him finally to stay in one place for a long time, and see God work and disciple and raise up some saints and see the church growing up in this sinful city.
A lot of people were making these Nazirite vows in those days. God in Amos 2:11-12 says, "I raised up of your sons for prophets, and of your young men for Nazirites. Is it not so, O you children of Israel?” Says the Lord. 12 “But you gave the Nazirites wine to drink.” Amos is condemning the Jews, Amos was trying to show how evil Israel was by making Nazirites, who are not allowed to drink alcohol, drunk.
People often talk about whether you should drink alcohol or not. In the Old Testament, a Nazirite totally separated for God didn't touch any of that. What is allowed now? Paul says in 1 Corinthians 6:12, "All things are lawful for me, but I will not be brought under the power of any." Anything that controls your senses is not of God. The same thing is true with drugs. Anything that gives Satan an opportunity to control your life in ways that you would normally be able to resist, is not good.
When Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 6:17, he said, “Therefore come out from among them and be separate.” Paul explained that Christian separation is something totally different. Brothers and sisters, we should not just take a 30-day vow of devotion to God. We should live that way all our lives, right? 1 John 2:15 says, “Do not love the world or the things in the world.”
Verse 19, “And he came to Ephesus, and left them there; but he himself entered the synagogue and reasoned with the Jews.” Priscilla and Aquila were placed there, really in the service of Christ. This is about the year 52. It wasn't until the year 57 that they popped up in Rome again. They may have been there for five years.
And Paul writes in 1 Corinthians 16:19, "The churches of Asia greet you. Aquila and Priscilla greet you heartily in the Lord, with the church that is in their house.” Paul did not sent them there as preachers. They went to Ephesus as tentmakers and God used them to start a church. Don't think that because you're not a minister, that God doesn't have a purpose for your life. Your life has just as much purpose as mine is or anybody else's.
Verse 20, “When they asked him to stay a longer time with them, he did not consent.” That is a switch, usually they wanted him to leave. This time, they want him to stay, and he left. What is he leaving for? Verse 21, “but took leave of them, saying, “I must by all means keep this coming feast in Jerusalem; but I will return again to you, God willing.” And he sailed from Ephesus.”
Now Paul landed in Ephesus. It becomes a great location of God's work in years to come. It was the marketplace of Asia Minor and it was also a center of Roman government. It was the seat of the Pan-Ionian Games, and there was the Temple of Diana, their god of fertility. A whole pagan superstition grew up around Diana, where you buy these charms and amulets for all kinds of healing. And it was a sanctuary place where criminals would be safe.
Paul says, "I will return again to you, God willing." Everything in your life depends on if God wills. Verse 22, “And when he had landed at Caesarea, and gone up and greeted the church, he went down to Antioch.” What church did he greet? Caesarea is the Mediterranean seaport right opposite Jerusalem. If you have ever been to Jerusalem, you know you go up to Jerusalem and you go down from Jerusalem. It is a drastic change, altitude-wise.
Verse 23, “After he had spent some time there, he departed and went over the region of Galatia and Phrygia in order, strengthening all the disciples.” Paul was a traveling pastor going to all the country of Galatia in order to strengthen the disciples. Then he went off on his third mission journey. Paul went back to the same churches three times! Amazing! Let’s pray.