Main news for 22 November 2018

King James Version (en)

Acts of the Apostles, Chapter 20, verse 10

¹⁰ is raised to life

¹⁰And Paul went down, and fell on him, and embracing him said, Trouble not yourselves; for his life is in him.

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20:10 Paul fell or him - It is observable, our Lord never used this gesture. But Elijah and Elisha did as well as Paul.His life is in him - He is alive again.

NOTES

This conversation of the apostle Paul with the Ephesian presbyters is one of the most dramatic passages in...

Paul's path is that of an apostle and a missionary, in the fullest sense. It is not only that, having traveled throughout Asia Minor, he left churches in all its major cities. It is also what he carries with him...

Today's reading includes a speech in which Paul sums up his missionary work...

Today's reading includes a speech in which Paul sums up his missionary work (vv. 17–38). It is both an account and an exhortation. Speaking of his ministry, Paul deliberately mentions that throughout his missionary journeys he was a burden to no one (vv. 33–35). This was apparently a matter of principle for the apostle, and no wonder: it concerned not only material things, but spiritual ones as well. Nor was it merely that charging for preaching would have been strange, to say the least. It concerned one's very attitude toward the ministry entrusted by God. If it is seen as simply an ordinary job like any other, one can, of course, demand payment for it as for any other work. Paul, however, apparently adheres consistently to the instruction Jesus gave His disciples when sending them out to preach during His earthly ministry (Matt. 10:8). His chief concern, it seems, is that those whom God has placed at the head of the churches should preserve everything to which he bore witness in his preaching (vv. 27–32). Paul understands that false teachers and false prophets will appear very soon; their appearance is inevitable, and one must be prepared for it (vv. 29–30). Remaining faithful to what Paul testified means remaining faithful to Christ and the Kingdom. Yet no one can do this alone, so Paul advises the heads of the churches to listen both to themselves and to their church (v. 28). At first sight, this seems merely a matter of what we would now call democracy within the Church. But it concerns more than the organization of church communities. It concerns Paul's understanding of the Church. For him, it is above all the new people of God, created by Christ Himself. No human being can govern any church community in the sense in which we usually speak of governing in our still untransfigured world: if that community remains the Church, by definition only the risen Jesus Himself can govern it. The role of the head of a church is then primarily functional: he can and must lead the community and preside over the assembly, but he cannot give his church anything that any other member could not give it. This is hardly surprising: any church community living a full spiritual life receives everything needed for that life from Christ Himself. There are, and can be, no other sources in the Church. In that case, however, the experience of communion with Christ, and thus the experience of the Kingdom, can be preserved not by individuals, whatever their position in the church community, but only by the whole community together. Yet listening to oneself is also necessary: a church community is not a collective in which the individual is lost, but a community of persons following Christ in all their uniqueness. Each person's experience is exceptionally important here, although it cannot, of course, be regarded as the final word in truth. Apparently, Paul understood that one can guard against false teachers only by living a full spiritual life. No church structures, no theological concepts, not even any creeds can in themselves protect the Church from destruction from without or within. Its only protection can be fidelity to Christ and life according to the laws of the Kingdom.

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