Israel, the people of God, and the nations

Journal of the Evangelical Theological Society, Mar 2002 by Schnabel, Eckard J

The apostles were clearly aware of their responsibility for an active missionary outreach, even to the Gentiles. First, we must not forget that Luke portrays in a highly selective manner the ministry of only one of the Twelve, that of Peter. Otherwise he mentions only John, always in connection with Peter, and John's brother James (who is executed in 12:2).

If Luke has given a limited picture of Paul's mission-even though over half of this material concerns Paul!-it should come as no surprise that his sketch of the mission of the Twelve is also selective. This is all the more remarkable, second, since Luke begins his treatise on the history of the early Christians and their expansion from Jerusalem to "the end of the earth" with a list of the eleven remaining disciples (Acts 1:13) and a comparatively long section on the replacement of Judas as the twelfth apostle (Acts 1:15-26). Third, Luke reports that the Jerusalem apostles had enormous courage and were prepared to challenge with great boldness a political institution that may call for their execution, refusing to stop their public proclamation and their private teaching of Jesus Christ (Acts 4:18-20; 5:28-29). This seems to speak against the view that they were timid leaders unwilling to initiate new ventures. The Sanhedrin, fourth, was concerned that the messianic movement linked with Jesus of Nazareth would spread to new territories (4:17). This clearly implies the dynamic vitality of the Jerusalem apostles and their drive towards expansion of the Jerusalem church. Fifth, as the prophecies regarding the nations describe not only a movement to Jerusalem but a prior movement of the word of the Lord out from Jerusalem (Isa 2:3b), it is quite possible that in the earliest period of the Jerusalem church the expectation was that through the proclamation of the gospel in Jerusalem (cf. Isa 40:9) its sound would reach to the ends of the earth, through the constant stream of pilgrims to Jerusalem and back into the countries where they lived. "In that case, Luke provides us, in his portrayal of the first preaching of the gospel in Jerusalem to a crowd drawn form all nations under heaven (Acts 2:5-11), with a programmatic account of the earliest mission strategy of the Jerusalem church."51 Sixth, the narrative in Acts indicates that the Jerusalem apostles acted in accordance with their call to missionary outreach: (i) they send Peter and John to Samaria when they hear of converts there (Acts 8:14); (ii) they link up with Paul and hear not only of his conversion but also of his work as a missionary in Damascus (9:27); (iii) Peter appears to be involved in a missionary journey through all the cities and villages of Judea, Galilee, and Samaria (9:32 with 9:31; 8:25) and in the coastal areas (9:35); (iv) Peter plays a pioneering role in the first breakthrough to the Gentiles in Caesarea (10:1-11:18); (v) the Jerusalem church feels responsible for the missionary outreach to Gentiles in Antioch (11:1924); (vi) all the early coworkers in Paul's mission to the Gentiles came from Jerusalem: Barnabas, John Mark, and Silas. Seventh, Paul's statement of missionary policy in Rom 15:20 that includes the principle "not to build on another's foundation" does not establish him as the only pioneer missionary to Gentiles (so most commentaries) but indicates, on the contrary, that others were actively involved in the mission to the Gentiles. This is also implied by 1 Cor 9:5 and 15:10.52 Even the Judaizers wanted to win Gentiles (Gal 6:13)! Eighth, the early tradition that the apostle Thomas evangelized in India is very probably authentic. 53