Acts of the Apostles 1-28

At the beginning of Acts of the Apostles, which tradition links (as Acts does itself) to the Gospel of Luke, Jesus is still part of the narrative.  Acts says he was with the apostles for 40 days.  Perhaps inevitably, John the Baptist is referenced.  The ascension occurs, as it did in Luke as well.

The apostles are listed (Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the Lesser, Simon, and Judas), and Mary, Jesus's mother, as well as 120 additional (or perhaps including) followers, among those left behind.  They are described in their new charge as witnesses to the resurrection.  Since the betrayal of Judas Iscariot, the apostles elect a new twelfth member, Matthias, who otherwise is never mentioned again.  The descent of the Holy Spirit (I didn't mention this third member of the Holy Trinity previously, who otherwise is referenced in the gospels, rest assured) occurs, giving the apostles the ability to speak foreign languages without actually having learned them.

Moses, Joel, and David are invoked in the early preaching, where people are called to repent.  Peter and John are most routinely singled out in the early part of Acts.  They cure a cripple.  The religious authorities arrest them, are baffled by the fact that they're representing a man who was executed, and try to stop all this continuing talk of Jesus.

The faithful kind of turn into a hippy commune, sharing the wealth as it were in order to get by.  There's a curious episode where a couple who sells their possessions and is supposed to, like everyone else, give the proceeds to the group instead holds a portion of it back.  When this is discovered, they separately drop dead.

Peter and John are arrested again, and this occasions the first time in Acts where someone is freed by an angel.  They immediately return to preaching.  They're brought right back.  At this point, Acts references incidents that are supposed to be similar, including men named Theudas and Judas the Galilean, whose similar attempts at mass revolutions failed.  Peter and John are released on the chance that their human plans will similarly fail, although if they succeed it possibly really is the will of God.  (Although this is the only time any of them get off that easy.)

Stephen is selected among a small group of evangelists for a special mission.  When he reaches his fateful event, he retells biblical history from Abraham to Solomon.  Most interestingly, he interprets Moses as a blatantly Christian figure, very much in the mold of Jesus, a prophet rejected in his own time.  Nothing he says stretches the truth, actually.  Really a brilliant little sermon.  In this corollary, John the Baptist becomes the Aaron figure.  When he reaches Solomon, Stephen rightly points out that although at this point the temple entered Jewish tradition, God never really wanted a single dwelling place to begin with.  The religious authorities are angry that he pointed out how they always rejected the prophets who spoke of the messiah in the past, even though they came to believe in them, but still ended up rejecting the messiah anyway.  He then becomes the first martyr.  Paul, initially referred to as Saul, is witness to and complicit in the deed.

A Philip who could be the apostle or the one from the group Stephen was a part of preaches among the Samaritans.  This ambiguity is heightened when a Philip is referenced later and specifically linked to the Stephen group.  Either way, the Philip at this point challenges a local charlatan, and is later backed up by the team of Peter and John, who end up staying for a while to preach.  Philip then converts an Ethiopian by helping him understand and interpret Isaiah.

Paul is converted through his famous mystical experience on the road to Damascus.  Here he is blinded in a bright light and speaks with Jesus himself.  He later recounts the incident twice.  He almost immediately becomes a target of the Jews.

Peter cures a paralyzed man.  He resurrects a disciple named Tabitha.  A centurion named Cornelius receives a visit from an angel.  Peter receives a vision that leads him to Cornelius.  It's said to be the incident that convinces Peter to accept ministry to the Gentiles.

Barnabas starts working with Paul.  They preach for a whole year in Antioch.  The disciples become officially known as Christians.

Herod begins a persecution, executing John's brother James.  He also arrests Peter, who escapes thanks to an angel.

Another piece of supposition here in a new disciple referred to as Mark possibly being the author of the Gospel of Mark.  He plays no huge role, however, and actually later becomes a sticking point between Barnabas and Paul.  For the moment, however, all three travel together, and it's this point where Paul is officially referred to only as such.  John travels with them for a time.  Paul explains biblical history from Moses to David in an effort to introduce Jesus.  He also references John the Baptist.  There's no reason to reference John the Baptist in Acts unless his reputation really still was inordinate.  Perhaps for that reason, Acts also has him explain that he is not himself the messiah.  Paul then explains how and why Jesus died and how he came back.  Perhaps because they're not always hugely successful, Paul and Barnabas move around a lot from place to place.

Paul cures a cripple.  This sparks another curious development.  Based on this miracle, the locals get a little carried away.  They declare Barnabas to be Zeus and Paul to be Hermes and attempt to worship them.  Neither is amused, of course, by this development.  (Although it certainly sheds light on how people viewed Zeus and Hermes at the time.  From a modern perspective, it would certainly seem that if either of these two were to perform an act of divine intervention, it would be Zeus.  Acts explains it to be Hermes because Paul is the spokesperson, which would mean that Zeus at this point is expected to be the figure in the background, all-powerful but uninvolved, whereas trusty messenger Hermes is free to do as he likes, which certainly squares with classical mythology, but still.  At least he isn't making any demigod babies.)

Paul ends up getting stoned (in the traditional sense) and presumed dead, but afterward seems fine.  Paul and Barnabas start dealing with contradictory messages from other evangelists.  At an assembly to help streamline matters, Peter agrees with what they're saying, while James has caveats.  It's not clear if this James is James the Lesser, one of the apostles.  Reza Aslan in Zealot posits that it's Jesus's brother.  Which admittedly would not be a hugely favorable interpretation to mainstream Christianity, certainly among Catholics, given that Mary was said to be a virgin and thus Jesus an only child.  To Aslan's interpretation, this brother of Jesus would have become a member of the early Church after the crucifixion, become at that point highly motivated to carry on his brother's legacy.

A letter from Paul and Barnabas is quoted.  Since we know Paul sent plenty of letters, because the remaining New Testament is made up almost exclusively of them, which are in fact the earliest extant material from it, this is definitely appropriate material for Acts.

It's at this point that Paul and Barnabas have a difference of opinion concerning Mark.  Barnabas sides with Mark.  So they pair off.  Paul carries on with Silas, and subsequently meets Timothy, to whom two of the later letters in the New Testament are written.

Interestingly, Philippi (as in the later Letter to the Philippians) is located in Macedonia.  This is notable to me in relation to Alexander the Great, whom you'll remember was referenced in First Book of Maccabees.  Here Paul performs an exorcism.  But it's another acts that spectacularly backfires on him.  He and Silas are beaten as a result.  They're imprisoned but miraculously freed.  Because they're both Roman citizens, Paul and Silas actually receive an apology.  Then they visit the Thessalonians (also recipients of a later New Testament letter).  When they visit Athens, they're interviewed by philosophers from the Epicurean and Stoic traditions.  Epicureans in particular would have had a problem with Christian theology centered on the miraculous event of the resurrection.  Stoics would have had an easier time of it.  Acts in fact says some of them are convinced, and that would probably have been the Stoics.  Paul cleverly uses a local altar dedicated to "an unknown god" in his ministry here.  He then visits the Corinthians (later recipients of a New Testament letter as well).

Roman emperor Claudius is referenced a few times in Acts.  At this point it's because he's expelled the Jews from Rome.

Silas and Timothy meet back up with Paul.  They'd stayed behind in Macedonia.  Paul officially rejects the Jews in favor of the Gentiles.  He stays in Corinth for a little over a year.  He visits the Ephesians next (subjects of another New Testament letter), then Galatians (also subjects of a New Testament letter).  A man in Ephesus speaks about Jesus, but apparently knows more about John the Baptist (which seems about right).  This occasions for Paul to go back and correct him.  He teaches in the hall of Tyrannus for two years.  (In Star Wars lore, Count Dooku was secretly Darth Tyranus, if that interests you.)

A demon rejects some Jewish exorcists who attempt to mockingly invoke Jesus.

The Greek goddess Artemis is referenced, and her worshippers work themselves into a tizzy.

By this point, Luke has entered the scene, although he never references himself directly but rather in "we" statements.

Even though he knows it's dangerous, Paul becomes intent on going to Jerusalem.  Once there, he meets with James (presumably the same ambiguous one as before) and the elders.  He's seized by angry Jews who try and kill him.  He entreats a nameless Egyptian who had led a revolt of thousands to help him.  (As the final reference to Egypt in the Bible, it is appropriately epic.)  He explains his origins to the angry crowd, which doesn't help him at all.  It's only the fact of his Roman citizenship that saves Paul from a scourging.  He speaks before the religious authorities (the usual Sadducees and Pharisees of the gospels, the latter of whom he was previously a member; these two groups are Jews who believe different things, much like, say, Christians and Protestants, or Sunnis and Shiites), who end up divided over him.  A plot arises to assassinate him, which only the fact of his Roman citizenship once again saves him from.

Paul, by the way, calls Christianity the Way.

His standing trial reads very comparably to Jesus's similar experience, except of course for the ending.

The governor Felix is sympathetic to a point, which leads to Paul remaining in prison rather than some other fate.  Felix is succeeded by Festus, at which point Paul is brought before Agrippa, to whom he again explains his faith journey.  Festus calls Paul crazy, and Agrippa jokes that Paul is trying to convert him to Christianity.  He'd set Paul free if he could, but Paul has requested an audience with the Roman emperor.  So Paul is set on a circuitous journey to Rome, at which point Acts begins to read like an adventure story straight out of Melville.  The book ends with Paul having stayed in Rome two years preaching.

Gospel of John 1-21

The final gospel, and believed to be the final written as well, begins with considerably more literary flair than its predecessors.  If you read only one gospel on that basis, Gospel of John is your choice.

One of the many major differences between John and its predecessors is how John the Baptist is presented.  To be frank, he's very much de-emphasized, making it clear exactly where he stands in relation to Jesus.  In fact, he identifies exactly who Jesus is upon seeing him (along with the rest of us) for the first time.

Jesus recruits Andrew, identified as a disciple of John the Baptist.  Andrew in turn recruits his brother Peter.  Jesus then recruits Philip, who in turn recruits Nathaniel (an alternate name for the standard Bartholomew, just as Matthew and Mark use Thaddeus while Luke uses Judas, who is also popularly referred to as Jude, perhaps to further distinguish him from Judas Iscariot).  Jesus remarks that he saw Philip beneath a fig tree, which is better news for fig trees in this gospel, and also the second wildly additional emphasis on Philip, and by no means the last, in John.

The wedding at Cana occurs, which is Jesus's first public miracle (sort of the reverse of the Last Supper), where "his mother" is used to prod him into action.  John then reaches the temple incident every other gospel puts at the end of the ministry.  This is just as well, because the whole character of Jesus by that point is also markedly different.  He foretells his death and resurrection, which in John is simply not a matter of dread.

Nicodemus, the most famous of the secret converts in the gospels, appears, only in John.

Then the famous John 3:16 - "For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life."

The apostles are described as baptizing, which is another marked difference in John.  John the Baptist, meanwhile, is still active at this point.  Usually he's safely imprisoned.  He uses the opportunity to reiterate his position in relation to Jesus: "He must increase, but I must decrease."  By the end of the first century, no doubt Christians have really gotten into the flow of this, so John is only affirming this.

The incident with the Samaritan woman at Jacob's well occurs.  It's an affirmation as to Jesus's mission to the Gentiles.  He's also, however, already dodging the religious authorities, perhaps because of that very divide between his ministry and its Jewish origins.

He cures a civil servant's son, then the paralyzed man.  In John, it's the Jews in general who persecute Jesus, but again because he performs the latter act on the sabbath.

The diminished role of John the Baptist is once again reiterated, just in case you hadn't gotten the message already.  Remember, according to my theory about Q Gospel, which the three previous gospels drew from, John the Baptist was perhaps equal or possibly even greater in status among the very earliest members of Christianity.

Jesus feeds the multitude, which the people view as the sign that he's the prophesied messiah.  They try and make him king.  If he'd never had such an episode (usually featured only in the Palm Sunday incident), the Jews would really have no cause to take him seriously, because as far as they're concerned (as far as I know), the messiah is supposed to be someone great, like David or Solomon, and by definition a king.  If Jesus had allowed them to make him king in this incident, the whole trajectory of his ministry would have been altered, and perhaps even the necessary death and its manner would not have occurred.  Then again, for skeptics, of course he never became king.  But we'll see what Pilate thinks of this later.

He walks on the water.

"Is this not Jesus, the son of Joseph?"  (Finally, both names used deliberately.)

His teaching alienates some of his disciples, but the apostles remain faithful.

Some people remark that Jesus is speaking openly but the religious authorities are doing nothing about it, even though they already want him dead.  Jesus makes a reference to spreading the ministry to the Greeks.  In the last books of the Old Testament, the Greeks were about as bad as anyone ever got to Jews.

He keeps splitting opinions, but some openly declare him to be the messiah.  Among the religious authorities, Nicodemus stands up for Jesus.

The adulterous woman appears, one of the more curious episodes from John, where people still wonder what it was he wrote in the sand while waiting for someone to cast the first stone.

Jesus describes Satan as both a murderer and the father of lies.  In John, a lot of what he says is in a direct dialogue with the people.  However, when he says, "I am" (in the Old Testament, remember, when God gives himself a name, he uses I Am Who Am, which is usually translated as Yahweh), there are people who want to stone him.

He cures the blind man, who is subsequently subjected to heavy questioning from the religious authorities.

Jesus discusses the Good Shepherd.  John the Baptist is once again invoked as a confirmation, but here it's the same as in the other gospels.

Then we reach Lazarus, whom John identifies as the brother of Mary and Martha.  The sisters Mary and Martha previously appeared in Luke, and the name Lazarus as well, but it's in John where the trio takes on its greatest emphasis.  Not the least because Lazarus dies, and then the shortest and most impactful sentence of the Bible: "Jesus wept."  Then, of course, Jesus resurrects Lazarus.

The religious authorities are fearful that if Jesus's followers become too big, they'll provoke the Romans into destroying everything to quell them.  The high priest unwittingly suggests exactly as has been planned for Jesus all along: that one man die to spare everyone else.

Jesus spends time with Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, and this is where John reaches the point where a woman anoints Jesus.  In fact, John identifies Mary as the woman.

Palm Sunday occurs.  This is said to be a direct response to the resurrection of Lazarus.

Philip pops up again.  John also emphasizes Isaiah more than the other gospels.

The Last Supper occurs, and it's a considerably more elaborate affair, including the washing of the feet and an extended discourse that is more or less Jesus's last testament.  Judas Iscariot is identified as the betrayer, but in such a way that the other apostles would not have blatantly noticed.  (Jesus is a nice guy.)  Those who speak up include Peter, Thomas, and Judas (Jude/Thaddeus).  It's the first time Thomas appears, because remember, John doesn't give the same apostle rundown as the other gospels.

After the betrayal, during Peter's traditional three-times denial (which John later echoes with three times affirming who Jesus is), there's an unnamed apostle with him, probably intended to be the same as the more famously-unnamed apostle a little later.  This apostle is said to be known by the high priest, which is another significant detail.

Jesus stands before the high priest, then Pilate.  Jesus and Pilate engage in considerable back-and-forth.  John has him uttering a few famous phrases: "What is truth?" and "Here is the man!"

He has Jesus scourged, hoping it will satisfy the religious authorities.  Pilate wants to release him.  "Shall I crucify your king?"  When he finally consents, he has the placard above Jesus's head read, "Jesus of Nazareth, the King of the Jews," and when questioned about this, states, "What I have written, I have written."  None of this is to say that, as in Gospel of Matthew, Pilate outright didn't want to execute Jesus.  History records Pilate to be bloodthirsty.  Perhaps he was merely amusing himself.  Perhaps he allowed Jesus to humor him because it allowed him to have the necessary excuse to conclude the deed.  The Jews could hardly have been allowed to have a king like that.  By calling Jesus the Jewish king, he at once validates the argument and also validates Jesus himself.  A paradox.  He remains faithful to Rome either way.  If he endorses Jesus, he's also having him duly executed.  But it's still an endorsement, no matter how it's viewed.  It's a way of validating a theory I had about certain parallels from the Old Testament, considering the true nature of Jesus's relationship with both Rome and the Jews.  At one point he would have had to be fairly friendly with both, perhaps before or even parallel with the ministry.  When the crucifixion occurs, he needs to be betrayed by both, and so all these efforts to pass judgment from one to the other entity is really a way of saying that neither one really wanted to do it.  But there it was.  It had to happen.

Another of my theories.

Mary (his mother), plus another Mary (Mary's sister), and Mary Magdalene (another Mary) are all present at the crucifixion, along with "the disciple whom he loved."  This disciple, perhaps the same as the earlier unnamed one, is routinely identified with John.  You'll notice that Gospel of John has not even mentioned John, much less his brother James.  Another theory: the other gospels go out of their way to describe the sons of Zebedee as the most unrepentant, obnoxious apostles.  Peter misbehaves repeatedly, but is always redeemed.  Should it be any real surprise if the gospel ascribed to John tries to skirt this controversy, but in a way that actually affirms his reputation?  We'll never know the truth, of course, but it certainly makes sense.  John is traditionally described as the youngest of the apostles.  The lateness of the earliest date for the first appearance of this gospel would have put John at approximately 90 years old.  Likely he would have had someone taking dictation, although if he is indeed both the unnamed disciple and "the one whom he loved," that would also make John the friend of the high priest, which would make him fairly learned as well.

Speculation.

Mary Magdalene discovers the resurrection; Peter and the unnamed beloved apostle race (in Luke it was Peter alone who did this) to confirm it.  Jesus reveals himself to Mary Magdalene directly.  Thomas doubts.  You'll recall that previously when there was doubt at all about the resurrection among the apostles, it was all of them.  Perhaps more impish behavior on the part of John, or perhaps merely the difference between first and second-hand (if even that) knowledge.

The sons of Zebedee are finally referenced, in exactly that way.

Jesus helps the apostles catch fish.  The unnamed apostle is identified as the chief witness of this gospel (giving further circumstantial proof to some of our working theories).  At the end, Jesus remains among them.

Gospel of Luke 1-24

This gospel starts out that a lot of people have written biographies of Jesus already.  Perhaps he's counting the Q Gospel among them?  Or perhaps a whole Q Gospel tradition?  Or perhaps only Q Gospel, Gospel of Matthew, and Gospel of Mark?  Or perhaps just Matthew and Mark.  Who knows?

The narrative really kicks off with the mystical conception of John the Baptist, and then the similar mystical conception of Jesus.  It continues with more John the Baptist origin, and then the longest nativity narrative for Jesus in the four gospels.  As far as the mystical nature of events, Luke certainly prefers that version.  There's also the biggest emphasis on Mary of the four gospels, at least in the early going.  There are also strong Old Testament parallels throughout.  Luke also features the episode concerning the young Jesus in the temple.

Pilate also has added emphasis as far as being mentioned a few extra times goes.

The narrative swings back to John the Baptist.  At this end of this sequence, Herod has him imprisoned.  And, funny or not, but the baptism of Jesus is mentioned as an afterthought.  He's said to be 30 at the start of his ministry, which is where Christians generally get the idea that it lasted about three years and so he died at 33.

Luke then reached his version of the genealogy, which goes all the way to Adam, who is said to be the son of God.

Jesus then enters the 40 days of temptation, and then begins teaching in the synagogues.  People ask, "Is this not Joseph's son?"  Each of the four gospels words this question differently.

Although he has a positive reputation, the more Jesus speaks the more he angers people.  In Luke, Jesus angers people a lot, actually..

He performs an exorcism, cures Peter's mother (which also serves as the introduction of Peter).  The demons keep identifying Jesus as the "Son of God," which Jesus is none too happy about, because he's trying to keep as low a profile as possible.

He departs to a "lonely place" (no relation to John the Baptist's status given), perhaps to try and stop that spread of his reputation.  Peter, James, and John are officially recruited.  He cures the leper and then the paralyzed man.  Religious authorities start to take notice.

Matthew, referenced as Levi, is recruited; religious authorities once again grumble about the company Jesus keeps.

The disciples of John the Baptist are referenced as very much a separate entity to those following Jesus.

The religious authorities have a conniption on the sabbath.

The twelve apostles are listed (Peter, Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James the Lesser, Simon - described as the Zealot -, Judas - alternate name for Thaddeus -, and Judas Iscariot).  Jesus continues with his ministry as usual, rather than sending them out right away after their mass introduction, which was what Matthew and Mark described.

The centurion's son is cured.  Unnamed man brought back to life.  (Possibly Lazarus.)

John the Baptist is informed of Jesus's ministry.  He wants to know if Jesus is the one he himself had been preaching about.  Here it's once again clear that even well after the death of both John the Baptist and Jesus, John the Baptist remained a significant enough figure where his reputation was in a constant state of flux.  Jesus then speaks of John the Baptist (further emphasizing the latent thread of his life running so heavily through this and the gospels of Matthew and Mark).

The anonymous woman anoints Jesus.

Luke seems to suggest that Peter may have actually been a Pharisee.  That would be news to me.  I may simply be misinterpreting that particular passage.

Mary Magdalene is described as traveling with the apostles, plus a few other women.  They are described as funding the ministry, actually.  Jesus once again disassociates with his mother, despite that heavy emphasis on her earlier.

He calms the stormy sea.  The demon Legion appears, as he did in Mark.  The people this time, however, are described as fearful of Jesus after the incident.

Jesus resurrects the little girl.

He finally sends the apostles on their separate ministries.  In a little bit of an irony, John the Baptist's execution is then referenced in an afterthought.

Jesus feeds the multitudes.  Unlike in Matthew or Mark, in Luke (and John) he does it only once.  The apostles realize who he is.  He explains what's going to happen.  The transfiguration occurs.  Luke has God identifying him here rather than in the more-or-less nonexistent baptism.  The apostles themselves decide to remain mum about it in this account.  Seventy more disciples are recruited, and these are the ones who go out two-by-two in Luke.  Jesus, however, is becoming agitated, anxious.

The story of the Good Samaritan, and then the sisters Mary and Martha, and then the Lord's Prayer

I noticed another historical irony.  Abraham Lincoln famously described the United States during the Civil War as a "house divided that cannot stand."  In Luke a very similar statement is made about Jesus concerning the theory that he casts out demons by the power of demons, thereby making the house of Satan divided against itself.  I don't know if Lincoln made the association deliberately.

Jonah is invoked.

Jesus speaks out against hypocrisy.  "Woe to you for you build the tombs of the prophets whom your father killed."

Luke foreshadows Acts of the Apostles, which tradition has him as also writing.

"You must also be ready; for the Son of man is coming at an hour you do not expect."  At this point in Luke, Jesus has so successfully suppressed any talk about who he is, aside from among his apostles, that here it's appropriate to believe Jesus said this rather than John the Baptist in a strange twist of narrating.

Pilate is referenced again.

Jesus performs a cure on the sabbath, angering the religious authorities.

Jesus begins speaking of the kingdom of God, which as I've suggested before may be a code to reference himself.

The story of the Good Shepherd, then the Prodigal Son.  A parable including a man named Lazarus.  In Gospel of John, Lazarus is not only the brother of Mary and Martha, but the man Jesus resurrects.  The cure of the ten lepers, with the one who comes back.  Jesus cures the blind man.  Luke seems to repeat things (so does John).

Palm Sunday occurs.  Then the adult temple incident.  (Here's another perfect little bit of biblical symmetry, which is all the more appropriate in Luke.)  Then the Last Supper.  In Luke, Jesus often goes to the Mount of Olives, which he does again after the Last Supper.

He stands before the high priest, and then Pilate, and then Herod, and then Pilate again.  One of the thieves is redeemed at the crucifixion.  The women who witness it are anonymous, until Mary Magdalene is later identified once the resurrection occurs.  Peter runs to confirm it.  The anonymous disciples have a mystical experience with Jesus on the road to Emmaus.  Jesus ascends into Heaven.

I want to conclude my thoughts on Luke by identifying for myself who each of the evangelists to this point were writing to.  Matthew seems to be a former Jew, and perhaps attempting to address the same.  Mark is perhaps a Greek, and addressing the same.  Luke is said to be a disciple of Paul, and so is addressing whoever Paul has been converting.  These are my running theories, at any rate.