By John Stott, revised edition 2020, Inter Varsity Press, Part of The Bible Speaks Today Series

When I was assigned a commentary for our study of Acts, I wasn’t expecting a gripping account I could hardly put down (all almost-400 pages of it!). John Stott’s The Message of Acts is a refreshing, invigorating, life-infusing read! I have read the book of Acts more times than I can remember, but never made so many of the connections I discovered in Stott’s work. It has birthed in me a new excitement for every book of the Bible – if Acts can be so riveting and relevant, there must be much more than I am aware of “hidden in plain sight” throughout the Bible.

Why learn about Acts?

Acts is particularly critical to the story of Christianity. It is Luke’s second volume, the first being the book of Luke. Acts is the only account of early church history and plays a vital role in our understanding of how the gospel spread across the Roman empire. It is in Acts that we are introduced to Paul, the author of 28% of the New Testament.

So how does a sort-of commentary on Acts fit in with our identity in Christ? Well, not directly, but certainly indirectly. As we learn about the growth of the early church, we can know our God better and marvel at His plans for the spread of the gospel “to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8). We can also grow to understand the Christian rootedness in Judaism and its connection to the Old Testament. After all, being a Christian is not just about us as individuals, but as part of a worldwide church that spans the centuries. You and I are as much part of the church and instruments of the Holy Spirit as the people we read about in the pages of Acts.

Here are some of the things I learned from Stott (spoiler alert!)

• Who knew that the whole point of the book of Acts is the inclusion of gentiles into God’s saving plan? It starts out very Jewish: it is based in Jerusalem, the heart of the Jewish nation, with a focus on Peter who was the first leader of the church in Jerusalem. It transitions to Paul, the leader of the gentile mission and ends up in Rome, the center of the gentile Roman Empire. On careful study, we see there is a pattern Paul follows in several cities: he first teaches in the synagogue. When the Jewish leaders cast him out, he turns to the gentiles who accept his message more readily than the Jews (in general).

• I didn’t realise how many parallels Luke draws between Peter and Paul. Stott lists 14 parallels including,

“both were imprisoned for their testimony to Jesus and then miraculously set free, … both healed a lame man, … both possessed such extraordinary powers that people were healed by Peter’s shadow and Paul’s handkerchiefs and aprons, … and both refused the worship of their fellow human beings, Peter that of Cornelius and Paul that of the Lystrans …

“It is true that these parallels are scattered through Acts and not put next to each other. Yet there they are. They can hardly be accidental. Luke surely includes them in his narrative in order to show by his description of Peter and Paul that they were both apostles of Christ, with the same commission, gospel, and authentication. It is in this way [Luke] may be called a ‘peacemaker’, who demonstrated the unity of the apostolic church,” (Stott, pp. 8-9).

• By spending time learning and thinking about Judaism at the time, I could more fully appreciate what a huge theological shift it would have been to “abandon” previous teaching of what it meant to be faithful to God and preconceived notions the Messiah, and embrace the new disclosure of God’s chosen way of salvation. To enter a gentile home and eat with gentiles used to make Jews unclean, but we have Peter staying with Cornelius (Acts 10:27, 48) and the Holy Spirit coming upon gentiles (14:44). Since Abraham’s time, Jews would practise circumcision as a sign of the covenant with God, but circumcision was now no longer necessary (Acts 15:5-11). It’s quite astounding to see how God made these revelations clear to Peter, Paul, and the early church leaders.
• The day after Paul was stoned and left for dead, he departed on a more-than-60-mile journey from Lystra to Derbe. (That’s over 96km; Acts 14:19-20). I wouldn’t have known the distance without an external reference.
• Luke carefully includes the conversion accounts of marginalised individuals in Philippi (Acts 16) to show that salvation is for all: Lydia – a woman; the fortune teller slave girl – a slave (it’s not explicit but she likely became a follower of the way); and the Roman jailer – a gentile.
• I got all excited and printed out maps of Paul’s missionary journeys and marked on them what happened where. It will be neat to be able to keep these experiences in mind when reading Paul’s letters to specific cities. (I have yet to do this.)

Here are some other teasers to whet your appetite:

• Why did Saul’s name change to Paul? (Hint: It didn’t happen at his conversion. The first use of “Paul” is in Acts 13:9, and we see “Saul” again in Acts 22 and 26 when he recounts his conversion.)
• What is the significance to Stephen’s face shining moments before he was martyred? (Acts 6:15. Hint: it relates to another instance of a shining face in the Old Testament and to what Stephen is being accused of by the Jewish authorities.)
• Why did Stephen include each of the specific points he made in his speech in Acts 7? (Related to the above point. Stephen talked about Abraham, Joseph, Moses, and David and Solomon and the temple, and the law.)
• If compassion for the lost is a more noble motive for evangelism than out of duty, what could be better than both? (See page 262 in Stott.)
• Why did Paul circumcise Timothy soon after affirming that gentile believers did not need to be circumcised? (Acts 15:1-16:3)
• Why did Paul undergo Jewish purification rituals if he was no longer under Jewish law? (Acts 17:26)

The Message of Acts is part of The Bible Speaks Today series. Technically it is not a commentary, because rather than simply expounding on the Biblical text, it seeks to apply the text. Stott believes “that God still speaks through what he has spoken, and that nothing is more necessary for the life, health and growth of Christians than that they should hear what the Spirit is saying to them through his ancient – yet ever modern – Word,” (p. vii). I can’t speak for the rest of the series, but The Message of Acts is worth its weight in gold.

Stott’s “commentary” is easy to understand and easy to navigate. I appreciate that he mentions differing views without getting caught up in rabbit trails. Personally, I want to research the restrictions on gentiles coming to the faith (Acts 15:20) as neither view presented make a whole lot of sense to me. Overall, I am exceptionally grateful for Stott’s insights and his life devoted to studying the Scriptures.

If you do read this book, I encourage you to approach it as our study group did: read the whole of Acts through over two weeks, jotting down your questions as you go. We then researched a bit of background (see the video on Acts by the Bible Project and Fee and Stuart’s chapter on Acts in How to read the Bible for all it’s worth). Then over 8 weeks we read slowly through Acts once again, this time reading Stott’s work alongside. There is a study guide included in the book with questions that draw out salient points. (PS, be aware that Stott has another work entitled Acts. They are not the same.)

For anyone wanting to dig into the Word, become passionate about the Bible, and learn more about the early spread of Christianity, I wholeheartedly recommend to you The Message of Acts. For those who have read other commentaries and are familiar with the book of Acts, I think you will find Stott’s insights for present-day Christianity relevant and refreshing as well as challenging.