The Importance of the Jewish Setting and Context of the Early Church
As 21st-century Christians, one thing we often lose sight of is the fact that Jews made up the early church. We see Christianity and Judaism as two completely separate things; while they are, we must not forget the Jewish roots of the early church. Luke provides evidence for this in the book of Acts. In Acts 2, Luke tells us that the early church was “day by day, attending the temple together.” (Acts 2:46, English Standard Version). Luke again reiterates this in Chapter 3, stating, “Now Peter and John were going up to the temple at the hour of prayer, the ninth hour.” (Acts 3:1). Many people will miss the fact that these men were still going to the temple. We must remember that the Christian church was brand new and did not yet have places to meet except in the homes of its members. They also relied on the Old Testament as their Scripture since they had no New Testament.
Remember, Jesus had just ascended back to heaven in chapter 1 of Acts, and the Spirit had come upon them at Pentecost. Pentecost itself is a Jewish holiday. “Pentecost (2:1) refers to the ancient Hebrew holiday instituted in Moses’s time (Deut. 16:16, there called the Festival of Weeks). It took place seven weeks after the Passover observance and is still celebrated by Jews today.”1 Why does the timing of the Holy Spirit’s arrival at Pentecost matter so much? Elwell and Yarbrough provide insight by saying, “The central effect of the Spirit’s unusual presence involved the announcement of the gospel of Jesus the Messiah. An international assortment of Jewish pilgrims in Jerusalem for Pentecost—2:9–11 names more than a dozen nations or ethnic groups, representing perhaps scores of languages—heard “the wonders of God” (2:11) proclaimed in their native tongues.” 2
God used Pentecost to help spread the Gospel. But why is it important to understand the Jewish setting of Acts? Dr. Robert Wayne Stacy says, “The first Christians, Luke reminds us, were Jews, and unless we understand that, we will likely misunderstand, misinterpret, and misappropriate much of the New Testament.”3 Of further importance in Acts is how Peter’s sermon at Pentecost reminds us that the Day of the Lord had dawned. Dr. Stacy reminds us that beginning here in Acts and continuing throughout the New Testament. The New Testament people were eschatological. The Day of the Lord continues still. We live in a time of already, but not yet. Jesus inaugurated the beginning of the end, but we have not seen the end of the eschaton.4
Why does this matter?
The Old Testament makes up most of our Bible. Just as the early church did not abandon its Scripture while writing the New Testament, neither should today’s church. We must understand how God worked throughout history and how Jesus fulfills what the Old Testament taught. I understand why most preachers strictly preach from the New Testament. That is where we find Jesus, but we must also be aware of how the Old Testament points to Jesus. We need to understand that when the New Testament writers are refer to Scripture, they mean the Old Testament. I truly believe that the more we study the Old Testament, the more we understand the New. We must remember the context in which the Scriptures were written. We must understand the importance of the Jewish context of the early church so we can correctly interpret and apply the Scriptures to the modern church.
My challenge to you is not to speed through reading the Old Testament if you are doing a one-year Bible reading plan, but to really try to understand what is going on. If you are not currently reading the Old Testament, I suggest incorporating some Old Testament passages into your daily Bible reading.
Walter A. Elwell and Robert W. Yarbrough, Encountering the New Testament: A Historical and Theological Survey, Third Edition., Encountering Biblical Studies (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2013), 198.
Ibid., 199.
Robert Wayne Stacy. “The Jewish Setting of the Early Church in Acts,”
Robert Wayne Stacy, “Pentecost & the Eschatological Setting of the Early Church in Acts,”