Luke makes a “cut-to-the-chase” type of move in chapter 6, bringing us to the climax of the first part of his Acts account. The Judean and Galilean ministries of the Apostles probably represented the greater part of their work and the “fruits” showed it. After all, it was here where the Lord ministered. They were still reaping from the fields where he planted. However, the Lord’s command was to not go to Samaria, and not enter into the way of the Gentiles (Matthew 10:5). Nevertheless, he also said to preach the Gospel everywhere (Mark 16:15). How did the Apostles obey his command—that is, how did they understand his words, at least in the beginning part of their ministry?
It is easy for us to do Monday morning quarterbacking for the games played on Sunday. However, when one is in the middle of wilderness, carving out a path one should take is not so easy. For example, if one never saw the color orange one might never blend the colors red and yellow to make it happen. But, once one saw how to make it happen, one would wonder why he had never thought of it. This is what I believe was happening in the church as it began to multiply (Acts 6:1). The Grecian Jews, i.e. those who had resettled in Judea from the Diaspora, had different ideas concerning the Gospel and who the Lord intended to reach. The Apostles lived in Judea and Galilee all their lives. They were probably never in a Gentile home, but not so the Hellenists, many, if not most, of them probably knew how pork tasted. So, “when the number of disciples was multiplied,” that is, the number of Grecian Jewish believers became sizable enough to create some waves of their own, there arose a dispute between them and their brethren, the Palestinian Jewish believers. The “widow” matter was merely the tip of the iceberg. It was what made the dispute work in their favor. They wanted to make decisions on their own, but were outnumbered by the Palestinian Jews. They had their own ideas, but were unable to implement them. Now was their chance. They had a legitimate complaint and the Apostles’ decision pleased them (Acts 6:5). Finally, they were a viable force in the hand of the Lord, and they would see for themselves what the Lord would do through them.
How long would it take for the numbers of Grecian Jewish believers to multiply enough that they could cause their more liberal views of how to spread the Gospel felt among the more conservative group of Jewish believers? When we consider the figures of 3000 in Acts 2 and 5000 more in Acts 4 and then multitudes in Acts 5, we have to understand that all of these new Jewish believers from the Diaspora did not remain in Judea. Some did, but the rest returned to their homes throughout the empire. This is how so many believers were in Rome and throughout Italy when Paul sailed there. No one from Jerusalem had gone there to evangelize them. They were among the pilgrims who had gone to visit Jerusalem during one of the Holy Day seasons and returned home and brought the message of Christ to their local synagogues. This occurred throughout the empire where Jewish pilgrims had gone to Jerusalem, heard the Gospel from Peter or one of the other disciples and then returned to their families and friends. Yet, some had no specific ties anywhere, and they stayed in Jerusalem. I believe Barnabas was one of these Hellenists. He cut what ties he may have had on Cyprus by selling his lands and laying the proceeds at the feet of the Apostles (Acts 4:36-37). There were many like him who would stay and most of them who had Gentile friends would have longed for the Gospel to reach them too, but how should this be done?
I believe we have the color orange dilemma here. The Jewish faith had been the only faith on the face of the earth that was begun by God. It is perfectly understandable for those who were part of Judaism to believe that anyone who wished to worship the God of Israel had to become a Jew. One had to be part of the faith founded by God, if one wished to be saved—pure and simple. So how long would it take for believers to see the color orange or begin to imagine what it might look like, if one blended yellow and red? I believe it is only logical for the Hellenist Jewish believers to imagine what this would be like before the Palestinian Jewish believers would. Peter had to be told three times by Jesus in Acts 10, and then didn’t understand the meaning of the vision until he met Cornelius. Peter had to first be prepared and then meet Cornelius before he could believe and understand that God placed no difference between Jews and Gentiles. The Hellenistic Jewish believers grew up with Gentiles, made friends with them, probably ate what they ate etc. After they heard the Gospel and believed, and since they were already prepared by previous experience with Gentiles, it would be only logical that they would be the first to understand that Gentiles were not much different than Jews when it came right down to the nitty-gritty.
So, how long did it take for this understanding to become clear to the believers? It took longer for Peter than for Stephen and Phillip, but I think the revelation of the color orange was attained in Acts 6 by the Hellenistic Jewish believers. As I see it, this understanding, or at least the numbers powerful enough to implement the idea did not exist for at least 2 ½ to 3 years after the Pentecost of Acts 2. Now I realize that this speculation of time is pure presumption on my part, but I think anyone who is reasonable could see such an idea could not come overnight. Neither could the power to implement the idea, once it was understood, be implemented overnight. Time was involved both in understanding that God placed no difference between Gentile and Jew and in accumulating the number of believers necessary to put “legs” on the idea to see what God would do with it. Tomorrow, I hope to show from fulfilled prophecy that the implementation of this idea in the person of Stephen took 3 ½ years after the crucifixion, and Stephen’s death fell on the Day of Atonement in 34 CE. I hope to show this by means of proof of a more certain nature. We can presume when the conversion of the 5000 of Acts 4 occurred or that the multitudes of Acts 5 were converted during a Holy Days season, but the proof I intend to present through fulfilled prophecy is either true or it is not. There is absolutely no other way the prophecy fits, unless one wishes to engage in pure presumption without any foundation.
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