The Apostolic Gospel: First Coming

I have suggested that the core content of the apostolic gospel as presented in the Book of Acts can be understood as being comprised of five constituents or categories of information regarding or related to Jesus of Nazareth. Having considered Jesus' identity as the first of these (see "The Apostolic Gospel: Jesus' Identity"), we will now turn our attention to another of these constituents, his first coming.

By "first coming," I am referring to the apostolic emphasis placed upon the historical public mission of Jesus, not to the circumstances surrounding his birth or his life prior to his public ministry, which are not mentioned in the texts of public proclamation recorded in Acts. Although the Gospels of Matthew and Luke give attention to the significance of Jesus' miraculous conception, the lack of reference to his conception in the record of apostolic preaching in Acts as well as in the Gospels of Mark and John suggest that it is not necessary as a functional element in the preaching of the apostolic gospel. This is not to say, of course, that his divine conception is not of major theological significance. It is to suggest, however, that it is a supporting element of the overall gospel and not intrinsic to its essential communication for salvific purposes.

An analysis of the twelve relevant texts (2:14-41; 3:12-4:2; 4:8-12; 5:29-32; 7:1-60; 10:34-43; 13:16-41; 14:8-18; 17:2-3; 17:16-31; 26:1-29; 28:17-31) reveals that the preaching of Jesus' historical mission involved four major components. These are his public ministry, his suffering and death, his resurrection, and his exaltation. Of these, his suffering, death and resurrection are given the greatest emphasis. A detailed list of references appears below.

The primary references to Jesus' public ministry involve two fundamental points. The first is that Jesus engaged in performing extraordinary acts of divine power for the benefit of those who were suffering or in need, and that he did so because God was with him in the person of the Holy Spirit. The second is that God did this to accredit or attest to his identity, particularly as the Messiah. In other words, the apostles included Jesus' public ministry as part of their gospel presentation for the purpose of underscoring God's goodness and his redemptive purposes as specially manifested in Jesus, who alone is God's unique means by which he has chosen to redeem humanity. The miracles, wonders, and signs which Jesus performed are a divine attestation to his identity and mission, which thus call for an existential response of repentance and faith on the part of all who hear the gospel.

Even greater weight is given in the apostolic preaching to the suffering and death of Jesus. Half of the references recorded in Acts that address this point of the gospel explicitly mention his crucifixion, while the remainder merely refer to his suffering and/or death. The apostles clearly proclaim Jesus as innocent and undeserving of the evil which befell him. Although they make clear that his execution was instigated by humans and constituted a heinous, unjust murder of outrageous proportions, they also attribute this woeful historical event to the superintending providence of Almighty God and describe Jesus' sufferings as "necessary." This is to be understood in relation to the fulfillment of ancient Israelite prophecies concerning the Messiah, and, by intimation, God's own design for procuring redemption for sinful humanity.

The resurrection of Jesus is given equal, if not greater, emphasis to his suffering and death. God is repeatedly identified as the one who explicitly and deliberately raised Jesus from the dead. This extraordinary historical event, which was confirmed by reliable witnesses, served to validate the claim that Jesus is the Messiah, who came to inaugurate the redemption of humanity with a view toward an eventual "restoration of all things." As has been previously mentioned, first century Jewish eschatological views typically included an association of the resurrection of the dead with the appearance of the Messiah-King, whose arrival was to establish some form of the kingdom of God on earth, particularly through Israel for the glory of God and the ultimate benefit of the nations. Consequently, Jesus' resurrection is not merely the vindication of his own innocence, but is also a sign confirming that God has begun and will eventually complete the full establishment of his reign upon this earth through his chosen Messiah, who is established as his vicegerent to rule as king over all humanity.

The resurrection of the dead is often referred to by Paul in Acts as the "hope" of Israel (cf., 23:6; 24:15; 26:6-8, 23; 28:20), since the common belief of many first century Jews held that by this means the faithful believers of past generations would at last be enabled to participate in the fullness of the covenant promises during the enduring reign of the Messiah-King. It is in this light that the resurrection of Jesus should also be understood. As Paul puts it, Jesus was the "first" to rise from the dead, implying that others would eventually follow (26:23). Thus, the proclamation of Jesus' resurrection led to the proclamation of the "good news" of the resurrection in general (4:2; 17:18; 26:6-8, 23), which now could become the hope of not only faithful Jews, but also any and all Gentiles who turn to this Messiah who redeems them, even Jesus. Jesus' resurrection procures our own resurrection, and serves as a sign confirming its eventual occurrence. Consequently, his resurrection has now become the basis of our own hope to also participate in the kingdom of God when it is fully established on this earth upon the return of the Messiah.

A survey of the apostolic preaching in Acts reveals that the implications of the resurrection of Jesus involve both existential and societal redemptive concerns. Examples include the forgiveness of sins, the inevitable judgment of all humanity (the dead as well as the living), and the consequent, implied restructuring of all human societies in light of the full establishment of the kingdom of God. More will be said about this when the fifth constituent or core category of the apostolic gospel is considered.

The final major component involved in the preaching of Jesus' historical mission is his exaltation, to which there are three discernible dimensions. That is, we can speak of his relational, ontological, and functional exaltation. According to the apostolic preaching, God has exalted Jesus to his "right hand" in heaven (2:33; 5:31), a designation which refers to both his relational and functional exaltation. As a human, Jesus now enjoys the unique privilege of immediate intimate access to God the Father in the same unhindered manner as he did from eternity as the Son of God. Of course, he already enjoyed unique access to the Father during the time of his incarnation on earth, having received the Spirit without measure. Nevertheless, his relationship with the Father during that time was necessarily subject to traversing the invisible bridge between heaven and earth, since Jesus' humanity was localized upon this planet. Now, however, he has been exalted in his humanity to the very epicenter, as it were, of the presence of the Father in heaven. The eternal oneness of the Father and the Son, which has always characterized the relationship of God within himself, is now uniquely experienced and enjoyed by Jesus in heaven in his humanity in addition to his divinity.

That Jesus is exalted to God's "right hand," also refers to his functional exaltation, indicating the supreme power, authority, and honor bestowed upon him as a reward for his suffering obedience in conformity to God's will. Indeed, he is exalted "as Prince and Savior" (5:31), which underscores both the compensatory nature of his entitlements and the redemptive function which he is privileged and authorized to fulfill. The immediate redemptive consequences of his exaltation, as cited by the apostolic preaching, are the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the bringing of repentance and forgiveness of sins by Jesus to a desperately needy humanity.

Thirdly, we understand that Jesus has been exalted in an ontological fashion. By this I mean that the glory which is intrinsically his by virtue of his divinity, has now been given to and revealed through his humanity in heaven. Both Stephen and Paul, in their public witness, testify to seeing Jesus in his post-resurrection exalted glory by means of divinely granted visual revelations into heaven. Paul even verbally dialogued with him!

While his exaltation in all three dimensions is implied to be eternal, the place of his exaltation is not. "Heaven must receive him until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets" (3:21). This exalted Jesus, who performed extraordinary signs and wonders as a testimony to his own identity and God's redemptive purposes, who suffered, died, and rose again according to God's predetermined plan, has promised to return to earth to consummate the establishment of his kingdom, which he inaugurated with his public mission at his first coming. This promised return constitutes the third constituent or core category of the apostolic gospel, to which we will next turn our attention.

Textual References
Public Ministry - 2:22; 3:26; 10:36-39
Suffering & Death - 2:23; 3:13-15, 18; 4:10; 5:30; 7:52; 10:39; 13:27-29; 17:3; 26:23
Resurrection - 2:24, 31, 31; 3:15; 4:2, 10; 5:30; 10:40; 13:30-37; 17:3, 18, 31; 26:6-8, 23
Exaltation - 2:33; 5:31; 7:55-56; 26:13-19