Reading for July 3rd

 Read Acts 4.32-5.16. In 4.32-34: Luke's picture of common ownership expresses a vision of the practices of the community of the resurrection (see also 2.44-47; 23.15-16, 25). In verse 35: On the distribution as any had need, see 6.1-2. In verse 36: Barnabas is identified as a Levite (They have no "allotment" in the land, Deut 14.29) and will provide a link to Paul's mission to Cyprus (Acts 11.19-20; 13.2-4; 21.16). In verse 37: His gift, laid at the apostles feet, acknowledges their authority without coercion. In 5.1-4: The consent and knowledge of Sapphira disclose the conspiracy to lie which they contrived. Satan is associated with the premeditated character of such collusion (see Lk 22.3-6). In verse 9: They are not merely challenging apostolic authority, but putting the Spirit of the Lord to the test, as in the Exodus (see Ex 17.2, 7: Deut 6.16; Lk 4.12; 11.16; Acts 15.10). In verse 11: The fear is characteristic awe of divine activity (2.43, 19.177; Lk 3.12, 65; 2.9; 7.16; 8.37). This is the first mention of the church (Gk., "ekklesia"), meaning the "assembly" or "assembly of believers" (4.32), as Israel was also called in the Greek scriptures (Deut 4.10; 9.10; 18.16; 23.1-2). In verse 12: Solomon's Portico clearly puts them back in the Temple (3.11; 5.25), in the presence of danger (4.1). In verse 15: The expectation that even Peter's shadow could heal is a remarkable testimony to the overshadowing power of the Most High (Lk 1.35; Acts 19.11-12). In verse 16: As in the early conflicts with Jesus over his healing, Luke emphasizes that they were all cured (Lk 6.19). Comments or Questions..