The Acts of the Apostles and Splinter

By Jim Reiher

The story behind the Book of Acts has never been told in such a way before. Full of poetry, skits, mimes, jokes and riddles, magic tricks and juggling - it is still very much a clear and detailed retelling of the Book of Acts. All these features of this historical fiction add color and laughter to this wonderful story.
The book has a clown disciple of Jesus now travelling with Peter and Paul. "Splinter" the clown, records the events he witnesses through the lens of a clown. All the stories of Acts are retold in that way. This is not just an entertaining way of reading that New Testament book - it is a creative expression in itself, that inspires the reader to embrace their own uniqueness and their own special talents and gifting, and to use that with enthusiasm and passion.
What adds a whole other dimension to this story is that we are not simply reading a fun filled "dance" through the Book of Acts. We are also getting a cleverly written commentary on that Biblical book at the same time. Splinter's reflections on the much loved stories (Peter's escape from prison; Paul's conversion on the road to Damascus; the great shipwreck near the end of the book; etc), as well as the "difficult" passages (Ananias and Sapphira's deaths; the argument between Paul and Barnabas; and more) is heartfelt and compelling. The author has a clever way of forcing us to reflect on deep theological insights - without us even knowing that we are doing so.
The entertaining illustrations by artist Glenn Hibburt break up the text and add another dimension of color and laughter to the story. This is definitely the most fun way imaginable to read the incredible stories of the Book of Acts!

• Language: English
• Publisher: Jim Reiher
• Release date: Apr 22, 2018
• ISBN: 9781370649532

Jim Reiher

Jim Reiher lives in Melbourne Australia. He has four adult children and lots of grandchildren. Jim writes both fiction and non-fiction.Regarding most of his non-fiction, Jim's serious side comes out, although sometimes he writes his non-fiction with humor, too ('Confessions of a Christian Magician' is a good example of that). Jim is a respected Australian Biblical scholar, with a MA in Theology with Honors, and 13 years of full time lecturing in Bible Colleges. Jim has published a number of books on topics ranging from Tarot Cards, to the Equality of Women in the Church, to how politics works in Australia. He has also written a number of commentaries on different New Testament books and letters: the Epistle of James, the Book of Acts, and most recently the Gospel of Mark.Jim enjoys a nice quiet walk in 'the middle of no where'; a good movie; a good book; playing ten-pin bowling; writing; and spending time with his children and grandchildren.

Book preview

The Acts of the Apostles and Splinter

by

Jim Reiher

Copyright © 2018 by Jim Reiher

All Rights Reserved.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction

2 The day of Pentecost

3 Healing a lame man

4 Arrested

5 Ananias and Sapphira

6 An argument over gifts to the poor

7 Stephen’s Speech and Splinter’s mime

8 More Persecution

9 Splinter in Damascus

10 Peter fasting and praying

11 Peter and Splinter defend themselves against the charge of visiting a Gentile’s home

12 The death of James Zebedee

13 Our first missionary journey

14 Insults and mixed responses

15 Christian Jews, and the circumcision debate

16 Timothy joins our company

17 Beginning the church in Thessalonica

18 Paul in Corinth

19 We arrive at Ephesus, and meet disciples of John the Baptist

20 We depart Ephesus, and Paul writes another letter to the Corinthian church

21 Lots of travelling

22 Paul’s speech to the crowd in Jerusalem

23 Paul before the Jewish Sanhedrin

24 Paul’s case before Governor Felix

25 Festus considers Paul’s case

26 Paul’s speech to King Agrippa

27 Paul, Luke, Aristarchus, and Splinter head for Rome

28 Shipwrecked onto the island of Malta

29 Paul gets released and does more travelling

Introduction

Hi again. Splinter the clown-disciple of Jesus, here. I am about to write a second book. This one is all about the followers of Jesus, and how they continued the work of Jesus after he was gone. It will concentrate mostly on the stories where I was a witness to them: things I personally saw and participated in. Though sometimes I will tell stories that I have only heard about, but which I have carefully checked out to make sure they are being told accurately. One person can’t be everywhere and see everything! So some of the stories (the ones I did not witness personally) are from reliable sources that are trustworthy. I would encourage my readers to remember one thing as they read this story: a lot of other things happened during these years as well! I am only telling some of the stories of the early church. Multiply by a hundred the things that you read here and you will get a better picture of the amazing activity that was happening in these early decades after Jesus rose from the dead! I know you will be challenged and encouraged and amazed as you read just the stories that I have recorded. So here we go…

The days before Jesus left us

In my first book I recorded a lot of stories about Jesus, and I shared a number of his teachings as well as his adventures. That account began when he was born, and went through to the day that he was taken up to heaven in a cloud! It was awesome.

Before he left, he gave instructions to us, his disciples. The way I see it, his words were and still are, directions to us that are straight from the Holy Spirit of God Himself. And just to refresh your memory: after his suffering, and execution, and burial - he then showed himself to his disciples, and he gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared a number of times and talked to us; eating with us; letting us feel the holes in his hands; and just walking around with us and doing the things we were doing. He appeared to us over a period of forty days. Sometimes he stayed for a few days in a row, and other times he came and then was gone an hour later. When he was with us, he spoke about the kingdom of God.

On one of the times when he was with us during those 40 days, we were eating a meal together. It was just so unbelievably wonderful to be with Jesus during those days! We were so happy having him back after the terrible days of his arrest and crucifixion. It was one continuous miracle. So the atmosphere at the meal was pretty joyful and expectant. During the mealtime, Jesus looked around at us all and gave us this command: Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.

A gift! I exclaimed. I love gifts!! What will it look like? Is it bigger than a Jerusalem loaf of bread? Is it something hidden that we will have to look for?

Not exactly, Jesus replied with a smile. "This is a different kind of gift. Remember that John baptized people with water, but in a few days from now, you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. That is the gift I am talking about Splinter: a baptism in the Holy Spirit – a special moment when you will be empowered from above, to be able to do all the things I want you to do."

I was kind of hoping for new juggling balls, I said with a teasing grin, but what you have offered sounds pretty good! Thanks! I went on to ask Jesus a bit more about that: Lord, how will we know that we have received the promised baptism with the Spirit? How will it make itself known?

I assure you that you will not be left in any doubt when it happens, Jesus replied.

And so we waited in Jerusalem for the gift that would help us to be empowered for service!

The ascension

After the 40 days of appearances and teaching were ended, Jesus took us to the mountain where he would be taken up to heaven. One of the other topics that came up for discussion that day was the question of when Jesus would restore independence and prestige to the nation Israel. When would he free her from foreign rule? One of us asked him, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?

But we were missing the point. He said to us: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. And no, it is not the time right now. Listen, and hear these words carefully: don’t get distracted in trying to work out the events of the future, and the plans that you think God needs to implement around you. That is not what I want from you. Remember that I am soon to send you the promised gift. And when the Holy Spirit comes on you, will receive power, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. That is the plan I have for you: take my teaching and story to the ends of the earth."

After he said this and some other things to us, he was taken up before our very eyes, and a cloud hid him from our sight. It was really wild! I have never seen anyone float up into the sky before! It was the weirdest and most awesome miracle I had witnessed (well, apart from Jesus raising people from the dead – and apart from him walking on water – and apart from his stopping a storm – and - what the heck! He did heaps of awesome miracles!)

While we were just standing there with our mouths wide open and somewhat stunned, just staring into the sky watching him get smaller and smaller as he got higher and higher, and then just disappear from our sight altogether – after that suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside us. We got a bit startled when one of them spoke.

Men of Galilee, they said, why do you stand here looking into the sky? Don’t you have a job to do? Jesus gave you some instructions. And be reassured, that this same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.

We all started asking questions, and talking to each other and then we turned to ask those two men a thing or two – but they were gone. I am certain they were angels.

So we returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives. It was a beautiful day and it took most of the day to get there as we wandered at a leisurely pace, not particularly in a rush, and still talking excitedly about the events we had witnessed that day.

Replacing Judas

When we got back to the place we were staying at, we went upstairs to a room we were using for prayer. Our group was made up about 120 people in all (it was tight!). Those present included Simon-Peter and his brother Andrew, John Zebedee and his brother James. There were also Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew (the ex-tax collector); James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They were the 11 remaining apostles of the original 12 called by Jesus. But there were another 110 or so of us. That larger group included the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers, and me, and heaps of others. We all joined together constantly in prayer, while waiting for the gift of the Holy Spirit that Jesus had spoken about.

In those days Peter stood up among us and said, Listen everyone, I have been reading the Scripture, and praying and thinking, and it seems clear to me that the Scripture had to be fulfilled regarding Judas. Let me explain. The Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. He was one of us – he was even one of the 12 - and he shared in this ministry of ours, but he ended up betraying our Lord. Now that in itself is a reminder for us all to keep watch and never let our own guard down! As for Judas, we all know that he committed suicide. He found a desolate place, and hung himself there. The limb of the tree that he hung himself on broke off under his body weight, and Judas fell headlong to the ground below, and his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. Before he committed suicide, the money that he got for his wicked betrayal of Jesus had been thrown back at the feet of those who had paid him to lead them to our Lord. That same money was used (in Judas’s name) to purchase a field, and to be used as a burial place. Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this unpleasant turn of events and they called that field Akeldama. [Splinter here: that means Field of Blood.]

Peter continued. It is written in the book of Psalms, ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, ‘May another take his place of leadership.’ I understand these passages to be a sign from God telling us to replace Judas with a new, twelfth apostle. It is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. One of these must become a witness with us – they will be that extra apostle who can testify about Jesus’ resurrection.

I would have loved to have been chosen, (I was imagining myself calling out Pick me! Pick me!) but as soon as Peter said that the person to be selected must have been with the group since the Baptism of John the Baptist, I knew it couldn’t be me. I joined Jesus soon after he had been baptized by John, so I was not a possibility. Pity: I reckon the 12 could do with a bit more sense of humour, and creative ministry! No worries though. Peter tells me that I have enough of both for the whole group!

Anyway, we proposed two real possibilities: two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. They both fitted the criteria that Peter had outlined, and they were both great choices. We really found it hard to make a decision between the two. In the end we decided to give it to God to decide for us. We prayed, Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs. Then we put their names on two stones, and put the two stones in a bag, and drew one of them out. That one had the name of Matthias on it, so he was accepted as God’s choice and added to the eleven apostles.

Some people have criticised us over drawing lots to decide between these two good men. But we did not do it without first going through a great deal of prayer, discussion and reflection. Think about how we chose Judas’ replacement: we were praying constantly, we were inspired by the Scripture, we talked together as a community, we reasoned and came up with a sound set of boundaries to make our decision in, we eliminated most contenders, and then we prayed some more. Finally we took a step in faith and trusted that God was leading us. It was done the best way anyone can seek God’s will in a situation: prayer; the Bible; the community of disciples reasoning together; more prayer; and faith! Naturally, one does not have to draw lots to make a step of faith after exhausting all the other features, but it was the way we did it that day. And we all felt certain that God honoured that step of faith that was surrounded by the Scripture, the community, and prayer! Even Barsabbas was good about it. He continued to work with us and minister for Jesus despite not being chosen that day. Just like the other 110 of us!

2

The day of Pentecost

The day when the promised Holy Spirit was about to be poured out soon arrived. It happened on the Jewish celebration: the day of Pentecost. We were all together in one place at the time. It sounded like a blowing violent wind and that sound came from heaven. It filled the whole house where we were sitting.

Then, on top of the sounds that were happening, we then saw what seemed to be tongues of fire that separated and came to rest on each of us. When I say tongues of fire, I mean just that: it wasn’t real fire, obviously, but it was shaped like fire on a candlestick: like tongues of flame. And these strange fire-like shapes settled on each one of us. And we were all filled with the Holy Spirit that Jesus had promised us. We were filled, and we began to speak in other languages – languages we had never learned before, but given to us from the Holy Spirit. It was the Spirit who was enabling us to speak this way.

Now, at that time, there were people staying in Jerusalem: God-fearing Jews from every nation under heaven (for the special feast time). When people began hearing our languages being spoken out, a crowd came together in bewilderment. They were stunned because each one of them heard us speaking in their own language. I remember speaking words like that, and having no idea what they meant. I don’t know which language it was I was speaking and I am still a bit blurry as to whether everyone could hear their own language from any one of us, or if different ones of us were speaking different languages – it happened so suddenly and was so amazing that I am still fuzzy on the details.

The people listening were utterly amazed. They asked: Are not all these men who are speaking from Galilee? Then how is it that each of us hears them in our own native language? We are from all over the place: Parthians, Medes and Elamites; residents of Mesopotamia, Judea and Cappadocia, Pontus and Asia, Phrygia and Pamphylia, Egypt and the parts of Libya near Cyrene; visitors from Rome [that included both Jews and converts to Judaism]; Cretans and Arabs - we hear them declaring the wonders of God in our own languages! They were amazed and perplexed and they wondered just what it all meant.

Some, however, made fun of us and said, Those guys and ladies – they have had too much wine!

But that was a stupid remark. I mean, when can you have too much wine? (Just kidding). But seriously: it was a stupid comment and Peter picked up on it straight away.

Peter’s speech

Peter stood up with the eleven other apostles (including Matthias now, remember) – and he raised his voice and addressed the crowd. It was quite a speech. The guts of it went like this:

Fellow Jews and converts from all over the world, and all of you who live in Jerusalem, let me explain this to you; listen carefully to what I say. These men are not drunk, as you suppose. Come on: it’s only nine in the morning! [That got a laugh from some of the crowd]. No, what you are witnessing is the fulfilment of the prophecy spoken by the prophet Joel. He said all those centuries ago: ‘In the last days, God says, I will pour out my Spirit on all people. Your sons and daughters will prophesy, your young men will see visions, your old men will dream dreams. Even on my servants, both men and women, I will pour out my Spirit in those days, and they will prophesy. I will show wonders in the heaven above and signs on the earth below, blood and fire and billows of smoke. The sun will be turned to darkness and the moon to blood before the coming of the great and glorious day of the Lord. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.’ People of Israel, listen to this: Jesus of Nazareth was a man who showed that God was with him by the miracles, wonders and signs which God did among you through him. You who live here – you know this is true. This man Jesus was handed over to you by God’s set purpose and foreknowledge; and you, with the help of wicked men, put him to death by nailing him to the cross. God did have a purpose in it all, but that does not lessen the evil of what you all did to that righteous one. Nevertheless, God raised him from the dead! God freed him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him. [Splinter here: You just can’t keep a good man down, I say!... okay… back to Peter:] King David prophesied this about him: ‘I saw the Lord always before me. Because he is at my right hand, I will not be shaken. Therefore my heart is glad and my tongue rejoices; my body also will live in hope, because you will not abandon me to the grave, nor will you let your Holy One see decay. You have made known to me the paths of life; you will fill me with joy in your presence.’ Brothers, I can tell you confidently that the patriarch David died and was buried and his tomb is here to this day. But he was a prophet and knew that God had promised him on oath that he would place one of his descendants on his throne. Seeing what was ahead, he spoke of the resurrection of the Christ, that he was not abandoned to the grave, nor did his body see decay. God has raised this Jesus to life, and we are all witnesses of the fact. Exalted to the right hand of God, he has received from the Father the promised Holy Spirit and has poured out what you now see and hear. For David did not ascend to heaven, and yet he said, ‘The Lord said to my Lord: Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.’ Therefore let all Israel be assured of this: God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ – he is our promised Messiah!

It was quite a speech as you can probably imagine. We were all pretty stunned at good old fisherman Peter giving this incredible talk to thousands of listeners. We remembered Jesus doing it,