How It All Began

by Steve Bastin

Ten men were meeting in an upper room in Jerusalem on Sunday evening.  The door was locked because they feared the authorities.  The cause of the meeting was never disclosed.  One of their number was absent for an unexplained reason.

Suddenly there was another person in the room.  They immediately recognized him because he was their leader.  They had thought that he was dead although they had heard stories that he was alive again.  One of their number even claimed to have seen him.  Two of them had gone to his tomb that morning and found it empty.

The group had begun as twelve followers of Jesus.  Judas, one of the group, had betrayed Jesus and when he saw that Jesus was condemned, he had hanged himself.  For some unknown reason, Thomas was absent on that Sunday evening, but came in a little after Jesus had left.

The others began to excitedly tell him that Jesus was alive.  Thomas scoffed at their words.  “Unless I see in His hands the imprint of the nails, and put my finger into the place of the nails, and put my hand into His side, I will not believe.”

The reference to Jesus’ side is because of the spear wound that one of the soldiers had inflicted on Jesus while he hung on the cross.  The imprint of the nails refers to the instruments used to suspend Jesus on the cross.

The next Sunday, Jesus appeared to his followers again.  This time Thomas was with them.  “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.”  Thomas replied, “My Lord and my God!”

With these eleven men plus Matthias who was added to the group a few days later, God began His work of calling men away from sin to be followers of the risen Jesus.  Jesus ascended to heaven, but he left behind a small group of dedicated believers to carry on the work of rescuing the world from sin and selfishness.

Ten days after Jesus ascended, fifty days after Jesus was raised from the dead, these twelve men began their work.  The first day they preached that God had raised Jesus, about 3000 people were added to their group.

In the days that followed thousands more of the Jewish people became believers in Jesus.  They accepted him as their lord and Messiah.  They repented and were baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins.  They began a new life as disciples of Jesus.  Later they would be given the name “Christians.”

Jerusalem was filled with the teaching that Jesus was the long awaited Messiah of the Jews.  Thousands became followers of Jesus.  But opposition was not long in following.  Persecution of these followers began.  Peter and John were arrested and threatened before being released.

All the apostles were arrested and narrowly escaped death at the hands of the Jewish authorities.  They returned to their preaching “rejoicing that they had been considered worthy to suffer shame for His name.” 

Later the persecution became so severe in Jerusalem that the disciples of Jesus left the city.  As they traveled through other cities and villages of the Jewish people, they spread the word that God had raised Jesus and made him their Messiah.

Churches were formed in these places and thousands more became disciples of Jesus.  Finally, in the Syrian city of Antioch, the Jewish disciples began telling Gentiles also about Jesus and the Gentiles, too, became his disciples.  Peter had shown the way to acceptance of Gentiles when he had gone to the home of a Roman centurion and baptized him.

The Christian movement began as a grassroots movement.  It required no fancy buildings or big budgets.  Its leaders were humble men who understood that they labored in the service of God and their greatest aim was to please Jesus.

There was no distinction between a “clergy” and a “laity.”  Anyone could preach.  Anyone could baptize.  They were in love with God and devoted to His only Son, Jesus.

Rituals, traditions, rules and bondage would come later.  The religion of these early disciples was a simple matter.  They believed in living righteous lives.  Sexual relationships outside of marriage were cause for ouster from the group.  Covetousness, idolatry, reviling others, drunkenness and swindling others were causes for expulsion.  They understood that “fornicators, idolaters, adulterers, effeminate, homosexuals, thieves, covetous people, drunkards, revilers and swindlers will not inherit the kingdom of God.”

Their weekly meetings on Sunday were simple affairs.  There were no fancy choirs in robes, nor priests following rituals.  There were no instruments of music, no pianos, no organs, no guitars.  They sang psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, some of which are found on the pages of the New Testament.  Their prayers came from hearts devoted to God and expressed the needs and thanksgiving of those who were gathered.

They remembered Jesus by breaking a loaf of unleavened bread and sharing it among themselves.  They also remembered his death on the cross by drinking from the fruit of the vine after a prayer of thanksgiving.

Preaching was from the Bible or involved a reading of one of the letters written by Paul.  Stories about what Jesus had done and taught were retold from the accounts of the witnesses whom Jesus had chosen.

A collection was taken for the poor and for the preaching of the gospel.  Each was encouraged to give “as he may prosper,” recognizing that “he who sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and he who sows bountifully will also reap bountifully.”

As people became believers in Jesus they were urged to turn away from their sins and live a life of purity and holiness.  They were “baptized in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of their sins.”  Each one baptized was promised the gift of the Holy Spirit, their guarantee of eternal life and their help in bearing the difficulties of life.

Changes were not long in coming.  Men decided that a different organization was needed to survive the difficulties that confronted a church persecuted by Jews and Romans alike.  Bishops usurped authority over the people and over other congregations.  New doctrines were developed based on Greek philosophy and borrowed from the pagan religions that surrounded them.

It is time to go back to Jesus.  Back to the way things were before the hand of man took control.