The Acts of the Apostles is the book in the New Testament which follows the four Gospels. The book is sui generis and has sometimes been referred to as the first history of the early Church or the second volume of St. Luke’s Gospel (cf. Acts 1:1). The book begins with the Ascension of our Lord (Acts 1:6-12), the selection of an apostle to replace Judas (Acts 1:15-26), and the Descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13). What follows are accounts of the preaching and missionary journeys of St. Peter and St. Paul. As a matter of fact, we read in Acts about some of the earliest apostolic proclamations of salvation through Jesus Christ, what is called the kerygma.
One of the first of these proclamations was delivered by St. Peter on the very day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-39). We recall that the Apostle was directing these words to an audience which was present in Jerusalem during our Lord’s Passion, Death, and Resurrection. This sermon contains these stirring words: “God raised this Jesus; of this we are all witnesses. Exalted at the right hand of God, he received the promise of the Holy Spirit from the Father and poured it forth, as you [both] see and hear” (Acts 2:32-33). St. Peter, as it were, “makes the connection” between the Old Testament prophecies and Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is not an accident. His coming was foretold. Everything that happened was part of God’s plan for salvation. All the prophets foretold the Messiah, and we are the beneficiaries of the salvation the Messiah makes possible.
If only we could capture something of the excitement and exhilaration of that early preaching! The Holy Spirit inspired that preaching, and that same Spirit moves us to respond with a genuine and heartfelt faith to Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.