Luke’s opening remarks seem to indicate that he thought of Acts as a continuation of his previous account of the works and the words of our Lord. He wrote, “The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach” (Acts 1:1). The church is, after all, the body of Christ (Ephesians 1:22-23). Paul’s persecution of the church thus resulted in the Lord asking, “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting Me?” (Acts 9:4). It might, then, be said that Acts gives its readers an overview of the workings of Jesus over the next thirty years following His resurrection.
The book is certainly consistent with Jesus’ stated purpose for coming to earth. He told Zacchaeus, “For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost” (Luke 19:10). McGarvey explained his understanding of Luke’s purpose in the introduction to his original commentary on Acts.
Much of the greater part of Acts may be resolved into a detailed history of cases of conversion, and of unsuccessful attempts at the conversion of sinners. If we extract from it all cases of this kind, with the facts and incidents preparatory to each and immediately consequent upon it, we will have exhausted almost the entire contents of the narrative.
Anyone wishing to understand the Lord’s purpose in building His church needs to look no further than this great book. It gives a very clear picture of the actions carried out by the earliest disciples of Christ who wanted to be followers in more than just name alone.
