December 28, 2022

Now Saul was consenting to [Stephen’s] death. At that time a great persecution arose against the church which was at Jerusalem; and they were all scattered throughout the regions of Judea and Samaria, except the apostles. Acts 8:1 (compare to 1:8)

The public stoning of Stephen had indeed emboldened those Jews who had been unwilling to receive the new wine, for they were the stiff old wineskins of Matthew 9:17. As they held fast to their corrupted beliefs, they viewed with murderous contempt the followers of Jesus, whose teachings were “criminal and deserving of death.” Jesus said of His teachings:

“These things I have spoken to you, that you should not be made to stumble. They will put you out of the synagogues; yes, the time is coming that whoever kills you will think that he offers God service. And these things they will do to you because they have not known the Father nor Me.” John 16:1-3

The church which was at Jerusalem was made up of believing Jews. These had placed their faith and trust in Jesus, resulting in a fulfillment of this promise:

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. Ezekiel 36:26

These new hearts were supple and able to contain the new doctrines without bursting. They readily received the teachings of Jesus and recognized the sparkling purity and power that they contained. The precepts of the Word of God are actually not new at all. They are older than the old wine. The metaphor of old wine illustrates that the teachings of God had been fermented (corrupted). Jesus came to bring about CPR (cleansing, purification, and reformation). The metaphor of “new wine” (what we call grape juice today) represents the doctrines as they were originally intended. Fresh, pure, uncorrupted.

And no one, having drunk old wine, immediately desires new; for he says, ‘The old is better.” Luke 5:39

How loving and patient the Lord is with all of us! He had declared ahead of time a full seventy sevens (490 years): twelve generations, plus ten years—a Biblical “generation” being 40 years, and twelve being the number associated with leadership, and ten, representing testing—for His chosen messengers to overcome their corrupted understanding of His word and their fascination with idols; and to be reconciled to Him (see Daniel 9:24). So at that time there is an “explosion” of the Gospel as the message is carried by these new leaders. We see great persecution moving rapidly into this scene:

Therefore those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the word. Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. And the multitudes with one accord heeded the things spoken by Philip… Acts 8:4-6a