The book of the Acts of the Apostles is the second volume of St Luke’s contribution to the New Testament, the first being his Gospel.
Tradition has it that St Luke was a doctor and herbalist. The Acts deals with the doings of the very early church. It begins with the birth of the church at the first Pentecost and runs through to the end of Paul’s imprisonment in Rome, a period of about thirty years. It describes the astonishing speed with which this new religion spread around the Roman world, breaking out of the confines of Israel and into new, Gentile communities.
Today’s reading is a perfect example of that movement, describing the baptism of a senior Ethiopian court official.
Psalm 22 provided some of the words which Jesus spoke from the Cross. This section, though, reminded the contemporary audience that God’s interests were and are universal and not confined to one people.
Finally, we have the Gospel of St John and the Parable of the True Vine. At several points in the Old Testament the people of Israel are described using the image of a vine.
Jesus takes this metaphor and expands on it. Jesus is the vine, those who believe in Jesus are the branches and they depend on the vine for their continued life. Branches which bear fruit are cut back quite close to the stock and ‘abide in’ the vine as it grows around them. They then grow out rapidly to bear fruit again. Branches which do not bear fruit are cut right back and are fit only for burning.
