Title Theophilus (Acts 1:1-2)
Contents
Theophilus (Acts 1:1-2)
The Gospels are the record of the life of Jesus who came to this earth. Jesus, who came to this earth, showed that He is the Savior through His life. It is the Gospels that contain His saving work. The Catechism is an interpretation of the Lord's life on earth. However, without the life of the Lord, the Gospels and Catechisms would not exist. The life of the Lord has such absolute meaning.
Here is a fact that we should consider carefully. It is the fact that the book of Acts is located in the middle of the Gospels that show the life of the Lord and the interpretations of the life of the Lord. In the order in which the Bible is written, the Gospels are first, then the Acts of the Apostles, and then the Catechism.
From this perspective, our life of believing in the Lord should be a screen where the gospel and doctrine harmonize. This is because the world can see and meet God, the Savior, and interpret and understand the life of the Lord revealed through us through our daily screens.
Therefore, our faith is not empty only when our daily life becomes the book of Acts that connects the gospel and doctrine. Only then can our faith become a new bedrock. That is why the book of Acts, a record of works, sits between the Gospels and the Catechism.
“Theophilus, in the first writing I wrote of all that Jesus did and began to teach until the day he ascended into heaven, after giving orders to his chosen apostles by the Holy Spirit.”
Luke reminds us of the Gospel of Luke, which he wrote first while writing the book of Acts. Of course, the recipients of Luke and Acts are the same. It was Theophilus who received the letter from the book of Acts. Theophilus is not only the recipient of Acts, but also of Luke.
The Gospel of Luke begins as follows:
“There are many people who have taken up a brush to write the history of what has been done among us, as they have been told by those who have been witnesses of the Word and ministers from the beginning. I knew it, so that you may know the certainty of what you have been taught” (Luke 1:1-4).
Similarly in the book of Acts, Luke reveals at the outset of Luke that the recipient of Luke's Gospel was Theophilus. But there is a difference. The title of Theophilus in the Gospel of Luke recorded before the book of Acts and the title of Theophilus recorded in the book of Acts are not the same. The Gospel of Luke calls Theophilus ‘Sir,’ whereas the Acts of the Apostles omits the title ‘Sir,’ and simply calls him Theophilus.
Two thousand years ago, the Roman Empire was a strictly hierarchical society. For example, it was a vertical society. In that society, the person who could be called 'Sir' was a high-ranking official above the governor-general. The Greek word translated as 'Sir,' means 'the most noble one'. So, in the New Testament, except for Theophilus, this word is used only for governors Festus and Felix. This title was a title for those who were that high.
When Luke calls Theophilus to be rejected in the Gospel of Luke, it means that Theophilus was a high-ranking person to himself as a Jewish colony. In other words, there was a deeply entrenched vertical relationship between Theophilus and Luke that could never be equalized.
The name Theophilo is a compound word of ‘theos’ meaning ‘God’ and ‘philos’ meaning ‘love’ or ‘friend’. If translated directly into Korean, it becomes ‘one who loves God’, ‘one who is loved by God’, and ‘friend of God’. Regardless of one's position, if there is a person who loves God while overcoming the vertical relationship with everyone, he is the one who has been loved by God, and he can become God's true friend. That is what the name Theophilus itself emphasizes to us.
Luke wrote 24 chapters of Luke's Gospel and 28 chapters of Acts for Theophilus, whom he loved. A total of 52 chapters were written for just one person. It is equivalent to 100 pages in a standard book. It's actually a huge amount. To that extent, Luke was willing to waste his time, body, and life for the Theophilus whom he loved, the Theophilus who wanted to live in the love of God. Through Luke's self-sacrifice and self-waste, Theophilus was clothed with God's love, and finally, in the love of Jesus Christ, he was able to overcome vertical human relationships.
Dear classmates, Let our own lives become a gentleman's act of following the Lord's footsteps. As a modern day Luke, let me lavishly pour out self-sacrifice and self-sacrifice for the life of someone like Theophilus. As a modern Theophile covered in the love of God, let me show the love of the Lord to everyone around me, who I consider weaker, more ignorant, and less worthless than I am. At that time, God will rewrite His book of Acts and the history of our church through ourselves like Theophilus.
dear god
We all follow the history of the church and the works of the Lord.
Let them be the protagonists of the book of Acts.
As a modern version of Nougat, for someone's life
Please do not spare self-sacrifice and self-waste.
As the modern Theophilus, who lives in the love of God,
Even the people around me who are weaker than me, immature and insignificant
May you embrace and love me with the love of the Lord.
And through myself like Theophilus
Your new history of Acts, the history of our church
I hope you will write something new.