Articles
The Way - Acts 9
The Way Acts 9
"But Saul, still breathing threats and murder against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues at Damascus, so that if he found any belonging to the Way, men or women, he might bring them bound to Jerusalem” (Acts 9:1–2).
You will notice that in prosecuting the disciples of the Lord, he was persecuting "any belonging to the Way”. “The way” will be used to designate the religion of the Christians six more times in the book of Acts (Acts 18:25f; 19:9, 23; 22:4; 24:14, 22).
As with many phrases in the New Testament, this is a descriptive phrase concerning those who were disciples of Jesus. The church of Christ is the people / group / church that belongs to Jesus. Hence, it is the church of God for they also are God’s people. Many of them were the church of the gentiles in that it described their ethnic roots. All of these also made up ‘the way’. In Acts 18:25 the phrase was lengthened to ‘the way of the Lord’. As with the word ‘church’, it was a collective way of speaking of Christians. Thus, Paul persecuted ‘the way’ in that he persecuted the disciples of the Lord (Acts 9:1-2).
In one sense, the ‘way’ is like a journey in that it has a beginning and is heading towards a destination. It begins with some knowledge and then grows. The beginning knowledge may be accurate but simply incomplete (as with Apollos in Acts 18:25). "He had been instructed in the way of the Lord. And being fervent in spirit, he spoke and taught accurately the things concerning Jesus though he knew only the baptism of John.” Hence, Christians are to constantly be growing (2Pet. 3:18). As with Apollos, we often need to have someone explain to us "the way of God more accurately (Acts 18:26).
It is not simply ‘another way to heaven’. In each of these cases there is the definite article attached; i.e., it is THE way. The exclusiveness of this is seen when Jesus said of Himself: "I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me” (John 14:6). In our pluralistic world, such exclusiveness is usually rejected off hand without due consideration of its validity. IF Jesus is THE son of God, IF Jesus is God manifest in the flesh, IF Jesus was raised from the dead and given all authority in heaven and upon earth, THEN this statement is simply a statement of truth. Jesus IS the way and NO MAN comes unto God except by Him. There is no other name given whereby men MUST be saved (Acts 4:12). The question is not about it exclusiveness but about it truthfulness.
It is evident from the preaching and teaching of the people of ‘the way’ that they understood this claim. It may be spoken against, but that doesn’t make it untrue. It may be persecuted, but that doesn’t invalidate its message. It is what it is.
Becoming part of the way is to become a follower of Jesus who IS the way. The apostles made disciples by baptizing them and then teaching them to observe all things the Lord of the way had taught (Matt. 28:18-19). Being part of the way involves not only understanding Jesus’ teaching, but the practice of living what we are taught. It is a way of life that has its foundation in teaching, but is then lived out. Are you in the way? Hugh DeLong
