2. Первые успехи Христовой веры между иудеями и иудейскими прозелитами

For the holiday of Pentecost, Jews from different countries 4 and pagans converted to the Jewish faith (proselytes) 5 gathered in Jerusalem. Walking through the streets of the holy city, many of them heard the noise that preceded the descent of the Holy Spirit, and gathered near the house where the apostles were. Suddenly they see that several people, whom it was easy to recognize as Galileans by their clothes and other signs, left the house and began to preach to everyone in the language of their country. Most of those who heard this sermon were amazed, but some dared to mock the apostles, saying: “They got drunk on sweet wine.” This slander caused a strong word to denounce her. The Apostle Peter stood up along with the eleven apostles, raised his voice and exclaimed: “Men of the Jews and all who live in Jerusalem, listen to my words.” Having denounced the absurd slander, the apostle reminded his listeners of the prediction of the prophet Joel (2:28) that God in the days of the Messiah would send down in abundance the gifts of the Holy Spirit to believers. The Messiah is the Lord Jesus Christ. “This one, according to the definite advice and foreknowledge of God, you took him and, nailing him with the hands of the lawless, you killed him; but God raised Him up, breaking the bonds of death... to which we are all witnesses. So He, having been exalted by the right hand of God and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit, poured out what you see and hear.” The listeners were touched in their hearts and asked: “What should we do, men and brethren?” The Apostle said to them: “Repent and be baptized each of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of sins, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” Many accepted the words of the apostle with all zeal, and about three thousand people were baptized that day. And they continued constantly in the teaching of the apostles, in fellowship and in the breaking of bread and in prayer. Soon after the feast of Pentecost, the apostles Peter and John went to the church for prayer at the ninth hour, in our opinion - at the third hour in the afternoon 6. At the gates of the church sat a beggar, lame from birth, and, stretching out his hand to the apostles, asked them for alms. The Apostle Peter said to him: “I have no silver or gold, but what I have I give to you: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, arise and walk,” and, taking him by the right hand, he lifted him up. And suddenly his feet and knees became stronger, and, jumping up, he began to walk and entered the church with them. Many people, in amazement at this great miracle, ran to the porch called Solomon's. Here the Apostle Peter preached his second sermon about the risen Lord and won another five thousand people with it. This was the beginning of the Christian Church among Jews and proselytes in Jerusalem. – The dispersion of the Jews began in the 8th century BC, after the destruction of the kingdom of Israel, when most of the Jews were taken into Assyrian captivity and from there never returned to Palestine. This dispersion was subsequently facilitated by the Babylonian captivity, the first conquests of Alexander the Great, the heirs of his monarchy - the kings of Syria and Egypt, and the conquests of Roman generals. The prophet Amos speaks to the Jews in the name of God: “Behold, I command and will scatter the house of Israel among all nations, as grain is scattered in a sieve” (Am. 9:9). This dispersion served to spread Christianity, since Jews everywhere spread sound concepts about preaching in their synagogues, and the best of the Jews became their first disciples. If later some of the Jews rebelled against the apostles and expelled them from the cities, they did this already when the seed of the Gospel teaching was sown there, and the very persecution in these cases served only to strengthen the Church. Jews who lived in other countries were usually called Hellenistic Jews, or Jews of the Diaspora, in contrast to Palestinian Jews. – The pagans who converted to the Jewish faith were called proselytes (newcomers) of righteousness, or proselytes of the gates. The first were circumcised and accepted all the obligations imposed by the Jewish law. The latter only abandoned idolatry and turned to faith in one God. They were allowed to be in the vestibule of the Jerusalem Temple, in the so-called court of the pagans. – The hour of the death of our Lord Jesus Christ. You might be interested in: