Apostles – Temple

During his lifetime, Jesus worshiped regularly in the temple when he was in Jerusalem and in the synagogue when he was elsewhere (Luke 4:16). After he ascended, his followers continued to practice Judaism in the same way.

The apostles and other disciples, a group of about 150, were in Jerusalem for the Passover festival. After Jesus’ resurrection, he told them to remain in Jerusalem, rather than going home and then returning for Shavuot (Pentecost), another pilgrim festival (Deu. 16:16).

Acts 3:1 records Peter and John going up to the temple at the time of prayer, at 3 pm. This is the minchah prayer time that Jews traditionally observe. Many Christians read this passage and fail to note that the apostles were practicing Judaism on this occasion and others.

This was not just a one-time visit either. In the preceding verses (2:46) we’re told that they continued to meet together in the temple courts every day. No doubt when the occasion arose, they would preach. But only one or two sermons are recorded. On the dozens of other days, they apparently went to the temple to worship and pray.Paul himself, years later when he was in Jerusalem, would go to the temple, purify himself, and pay the expenses for four men who were concluding a Nazirite vow (Acts 21:24).

As far as synagogue worship is concerned, we see Paul visiting the synagogues in almost every town that he visited (Acts 17:2). Where there was no synagogue, he tried to find a place where the Jews met for prayer, so he could worship with them.

It’s easy to forget that when Paul was seeking believers in Jesus to persecute them, he was going to synagogues to find them (Acts 9:2). He repeats this account in his testimony to Agrippa (Acts 26:11). It’s clear that believers in Jesus were worshiping in the synagogues with other Jews throughout the empire.

The apostle James, in summarizing the discussion in Acts 15 of how to get the Gentile believers started following God’s Law when they had never done it before, enumerates four laws that they should start with, apparently to avoid offending the Jewish community that they were worshiping with. Then he concludes his message by pointing out that the Law of Moses is taught in every synagogue, so that presumably these Gentile believers could learn it over time during their weekly synagogue meetings.

James also mentions synagogue attendance in his epistle, one of the earliest. In chapter two he says that if a rich man comes into your synagogue, don’t show him favoritism over a poor man. Many translators try to hide that fact by translating it as “assembly”, but it’s clearly the word “synagogue”.

The believers often met in homes of other believers, as we see in the greetings at the end of Paul’s letters. But there can be no doubt that they worshiped in synagogues with other Jews during the years immediately following Jesus’ ascension.

I always have to laugh when I walk by a building near where I live. The building is labelled, “First Church of the Apostolic Faith.” The reason I laugh is because if it were really the apostolic faith, it would be a synagogue. The religion of Jesus and his followers in the first century was Judaism. Acknowledging this can go a long way toward helping us understand the New Testament.