Do you follow “the way”?

Do you follow “the way”?

The phrase “followers of the way” first appears in the book of Acts 9: 1-2, where we read about the Pharisee Saul seeking permission from the high priest Ananias, to hunt down and jail anyone he found belonging to “the way”

Acts 9:1-2 Meanwhile, Saul was still breathing out murderous threats against the Lord’s disciples. He went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, so that if he found any there who belonged to the Way, whether men or women, he might take them as prisoners to Jerusalem.

Then after Saul’s conversion on the road to Damascus and name change to Paul (meaning small or humble) we read that he witnessed in the synagogues concerning ‘the way’ until the congregation became obstinate towards him.

Acts 19:9

But some of them became obstinate; they refused to believe and publicly maligned the Way. So Paul left them. He took the disciples with him and had discussions daily in the lecture hall of Tyrannus.

Following this, tensions escalate to the point where civil unrest breaks out.

Acts 19:23 About that time there arose a great disturbance about the Way.

Then later on after preaching about ‘the way’ in the Temple, the crowds seized him and were dragging him outside the city to stone him when the Roman commander and some soldiers intervened and arrested Paul. As he was being taken to the barracks Paul begged the commander to allow him to speak to the people and was allowed to do so. Paul told them how he had persecuted followers of ‘the way’ until he encountered Jesus on the road to Damascus.

Acts 22:4 I persecuted the followers of this Way to their death, arresting both men and women and throwing them into prison,

On hearing this, the crowds had had enough, they started to take their cloaks off and throw dust in the air in rage “shouting get rid of him” as they got ready to stone him to death. At this point the commander took Paul to the barracks to be flogged, only to discover that Paul was a Roman citizen, meaning that he couldn’t be flogged without a trial.

The next day the commander released Paul and ordered the chief priests and Sanhedrin to assemble. At this assembly, Paul’s witness to them was again rejected, and the high priests and Sanhedrin hatched a plot to have him killed. Learning of this plot the commander had Paul transferred to Caesarea for his case to be heard by Felix the governor. Then later on in Acts 24, we read that when Paul was asked by Governor Felix to respond to the charges brought against him by Ananias, he said,

Acts 24:14 14

However, I admit that I worship the God of our ancestors as a follower of the Way, which they call a sect. I believe everything that is in accordance with the Law and that is written in the Prophets.

The first believers who accepted Jesus as the Messiah were Jews. They believed that Jesus was the Messiah that had been promised by God in the scriptures. He would restore the nation of Israel and bring about God’s kingdom here on earth, not just for Israel, but also for all the nations of the world. For them, belief in Jesus was not a new religion but the fulfillment of the prophecies within Judaism. However, for many orthodox Jews, ‘followers of the way’ was seen as a small sect within Judaism. To be a ‘follower of the Way’ was a phrase that would disappear from use, to be replaced by the term ‘Christian’.

Where did the phrase “the way” come from?

We know that Jesus said that He is the way, meaning that He is the way to God, not one of many ways but the one and only way.

Jesus’ disciples were his followers, and therefore it’s easy to see them described as ‘followers of the way’

As followers of Jesus, the disciples adopted Jesus’ teachings about how they should behave and conduct themselves as they went about their daily lives. Then after the great commission, the disciple became apostles sent out to spread the gospel to the whole world.

In Jesus’ teachings of the way, it stands to reason that there had to be some form of instruction on how they should do this. It’s also worth remembering that at this point Paul hadn’t been a disciple of Jesus and therefore he didn’t receive instruction on the way from Jesus first-hand. But he would have received instruction from the apostles concerning the way.

In Luke 10 we read that during Jesus’ ministry he appointed 72 disciples sending them out in two’s ahead of him. In this ‘, Jesus instructs the disciples in the way that they are to do this which might give us some insight.

Luke 10 1-12

After this the Lord appointed seventy-two others and sent them two by two ahead of him to every town and place where he was about to go. He told them, “The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field. Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. Do not take a purse or bag or sandals; and do not greet anyone on the road.

“When you enter a house, first say, ‘Peace to this house.’ If someone who promotes peace is there, your peace will rest on them; if not, it will return to you. Stay there, eating and drinking whatever they give you, for the worker deserves his wages. Do not move around from house to house.

“When you enter a town and are welcomed, eat what is offered to you. Heal the sick who are there and tell them, ‘The kingdom of God has come near to you.’ But when you enter a town and are not welcomed, go into its streets, and say, ‘Even the dust of your town we wipe from our feet as a warning to you. Yet be sure of this: The kingdom of God has come near.’ I tell you; it will be more bearable on that day for Sodom than for that town.

When the apostles were sent out to spread the gospel to all the world, they followed the teaching of ‘the way’ that Jesus had taught them. It’s also worth noting that at this stage in the early church, very little had been written down, with the apostles spreading the good news ‘orally’ as living eyewitnesses of it.

At this early point in the church’s history, even the gospels hadn’t been written. This didn’t happen until much later on in the first century when the apostles started to die through martyrdom. When we consider this, it stands to reason that any documents that exist that are closer in time to the life of Jesus might provide some insights into the rise of Christianity.

The “Didache’ literally means "the teaching" which is discussed further in my blog “Do you follow "the Way" ? (Part2)” Link below

Have a great day and God bless,

Trev.