The book, the Acts of the Apostles, is one of the key role players among the New Testament books. The book narrates the history of the founding of the New Testament Church at Jerusalem on the day of Pentecost and its expansion to the neighboring regions and beyond. The book begins with the narration of Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances (Acts 1:1-3), Jesus’ commissioning of His disciples (Acts 1:4-8), and Jesus’ ascension to Heaven (Acts 1:9-11), the descending of the Holy Spirit on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1-13), Apostle Peter’s preaching of the Good News and founding of the New Testament Church (Acts 2:14-41). The book also explains how much the early Christians endured various forms of the persecution due to their faith in Jesus Christ. Even in the midst of the persecutions, the Church expanded throughout the neighboring regions and beyond under the leadership of the apostles, especially apostles Peter and Paul (Acts 3:1ff). The book concludes with the ministry and imprisonment of Apostle Paul in Rome (Acts 27:1-28:31).

Luke, a first century Christian believer as well as one of the ministry companions of Apostle Paul, contributed two books in the Christian Bible – the gospel according to Luke and the Acts of the Apostles. Luke is also a known medical doctor as well as a historian. The gospel according to Luke covers the life and ministry of Jesus Christ (Acts 1:1); and the Acts of the Apostles covers the history of the early Church – starting with Jesus’ post-resurrection appearances, commissioning of His apostles, ascension to heaven, the coming of the Holy Spirit, the founding and expansion of the New Testament Church, the challenges and persecutions the church went through in different times, and the ministry of the Apostles during their life time. Over all, both these two books covers the Biblical history from the time of priest Zechariah (father of John the Baptist), who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah [during First Century BC] (Luke 1:5) to the imprisonment of Apostle Paul [during the third quarter of the First Century AD] (Acts 28:16, 30-31).

The book of Acts gives its readers a thorough introductory knowledge about the beginning of the Christian church and its expansion through preaching the gospel of Jesus Christ. The book also gives its readers a glimpse of the opposition and persecution Christ’s followers faced in the initial stage and thereafter as the gospel began to spread across the regions. The early part of the book focuses on narrating the coming of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-13), the preaching of the good news of Jesus Christ by the apostles, especially Apostle Peter, the founding of the Church on the Day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14-41), and the continuous ministry of the apostles and other disciples of Jesus (2:42-3:26). The subsequent part of the book mostly unveils the ministry of Apostle Paul, a persecutor of the Christians who turned out to be a promotor, protector, and defender of Christian faith. As a Pharisee, Saul (who was also called Paul [Acts 13:9]) persecuted the Christians (church); as a believer in the Lord, he became the proponent of the Christian faith. The book very clearly narrates how hard the Jews (especially the Jewish religious leaders) persecuted the followers of Jesus Christ under the leadership of Saul (Acts 7:54-58; 8:1a, 3; 9:1-2). Saul’s encounter with Jesus, his conversion experience and his ministry thereafter is recounted in details in Acts 9:1ff. After his encounter with Jesus, which changed his perception regarding God and his faith in God, he began to love and serve God passionately, began to love and serve Lord and Savior Jesus Christ faithfully, and experienced the power of the Holy Spirit in a real way. Ever since he surrendered his life to the will of God, he served his Lord and Savior Jesus Christ faithfully and passionately, and he remained faithful to his Master to the last moments of his life.

In all of four gospels and in the book of Acts, we can see that Jesus commissioned His disciples to preach the Good News of the Kingdom of God to everyone everywhere in all of the earth. Some of these “commissioning” Bible passages are given below for our reference:

Matthew 28:18-20 Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me. Therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”

Matthew 24:14 And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come

Mark 16:15-18 He [Jesus] said to them,“Go into all the world and preach the gospel to all creation. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved, but whoever does not believe will be condemned.  And these signs will accompany those who believe: In my name they will drive out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will pick up snakes with their hands; and when they drink deadly poison, it will not hurt them at all; they will place their hands on sick people, and they will get well.”

Luke 24:46-49 He [Jesus] told them, “This is what is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. You are witnesses of these things.  I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.”

John 20:21 Again Jesus said, Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.

Acts 1:8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

Jesus knew, as the Omniscient God (in other words – all-knowing, all-seeing, all-hearing, and all-wise God), and from His own experience in the world, that His disciples might not be able to withstand the opposition and persecution that they would encounter in their lives as the ministers of the gospel. Jesus prayed for His disciples and believers (John 17:1-26), taught and trained them not to depend on their own ability/strength but to trust in God’s power (Matthew 10:19-20; Mark 13:11; Luke 12:12; John 14:26; 16:13), and warned them that danger awaits them in the world as they begin to preach the gospel (Matthew 10:16-20; 24:9; Acts 9:16; 20:23; 2 Timothy 3:12). When the time came for Jesus to return to heaven and commission His disciples into the mission field, He assured His disciples that I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high (Luke 24:49). Thus, He did not sent His disciples into the world as they were but He promised them that He will ask His Father to send the Holy Spirit to empower them and to be with them while He is taken away from them, because the Holy Spirit will guide them, lead them and empower them for the kind of ministry they are called to. The same promise is given to all believers in the Lord and to all ministers of the gospel across the globe until the end of the age. Below mentioned are a few verses recorded in the gospel according to John regarding Jesus’ promise of sending the Holy Spirit after His ascension to heaven.

John 14:15-17 If you love me, keep my commands. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever—the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you

John 14:26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you

John 15:26-27 When the Advocate comes, whom I will send to you from the Father—the Spirit of truth who goes out from the Father—he will testify about me. And you also must testify, for you have been with me from the beginning

John 16:13-14 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you

In the book of Acts, we can see the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise regarding the coming of the Holy Spirit after His ascension to heaven (Acts 2:1-13). At the coming of the Holy Spirit, the apostles, along with other disciples of Jesus and the believers, were empowered to carry out the mission of God. The apostles, disciples, and believers were strengthened inwardly and outwardly and they were ready to preach the gospel and face any challenge that arises against it. As a result, the gospel is first preached in Jerusalem, then to its neighboring regions, and ultimately the gospel began to spread to the ends of the earth as mentioned in Acts 1:8.

• Acts 1:1-8:3 The Holy Spirit strengthens Jesus’ disciples to be His witness in Jerusalem
• Acts 8:4-12:25 The Gospel work is expanded to the rest of Judea and Samaria
• Acts 13:1-28:31 The Good News of the Kingdom of God is taken to the ends of the earth
  • Acts 13:1-21:16 Apostle Paul’s missionary journeys
  • Acts 21:17-26:32 Apostle Paul’s arrest and trials in Jerusalem and Caesarea
  • Acts 27:1-28:31 Apostle Paul’s  journey to Rome as a prisoner

As we have already mentioned earlier (see the above note), Jesus commissioned His apostles to preach the gospel starting from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth (Matthew 28:18-20 [2414]; Mark 16:15-18; Luke 24:46-49; John 20:21; Acts 1:8), but the Bible does not give us ample details regarding the destinations or nations where the apostles preached the gospel, other than what we learned from the book of Acts. However, in addition to what is written in the Acts of the Apostles, some early Christian traditions give us a succinct account of the ministry locations of the apostles. After the ascension of Jesus Christ to heaven and the coming of the Holy Spirit, the very first Christian Church was founded in Jerusalem by the apostles of Jesus under the leadership of Apostle Peter. As the apostles were commissioned by Christ to carryout the mission of God to the ends of the earth (Acts 1:8), each one of them set out for their ministry field as the Holy Spirit guided them. Below mentioned are the apostles and the regions they ministered (the apostles’ ministry locations mentioned below are based on our findings)-

Apostle Peter: Originally named as Simon son of Jonah but Jesus called him Peter (Matthew 16:17-19), he is also known as Simon Peter, Simeon, or Cephas.  He is the brother of Apostle Andrew. It is believed that Apostle Peter ministered in Jerusalem, Antioch, and Rome. He was one of the key leaders in the early church. His preaching after the coming of the Holy Spirit marks the beginning of the New Testament church – about three thousand people believed and were baptized and added to their number of about one hundred and twenty people (Acts 1:15; 2:41). He was martyred in Rome at the time of the Roman persecution of Christians during the reign of Roman emperor Nero. Early Christian tradition says that he was crucified upside down.

Apostle Andrew: He is the brother of Apostle Peter. It is believed that Apostle Andrew preached the gospel in the regions of Asia Minor, Scythia, and Greece. He was martyred (crucified on a X-shaped cross) and buried in the town of Patras, but in the second half of the Fourth century AD his bones were carried to Constantinople. Again, in the early years of the fourteenth century the Italian crusaders carried his remains to the Duomo Cathedral in Amalfi in Italy.

Apostle James: He is the brother of Apostle John. It is believed that Apostle James ministered in Jerusalem and nearby regions. He, along with the rest of the apostles, was one of the key leaders in the Jerusalem church who defended the followers of Christ and their faith in Jesus Christ. He was martyred (he was beheaded) in Jerusalem on king Herod’s command (Acts 12:1-2). Thus, he became the first Apostle To be martyred for the sake of their faith in Jesus Christ. Jesus gave James and his brother John (the sons of Zebedee) the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder (Mark 3:17).

Apostle John: He is the brother of Apostle James. It is believed that Apostle John is the only one who lived almost to a hundred years of age and had a natural death among the Twelve apostles of Jesus Christ. However, he went through a lot of persecution under the Roman emperors. He was exiled to the island of Patmos (Revelation 1:9) during the persecution of Roman emperor Domitian. Another time, he was thrown into boiling oil during his imprisonment in Rome. While Jesus was hanging on the cross, He asked John to take care of His mother. Thus, John took care of Mary, the mother of Jesus. In the early stage of his ministry, he ministered in Jerusalem alongside Apostle Peter (Acts 3:1-10), and later became the bishop of the church at Ephesus. He died in Ephesus and is buried there. According to Mark 3:17, Jesus gave James and his brother John (the sons of Zebedee) the name Boanerges, which means Sons of Thunder.

Apostle Philip: According to Acts 8:4-40, Apostle Philip ministered in Samaria; but later he traveled to Carthage in North Africa, Syria, Phrygia, Greece, and various other regions. He ministered to the Greek-speaking communities across all of these regions. He was arrested in Hierapolis, upon a Roman proconsul’s command, and was nailed upside down on a tree, and then beheaded.

Apostle Thomas: Also called Didymus. It is believed that Apostle Thomas (doubting Thomas [John 20:24-29]) preached the gospel first in Edessa in Mesopotamia, and then in India, particularly in the state of Kerala. Perhaps he was the one who traveled farthest among the other apostles of Jesus Christ. According to Indian Church history, he arrived in Cranganore (Kerala, India) in AD 52 and he shared the gospel with untold number of people and founded seven and half churches for the next twenty plus years. He was martyred in AD 72 with spears running through him in Mylapore and his remains were buried in Mylapore on the St. Thomas Mount in the suburb of the present city of Chennai. Later, some of his bones were taken to Edessa and buried there.

Apostle Bartholomew: He was also known as Nathaniel. According to tradition, Bartholomew preached the gospel in various places like Ethiopia, Arabia, and Armenia. Some Bible historians and scholars assume that Bartholomew traveled to India and preached the gospel alongside Apostle Thomas. Later he returned to Albinopolis, Armenia where he was beaten, crucified, and beheaded. Another tradition holds that the Armenians who opposed his preaching peeled off his skin alive, which caused his death. Thus, he was martyred and buried in Armenia.

Apostle Matthew: He was a Tax Collector, also known as Levi. It is believed that Apostle Matthew took the gospel to the regions of Persia, Egypt, and Ethiopia. He was martyred in Ethiopia on the king’s order and buried there. According to the tradition, he was pierced with a spear or a sword-like knife to death while he was preaching the gospel.

Apostle James son of Alphaeus: He was also known as James the Less (Matthew 10:3; Mark 15:40). According to the tradition, it is believed that Apostle James the Less ministered in Jerusalem as the Bishop of the Jerusalem Church. He was martyred in Jerusalem. The enemies of the gospel threw him down from the roof of the Jerusalem Temple, and then beat and stoned him to death. It is believed that he was buried on the Mount of Olives.

Apostle Judas son of James: He was also called Thaddaeus or Lebbaeus (Matthew 10:3 KJV; Mark 3:18; Luke 6:16; Acts 1:13). It is believed that Apostle Jude preached the gospel in Lebanon, Armenia, and some other regions. He was martyred in Lebanon and buried there. He was considered as the Apostle of Armenia.

Simon the Zealot: It is believed that Apostle Simon, the Zealot, initially preached the gospel in the Western Coastal regions of Africa, then ministered in England, then traveled through the regions of Persia preaching the gospel there. The enemies of the gospel in Persia martyred him and he was buried there. According to some traditions, the reason for his martyrdom was that the devotees of sun god in one of the regions of Persia asked him to offer a sacrifice to their sun god but he refused to sacrifice to sun god. As a result, the angry mob attacked him and martyred him.

Apostle Matthias: Apostle Matthias was the one who was chosen in the place of Judas Iscariot who betrayed Jesus with thirty silver coins and a kiss (Matthew 26:14-16, 48-49; Acts 1:12-26). It was believed that Apostle Matthias preached the gospel initially in Jerusalem, but later went as missionary to Syria and preached the gospel there. While he was preaching in Syria, people who opposed his preaching persecuted him and burned him to death. Thus, he was martyred in Syria and his remains were buried there.

Although, the book of Acts does not give complete details about the ministry destinations of the apostles or the kind of ministry they carried out, it records that all these apostles were present when the Holy Spirit came upon them on the day of Pentecost and the first ever church was founded in Jerusalem. Perhaps, the book of Acts was the first ever written document regarding the history of the early church that is widely accepted among the Christians of all times. Throughout the history of the church, it is impossible to imagine the history of the Christian Church without referring to the book of Acts because the book gives its readers the answers of the who, where, when, why, and how questions of Christian faith, Christian life, Christian church, and Christian ministry.  As a whole, the book gives a detailed description of the early Christians and the tenacity of their absolute faith in Jesus Christ, and their hard-work to take the gospel to the ends of the earth as Jesus commanded them.