The Acts of the Apostles

Johnson’s commentary is one of the most original and rewarding treatments of Acts available. His central insight is that Luke structures Luke–Acts through a prophetic pattern: Jesus is the raised prophet like Moses, the apostles are his Spirit-empowered successors, and Acts narrates the prophet’s renewed visitation of Israel before the mission expands among the nations. This framework illuminates Luke’s treatment of prophecy, rejection, restoration, suffering and the continuity between Jesus and his witnesses without normally overwhelming the individual passages. Johnson is concise, attentive to literary structure and consistently stimulating, though his historical-critical judgments will not always persuade conservative readers and the commentary is less comprehensive than larger technical works. Even where I disagree, he regularly notices significant features that other commentators overlook. This is an unusually distinctive and useful commentary that deserves to be read alongside a fuller exegetical volume.

An outstanding partner to his Luke commentary in the same series.