While reading through the Gospels and Acts recently I was again impressed at the sudden and vast impact that Jesus and the early Christians made on their communities. From His first sermon in Luke 4 until His triumphal entry into Jerusalem, Jesus was famous! People followed him by the thousands. He had enemies, of course, but, the enemies, with their persecution of him, were simply a symptom of Jesus’ effective, fruitful ministry. I don’t really believe the enemies were angry with Jesus because of what He was preaching, at least not initially. Their hatred was born primarily out of His tremendous ability to touch large numbers of people and change their lives.

The same thing is repeated in the Acts of the Apostles. From the day the Holy Spirit first fell on those 120 believers, the early church was marked by incredible fruit. Thousands of people came to faith in Jesus Christ by the witness of those first believers, about 3000 the first day! And this trend continued for a long time as the disciples spread out all over the known world, taking the Gospel with them.