Acts Gets Personal

 In this Sunday's reading from Acts of the Apostles 16:9-15, the author transitions from a third person point of view to the first person style of writing. This makes the Book of Acts as a witness to events all the more real to me.

"During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, ‘Come over to Macedonia and help us.’ When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them.

We set sail from Troas and took a straight course to Samothrace, the following day to Neapolis, and from there to Philippi, which is a leading city of the district of Macedonia and a Roman colony. We remained in this city for some days. On the sabbath day we went outside the gate by the river, where we supposed there was a place of prayer; and we sat down and spoke to the women who had gathered there. A certain woman named Lydia, a worshipper of God, was listening to us; she was from the city of Thyatira and a dealer in purple cloth. The Lord opened her heart to listen eagerly to what was said by Paul. When she and her household were baptized, she urged us, saying, ‘If you have judged me to be faithful to the Lord, come and stay at my home.’ And she prevailed upon us."

We never get to meet the man Paul saw in his vision, but we may assume him to be one of the brothers mentioned in verse 40 as Paul (I make another assumption that Luke may have stayed as he goes back to using the third person) left the city. 

"After leaving the prison they went to Lydia’s home; and when they had seen and encouraged the brothers there, they departed."

 The author does another point of view change to the first person in Acts 20:5 which continues through Acts 27.  Once again this is associated with a sea voyage,

Acts 20: 5-7 

"They went ahead and were waiting for us in Troas; but we sailed from Philippi after the days of Unleavened Bread, and in five days we joined them in Troas, where we stayed for seven days.

 On the first day of the week, when we met to break bread, Paul was holding a discussion with them; since he intended to leave the next day, he continued speaking until midnight."

Act of the Apostles cements in my mind the travel and travails of Paul during this extremely important time in the early Church. The use of the first person point of view is an important method of helping us to see through the eyes of Luke as he takes part in Paul's journeys.