The first Christian community in Jerusalem is described in the early chapters of Acts. It was a community of Jews who believed that Jesus was the Messiah. They worshipped in the Temple, observed the Sabbath, kept the festivals, and shared their possessions. They were not yet a separate religion. They were a movement within Judaism.
Persecution came quickly. Within a few years of the resurrection, Stephen was stoned, and James the brother of John was executed. By 62 AD, James the Just, the leader of the Jerusalem church, had been martyred. The pattern of persecution would continue for three centuries.
The Community
Acts 2:44–45 and 4:32–35 describe a form of communal life in which the believers shared their possessions and gave to anyone who had need. This was not communism in the modern sense. It was a voluntary sharing of resources for the sake of the poor, modeled on the Jewish practice of charity and the teachings of Jesus.
The community was not perfect. Acts 5 records the story of Ananias and Sapphira, who lied about a donation and were struck dead. Acts 6 records a dispute between Hellenistic and Hebrew widows over the distribution of food, which led to the appointment of the first deacons. The community was real, and it had real problems.
Stephen
Around 34 AD, Stephen, one of the seven deacons, was arrested and brought before the Sanhedrin on a charge of blasphemy against the Temple and the law. His defense, recorded in Acts 7, is the longest speech in the book. It is a retelling of Israel’s history, and it ends with an accusation: “Ye stiffnecked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, ye do always resist the Holy Ghost.”
The crowd did not wait for the trial to end. They dragged Stephen out of the city and stoned him. The witnesses laid their coats at the feet of a young Pharisee named Saul of Tarsus. Saul approved of his death.
The death of Stephen
“And they stoned Stephen, calling upon God, and saying, Lord Jesus, receive my spirit. And he kneeled down, and cried with a loud voice, Lord, lay not this sin to their charge. And when he had said this, he fell asleep.”
Acts 7:59–60
James son of Zebedee
Around 44 AD, Herod Agrippa I — grandson of Herod the Great and, for a brief period, king of all Judea — began to persecute the church in Jerusalem. He arrested James son of Zebedee and had him executed with the sword. James was the first of the Twelve to die.
Agrippa saw that the execution pleased the Jewish authorities, and proceeded to arrest Peter as well. Peter escaped, and Agrippa died shortly afterwards — a death that is independently recorded by Josephus in gory detail.
James the Just
Around 62 AD, James the Just, the brother of Jesus and the leader of the Jerusalem church, was executed by stoning under the high priest Ananus II. Josephus records the event, and his account is universally accepted as authentic by historians.
Josephus on the death of James
“Ananus thought that he had a favourable opportunity because Festus was dead and Albinus was still on the way. And so he convened the judges of the Sanhedrin and brought before them a man named James, the brother of Jesus who was called the Christ, and certain others. He accused them of having transgressed the law and delivered them up to be stoned.”
Josephus, Antiquities 20.200
Josephus does not believe that Jesus was the Christ. He says “who was called the Christ.” But he records the death of James, the brother of Jesus, and he dates it precisely.
The Pattern
From the beginning, Christians were persecuted, and from the beginning, they refused to deny what they had seen. The movement did not survive because it was powerful. It survived because the men and women in it would not stop telling the truth.
The crowd is dragging Stephen out of the city. He has just finished his speech. He has accused the Sanhedrin of resisting the Holy Spirit. They are not interested in a trial anymore.
They are throwing stones. Stephen is on his knees, praying. And then he is dead.
A young man is standing nearby, watching. He is holding the coats of the men who are throwing the stones. His name is Saul.
Why This Waypoint Matters
The Jerusalem church is the first generation of the Christian movement. It was Jewish, it was centered in the Temple, and it was persecuted from the beginning. Its story matters because it shows that the earliest Christians were willing to die for what they claimed, and that the movement did not depend on the survival of any single leader. When James was killed, the church continued. When Stephen was stoned, the church scattered and grew.
