Luke’s Introduction to Acts
Acts 1:1–11
Luke’s Gospel left off in the middle of the action. The risen Jesus ascended into heaven after commissioning his followers to preach in his name to all nations. He had instructed them to wait in Jerusalem and promised that he would send the Holy Spirit to empower them. But before reporting this event, Luke’s Gospel ends with the disciples’ worshiping God in the temple. Readers might wonder how Jesus’ promise would come true and how his commission would be carried out. Here at the beginning of Acts, Luke resumes his account, retelling the last scene of the previous installment to bring the readers back into the flow of the story.
A Sequel to the Gospel Story (1:1–2)
1In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught 2until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
NT: Luke 1:1–4; 24:45–51
Catechism: “all that Jesus did and taught,” 512
Lectionary: Acts 1:1–11: Ascension of the Lord (Years A–C)
[1:1–2]
Luke’s reference to his Gospel as the first book highlights that Acts is a second book or sequel that continues the story begun in the Gospel. He first addresses Theophilus directly (see Luke 1:3). Though we know nothing about Theophilus, most scholars believe he was the patron, the person of means and influence who helped Luke get his Gospel published and distributed. His name has a further possible significance. In Greek, Theo-philos means “lover of God.” Thus Theophilus can stand symbolically for all readers of Acts, lovers and beloved of God.
Luke summarizes the content of his Gospel as all that Jesus did and taught before his ascension. A literal translation of the Greek would be “all that Jesus began to do and teach” (RSV, NIV). This remarkable phrase clarifies why Luke sees a sequel as necessary. If the Gospel narrates all that Jesus began to do and teach, this volume recounts what Jesus will continue to do and teach through the ministry of his disciples when they are filled with his Spirit.
The Gospel of Luke reported Jesus’ activities until the day he was taken up to heaven in his ascension. Before this final departure he gave instructions through the holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen, to equip them further for their leadership role. We know the risen Jesus’ instructions included an explanation of why it had been necessary for Israel’s Messiah to suffer and die and then be raised (Luke 24:26–27, 46–47). We may suppose his instructions included guidance on leading the Church after his ascension.
Jesus Prepares His Apostles for His Departure (1:3–5)
3He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. 4While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father about which you have heard me speak; 5for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit.”
OT: Isa 44:2–3; Ezek 39:29; Joel 3:1–2
NT: Luke 3:16; 24:49; John 16:12–13; Acts 13:30–31; 1 Cor 15:3–8
Catechism: appearances of the risen Jesus, 641–44; Jesus’ ascension, 659–64; promise of the Holy Spirit, 729
Liturgy: Acts 1:3–8: confirmation; Acts 1:1–11: ascension of the Lord (Years A–C)
[1:3]
After addressing Theophilus directly, Luke resumes his story. First he recounts what Jesus did between his resurrection and ascension. Luke’s Gospel reported Jesus’ ascension into heaven (Luke 24:51) but left the timing vague. Now Luke clarifies that time frame: after Jesus’ resurrection and before his ascension, he spent forty days in preparing his disciples for his departure and their future mission.
Luke emphasizes that Jesus presented himself alive to them by many proofs. According to Luke’s Gospel, the risen Jesus not only appeared to the apostles but also let them touch him and ate some fish before them so they could be assured he was truly risen and not a ghost or spiritual apparition (Luke 24:36–43). Those who encountered the risen Lord did not need arguments to be fully convinced that he is alive (see sidebar). Acts explicitly notes that the risen Jesus showed himself only to his followers, who then had to witness to others about his resurrection (Acts 13:30–31). He will show himself to all people only at his return for judgment at the end of the world (Luke 21:26–27). Thus, although Jesus’ appearances were incontestable proofs for the apostles who saw him, later Christians depend by faith on the testimony of those apostolic witnesses that the Jesus who “suffered, died, and was buried” (Nicene Creed) is now truly risen and alive.
The forty days are the period between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension. Jesus’ many post-resurrection appearances (1 Cor 15:3–8) and further instruction of his disciples took place during this time (except for the later appearance to Paul, who stresses the uniqueness of his own case in 1 Cor 15:8). Later †Gnostic heretics would claim that this period of post-Easter appearances extended to eighteen months, apparently to make more plausible their claim that the risen Jesus revealed a whole new secret religion to them. Such later heresies illustrate how providential is Acts’s mentioning a definite endpoint—Jesus’ visible ascension after forty days—after which no more appearances were to be expected.
The number forty calls to mind biblical events in which God’s people received divine revelation: the forty days when Moses received the law on Mount Sinai and the forty years when God led Israel in the desert (Exod 24:18; Deut 8:2). Just as the number forty appeared at the birth of the nation of Israel and its instruction, so too it marks the birth and instruction of the Church. Moreover, just as Jesus underwent forty days of preparation for his earthly ministry (Luke 4:1–2), his disciples are now prepared for their mission during the same length of time. By emphasizing the number forty, Luke underlines that the life of Jesus is relived in the Church.
During this interval, the risen Jesus continued to teach his followers about the kingdom of God, which had also been his principal message during his earthly ministry. The kingdom of God is the fulfillment of Israel’s hope that God would one day fully manifest his sovereignty over the whole world, beginning with Israel (see Isa 24:23; 52:7). Even with this additional teaching, the apostles’ response in verse 6 will show that their understanding of God’s kingdom remained limited.
[1:4–5]
Before taking any action, the apostles are to wait until they are empowered by the Spirit from on high, since only then will they have the divine grace and power they need to carry out their daunting commission. As Jesus’ farewell address in the Gospel of John indicates, he had more to teach his disciples than they could understand without the aid of the Spirit (John 16:12–13). Here the risen Jesus enjoins them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father . . . for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit.” Jesus thus reinforces his command in Luke 24:49: “I am sending the promise of my Father upon you; but stay in the city until you are clothed with power from on high.”
The promise that believers would be “baptized with the holy Spirit” is one of the most frequently repeated prophecies in the New Testament. John had contrasted his own baptism in water with the baptism of the mightier One to come: “I am baptizing you with water. . . . He will baptize you with the holy Spirit and fire” (Luke 3:16). The word “baptize” in Greek means to dip, drench, or immerse in water. It recalls the biblical promises that in the final times God would pour out his Spirit like water on thirsty ground. The phrase “baptized with the holy Spirit” conveys a vivid image of what would soon occur. The disciples would receive a far greater baptism than that of John; they would be immersed in God’s own divine life! This promise will be realized at Pentecost, and then in Christian baptism, which involves both water and the Spirit’s indwelling and empowerment. In Acts 2 Luke will describe how this baptism with the Spirit fills the disciples with God’s love, life, power, and insight into his work in the world.
Reflection and Application (1:3–5)
It is impossible to exaggerate the importance for Christian belief and practice of the insistence that Jesus is alive (Acts 1:3). He is not merely a “historical Jesus” who lived and died in the first century. Jesus presented himself as alive to the apostles, no more to die, and he is still alive today and forever.
Christian faith is grounded in the eyewitness testimony of the apostles who encountered Jesus alive after his death. This faith has been confirmed from the first century till now by the Church’s experience of Jesus as alive and present to us in our worship, prayer, and communal life. From the very beginning of Christianity, Christians have baptized new believers “in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the holy Spirit” (Matt 28:19). From the beginning Christians have experienced the presence of the living Jesus in their midst, especially in their celebration of the Eucharist, as he promised: “Behold, I am with you always, until the end of the age” (Matt 28:20).
Mission to the Whole Earth (1:6–8)
6When they had gathered together they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
OT: 2 Sam 7:16; Isa 43:10–12; 49:6; Dan 7:27
NT: Matt 28:19–20; Luke 2:30–32; 24:49; Acts 13:47
Catechism: the Church founded on the apostles, 857–60; coming of the kingdom, 672–73; outpouring of the Spirit, 1287
Lectionary: Acts 1:1–11: Ascension of the Lord (Years A–C); Acts 1:3–8: Confirmation
[1:6]
The disciples’ question raises concerns that will reappear in various ways in Acts: what, when, and for whom is God’s kingdom? The disciples probably have in mind God’s promises to restore the royal kingdom of David (Jer 23:5–6; Amos 9:11–12), which had been defunct since the sixth century BC. Many of their Jewish contemporaries expected that the †Messiah would reestablish the political kingdom of Israel and overthrow the oppressive Roman government. It may be that the disciples had such an understanding of the restoration of Israel. But Jesus uses the question as an opportunity to further expand their understanding of God’s kingdom. Jesus’ preaching of the kingdom of God throughout his public ministry was rooted in the Hebrew understanding of God the Creator as having dominion over not only his own Jewish people but also all people (Tob 13:11; Ps 99:1–2; Isa 49:6). Jesus taught his disciples to pray, “Your kingdom come,” that is, “Your will be done, /on earth as in heaven” (Matt 6:10). God’s kingdom is wherever Jesus himself is present and God’s will is loved and obeyed. Here Jesus indicates that the kingdom will be restored not by military or political conquest but by establishing his kingship in human lives through the witness of his disciples (v. 8). Jesus already reigns as king (Acts 2:34–36), although his kingdom will be fully and visibly realized only at the end of history.
[1:7]
Jesus puts off the disciples’ question about a specific time for the restoration of Israel’s kingdom with a simple answer: “It is not for you to know the times or seasons.” Questions about God’s timetable were often raised by Jews in the first century (and continue to be asked by Christians today), but Jesus refuses to answer this question. His disciples will receive God’s power, not to exercise political authority, but to be his witnesses. And their testimony will not be related to Israel as a nation, but to God’s saving authority over all nations.
[1:8]
“But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you,” Jesus further explains. This power from the Spirit will give them the courage and guidance to be able to witness to Jesus. Jesus’ promise of the Spirit’s empowerment calls the disciples back from their concerns about “times or seasons” to his previous command to wait for “the promise of the Father,” the promise that they “will be baptized with the holy Spirit” (vv. 4–5). Just as Jesus’ own baptism in the Jordan, when the Spirit descended on him, inaugurated his public ministry (Luke 3:21–22), so the apostles’ baptism in the Spirit at Pentecost will launch their ministry. Up to this point the apostles have been afraid and hidden behind locked doors (John 20:19). The coming of the Spirit will break the crippling power of all such fear.
Fig. 1. The initial spread of the gospel: from Jerusalem throughout Judea and Samaria (Acts 1:8).
International Mapping
Jesus’ promise, “You will be my witnesses,” introduces a major theme in Acts. Christian faith is grounded in the testimony of the apostles, both to Jews (Acts 2:32; 3:15; 4:33; 5:29–32) and to Gentiles (10:39–42; 13:30–31). The apostles had walked with Jesus, seen his mighty acts, recognized him as God’s Messiah, and encountered him alive from the dead. Once they are empowered by the Spirit at Pentecost, they will boldly proclaim what they have seen and heard, becoming witnesses to God’s saving acts in history.
Verse 8 functions as a skeleton table of contents, identifying the major events in Acts. The apostles’ witness to Jesus will begin in Jerusalem after they have received the Holy Spirit (Acts 2–7). It later will spread out through Judea and Samaria (Acts 8–12), extending to the Mediterranean coast through Peter. Peter will be the first to preach to Gentiles (Acts 10–11). Finally, Paul will bring the witness all the way to Rome (Acts 13–28), the center of the empire, from where it can radiate out to the ends of the earth. The “ends of the earth” does not refer to a geographical locality but means that the mission is unlimited in scope.
Reflection and Application (1:6–8)
Jesus’ command that the apostles wait until they receive the Holy Spirit’s power (Luke 24:49; Acts 1:4–5, 8) is significant not only for the apostolic Church but also for the Church today. Aware of the great needs of the world and a multitude of ministry opportunities, we can be tempted to rush out and try to accomplish things on our own rather than waiting for the Holy Spirit’s empowerment and guidance. But merely human resources cannot accomplish the supernatural mission that God has given the Church.
Recent popes have summoned all Catholics to a “new evangelization,” to bring the good news of Christ anew not only to distant non-Christian lands but also to the secularized post-Christian societies of the West. Saint John Paul II wrote of the urgency of this task: “I sense that the moment has come to commit all of the Church’s energies to a new evangelization. . . . No believer in Christ, no institution of the Church, can avoid this supreme duty: to proclaim Christ to all peoples.” In order to carry out this great task, Catholics today are as much in need of the presence and power of the Holy Spirit as were the first Christians. Indeed, Pope Paul VI insisted that “the Holy Spirit is the principal agent of evangelization,” since “it is He who impels each individual to proclaim the Gospel, and it is He who in the depths of consciences causes the word of salvation to be accepted and understood.” It follows that in order to carry out the new evangelization, the Church needs a new Pentecost. In his visit to the United States in 2008, Pope Benedict XVI prayed: “Let us implore from God the grace of a new Pentecost for the Church in America. May tongues of fire, combining burning love of God and neighbor with zeal for the spread of Christ’s Kingdom, descend on all present!”
Many of the Church’s prayers to the Spirit begin “Come, Holy Spirit!” Christians have already received the Holy Spirit in baptism and confirmation, yet are continually in need of a fresh outpouring of the Spirit to carry out the mission that God has entrusted to each one of us. With the spiritual power we too receive “when the holy Spirit comes upon” us, we in our own generation are able to continue the apostles’ testimony that Jesus is risen and present among us.
Jesus’ Ascension to Heaven and the Apostles’ Mission on Earth (1:9–11)
9When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight. 10While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. 11They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven.”
OT: Exod 24:15–18; 2 Kings 2:9–10; Dan 7:13–14
NT: Luke 21:27–28; John 16:7
Catechism: Jesus’ ascension, 659–64; cloud as symbol of the Holy Spirit, 697
Lectionary: Acts 1:1–11: Ascension of the Lord (Years A–C)
Luke’s description of Jesus’ ascension looks backward to its Old Testament foreshadowings and forward to Jesus’ prophesied return at the end of time. As the prophet Elijah was about to depart this earth, according to 2 Kings 2:9–10, Elisha asked him for a double share of his spirit. Elijah responded that this request would be granted only if Elisha saw him being taken into heaven. Elisha did see Elijah taken up in a flaming chariot, and consequently he received Elijah’s spirit and power to work miracles. The apostles see Jesus being taken into heaven, recalling the confirming sign that Elisha had received. Readers can thus be assured that the apostles will receive Jesus’ Spirit and work miracles as Jesus did in the Gospel. Likewise Moses imparted his spirit to his assistant Joshua before his departure, ensuring that Joshua would carry on his mission to lead Israel (Deut 34:9). Such biblical allusions demonstrate the continuity between the Spirit-filled ministry of Jesus and that of his apostles and their successors. The scriptural theme of the passing on of Spirit-filled prophetic vocations—from Moses to Joshua, from Elijah to Elisha, and now from Jesus to his apostles—shows that succession of authority has always been part of God’s saving plan.
[1:9]
As Moses ascended Mount Sinai in a cloud (Exod 19:16–20; 24:15–18) to receive the gift of the law and then give it to the people, so Jesus is now lifted up to heaven on a cloud to receive the gift of the Spirit and give it to his Church (see Acts 2:33). Often in Scripture a cloud represents God’s presence (see Exod 13:21; 16:10). The angelic figures’ appearing as two men dressed in white garments recall Moses and Elijah, who appeared with Jesus in the cloud at the transfiguration (Luke 9:29–35).
[1:10–11]
As the disciples are looking intently at the sky as he was going, the two men chide them, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky?” They remind the disciples that Jesus had prophesied his †parousia, his return in glory on a cloud at the end of the world (Luke 21:27–28): “This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven,” that is, on a cloud. Jesus’ ascending in a cloud alludes to Daniel’s vision of “One like a son of man” coming on the clouds of heaven to receive everlasting dominion from God (Dan 7:13–14). Jesus had indicated that he himself is the Son of Man foreseen by Daniel who will come with power and glory (Luke 21:27).
Jesus’ ascension does not imply his absence from the Church. Rather, as Acts will show, he will be present and active in a new way through the Holy Spirit (see John 14:18). As his disciples speak and act “in his name,” Jesus himself will be at work through them (see Acts 3:5–16).
Reflection and Application (1:9–11)
God provided that the apostles would receive the Spirit and power of Jesus so that his saving work could be continued through them. We can rely on the presence of that same Spirit and power in the Church today so that through us God can extend his saving work to our generation also. Because we, like the apostles, have assurance that Jesus will return at the end of the world, we should not regret his physical absence after the ascension (John 16:7), but focus instead on his presence through the Spirit and on the mission he has entrusted to us. Although we look forward to Jesus’ coming in glory, we are not to focus on the “times or seasons” when he will return. Nor are we to get distracted from serving our neighbors and witnessing to Jesus by elaborate speculation about how the end times will play out.
