PLEASE READ ACTS 1:1-11
Today, I begin a brief two-part series of blogs about what Luke tells us in Acts, what happened between Passover and Pentecost. This is about the first 11 verses of Acts 1. Here are some bullet points.
Acts of the Holy Spirit
Three times in these opening verses of Acts, Luke speaks of the Holy Spirit. Throughout Acts, the role of the Holy Spirit is so prominent that many think the title of Luke’s second volume should be “Acts of the Holy Spirit,” rather than “Acts of the Apostles.” What the ascended Jesus continues to do and teach in Acts, is through the Holy Spirit.
In these opening verses, the Holy Spirit is seen at work in three ways: Jesus instructs His apostles through the Holy Spirit; He promises that they will be baptized by the Holy Spirit, in contrast to John’s baptism; and that the Holy Spirit will give them power for their mission to be Jesus’ witnesses.
At Pentecost, those who responded to Peter’s message about Jesus, who is both Lord and Messiah, were baptized and received the gift of the Holy Spirit. My heritage focused on baptism and has too often neglected the Holy Spirit. Luke did not do so, nor should we! We can discuss the place of miraculous gifts, but there is no place in Scripture, including 1 Corinthians 13:10(1), that suggests that the work of the Holy Spirit in our lives has ceased, nor that He no longer gives gifts.
The purpose of the empowering of the Holy Spirit upon the apostles was not for personal religious experience, but instead, for their (and our) mission to be His witnesses.
It’s not for you to know
The 40 days during which the risen Messiah was with His disciples must have been incredibly heady. Their Messiah had gone through death and was now bodily alive and was walking, talking, and even eating with them. He had a physical body but beyond merely physical. He passed through locked doors, could be unrecognized and then recognized. He would be seen and then suddenly vanish. This was all heady, indeed. Would the Messiah now complete what they hoped for before He was crucified?
His answer to their question was neither yes nor no. It was rather, “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority…” Sadly, that answer has not kept folks from trying to figure out the times and dates, while selling a lot of books. Instead of trying to figure out what we are not to know, they were to get on with their prime mission. All of that is true for us as well. That mission is to be His (prophetic) witnesses—witnesses of and for the Messiah not only to Israel, but to all the world. So, Jesus does not allow us to know what we shouldn’t, but He does empower us to do what we should.
Much of the instruction through the Holy Spirit that Jesus gave them concerned the Kingdom. They had been taught to pray that God’s Kingdom comes on earth as it is in heaven. In being witnesses, God’s rule (kingdom) comes to all the world.
The scope of the mission
Acts 1:8 is seen as the programmatic verse for the rest of Acts: “…in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” That’s how Acts develops. It starts in Jerusalem and ends in Rome (the center of their world).
Obviously, this progression does not simply describe geography. Samaritans were not Jews, and Gentiles were neither. These outward movements were profound changes. Like Tevye (in “Fiddler on the Roof”), the early Jewish disciples had to learn to accept and embrace those different from themselves as fellow-members of one family. We may need to stretch in similar ways.
Ascended, but not far off
No location is given by Luke for Jesus’ ascension, so there is no contradiction with Matthew and Mark, although tensions exist between “Stay in Jerusalem,” and “Go to Galilee.” The important points are that Jesus is God’s ascended Ruler, and He will return when the Father decides He will. Although He ascends, this is not a journey measured in miles. He has gone to the realm of God’s Presence. As Matthew tells us, Jesus will be with us to the end of the age.
So, we are here to carry out the mission given to us. The Holy Spirit accompanies us, in fact, fills us, so that we can accomplish the Lord’s calling for us. We should not be distracted by trying to discover what we are not to know. We are to be the Lord’s witnesses, bringing the Good News and mercy to the poor and outcasts, and all of every race, gender, and social standing. In the words of an old song, “We’ll work ‘til Jesus comes.”
Tim Kelley
(1) It is obvious to me that when the “perfect” comes, refers to the coming of the Lord, and NOT the completion of the New Testament.