This is the first of a series of posts on the book of Acts. The Apostles’ Creed has that wonderful change of tenses when it goes from things past to things present. Jesus “…rose from the dead, ascended in heaven, and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence he will come to judge the living and the dead.” Acts picks up occurs in this present time, the same time we inhabit, when Jesus is sitting, that is, reigning at the right hand of the Father. Therefore if anyone wants to know, as I do, how the church ought to shape it’s worship, practice, mission and community, this is your book. Of course Acts (and therefore the church) is informed by the gospels (and particularly Luke since they are really two parts of the same book), the entire New Testament, as well as the Old Testament to which it constantly refers, but Acts remains a central example of the New Testament mission. It is a long and unified work that gives us the foundation of the church, “built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone (Eph. 2:20), upon which we are supposed to add. These posts will be selective and by no means comprehensive, consisting mainly of the things I find particularly pertinent to the church today. I hope to move at a clip and dive down into a few particulars.
Acts 1:1-11
The first words of Acts recall the first words of the Luke’s Gospel, linking the two. Luke writes “In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach”, implying that in this second book he deals with the rest. He continues “until the day when he as taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen” (vv1-2).What Jesus accomplished up to his ascension he will continue through his church. Luke’s two books nicely portray what Augustine called totus Christus, all of Christ, the head (Jesus) and his body (the church). Jesus premiers in the Luke’s Gospel, the church in Acts. So Acts is not the lame sequel to the stunning life of Jesus. It’s the continuation of Jesus’ ministry.
Jesus gave commands “through the Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen” (v2) the same Spirit who will soon come upon the apostles in Jerusalem (v5, 8). This mention of the Spirit is the first of 57 in the book of Acts, leading some to call the book The Acts of the Spirit due to his prominence throughout. Jesus had told the the disciples it would be good for them when he went away, because unless he went he would not send the Helper (Jn. 16:7). Luke’s Gospel ends with Christ’s ascension (24:51), but interestingly nothing is said there about the 40 days. Here Luke emphasizes the duration of Jesus’ activity after his resurrection–presenting, appearing and speaking to the disciples during the 40 days, equipping them to be his witnesses (v3; cf. Lk. 24:36-43). The resurrected-but-not-yet-ascended Jesus prepares them for the coming of the Holy Spirit. This reminds us how important and neglected the ascension is. Easter is rightly a blow out in the, but Ascension Sunday is much less commonly observed if not forgotten altogether. If Easter is the victory over death accomplished by the warrior, Ascension is his crowning and official beginning of his reign at God’s right hand (Ps. 110:1). Ascension is when the new ruler officially sits down and gets to work, and when he does this, things change in his kingdom; his will begins to be done in a new and more potent way on earth as is it in heaven. In line with this, just a few days after Jesus begins his rule, he sends the Spirit of power upon the church. Covenantal unity begets covenantal reality.
The apostles were to remain in Jerusalem to be baptized with the Holy Spirit and thus be empowered (vv4-5). John the Baptizer had spoken of the greater baptism (Lk. 3:16). Like head, like body. Just as Jesus was baptized and the Holy Spirit descended upon him at his baptism (Lk. 3:22), so the Father and the Son will send the Spirit upon the church at her baptism. And the church will need to be like the Son, that is, filled with the Spirit, in order to be effective like the Son was. As Jesus was baptized and sent into mission, so the church will be.
Although this is the beginning of the mission, the disciples wonder if it’s time for the completion of the kingdom. Jesus tells them they would not know the date (vv6-7; cf. Lk. 1:32-33). Rather, they would be witnesses, starting local and moving global. Notice here that Jesus doesn’t rebuke their question, but simply answers it, endorses the reality, and predicts they will be his witnesses (v8; cf. Is. 43:10-12, 44:8) until the restoration of all things (3:20-21). The reception of the Holy Spirit would be definitive, thus enabling them to witness (v8). The Spirit coming upon them is the baptism of verse 5. The word “power” is subsequently used to describe miracles (2:22; 3:12; 4:7; 8:13; 10:38; 19:11), but also includes the ability to speak boldly (4:33; 6:8-10). Essentially, whatever is required to witness (v8) is supplied by the Holy Spirit. Isaiah envisioned a time when the renewed people of God would be witnesses to the nations of the salvation of God when the new age arrived (43:10-12; 44:8). This would happen first in Jerusalem (chs. 2-7), then in all Judea and Samaria (chs. 8-12), and then to the ends of the earth (chs. 13-28). Jesus went to heaven in coronation, and he would come again in victory. Verses 10-11 include the phrase into heaven four times, and a glory-cloud took him out of their sight (v9). He went to rule with the Father. Now the disciples would need to quit gazing up and get to work.