Through the Bible -- Acts 1

Since next Sunday is Pentecost, I thought I'd shift from Mark to Acts.  

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1. Acts is volume 2 of Luke. It was written for the same person as the Gospel of Luke, someone named Theophilus (Acts 1:1). He is called "most excellent Theophilus" in Luke 1:3, making many wonder if he was a Roman governor (cf. Acts 24:2). 

The name "Theophilus" means "lover of God," making some think the name is a literary device and that Acts was written for anyone who loves God. As such, it would be addressed to all lovers of God. It is also possible that Theophilus was a Christian name given to a Roman governor at baptism. We know of at least one Roman governor who becomes a believer in Acts 13, Sergius Paulus. 

In the end, it seems likely Theophilus was a real person, maybe even a patron who sponsored the writing of Luke-Acts.

2. The Gospel of Luke was about "everything that Jesus began to do and teach" (Acts 1:1). In Acts, Jesus continues to teach through his Spirit in the apostles and his church. Luke 24 ended with Jesus' ascension, and Acts will pick up the story at that point. 

There is one key difference. A straightforward reading of Luke 24 would easily give us the impression that Jesus rose from the dead and ascended on the same day. [1] Yet in Acts 1 we hear that there was a forty day period between the resurrection and the ascension (Acts 1:3). From one standpoint, therefore, Luke 24 "telescopes" Acts 1.

The comparison shows that Luke used some artistic freedom in his presentation, which was perfectly acceptable at the time. It also means, however, that we are not likely getting a videotape or transcript of the events. Luke has arranged and told the events in a way that brings out truths about the Way. [2] That was his priority, the message. 

Jesus tells them to wait in Jerusalem. John the Baptist had foretold that Jesus would baptize them with the Holy Spirit (Luke 3:16; Acts 1:5). That will happen in Acts 2 on the Day of Pentecost. They are getting in the stalls at the Kentucky Derby. The race of the church will begin in Acts 2. [3]

3. The final question the disciples ask Jesus is whether he will now restore the kingdom to Israel. This is very revealing. It reflects that their expectations of Jesus as Messiah have always been military and political. They were not expecting Jesus to die, as the Gospel of Mark so clearly shows (e.g., Mark 8:31-32). Then they clearly were not expecting him to rise either (cf. Luke 24:21-24).

So now they are wondering, "Are we back on for kicking the Romans out of Jerusalem and taking the kingdom back for Israel?"

Jesus does not contradict their expectation in itself. After all, Luke 21 points to a "times of the Gentiles" when Jerusalem will be trampled on by the Romans (21:24), an allusion to the destruction of Jerusalem that would happen forty years later. Presumably, after the times of the Gentiles were over, the kingdom of God would come and an expanded Israel would inherit the earth.

But they do not understand the timing. Just as they did not anticipate Jesus death and resurrection, they did not anticipate Jesus' ascension. Jesus is taken out of their sight into heaven. Luke-Acts is the only place where Jesus' ascension is explicitly told, although Hebrews may allude to it. [4]

Heaven is not likely straight up, although that is the way they thought of it in their worldview. From what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12:2, they likely pictured a universe where you went straight up through layers of sky to the highest sky where God's throne was. It is an illustration of the fact that God reveals himself in our categories so that we can picture and grasp his point in our language and peripheral frameworks.

If God created the universe out of nothing, then God's essence is not in this universe. His "throne room," a metaphor in itself, is "somewhere else." I have always thought of heaven and hell as being in another dimension, but that is simply a picture that works for me in our time.

So Jesus "stoops to their weakness," as the hymn says, meeting them in terms they understand. [5] He ascends until he is out of sight. Then presumably he transports to wherever heaven is. 

4. We might view Acts 1:8 as the key verse of Acts. It gives us a generalization of the whole book in a nutshell. 

For example, "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you." The book of Acts is a recurring series of events where believers receive the Holy Spirit, and power is an immediate consequence. I grew up in a tradition that emphasized purity as what comes with the Spirit, and we do find that idea at least once in Acts (15:9), the purification of sins.

However, power is the key manifestation of the Spirit in Acts. We find the power to perform miracles (e.g., Acts 3). There is the power of boldness (e.g. 4:31). They receive the power to speak in languages they have not learned (2:6).

With this power, they testify to the resurrection. "You will be my witnesses." They were disciples. In Acts 2 they become apostles -- individuals sent with a commission. The specific commission is to witness to Jesus' resurrection. According to Paul, this is a central part of what it means to be an apostle (1 Corinthians 9:1). There are no apostles of this sort today because Jesus has not appeared to anyone today the way he appeared to them. Paul was the last (1 Cor. 15:8).

So they will become apostles in Acts 2 and will be sent with the commission to testify to the resurrection. These initial apostles included more than just the Twelve. Paul was one of them. Barnabas likely witnessed the risen Jesus as well (1 Cor. 9:6). A husband-wife pair called Andronicus and Junia may also have been in this number (Rom. 16:7). 

They will witness to the resurrection in Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and the ends of the earth. This is a kind of map to the book of Acts. Acts 1-7 are in Jerusalem. Then Acts 8-12 are in Judea and Samaria. Finally, Acts 13-28 are to the ends of the earth, remembering that Rome was the end of the earth in the geographical paradigm of Jesus' day.

5. The remainder of Acts 1 deals with the replacement of Judas (1:12-26). The number twelve was important because it symbolized the tribes of Israel. The twelve apostles point to the restoration of Israel. 

First, Luke tells us who the eleven remaining disciples are. Peter seems to be the leader, and we remember that is the first man to whom Jesus appeared (Luke 24:34). In the Gospels we have, Peter is the lead apostle, although Jesus' brother James will seemingly become the leader of the Jerusalem church.

There are others there beyond the Twelve -- Acts 1:15 says 120. The women who had supported Jesus are mentioned, as now is Jesus' mother Mary and his brothers (1:14). Luke does not indicate that Jesus' mother or family were present at his crucifixion. John is unique in that regard. Mention of the presence of the women reminds us that Luke more than any of the Gospels features the presence and participation of women in the early church and its ministry.

Peter feels led to call for the replacement of Judas. He quotes Scripture -- Psalm 69:25 and Psalm 109:8. The early Christians likely meditated on these psalms as they thought about the sufferings of Jesus -- especially Psalm 69 since several of its verses are referenced in the New Testament in relation to Jesus. They are psalms of lament, where the psalmist asks God for rescue in suffering. They are even more specifically imprecatory psalms that call for God to vindicate the psalmist in the face of his enemies.

Reading these verses spiritually, Peter understands the Spirit to be telling them to replace Judas' "office" among the twelve. The criteria for the replacement include that it must be someone who has been with them since the time of John the Baptist. Interestingly, the apostle Paul would not qualify. It is often suggested that Paul was the real replacement for Judas, but he would not have qualified according to Acts. 

Paul and Barnabas were in a second tier of apostles. There were the Twelve, the first tier. Then there was a second tier to whom Jesus also appeared, but they were not among the Twelve. We see this two tier sense of the apostles in 1 Corinthians 15:5-8.

6. Acts 1:18-19 is where we find out the fate of Judas. Luke's account is a little different from the other Gospels. All the Gospels except John indicate that Judas received money for betraying Jesus. In Matthew he returns the money and then hangs himself. Then the priests buy a field with it (Matt. 27:7-8). In Acts 1, Judas buys the field and dies there "falling headlong" (Acts 1:19).

At least on a surface level, these two accounts are not precisely reconcilable. In Matthew the priests buy the field. In Acts, Judas does. The mode of death also seems to differ. Some have found it very important to find a historical reconciliation on the level of detail. For example, perhaps Judas tried to hang himself and the rope broke, causing him to fall headlong.

These attempts at harmonization are well-intentioned but probably unncessary. Ancient history writing could involve some creative license. Also, the agreement on the core event with difference in detail actually points to the historicity of the event. It is exactly what we would expect with oral tradition. Both accounts agree that the money was used to buy a field and that the field was called "Akeldama," "field of blood." They both agree that Jesus died soon after Jesus' death.

7. They cast lots and Matthias is chosen. We never hear of him -- or the majority of the disciples -- ever again. There are some traditions about what befell them, but they are not in Scripture.

On the surface, throwing dice does not seem the best method of choosing a leader, but in their worldview, God was understood to direct the way the lot fell. Presumably, God met them in their expectation within their framework of understanding. That it was a cultural practice is clear because the Roman soldiers cast lots to decide who would get Jesus' clothing (e.g., Matt. 27:35). This is the only time in the New Testament when believers cast lots to make a decision.

It is perhaps a reminder that "description is not prescription." That is to say, the Bible narrates a lot of events. We are not meant to emulate all of them (for example, Judas hanging himself). Sometimes the Bible describes what they did without prescribing that we do it the same way.

8. They bathe this decision in prayer (Acts 1:24). Prayer is another one of the key themes of Luke-Acts. The followers of the Way prayed regularly in community (2:42). They prayed for God's guidance. They prayed for the power of the Spirit. Although it is not explicitly mentioned before the Day of Pentecost, we should assume that, as mentioned here at the end of Acts 1, they were praying in the upper room when the Holy Spirit comes upon them.

[1] The angels appear to the women at the tomb on Easter morning. "The same day," two men meet Jesus on the road to Emmaus (Luke 24:13). When they realize it's Jesus, they head back to Jerusalem "that same hour" (24:33). When they arrive back, Jesus has already appeared to Peter and then suddenly appears to all of them (24:36). Then he leads them out to Bethany and is taken to heaven (24:50).

Clearly, this is a syncopated version. For example, Matthew and Mark have all the appearances to the main apostles in Galilee, and it is in Galilee that Jesus gives the Great Commission. Luke 24 has no room for any appearances in Galilee, even though he surely knows about them. 

[2] "The Way" is how Luke refers to the Jesus movement several times in Acts (e.g., Acts 9:2; 19:23).

[3] Some have suggested that the Day of Pentecost was a second Spirit event in the life of the apostles since Jesus breathes on them and tells them to receive the Holy Spirit in John 20:22. However, the story world of Luke-Acts is a self-contained one. In it, the Day of Pentecost is the fulfillment of the promise of John the Baptist. John has a different story world, and Acts does not include it. You might argue that John 20:22 is John's allusion to or version of Pentecost.

[4] E.g., Hebrews 4:14.

[5] From the hymn, "Spirit of God, descend upon my heart."