The first account I composed, Theophilus, about all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when He was taken up to heaven, after He had by the Holy Spirit given orders to the apostles whom He had chosen. To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.
To understand what is happening here, we need to first understand how the book of Acts fits into the overall flow of the Bible. The book of Acts is the second book of a two volume set. The gospel of Luke is the first volume of this two volume set, and is what is being referred to in verses 1-3. The writer of the gospel of Luke and the book of Acts was a Gentile doctor named Luke, who many scholars believe was from Antioch, which was a city that is located in the southeastern corner of what is now modern day Turkey. Luke was hired by a man named Theophilus, who was a Roman official who hired Luke to research and to provide an accurate and orderly account about the origins of Christianity.
As a doctor, Luke was a very educated and learned man and was thus well qualified for the task that he was given. And as a result of the generosity of Theophilus, Luke, under the guidance of the Holy Spirit, spent several years involved in intensive research and investigation that produced this two volume set that we now have as a part of our Bibles today. Luke traveled throughout the regions where Jesus lived and ministered, investigating and interviewing individuals who were witnesses to the events that occurred during Jesus life. Luke interviewed Mary, the mother of Jesus, along with the disciples and other close followers of Jesus.
Luke is universally recognized, by skeptics and believers alike, as being a scrupulously accurate historian. One archaeologist carefully studied Luke’s references to thirty two countries, fifty four cities, and nine islands, without finding a single error. As a matter of fact, many have credited the gospel of Luke as being one of the most beautiful and historically accurate pieces of literature ever written.
The first volume or account that Luke composed, the gospel of Luke, was dedicated to chronicling the life and claims of Jesus Christ, from His birth to His resurrection from the dead and His initial appearances to His disciples. The second volume, the book of Acts, was dedicated to chronicling the life of Jesus early followers after the resurrection of Jesus and traces the birth and the spread of Christianity and the church from Jerusalem to Rome, which was the dominant political and military power in the world during the life of Jesus and His early followers.
When we read the book of Acts, we can place many of the other New Testament letters that are recorded for us in our Bibles within the context of the events that Luke records for us in the book of Acts. For example, the book of Galatians refers to events that are recorded for us in Acts 9-15. The books of 1 and 2 Thessalonians were written during the events that occurred in Acts 16-18. And the books of 1 and 2 Corinthians and Romans were written during the events that occurred in Acts 18-20.
In Acts 1:3, Luke transitions from a review of his first account, the gospel of Luke, to begin chronicling the experiences that the disciples had with the resurrected Jesus. Luke explains that Jesus repeatedly was present, not as a ghost, or a spirit, but as one who was physically resurrected from the dead after suffering death by crucifixion. Luke explains that Jesus revealed His presence to the disciples and other early followers of Jesus by many convincing proofs.
In other words, Jesus physical presence after being raised from the dead was decisive and was convincing. In Luke’s research of talking with hundreds of people, there was no doubt in His mind that Jesus had been raised from the dead. There was no doubt because Jesus was visible to the disciples and others for a period of forty days. In various locations and at various times, Jesus was physically present speaking and reminding them of the kingdom of God. By kingdom of God, Luke is referring to God’s royal reign over the universe.
You see, God had made a promise to the Jewish people that He would send a Messiah, a rescuer, who would come to rescue and restore the Jewish nation as His chosen people. So the Jewish people were looking for the descendant of Abraham, from the line of David that would be the promised Messiah who would bring the Jewish people back to God and back to prominence in the world. And as we discovered in the presence series, God, at just the right time fulfilled His promise by sending His Son Jesus, who would provide the opportunity for all of humanity to be rescued from selfishness, sin, and rebellion and experience the relationship with God that they were created for through His life, death, and resurrection.
So for forty days, Jesus kept proclaiming, teaching, and reminding them that God’s kingdom promise had been fulfilled through Him. And after forty days of being physically present and reminding them about His message and teachings, Jesus gathers the disciples together for a conversation. A conversation that Luke records for us, beginning in Acts 1:4:
Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, "Which," He said, "you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now."
Jesus commands His disciples to wait in Jerusalem until they received what the Father had promised, the promise that Jesus had communicated to them in the last conversation that He had with them before His arrest, which is recorded for us in one of the accounts of Jesus life in the Bible called the gospel of John. In John 14, Jesus explained that while He would be leaving them shortly, that He would not leave them as orphans. Instead of abandoning the disciples, Jesus explained that God was going to give them another helper, who would teach and remind the disciples of Jesus message and teachings. And the helper that God had promised the disciples was that they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Jesus explained that while John’s followers were baptized in water as a way to identify with his message and their need of repentance, followers of Jesus would receive a different baptism, a baptism that involved the very Spirit of God dwelling within them. God was about to do something new; something extraordinary, which was that everyone who had placed their confident trust in the claims of Christ and the message of the gospel would have the Holy Spirit take up residence within them.
You see, prior to this time in history, the Holy Spirit only was given to prophets, priests, or leaders that had a special role in God’s kingdom mission. But here we see Jesus reminding His disciples that not many days from now, the Holy Spirit would be given to every one of His followers. And the fulfillment of this promise was predicted and proclaimed as being a sign that would reveal the ushering in of the Kingdom of God and His reign here on earth.
However, Jesus command would have also reminded the disciples about another aspect of the last conversation that Jesus had before He was arrested, which that He was going to leave them. So, as you might imagine, the disciples were confused. Just imagine what was running through the disciples minds at this point. I mean wouldn’t you be confused. “Is Jesus leaving, or is He staying? He said He was leaving us, then He was killed, but now He is here with us after being raised from the dead. This is not what we expected.
And in the midst of their confusion, the disciples ask Jesus a question. A question we will look at tomorrow...
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