Memorize: Heavenly ascension of Christ
Key Verses: 1-3, 4-5, 8, 11,
Acts begins by saying it is a second volume of a two volume work, the first being the Gospel of Luke. We don’t know anything about this man Theophilus except that his name means “lover of God.” Theophilus is thought to be a wealthy believer who might have paid Luke to do the research, at least that is how we would say it today. He probably supported Luke as he searched out the facts and recorded them.
Notice that Luke says these are the things Jesus BEGAN to do and teach. That is because Jesus was still doing these types of things even after the events recorded in the book. In fact He is still doing them today! Luke ties the end of the Gospel of Luke in to the beginning of Acts with these beginning summary verses.
“Don’t leave Jerusalem because I am sending the promised Holy Spirit. He will give you the power to accomplish everything that needs to be accomplished.” Then Jesus rises bodily up into the sky and disappears. The disciples watch Him go and the angels relay the promise of Jesus Second Coming. His return will be bodily and visibly. Just like the disciples, people will see His return. Not everyone on earth saw Jesus ascend into Heaven. Perhaps, not everyone will see Him return. But there are other things that happen when He returns that will be discovered later in the year.
Following Jesus ascension the believers gather, about 120 of them. Peter proposes that a replacement for Judas be chosen. I happen to think this is the first mistake of the early church. The quoted Psalm does not say “they will elect another to take his place of leadership.” The qualification for this replacement was their first-hand knowledge of Jesus’ ministry from beginning to end. So they choose Matthias. We hear nothing else about Matthias in history. We must be careful in quoting Scripture and in presuming to know the will of God. Could Paul have been Judas’ replacement?
The Arnold Journey 