1The first book I wrote, Theophilus, concerned all that Jesus began both to do and to teach, 2until the day in which he was received up, after he had given commandment through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3To these he also showed himself alive after he suffered, by many proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about God’s Kingdom. 4Being assembled together with them, he commanded them, “Don’t depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, which you heard from me. 5For John indeed baptized in water, but you will be baptized in the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
6Therefore, when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you now restoring the kingdom to Israel?”
7He said to them, “It isn’t for you to know times or seasons which the Father has set within his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. You will be witnesses to me in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth.”
9When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. 10While they were looking steadfastly into the sky as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white clothing, 11who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky, will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.”
12Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. 13When they had come in, they went up into the upper room where they were staying, that is Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. 14All these with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer and supplication, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
15In these days, Peter stood up in the middle of the disciples (and the number of names was about one hundred twenty), and said, 16“Brothers, it was necessary that this Scripture should be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who was guide to those who took Jesus. 17For he was counted with us, and received his portion in this ministry. 18Now this man obtained a field with the reward for his wickedness; and falling headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines gushed out. 19It became known to everyone who lived in Jerusalem that in their language that field was called ‘Akeldama,’ that is, ‘The field of blood.’ 20For it is written in the book of Psalms,
‘Let his habitation be made desolate.
Let no one dwell in it;’
and,
‘Let another take his office.’
21“Of the men therefore who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22beginning from the baptism of John to the day that he was received up from us, of these one must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”
23They put forward two: Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. 24They prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two you have chosen 25to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas fell away, that he might go to his own place.” 26They drew lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias; and he was counted with the eleven apostles.
After the Resurrection (Acts 1:1-26)
He was taken up (1:9)
After the resurrection of Jesus, the disciples were staying in Jerusalem, being taught by Jesus. The Lord told them to wait in the city for the Holy Spirit. Luke records, “Now when He had spoken these things, as they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” (Acts 1:9)
Although scholars do not know the exact spot of Jesus’ ascension, Luke’s Gospel records that Jesus led the disciples “out as far as Bethany” (Lk 24:50) where he ascended. Knowing Bethany is about 1.5 miles east of Jerusalem on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, the ascension must have taken place somewhere on the Mount of Olives. A relatively early tradition placed the spot at the summit. The pilgrim Aetheria (Egeria) speaks of a tradition on Palm Sunday where Christians would travel to the “Inbomon” (the Latinized form of the Greek ἐνβωμῷ, meaning “on the height”) while singing hymns. In a letter written by Jerome, dated to A. D. 404, he refers to the “glistening cross of Mount Olivet from which the Saviour made His ascension to the Father.”[1]The Inbomon church has thus been at this site since at least the late fourth century.[2] Ancient sources in fact say a woman named Pomnia (Poemenia) sponsored the building of a church at the spot of Jesus’ ascension in A.D. 378, referred to as the Church of the Holy Ascension.[3] Excavations by L.H. Vincent in 1913 and Virgilio Corbo in 1959 have confirmed the site of this church. The original plan was an octagonal building with a circular inner colonnade featuring sixteen columns holding up a dome - a common design for "memorial" churches throughout the Levant.[4] Corbo found that the original Inbomon/Church of the Holy Ascension was apparently destroyed by the Persians when they invaded Jerusalem in 614, rebuilt soon after, rebuilt again by the Crusaders, and transformed into a mosque by Salah al-Din (Saladin) in 1187, which still stands today.[5]
Gonzalo Baez-Camargo, Archaeological Commentary on the Bible, (New York: Doubleday & Co., 1984) 236.
Jack Finegan, The Archaeology of the New Testament: The Life of Jesus and the Beginning of the Early Church, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992) 165-167.
[1]Jerome, Letter to Eustochium, 12(NPNF, 2.6:200).
[2]Jack Finegan, The Archaeology of the New Testament: The Life of Jesus and the Beginning of the Early Church, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992) 167.
[3] Peter the Iberian, trans. Richard Raabe, Petrus der Iberer (Leipzig: J.C. Hinrichs’sche Buchhandlung, 1895), 35.
[4] Yoram Tsafrir, "Ancient Churches in the Holy Land." Biblical Archaeology Review, Vol 19, No. 5 (Sept/Oct 1993): 26-39. Online: http://members.bib-arch.org/publication.asp?PubID=BSBA&Volume=19&Issue=5&ArticleID=8 (accessed April 16, 2012)
[5]Jack Finegan, The Archaeology of the New Testament: The Life of Jesus and the Beginning of the Early Church, (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1992) 170. Finegan says Muslims continue to memorialize the ascension of Jesus here because the Qur’an says God “raised him up unto himself (Surah 4:158).