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.
We find the sequel to the work of the Gospel writer Luke in the book of Acts. This second work continues where his Gospel left off, and even overlaps with the ascension of Jesus into the heavens. Few scholars doubt that Luke wrote the work, but some do question his accuracy. Fortunately, numerous studies done by historians and archaeologists have demonstrated beyond reasonable doubt, that Luke was a highly accurate historian, being very familiar with the subject areas of his book, whether it be customs, political titles, cites and countries, and the like.
The book of Acts is written sometime after the Gospel of Luke and ends with the Paul preaching the gospel under arrest while waiting for his first trial under Nero. Thus we are speaking of a date in the early 60s.
The recipient of this second work is also Theophilus, but probably intended for a larger audience. Some have sought to argue that the Acts is really a legal brief to defend Paul. Though it has some elements to seek to show that Christianity was not a revolutionary movement against Roman rule, nonetheless the primary focus of the book is elsewhere. Luke seeks to move the life of Jesus from suffering Savior to Lord of the church. Jesus is seen throughout the book in some form, but particularly He is working through the promised Holy Spirit.
The Acts is more than a history of the church, but is a theology of the movement of God in His people and in the world through the proclamation of the Gospel that began at Jerusalem and finally reaches the capital of the empire, Rome.
The first portion of Acts centers on Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria. This discussion introduces the apostles, Stephen the Hellenistic Jew, and Philip the evangelist. The primary figure, however, is the apostle Peter, particularly through his proclamation to the Gentile centurion Cornelius in chapter 10 and subsequent defense before the apostles and elders at Jerusalem in chapter 11.
The major human character of the Acts only emerges in chapter 8, and he is not a friend of Jesus or Christianity. Saul the Pharisee and rabbi is present at the stoning of the martyr Stephen and assented to his death. It is only in chapter 9 that this fervent Jew is brought to faith in the Messiah that he had been persecuting. From this point on, Luke’s book focuses on the ministry of the apostle to the Gentiles. Luke covers three missionary journeys and the final trip to Rome, where the Roman citizen and Christian Paul must give testimony to the risen Lord and Savior before the Romans, and ultimately before Caesar himself. We find the book ending with Paul sharing about Jesus with Roman solders without hindrance. Only in church tradition do we discover he was found innocent at this time. He later died after a second trial toward the end of Nero’s reign in A.D. 66, after he had written his last letter to Timothy, his son in the faith.
One discovers in the Acts a number of theological ideas, of which I will only mention three. Luke emphasizes the work of the Holy Spirit in the church, empowering the apostles and disciples to preach the Gospel and giving them strength in times of persecution. Secondly, the book of Acts indicates, along with the remainder of the New Testament, that salvation is through faith and not works. Last of all, Acts makes clear that the Gospel is intended for all people, Jews and Gentiles.
Acts is a unique book in the New Testament in that it bridges the gap between the life, passion and resurrection of the Messiah with the work of the apostles and the Holy Spirit in the life of the church that Jesus said he would establish. Without this book there would be considerable confusion regarding Paul, the major author of the epistles, as well as the life of the church.