Thursday 13 May 2010

Background

The Acts of the Apostles is a sequel to Luke's Gospel and bothbooks are dedicated to Theophilus (Luke1:3; Acts 1:1), which is a Greek name meaning 'loverof God'. It is not known whether Luke was addressing his work toone specific historical person or simply using this name to embracein both a personal and generic way all those who love God.

Luke begins his second volume at the point where his first volumehad ended - the ascension of Jesus (Luke24:50-53). After his resurrection, Jesus remained on the earthfor a further 40 days before ascending into heaven. The ascensionis a transition point - marking the end of Jesus' earthly ministryand the beginning of the acts of the Apostles.

In this passage we see that before finally departing from hisdisciples Jesus reminds them about the promise of the Holy Spiritwhich will come upon them "not many days from now". In fact, thedisciples have to wait 10 more days until they are filled with theHoly Spirit at Pentecost (Acts2:1-4).

Unlike the resurrection - when there are no recorded witnesses tothe actual moment when Jesus rose from the dead - Jesus ascendedinto heaven "as they were watching". Even after the cloud hashidden him from their sight, the disciples are still staring intothe sky and two men in white robes ask them why they are doingthis. This echoes the two men in dazzling clothes who ask the womenat the tomb on Easter morning, "Why do you look for the livingamong the dead?" (Luke 24:5). In both cases, these stunned friendsof Jesus are brought back down to earth with a bump and findthemselves facing the reality of the present in the light of a newvision of the future.

To Ponder

How do you think the disciples felt as theywatched Jesus depart from their sight? What experience do you haveof saying goodbye to someone you love?

To what extent are you and/or your church tooheavenly minded to be of any earthly use?

When have you been brought back down to earthwith a bump?