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Day 322: The Ascension
Acts 1
Introduction
Jesus' marching orders for the ministers of His Church that are quoted in the Scripture passages above have come to be known as "the Great Commission." The book of Praxeis Apostolicon in Greek and Acta [Actus] Apostolorum in Latin, literally ACTS [OF] APOSTLES, is the story of some (not all) of the courageous Apostles and disciples of Jesus who accepted that holy mission and began to spread the Gospel of Jesus Christ from Jerusalem to the most remote corners of the Roman world.
Acts of Apostles is Part II of St. Luke's two volume work on the mission of the Messiah. In Part I of his Gospel, St. Luke presented Jesus' mission to establish the Kingdom of God in bringing salvation to the "lost sheep of Israel" and to humanity in general. In Part II, St. Luke presents a historical account of the Church's development from the Ascension of Christ to St. Paul's journey to Rome and his house arrest in Rome, awaiting his hearing before Caesar. St. Luke places his story in the context of world history. In his Gospel, he provided the names of the civil and religious leaders (Lk 3:1-2), just as he does in Acts, where St. Luke also identifies well known political leaders from secular sources. But most importantly, St. Luke presents the compelling story of how Jesus's Apostles and disciples carried forward the mission of the universal Kingdom under the guidance of the Holy Spirit. It is the book that comes between the Gospels and the Epistles and is the hinge upon which the New Testament turns from the Old Covenant fulfilled in Christ and the New Testament Church, which is sacramentally the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth.
The Author: According to a tradition that has never been seriously challenged, St. Luke is the author of the two volumes of the Gospel According to Luke and Acts of Apostles. The extrabiblical evidence that these two books are by the same author dates to as early as the last third of the second century. Both the Muratorian Canon (the earliest known list of writings pronounced canonical by the Church c. 155) and the early Church Father Irenaeus, Bishop of Lyons (AD 130-202), identified Luke as the author of both the Third Gospel and the Book of Acts. Irenaeus was a disciple of St. Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna (AD 60-155), who was a disciple of the Apostle, St. John Zebedee.
Chapter 1: The Preparation for the Church's Mission
Acts 1:1-5 ~ The Prologue
In the introductory prologue, St. Luke connects Acts of Apostles with his Gospel account of Jesus' life and ministry until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the "Apostles whom he had chosen (Lk 24:44-53).
Question: Who is Theophilus to whom Luke's second volume is dedicated? See Lk 1:1-4.
Answer: He is the same man to whom he dedicated his Gospel.
Theophilus, a name meaning "God-lover/ lover of God," is an unknown early Christian who may have provided the funds for the handwritten copies of this work, as he may have done for Luke's Gospel (Lk 1:3). In St. Luke's Gospel dedication, we learned that the contents of the work were meant to support the catechesis that Theophilus had received Just as those who were eyewitnesses from the beginning and ministers of the word have handed them down to us (Lk 1:2), so Theophilus may realize the certainty of the teachings you have received (Lk 1:4).
Acts 1:6-12 ~ The Ascension of Jesus
Acts 1:6-7 When they had gathered together they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?" 7 He answered them, "It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority.
The Apostles and disciples may be expecting the Messianic Kingdom to be a political fulfillment like the Davidic Kingdom and liberation from their Roman oppressors. But what the disciples are asking might also concern what He prophesied concerning the completion of His mission in the "coming of the Son of Man." His mission will not be completed until He returns in judgment. His discourse about His Second Advent and the Last Judgment is recorded in the Gospels (Mt 24:29-44; 25:31-46; Mk 13:24-37; Lk 21:25-28). Notice that Jesus does not rebuke them for their question which He has always done in the past when they are in error, and He gives them the same answer He gave in those Gospel discourses (see for example, Mt 24:3, 36, 42-44; Mk 13:32). That part of His mission is under the Father's authority. St. Paul spoke of this unknown "hour" in 1 Thessalonians 5:1-2 ~ Concerning times and seasons, brothers, you have no need for anything to be written to you. For you yourselves know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief at night.
Question: How is the description of the return of the LORD similar what the angels told the disciples in Acts 1:11 and the description of the new heaven and new earth at the end of time in Revelation 21:1-22:5?
Answer: The angels told the disciples that God the Son will return to the Mt. of Olives in His Second Advent. It is a return that is prophesied in Zechariah 14:4. In St. John's vision of the end of the Age of Man and the return of Christ, the prophecy in Zechariah chapter 14:4-9 will be fulfilled in Revelation 21:1-22:5:
| The Return of the Divine King That day his feet shall rest on the Mount of Olives, which is opposite Jerusalem to the east. Zechariah 14:4 They said, "Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven will return in the same way as you have seen him going into heaven." Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem ... Acts 1:11-12 | |
| Zechariah 14:4-9 | Revelation 21:1-22:5 |
| 14:6-7 On that day there shall no longer be cold or frost. 7 There shall be one continuous day, known to the LORD [YHWH], not day and night, for in the evening time there shall be light. | 21:22 The city [Jerusalem] had no need of sun or moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gave it light, and its lamp was the Lamb. 22:5 Night will be no more, nor will they need light from lamp or sun, for the Lord God shall give them light, and they shall reign forever and ever. |
| 14:8 On that day, living waters shall flow from Jerusalem, half to the eastern sea, and half to the western sea, and it shall be so in summer and in winter. | 22:1 Then the angel showed me the river of life-giving water, sparkling like crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the lamb down the middle of its street. |
| 14:9 The LORD [YHWH] shall become king over the whole earth; on that day the LORD [YHWH] shall be the only one, and his name the only one. | 22:3b The throne of God and the lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship him. 4 They will look upon his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. |
Acts 1:13-14 ~ Prayer within the Jerusalem Community
The Apostles and the men and women disciples, in the presence of the Virgin Mary, will remain in prayer as the first Christian community. Notice that Jesus' "brothers," meaning His kinsmen, have also taken their place within the community of believers.
The Upper Room where they were staying was probably the same Upper Room where they celebrated the Last Supper (Mk 14:15; Lk 22:12). It will become the regular meeting place for the Jerusalem church (Acts 1:13; 12:12) and was probably in the home of Jesus' disciple, Mary of Jerusalem, the kinswoman of His disciple Barnabas and the mother of John Mark, the writer of the Gospel of Mark (Acts 12:12; Col 4:10).
Acts 1:15-26 ~ Action within the Jerusalem Community: Choosing Judas' Successor
It is clear that Peter is leading the community and making the decisions. It cannot be supported that any other Apostle was Jesus' designated successor as the leader of the Church:
- Peter is named first in every list of the Apostles (Mt 10:2-4; Mk 3:16-19; Lk 6:13-14; Acts 1:13).
- He is the only Apostle given a title = Kepha, meaning "Rock," which is translated into Greek as "Petros" and into English as "Peter."
- He is given the "keys of the kingdom" and the power to "bind and loose" by Jesus (Mt 16:18-19).
- Jesus tells Peter it is his responsibility to "strengthen your brothers" (the other Apostles and disciples) after they are all tested during Jesus' Passion (Lk 22:32).
- Jesus commands Peter to feed the "lambs" and to both tend and feed the "sheep," meaning to guide and teach the community of believers and to lead and teach the other ministers of the Church (Jn 21:15-17).
- Peter is shown as the leader of the Apostles: in the selection of Judas' replacement (Acts 1:15-25); in speaking to the crowds after the miracle at Pentecost (Acts 2:14-40); in leading the witness for Christ at the Jerusalem Temple (Acts 3:1-7, 12-26); in addressing the Sanhedrin when the Apostles were arrested (Acts 4:8-12); in judging sin within the community (Acts 5:3-11); in miraculous healings like Jesus (Acts 5:15-16); in the decision to extend the Gospel to the Gentiles (Acts 10:34-48); in opening the Council of Jerusalem (15:6-12); and in many other acts including the deference by the other Apostles (see for example Jn 20:4-7).
- Peter is most frequently named Apostle: he is named by his title "Kepha/Petros" 94 times in the Gospels and 160 times total in the Gospels and Epistles. The next most frequently named Apostle is John who is named 30 times in the Gospels and Epistles.
Question: For what is Paul thankful?
Answer: For the Christian community in Rome. Paul begins by complimenting the Christians of Rome for their faith which serves as a good Christian example as the geographical center of the New Covenant Church.
The words "saving justice" and "upright" can be translated as "righteousness" or "righteous" or "justice"'it is the same word in the Greek = dikaios [dik-ah-yos] / dikaiosune [dik-ah-yos-oo'-nay] but this word is only used twice in this passage. This is a word Paul will use frequently in this letter which means "the character or act of righteousness or justification" [Strong's Concordance #1342]. The New American translation renders verse 17 as: "For in it is revealed the righteousness of God from faith to faith; as it is written, 'The one who is righteous by faith will live.'" The Catholic dictionary defines "justice" as a virtue as "..the constant and permanent determination to give everyone his or her rightful due" ; and defines "the theology of justification of the believer" as, "The process of a sinner becoming justified or made right with God."
This passage is Paul's announcement of the theme of his letter: the saving power of the gospel of Jesus Christ. He makes 4 affirmations in his announced theme:
- God's gift of salvation is a universal gift offered for all who are willing to accept it.
- That all men and women have equality in God's plan of salvation [although the Jews first because of God's previous covenant obligations to them].
- This universal gift of salvation is powered by the gospel revealed in the redeeming work of Jesus Christ'a power unleashed by God through His righteousness and promised by Him throughout human history
- Mankind shares in this gift of salvation empowered by the gospel through righteous faith.
Paul's declaration that he is not "ashamed of the gospel" can be understood in light of what he wrote in 1 Corinthians 1:18, 20b-21: "The message of the cross is folly for those who are on the way to ruin, but for those of us who are on the road to salvation it is the power of God. [...] Do you not see how God has shown up human wisdom as folly: Since in the wisdom of God the world was unable to recognize God through wisdom, it was God's own pleasure to save believers through the folly of the gospel." The gospel is a paradox and a contradiction to the society of the pagan and modern world'that God would use an instrument of torture and execution to bring about the salvation of the world.
"it is God's power for the salvation of everyone who has faith.." The gospel isn't just a message from God it is a supernatural power that has been unleashed to bring mankind, through faith, to salvation. We have already defined "faith" as a supernatural virtue empowered by the Holy Spirit that is man's response to God as all truth and goodness [CCC # 153] and, as Paul adds here, the first step on the path of salvation. In all Paul's letters he uses the word faith, in Greek pistis [pis'-tis], as a synecdoche [si-nek'-do-ki], a single word that sums up a process. Faith is not only intellectual ascent'it is also trust and obedience to the life-giving truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is faith that unites a person to Christ through the work of God the Holy Spirit. Salvation is in fact the reliance on the truth of God's promises and on God's faithfulness to keep those promises and to put them into effect through the gospel of Jesus Christ, "Let us keep firm in the hope we profess, because the one who made the promise is trustworthy Hebrews 10:23.
Romans 1:17 continued: "based on faith and addressed to faith" The Greek translation is "through faith (and) for faith". Bible scholars tell us that this kind of phrase in sacred Scripture seems to indicate an on-going condition or growth in something that is living and active. Paul is writing about the growing progression of the perfection of the gospel of salvation in the life of the believer. This "saving justice" or "righteousness/ justification" which is revealed through the gospel of Jesus Christ and which as a gift of grace is made manifest, is nourished and continues to grow through the faith of the believer until at the end of the journey of faith when the believer who has persevered in faith and is victorious attains the ultimate goal'the gift of eternal salvation [see Revelation 2:7; 11; 17; 26; 3:5; 12; 21]. Paul's point in this passage is that the entire process of salvation is founded on and maintained in faith. Faith is the first step on the journey to eternal life.
"As it says in Scripture: Anyone who is upright through faith will live." Paul is quoting the Prophet Habakkuk in Habakkuk 2:4, "You see, anyone whose heart is not upright will succumb, but the upright will live through faithfulness." This is a key passage in the book of the Prophet Habakkuk that sums up the importance of the faith of God's Covenant people Israel in observing the Law of Moses. The prophet is making the point that it isn't just the observance of the Law that promises salvation but their faith and trust in God expressed in their obedience. Paul wrote in Galatians 3:8 that "Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles through faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying, 'In you shall all the nations be blessed.'" In quoting the passage from Habakkuk Paul is making the link to what he wrote in 1:1-2 that God promised the gospel long ago through his prophets and it is the same message of salvation through faith in God's righteous promises. The Jewish Christians would have appreciated and understood this connection to the teaching in Habakkuk Gentile converts may not have been as educated in the Old Covenant Scriptures to make the connection.
For St. Paul the reverse of the positive revelation of God's love is the righteous wrath or judgment of God visited on those who persist in rebellious unbelief. To us it seem a bit shocking that Paul should move so quickly from a discussion of God's righteousness to God's wrath, but this perspective is perfectly in keeping with the Jewish sense of the whole world in the Last Age of man moving toward a final and imminent judgment where God's wrath will pour forth in all its divine retribution against all human wickedness. His Jewish audience would have been nodding their heads in agreement. The books of the Old Testament Prophets reveal the cycle of failed fellowship with God resulting in judgment and retribution followed by the promise of restoration [see "How to Study the Books of the Old Testament Prophets" in the Bible Study section or the Chart section see "The Symbolic Images of the Old Testament Prophets" ]. The two revelations of righteousness and retribution are related in that it is precisely God's righteousness and justice that does not excuse sin. God has promised us eternal blessings and eternal punishment in the New Covenant the righteous will find everlasting life while the wicked go to everlasting destruction.
Question: How is God's "wrath" or "retribution" defined by Paul?
Answer: Retribution is defined by Paul as divine judgment and separation from God.
Question: How has God made "perfectly plain" (verse 19) to mankind His existence?
Answer: Through the miracle of creation and the wonders of the natural world.
Question: How did man abuse and reject the truth of this revelation? Give examples?
Answer: Man preferred to worship the creation instead of the Creator by setting up as gods animals [Egyptian gods], or human beings [Greeks, i.e. deifying humans like Hercules], or natural wonders [worship of the sun or moon, meteorites, etc.].
Has it every occurred to you that the more the times and people change the more they remain the same? The 1st century Christians of Rome were living in a city that had perfected every debauchery. It was a city, which in the time of the Emperor Nero, had a population of approximately one million people. The Roman senator Seneca wrote of Rome at this time that "...every sort of person flocks to the city which offers, at a high price, virtues and vices."[Consolatio ad Helviam, 6, 2-4]. The Christians of the Empire's capital had to be vigilant against the corroding effect of being exposed to such sins as those listed by Paul.
Question: In this litany of human rebellion against God in favor of sin in the first century AD that Paul listed do you recognize any signs of the same sin and degradation in 21st century society today? Give some examples. When do we contribute to the growth and influence of sin by "applauding the sins of others"?
Comparison between Romans chapter 1 and the Book of Wisdom concerning the rejection of God's truth which results in sin and judgment
Romans 1:20-21: Knowledge of God revealed to man through the wonders of creation. | Wisdom 13:1-5: Knowledge of God revealed to man through wonders of creation. |
Romans 1:21d: Man obstinately refuses to recognize the truth of God | Wisdom 13:6-9: Man obstinately refuses to recognize the truth of God |
Romans 1:24-31: Man's refusal to recognize the truth of God leads to idolatry and immoral behavior | Wisdom 14:12-14: Man's refusal to recognize the truth of God leads to idolatry and immoral behavior |
Romans 1:26-27: Unnatural sexual prevision is a result of immorality | Wisdom 14:26: Unnatural sexual prevision is a result of immorality |
Romans 1:29-30 Rebellion leads to a whole list of vices | Wisdom 14:23-27: Rebellion leads to a whole list of vices |
Romans 1:18; 32: The result is sinners deserve judgment and the wrath of God | Wisdom 14:30: The result is sinners deserve judgment and the wrath of God |
Romans 1:32: Condemnation of complacency toward sin | Wisdom 14:22: Condemnation of complacency toward sin |
Romans 1:21: Sin results in the "darkening" of the human mind | Wisdom 11:15: Sin results in the "darkening" of the human mind |
Michal Hunt, Copyright © 2006 Agape Bible Study. Permissions All Rights Reserved.
In his argument Paul is certainly presenting a traditional Jewish teaching that the Jewish members of the community would have recognized and appreciated and a teaching from which the Gentile Christians would have benefited.
The Basic Biblical Principles Regarding Sexual Orientation, Adultery, and Fornication:
Paul's teaching in Romans 1:21-32 reflects God's teaching in the Old and New Testaments that homosexual relations were contrary to God's plan for humanity, as were the sins of fornication (unmarried persons living together) and adultery, all of which the Bible classifies as mortal sins (CCC 1033, 1035, 1854-55, 1858-59, 1861). Pagan societies embraced or accepted homosexual/sodomite practices and fornication. Some pagan religions, like the Canaanites, even had male and female prostitution in their temples. Contrary to the practices of secular societies, in the Holiness Code of Leviticus, God pronounced homosexuality/sodomy, adultery, and fornication abominations, and any person who did not repent those sins was not worthy of salvation (i.e., Ex 20:14; Lev 18:22; 20:10, 13; Dt 5:18; Wis 14:26; Sir 23:23; Mt 5:27-28; 1 Cor 6:9, 18; Eph 5:5; 1 Tim 1:10; Heb 13:4). God's standards of right or wrong behavior are never altered according to what is regarded as acceptable according to the practices of secular society.
God blesses heterosexual intimacy within the bonds of the marital union, which He created to bring forth and nurture new generations in the human family (Gen 2:18-24; Mt 19:3-9; Eph 5:31; 1 Tim 3:12; CCC 1603-05). Through His Holy Spirit inspired writers, God condemned homosexual unions that reflect disordered passions and disordered expressions of love (i.e., Gen 19:4-5, 12-13; Lev 18:22; 20:13; Gal 5:19-21; 1 Cor 6:9; 1 Tim 1:9-10; Jude 7; Rev 22:15). It was a pronouncement that continued in the early Church (see Didache 2:2; Justin Martyr 27; Clement Exhortation to the Greeks 2), in other Church letters and documents, and continues today in the Universal Catechism: CCC 391-95, 1033-39, 2357-59.
God reveals His character through the intimate marital relationship in heterosexual unions: in man, He reveals Himself to woman, and in woman, He reveals Himself to man. In homosexual relationships, there is a distorted understanding of God the Divine Bridegroom and His Bride, the covenant people of His Church (Mt 9:15; Rev 19:6-9; CCC 772, 757, 1601-02, 1612).
The same God who labeled homosexual activity a violation of His plan for humanity also labeled pride, envy, lust, and greed equally repulsive. It is not an issue of "legalism versus love," as some term it. We all struggle with different inclinations toward sin with which we have become comfortable. However, this does not mean because we are inclined toward unforgiveness, bitterness, hatred, adultery, the sexual abuse of children, or deception in a seemingly uncontrollable urge to lie that we change our Scriptural interpretations to comfort ourselves in our sinful deceptions. The Holy Spirit inspired the Biblical writers to record God's laws and prohibitions to govern our lives so that we might live in the image and likeness of God (Gen 1:27-28; 2:24; Mt 19:4-6), not that we would make Him into our own fallen image.
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