00:00:00 – 00:03:06
Clint Loveall
Hey, thanks for joining us as we continue through the Book of Acts early on. We're just now kind of getting into Chapter 1. We are at verse 6. Just a quick recap. Yesterday, Luke dedicated this book to Theophilus, which means the lover of God. And he said that it was his intention to tell the rest of the story as he had recorded in his previous book, which is the Gospel of Luke, the story of Jesus' life. He now moves to what happened after Jesus' resurrection. And today we get a condensed version of the story. It's interesting, for the time that Jesus is with the disciples between his resurrection and his ascension, we don't get a great deal of information. There don't seem to be a lot of stories that were held on to by the early church as they shift to what those disciples do, where they go and how the church begins to organize. So today is a little bit of a bridge story. I'll read it quickly just about five or six verses here. We'll come back and we'll talk it through. Verse six. So when they had come together, they asked him, Lord, is this the time you will restore the kingdom to Israel? He said it's not for you to know the times or periods that the father has set by his own authority, but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you. and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem in all Judea and Samaria and to the ends of the earth when he had said this as they were watching he was lifted up and a cloud took him out of their sight while he was going and they were gazing up toward heaven suddenly two men in white robes stood by them they said men of galilee why do you stand looking toward the heaven this jesus who has been taken from you up into heaven will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven. So this is a passage typically called the ascension, the rising of Jesus, and it as a very dramatic, there's some artwork and some portrayals of this. And I think it's one of those passages, Michael, that's pretty visual. You can imagine these men standing there and all the sudden Jesus begins to rise. There's a cloud involved. It's kind of Old Testament-ish. There's there's kind of mysticism. There's supernatural stuff at work here. The Bible doesn't do a ton of humor as we probably recognize it. But I've always wondered if there's a little bit of a tongue and cheek here at the end when the two guys show up and say, why are you looking up after they've just described this thing that there's no way you could not watch? I mean, it's it'd be like going to a space launch and saying, why you staring at the rock? I just, I don't know. It seems funny to me, and I don't know if the Bible intends it to be funny or not, but this is a pretty dramatic picture.

00:03:06 – 00:04:16
Michael Gewecke
I think that's pretty well grounded. I do think that is intended to be a thing that stands outside the normal. There's a disjunction between what you would expect and not. This next thing I'm going to offer, maybe even has less of. that, but I do think there's something in it. I want to just point out this question that the disciples are going to ask it, verse 6. Lord, is this the time when you're going to restore the kingdom to Israel? And that's not quite the same, Clint, as, you know, Jesus floating into the air. But I just want to be clear, Luke records this, the other gospel writers record this. This is really the question the disciples are asking Jesus his entire life. They are expecting that the Messiah is going to complete the promise. And the promises they understand it really consistently throughout all the Gospels is that Jesus is going to bring about the end of the Roman Empire. And we miss this, I think maybe because we don't live under the subjection of the Roman Empire a couple thousand years later. But that was the dominant reality, the dominant conversation.

00:04:18 – 00:06:02
Michael Gewecke
Everyone wanted out of the control of this outside body that was bringing its own gods, its own power, its own military, its own taxes. It was a significant force over the life of the Israelites in the first century. And so the disciples naturally read the Messiah's role, the promise that comes through the prophets, that God's going to remove this oppressor and going to return the people of Israel to their place. of prestige and power, Circa, David, Solomon, you know, the kingdom as it was doing well. Well, so here we have this question. Is this the time when you're going to restore the kingdom of Israel? I think there's some humor in this a little bit, Clint, because ultimately, Jesus has been with these disciples. Luke just told us it was 40 days in our reading from the last study. Jesus has been with them for some time, and they still don't get what the restoration means. It's still not dawned on them. The revelation of who Christ is and what he said is going to happen has still not landed. And so now, as these men hear these last words Jesus is going to give, we'll go over in a couple minutes here. I just think it's fasting. The ending to their question is Jesus being taken from them. It starts with this kind of, guys, I've tried to tell you this a thousand different ways you don't get it. It ends with Jesus rising up, these men in white standing beside them. them at this very much Old Testament, as you said, very metaphysical kind of telling of the story. And I think in many ways that's a fitting bookend because the question misses again and the answer completely subverts their expectation and it opens up the rest of what acts is going to be.

00:06:02 – 00:08:32
Clint Loveall
Yeah, let me kind of back into this. I don't think Luke could know that he's doing this, but it's interesting. If you read their question at its base level, what they're asking is, is this the end of things? Are you going to restore things? Are things going to be remade? Is everything going to be set right now? That's in the context of their national promise of being Israelites. But the meta question they're asking is, is it the time that everything's going to change? And what's fascinating is that the church has lived with that. question now its entire existence. Every generation, there are Christians wondering that. Is this the time? Is this the end? When World War I happens, when World War II happens, when there's a red moon, when there's anything significant that happens in the world evokes this question again in Christians. And again, I don't think Luke, I'm not sure Luke could anticipate that, but there's a fascinating tension here with them saying, Jesus, is it time? And Jesus saying, go do, you've got work to do, go do it. There's this fascinating interplay here between us wanting to finalize something, to get to the finish line. And Jesus saying, go do the work. And I think to some extent that's going to unfold throughout the book of Acts. No, it's not that time yet. In fact, that time is not even yours to worry about. That's God's thing. Here's your thing. Go be my witnesses. And if you know anything about old maps, Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, it's an expanding reference here that Jesus is giving. not only geographically, but culturally, because Jerusalem and Judea are Jewish references. Samaria is something else, and maybe we get Luke's first hint here in the book that this thing that Jesus has done and this thing that the disciples will do might be even larger than we suspect having just asked a question about, is Israel going to be restored?

00:08:34 – 00:08:41
Clint Loveall
mentions Samaria. It's a very telling little clue of where this book is going to go, I think.

00:08:41 – 00:10:15
Michael Gewecke
Yeah, and Clint, I really think that we need to give sort of some time to that the book that follows is very much going to follow the thesis that's been named here right at the start. In other words, we can actually watch as this moves in the book and we can actually see these places appear as we make our way out. What's interesting is, and scholars will point out, is that ultimately, there is some question about what the ends of the earth references in the book, because at the end, Paul's going to arrive at Rome, which certainly the end of the earth in a sense there. But some scholars point out that the ends of the earth may actually have some references outside even the scope of acts. It could be pointing beyond the book itself. that would actually in many ways make sense because of the way that this book is laid out, makes it clear that the movement is the thing that God is doing by the power of the spirit, not necessarily the exact path that it takes. So I think we really can't overemphasize how small of a detail this might be. It might seem like a geographic kind of statement that you would read past. But actually, I think this is deeply theological in saying that from the epicenter of where the faith started all the way out to the farthest reaches of the known world, this is the kind of impulse that's going to happen. Jesus is going to rise up, but the disciples are going to be sent out, and that movement is built into this text.

00:10:15 – 00:12:32
Clint Loveall
And that they are, to some extent, their work as witness is going to transcend boundaries and barriers. You know, Jerusalem, Judea, again, the very surprising words, Samaria, and then to the ends of the earth, outside of the Jewish kingdom, outside of Israel, outside of their recognized bounds, and to people that they don't consider their own. And this is very, very subtle at this point, but when we know where the rest of the book is going, it seems intentional. And I think we get here our first clue that the gospel is going to do lots of things. It's going to be multi-regional. It's going to be multi-ethnic. It's going to break down some barriers. That seems very true to where Luke takes a story. There's one other word that I wanted to just mention, Michael, and it's this word up in the preceding verse, you will receive power. Power is a dangerous word because I think that we can assume we know what it means. And in the context, here, I think it would be very hard. In fact, I think it would be impossible to argue that Jesus here has in mind worldly power, political power, military power. This is explicitly linked to the Holy Spirit. You will receive power when Holy Spirit comes upon you. So the power here, we should not misread that as a reference to Christians gaining some measure of control or authority or ruling status. This is exclusively a kind of spirit power, spirituality, a strength, an endurance, a perseverance. This word could be unpacked in lots of ways, but I don't think it could be unpacked in most of the ways that we typically read it. So I think

00:12:32 – 00:14:38
Michael Gewecke
scholars have a way of connecting this word power to the thing that comes after it. What is the power for? It is to be my witnesses. And ultimately, I think you're going to see that bore out in the story as it's actually told. In other words, how is it that the Apostle Paul is capable of being stoned, imprisoned, shipwrecked, bit by snakes, hungry. I mean, you're going to just see this massive set of stories and not just Paul of Christians who are doing things way above what they should be able to do. If you're listening, I put that in their quote, should be able to do. Why? Because they have a power that's not their own. It's a power driven by the Spirit of Jesus Christ. And Clint, I do want to pause here because the church has sometimes, I think, done an injustice to this idea of the power of the Holy Spirit. Certainly in the 20th century, you might know someone or be connected to the Pentecostal movement, this idea of the restoration of sort of the spiritual gifts. We're not here to talk about that. The reason I bring it up, though, is to say, Clint, that the scripture, I think takes the power of the Holy Spirit. in a really real and serious way. In other words, I think that when Luke writes here that the disciples are going to do this work because of the power that's given to them, I don't think that's metaphor. In Luke's mind, I don't think that's like a, you know, they're going to be encouraged because God has promised them this thing. There's a third thing that if it didn't exist, if Jesus didn't give the power of his spirit. I don't think Luke would believe that the church could be what it is. In other words, Luke, I think, builds this entire story upon this deeply held belief. It's more than just a premise. It's the belief that God is still at work in the world. And so the people of God's work and their faith and their proclamation and their witness, it's not just their own work.

00:14:43 – 00:15:13
Michael Gewecke
It's to use the gifts and skills they have, is actually in some way enabled and supported and driven and guided by God himself. And that isn't, to your point, that's not permissiveness to do whatever we want. I would argue it's even more so a call to discernment, a word we're going to find throughout this book of where is God leading his people to go? When they follow in that way rightly, God's power is going to enable them to do the work God intends in that place.

00:15:13 – 00:16:04
Clint Loveall
I think it also shows us that fundamentally, at core, Luke understands the task of the church to be witnessed. Now, that's going to happen in lots of ways, preaching, teaching, miracles, compassion, caring for people. There are myriad ways in which that's going to play itself out. But at its heart, the task of the church has to do with this idea of witnessing, telling the truth, saying what we've seen, share. hearing an experience of Christ. And it's funny, Michael, if you condense this text and you just try to hit the high points, you have followers of Jesus asking, is it the time? Jesus saying, go be my witnesses.

00:16:07 – 00:17:26
Clint Loveall
Jesus being lifted up so that he's no longer in their sight, but is there by the spirit guiding them. And while they stare into the heavens, two angels saying, why are you looking up? There's stuff to do down here. It's a, I think just hitting those bullet points is a fascinating snapshot of not only the beginning of the church, but the ongoing story of the church and the ongoing struggle of the church. We at times are too busy wondering if it's the end of the world or staring into the clouds, even for good reason. And Jesus says, look, the witnessing, I'm bringing you my spirit so you can witness here. Don't look up. Looking up is taken care of. The end of time is taken care of. The fulfillment of things is taken care of. You have work to do where you are and all the other places that I could send you. And it's a really strong opening here, I think, for a man who is painting a picture of what the church is called to be and how we'll try to do that, I think this is a really strong start.

00:17:26 – 00:18:51
Michael Gewecke
The only thing I want to point out as we come to conclusion is, friends, we're only 11 verses in. 11 verses from the 40 days of Jesus being with his disciples to now Jesus ascending, that should sort of grab us and shake us a little bit. Because there are countless Christians who would love to have just this story as a gospel. Just these 11 verses to all be written out what Jesus said, what he did, you know, leading up to this climactic ascension, that this is a moment that actually figures very prominently in the creeds of what we believe, we would love to know more about this than we do. Luke doesn't think that it's time to slow down on that. Luke doesn't spill more ink than he's already said. This is what Luke thinks we need to know. Everything else is, and this is to your point, Clint, so what are you going to do your job? Now it's time for you to get out on the road and to stop looking in the sky looking. And I think that is very much a very practical, if not challenging way for Christians to be reminded again to not get fixated on the stuff that we don't know, but to rather turn our attention to the stuff that we do know. And that is that there's a task which is to be witnessing. And so that's where we'll turn our attention for the remainder of the book, 11 verses in, we've got the setup done. Now it's time to see what's going to follow.

00:18:51 – 00:19:14
Clint Loveall
Just the last piece of that, Michael, is there's even some irony in the book itself because in yesterday's text, we saw Jesus tell them not to leave Jerusalem. So here they're being given a foretaste or a little bit of a picture of what they're not called to do yet. They're still in the waiting part of their ministry, but this informs,

00:19:16 – 00:19:19
Clint Loveall
begins to inform where they're going to go and what they're going to do with that.

00:19:20 – 00:19:29
Michael Gewecke
Thank you so much for being. with us here today, friends. We will be back live and our next study will come out next Thursday, not tomorrow, but the next. And we look forward to seeing you all then.