NL 240: You Shall Be My Witnesses

image: “The Ascension” by JESUS MAFA, source/CC

image: “The Ascension” by JESUS MAFA, source/CC

Acts 1:1-14

Initial Thoughts

  • Abrupt shift from Mark to Acts. Acts is the sequel to Luke, not Mark, and right away it feels different. For one, it is set in Jerusalem.

  • Easter Season:

    • Acts 1:1-14 The Ascension

    • Acts 3:1-10 Peter and John heal a man at the Temple

    • Acts 17:1-9 Paul’s trouble in Thessalonica

      • 1 Thessalonians 1:1-10 

    • Acts 18:1-4 Paul settles in Corinth

      • 1 Corinthians 1:10-18 

    • 1 Corinthians 13:1-13 The greatest gift is love

    • 1 Corinthians 15:1-26, 51-57 Paul’s sermon on resurrection

    • Acts 2:1-4 the first Pentecost and the arrival of the Holy Spirit

      • 1 Corinthians 12:1-13 Paul explains the gifts of the Spirit

Bible Study

  • When?

    • Disciples ask, “so, now is the Kingdom going to come?”

    • Not for you to know

      • Doesn’t stop people from constantly predicting the end times

    • The Holy Spirit is coming

    • “One does not write church history if one expects the world to end tomorrow.  The writing of Acts signals that the once taut expectation for the imminent return of Christ has now been relaxed.” (Will Willimon, Interpretation: Acts, p. 19)

    • Now that the resurrection has come and gone, the question remains, “Now what?”  

  • Where?

    • “You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

      • Growing circles, emanating from Jerusalem

      • Origination of the Jerusalem Cross

    • Jesus lifted up to heaven

      • The relationship between Jesus and the disciples has changed.  An abrupt transition between post-Easter and a new era.

      • “By virtue of his elevation to this status, Jesus reigns over all creation. Creation is his. He has a role in everything. Therefore he is present throughout all creation through the Holy Spirit. Contrary to some popular assumptions, this event does not put Jesus out of play until the end of all things. He and the kingdom he inaugurated are not on an extended break.” Matthew Skinner, Working Preacher.

    • “Why are you looking to the heavens?”  

      • Jesus isn’t here any more. Go back to Jerusalem. Start there.

      • They actually follow.  They aren’t full of despair that Jesus is really gone.  They finally understand that Jesus has gone ahead of them. (Danielle Shroyer, The Hardest Question)

  • How?

    • Go back to Jerusalem, and wait.  

      • Their work is important - huge - but still their first step is to pause.

        • Not an excuse to be slow, and get caught up in church bureaucracy.

        • A reminder to soak everything in prayer.  Major decisions must be done deliberately and intentionally.  Not slowly.

    • “Presumably the Holy Spirit could have come immediately after Jesus' ascension; but God waits. Rather, God has Jesus' followers wait. I like to think that in this waiting they learn, or begin to learn, that they are to be a responsive community, a community that waits upon God to initiate. Whether they walk back to Jerusalem from the ascension with eager energy or paralyzing fear we do not know. All we know is that they have to wait.” Matthew Skinner, Working Preacher.

    • Resurrection is victory over death. Ascension is empowerment.

    • Devoted themselves to prayer as a group (including some women, and Jesus’ brothers)

Thoughts and Questions

  • How does waiting fit in our ministry?  Is the act of waiting and praying still faithful, even though we’ve been given the power of the Holy Spirit?

  • If Jesus is leading the way, are we following?  Are we still taking the good news to Jerusalem (our neighbors), Samaria (cultural outsiders), and to the ends of the earth?

  • “The challenge is not the intellectual one of knowing enough to tell about Jesus but rather the challenge is to have the authorization and empowerment which enable succeeding witnesses to be doing the work of Jesus. Until those who know the facts also experience the power, they do well first to wait in Jerusalem and to pray” (Willimon, p. 21).

  • How are victory and empowerment related? This is different than triumphalism and entitlement.  When the victory is coupled with the humility that it is God’s victory, one that we did not gain on our own, but one in which we are allowed to share, then we may be empowered to do Christ’s work.  This is different than feeling superior because of our triumph, and thus entitled to the gifts and benefits of the win.

Year 2Eric FistlerActsComment