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Acts is the “sequel” to the Gospel of Luke, and the rst lines o er a short summary of Luke and a reminder of where that Gospel ended: with the disciples of Jesus in Jerusalem, awaiting the gift of the Holy Spirit. When the canon of the Scriptures was assembled, the Gospel of John was placed between the two parts of Luke-Acts, so as not to separate John from the other Gospels.
1:11 After Jesus’ resurrection, angels appeared to the women at the tomb, asking them a question: “Why do you seek the living one among the dead?” (Luke 24:5). Now, after Jesus’ ascension, angels appear and ask another question: “Why are you standing there looking at the sky?” They send the disciples of Jesus from the mountain back to Jerusalem. Have you had a “mountaintop” moment, a moment you wanted to last forever? What brought you back to earth?
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THE ACTS OF THE APOSTLES 
I. THE PREPARATION FOR THE CHRISTIAN MISSION
1The Promise of the Spirit.
1In the rst book,a Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and
taught until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.b 3He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had su ered, appearing to them during forty days* and speaking about the kingdom of God.c 4While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father* about which you have heard me speak;d 5for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit.”e
The Ascension of Jesus. 6When they had gathered together they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going* to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7* He answered them,f “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. 8* But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you,g and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.h 10While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.i 11They 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.”j 12k Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away.
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* [1:1–26] This introductory material (Acts 1:1–2) connects Acts with the Gospel of Luke, shows that the apostles were instructed by the risen Jesus (Acts 1:3–5), points out that the parousia or second coming in glory of Jesus will occur as certainly as his ascension occurred (Acts 1:6–11), and lists the members of the Twelve, stressing their role as a body of divinely mandated witnesses to his life, teaching, and resurrection (Acts 1:12–26).
*[1:3] Appearing to them during forty days: Luke considered especially sacred the interval in which the appearances and instructions of the risen Jesus occurred and expressed it therefore in terms of the sacred number forty (cf. Dt 8:2). In his gospel, however, Luke connects the ascension of Jesus with the resurrection by describing the ascension on Easter Sunday evening (Lk 24:50–53). What should probably be understood as one event (resurrection, glori cation, ascension, sending of the Spirit—the paschal mystery) has been historicized by Luke when he writes of a visible ascension of Jesus after forty days and the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost. For Luke, the ascension marks the end of the appearances of Jesus except for the extraordinary appearance to Paul. With regard to Luke’s understanding of salvation history, the ascension also marks the end of the time of Jesus (Lk 24:50–53) and signals the beginning of the time of the church.
* [1:4] The promise of the Father: the holy Spirit, as is clear from the next verse. This gift of the Spirit was rst promised in Jesus’ nal instructions to his chosen witnesses in Luke’s gospel (Lk 24:49) and formed part of the continuing instructions of the risen Jesus on the kingdom of God, of which Luke speaks in Acts 1:3.
* [1:6] The question of the disciples implies that in believing Jesus to be the Christ (see note on Lk 2:11) they had expected him to be a political leader who would restore self-rule to Israel during his historical ministry. When this had not taken place, they ask if it is to take place at this time, the period of the church.
* [1:7] This verse echoes the tradition that the precise time of the parousia is not revealed to human beings; cf. Mk 13:32; 1 Thes 5:1–3.
* [1:8] Just as Jerusalem was the city of destiny in the Gospel of Luke (the place where salvation was accomplished), so here at the beginning of Acts, Jerusalem occupies a central position. It is the starting point for the mission of the Christian disciples to “the ends of the earth,” the place where the apostles were situated and the doctrinal focal point in the early days of the community (Acts 15:2, 6). The ends of the earth: for Luke, this means Rome.
a. [1:1] Lk 1:1–4.
b. [1:2] Mt 28:19–20; Lk 24:44–49; Jn 20:22; 1 Tm 3:16.
c. [1:3] 10:41; 13:31.
d. [1:4] Jn 14:16, 17, 26.
e. [1:5] 11:16; Mt 3:11; Mk 1:8; Lk 3:16; Jn 1:26;
Eph 1:13.
f. [1:7] Mt 24:36; 1 Thes 5:1–2.
g. [1:8] 2:1–13; 10:39; Is 43:10; Mt 28:19; Lk 24:47–48. h. [1:9] 2 Kgs 2:11; Mk 16:19; Lk 24:51.
i. [1:10] Jn 20:17.
j. [1:11] Lk 24:51; Eph 4:8–10; 1 Pt 3:22; Rev 1:7.
k. [1:12–14] Lk 6:14–16.