Acts 1:1-11 - Context Questions
Earlier in the week we looked at the text questions for Acts 1:1-11. Now let’s look at the broader context.
5. Where are we?
The only location named in these particular verses where they might be is Jerusalem as they are told not to leave Jerusalem. But, if we ask the next two questions we see rather quickly that they are on the Mount of Olives (Acts 1:12). In the prequel to Acts, the Gospel of Luke, we read that Jesus leads them “as far as Bethany” before the Ascension. Bethany is a village on the eastern side of the Mount of Olives, so these locations are one and the same. Bethany and the Mount of Olives are on the eastern side of Jerusalem, a mile or two from the city center of Jerusalem.
A lot of things have happened in Bethany and the Mount of Olives before we get here. The Mount of Olives is where Gethsemane is, where Jesus is arrested. This is where the Palm Sunday procession starts from. Bethany is the village of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha where Lazarus was raised from the dead, where Mary anointed Jesus’ feet.
6. How did we get here?
Luke walks us through that in the first three verses of this reading. The Gospel of Luke is what “Jesus began to do and teach.” This means that the book of Acts is not the Acts of the Apostles so much as the Acts of Jesus continued through His followers as they are empowered by the Holy Spirit. We got to this moment of Jesus’ ascension through His suffering, death, resurrection, and now 40 days’ worth of appearances and teaching that Jesus offers up to His followers, opening their minds to understand the Scriptures.
This is important to remember because one of the verses I often hear taken out of context is verse 6, where the disciples ask, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” I have heard several people accuse the disciples of not getting it still, of being stupid and/or looking for earthly power with this question. But Jesus has opened their minds to understand the Scriptures. They’re not asking a bad question. Jesus simply tells them that such restoration remains hidden from them and not for them to worry about.
7. What happens next?
This is a huge question with this particular text. The first thing that happens next is that Jesus’ followers do what He says. They wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit to come upon them and empower them. What do they do in the meantime as they wait for those 10 days? They sit together praying. There are about 120 of them gathered in an upper room (likely the same upper room as the last supper, possibly the home of Mark the Evangelist). After praying, while they are waiting, they decide to replace Judas. They do this based on two quotes from the Psalms. I can’t be sure, but I think that possibly they are just praying the Psalms together over and over again.
Then, what Jesus promises in the Holy Spirit’s arrival happens on Pentecost. They receive power and prophesy powerfully in Jesus’ name. Then, what Jesus promises happens throughout the book of Acts and beyond. These followers of Jesus are witnesses of His resurrection in Jerusalem, and Judea, and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.
And eventually, Jesus will restore the Kingdom to Israel, though that might be a massively confusing sentence. I think Jesus’ return, the resurrection of the dead, and the ushering in of the new creation can be categorized quite well as the restoration of the Kingdom to (the new) Israel – those who believe in Jesus.
Thanks for reading!
Be Curious.
Ask Questions.
Andy