Acts

Ajith Fernando

• Publisher: Zondervan Academic
• Year: 2010
• eBook ISBN: 9780310558767
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Biblical Criticism & Interpretation

The NIV Application Commentary helps you communicate and apply biblical text effectively in today's context.

Faith and action: that inseparable link is a golden thread running through Acts. In 2,000 years, one thing hasn't changed: God's heart for lost people. As long as he acts on their behalf, he will call us to play an integral part in his deeds. Acts lifts us up out of the armchair and spurs us to kingdom action, trusting that God will be with us. Ajith Fernando shares perspectives on the book of Acts that reveal its enduring relevance for our twenty first-century lives.

 

To bring the ancient messages of the Bible into today's context, each passage is treated in three sections:

• Original Meaning. Concise exegesis to help readers understand the original meaning of the biblical text in its historical, literary, and cultural context.
• Bridging Contexts. A bridge between the world of the Bible and the world of today, built by discerning what is timeless in the timely pages of the Bible.
• Contemporary Significance. This section identifies comparable situations to those faced in the Bible and explores relevant application of the biblical messages. The author alerts the readers of problems they may encounter when seeking to apply the passage and helps them think through the issues involved.

This unique, award-winning commentary is the ideal resource for today's preachers, teachers, and serious students of the Bible, giving them the tools, ideas, and insights they need to communicate God's Word with the same powerful impact it had when it was first written.

Text and Commentary on Acts

Acts 1:1–8

1IN MY FORMER book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

6So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

7He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Original Meaning

ACTS 1 INTRODUCES many themes that are important to the whole book: Jesus’ life and ministry, his sufferings as a fact predicted in the Old Testament, the importance of and evidence for the resurrection, the importance and power of the Holy Spirit, the priority of witness, the Great Commission with its scope extending to the ends of the earth, the missionary attitude as opposed to parochialism, the kingdom of God, the importance of truth and of Scripture in the Christian life, the role of the apostles, the ascension and second coming of Christ, and the importance of prayer and fellowship. As such it is a key to understanding the book of Acts. Because of this we will devote comparatively more space to it even though it is one of the shorter chapters.

The Former Book (1:1–2a)

THE OPENING SECTION of Acts contains a prologue along with a historical introduction. The author begins by referring to his “former book,” gives the name of the recipient (Theophilus), and summarizes the contents of the earlier book (the Gospel of Luke). Theophilus means “friend of God” or “loved by God,” but it is unlikely, as some (e.g., Origen) have suggested, that this name is a symbol for an anonymous person or group of people. This particular name was in use at that time, and the description of Theophilus as “most excellent” (see Luke 1:3) suggests that a real person is meant. “Most excellent” could suggest that a high government official is being addressed, but that is not a necessary inference as it was also used as a “form of polite address.”1 In those days, it was common for books to be dedicated to distinguished persons.2

If Luke’s first volume describes “all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven,” we can assume that this second volume describes what he continued to do and to teach (through his Spirit) after he was taken up.3 Luke uses the word “all” in both the Gospel and Acts in a general way that the context must define. Thus, “we cannot assume he meant his Gospel to be any more exhaustive than Acts.”4

Teaching and Instructions Before the Ascension (1:2b–8)

IN THE FORTY days before Jesus’ ascension, his primary ministry related to the truth of the gospel (vv. 2b–3). (1) He gave “instructions . . . to the apostles” (v. 2). The verb for instructing (entellomai) has the idea of commanding or giving orders. This must refer to the commands given in verses 4 and 8 not to leave Jerusalem until the Spirit comes and to preach the gospel to the ends of the earth (cf. Luke 24:46–48). These instructions were given “through the Holy Spirit” (v. 2), which introduces a key theme of Acts: All Christian ministry depends on the activity of the Spirit in the minister and in the ones ministered to.

(2) Luke then reports that Jesus’ appearances were proof of his resurrection (v. 3a). The objective reality of the resurrection was the ultimate proof of the amazing claims that the apostles were to make about Jesus (17:31). The fact that the apostles were witnesses to this resurrection was a key to their preaching.5 So right at the start of his book, Luke presents the resurrection as an event attested by “many convincing proofs.”

(3) Jesus “spoke about the kingdom of God” (v. 3b), which refers to the reign or rule of God and was a key to his teaching. There are fewer references to the kingdom in Acts (8:12; 19:8; 20:25; 28:23, 31), but they are important, considering that “the book begins (1:3) and ends on that theme (28:31).”6 In the New Testament letters, while the kingdom is mentioned, what receives emphasis is the church, the body of Christ. But there is a close connection between the church and the kingdom (Matt. 16:18–19). According to the Gospels, the kingdom of God came with the events of the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and it finds its consummation in the return of Christ as Judge and King. In our discussion of 2:14–41 we will show why the biblical teaching on the reign of Christ should be an important ingredient of our evangelistic message.

Verses 4–5 present the crucial promise of the gift of baptism with the Holy Spirit.7 The word baptizō basically means dip or immerse.8 But it can take different meanings that must be determined by considering the context in which the word appears. It can mean “to wash . . . with a view to making objects ritually acceptable,” and can thus be translated “wash” or “purify.” It can also mean “to employ water in a religious ceremony designed to symbolize purification and initiation on the basis of repentance—‘to baptize.’ ” And in a figurative extension of the idea of immersion, it can mean “to cause someone to have a highly significant religious experience.”9 Related to this last definition is Jesus’ question to James and John in Mark 10:38, “Are you able . . . to be baptized with the baptism with which I am baptized” (NASB). This extends the meaning of immersion to a deluge or an overwhelming flood of suffering.10

Some of the other places where the baptism with the Holy Spirit is mentioned suggest an experience akin to the third use of baptizō. When Luke records this promise in his Gospel, Jesus says, “Stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49). Acts 1:8 also says that when the Holy Spirit comes, the disciples will receive power. Describing what happened when this promise was fulfilled, Luke writes that the disciples “were filled with the Holy Spirit” (Acts 2:4). The words “power” and “filled” in these verses suggest that the baptism with the Holy Spirit involves an experience of God’s fullness.

It must have saddened the heart of Jesus to hear his disciples ask about the time of restoring the kingdom to Israel (v. 6). He had taught them about the kingdom of God, but they talk about the kingdom of Israel. John Stott points out that

the verb, the noun and the adverb of their sentence all betray doctrinal confusion about the kingdom. The verb restore shows that they were expecting a political and territorial kingdom; the noun Israel that they were expecting a national kingdom; and the adverbial clause at this time that they were expecting its immediate establishment.11

Jesus’ answer about not knowing times and dates set by the Father (v. 7) is consistent with what he said elsewhere on the topic of the timing of the last things (cf. Matt. 24:36, 42, 44; 25:13; Luke 12:40).

Verse 8 begins with “but” (alla), suggesting that Jesus is presenting an alternative aspiration for the disciples. Their primary concern should not be the political power that will come with the restoration of Israel’s kingdom. It should be the spiritual power that will come through the baptism with the Holy Spirit, which will enable them to be witnesses “to the ends of the earth.” This verse presents an outline and summary of Acts. The Holy Spirit’s power and witness is the theme of the book. “The geographical terms provide a sort of ‘Index of Contents’ . . . ‘in Jerusalem’ covers the first seven chapters, ‘in all Judea and Samaria’ covers 8:1 to 11:18, and the remainder of the book traces the progress of the gospel outside the frontiers of the Holy Land until it at last reaches Rome.”12

In a sense the disciples were already witnesses for they had seen the risen Lord; that was the key to their witness (1:22). But they also needed “power” to be effective witnesses, power that would come from the Holy Spirit. The way the Holy Spirit makes witnesses and empowers witness must cover the entire witnessing process, and this is well illustrated in Acts.13

Bridging Contexts

THE BOOK OF ACTS has been aptly called the “Acts of the Holy Spirit,” for all that the church achieves is through the Spirit. In this first chapter Luke shows how the church prepared for the reception of the Spirit. For us today it gives essential ingredients for Spirit-anointed ministry.

Objective facts and subjective experience. The first few verses of Acts show an important factor in all of Acts—that the combination of the objective and the subjective are important aspects of the Christian religion. The mention of “many convincing proofs that he was alive” (1:3a) shows that Christianity is based on objective facts. The teaching “about the kingdom of God” (1:3b) must also have included much that came under this category. The evangelistic preaching in Acts certainly contained many objective facts about the nature of God and the life and work of Jesus (see the chart on “Evangelistic Preaching in Acts” in the Introduction). Becoming a Christian involves assenting to those facts, and growing in the Christian life involves growing in the knowledge of those facts.

But Acts 1 also stresses the subjective experience of Christians. Thus, verses 4–5 refer to the baptism with the Holy Spirit, which, as noted above, includes a subjective experience of the power of the Spirit. To prepare to be witnesses of these great objective truths, one must have power coming from the indwelling Holy Spirit (v. 8). Peter’s sermon at Pentecost climaxed with a statement of the objective truth: “God has made this Jesus, whom you crucified, both Lord and Christ” (2:36). But in response to the people’s query about what they are to do, he says that if they repent and are baptized in the name of Jesus for the forgiveness of their sins, they “will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit” (2:38). The context indicates that the gift of the Holy Spirit includes, among other things, a subjective experience of him.

Acts, then, shows a church that was able to integrate the subjective and the objective aspects of Christianity.

Teaching and revival. From what we read in verses 2–5, we can infer that one of the key ways Jesus prepared his apostles for the revival that followed at Pentecost was to give them sound teaching. The place of biblical teaching in revival has been debated, and sometimes great outpourings of revival have been criticized for being low on preaching and teaching the Word. This was not the case with Peter’s speech at Pentecost, and several spiritual awakenings have been recorded where the Word was uncompromisingly taught.14 Whatever may have happened during a revival, it is well established that, as in Acts, Bible teaching has always been done before a revival. The great historian of revival, J. Edwin Orr, has said that a theological awakening must precede a revival of religion. Dr. John Mackay writes, “First the enlightened mind, then the burning heart. First a revival of theological insights, and then the revival we need.”15

This is what happened under King Josiah when a newly discovered Book of the Law was read and a mighty revival was sparked (2 Kings 22–23). The principle we glean, then, is that if we wish to prepare for revival today, we must be faithful in teaching the Word to our people.

Baptism with the Holy Spirit. As already noted, the references to the baptism with the Holy Spirit suggest an experience of fullness with the Spirit. When does this take place? And what type of experience is it? Over these two questions there has been much debate in the church. Part of the problem is that the experience promised to the disciples and its fulfillment were in many ways unique, unrepeatable events. The same can be said of some of the other experiences of the coming of the Spirit to new believers in Acts. As a result, we have in the church an array of interpretations of what this means today.

A traditional evangelical explanation is that, while in Acts there were unique experiences of this baptism with the Holy Spirit, for us today such a baptism takes place at conversion, and the term baptism is used for initiation into the body of Christ and the resultant experience of the Spirit.16

But there are also many evangelicals who see this baptism as a second definite work of grace, distinct from conversion, one that usually takes place some time after conversion. It raises Christians to a higher plane in their experience and enables them to enjoy the fullness of the Spirit. Different emphases are found within this particular i...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication
• Contents
• How to Use This Commentary
• Series Introduction
• General Editor’s Preface
• Author’s Preface
• Abbreviations
• Introduction
• Outline of Acts
• Annotated Bibliography
• Text and Commentary on Acts
• Scripture Index
• Subject Index
• Notes