Acts 1 - Introduction

Chapter 1 Jesus Commissions His Apostles And Their Number Is Made Up Ready For The Great Move Forward.

This chapter is the chapter of the great commission. In it Jesus' task for His own is described. It is often looked on as being preparatory to Acts 2, but while it is, of course, that, it is far more than that. Without it in fact Acts 2 would be meaningless. It is to be viewed positively as describing the giving of the great commission by Jesus to His disciples with instructions for them to take the Gospel to the whole world

It is then followed by His being finally received into heaven, leaving the responsibility with His Apostles. It is only because we have Matthew 28 and Luke 24 that we do not pay this more heed. It was a momentous occurrence. That they themselves recognised the responsibility that it placed on them comes out in that they make up the number of the twelve preparatory to that task. So Chapter 1 is their Commissioning for their task. Chapter 2 will be the empowering and first commencement of it.

However, as Acts is the second part of Luke/Acts the introduction of Luke needs first to be mentioned here as it is the ‘former treatise' mentioned in Acts 1:1. The principles outlined there therefore also apply to the book of Acts. It too was addressed to Theophilus (see Acts 1:1 below). It reads as follows:

Luke 1:1 “ Forasmuch as many have taken in hand to draw up a narrative concerning those matters which have been fulfilled among us, even as they delivered them to us, who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, it seemed good to me also, having traced the course of all things accurately from the first, to write to you in order, most excellent Theophilus, that you might know the certainty concerning the things in which you were instructed.”

Made clear in this introduction is the basis on which Luke is going forward. He is basing his work on the testimony of eyewitnesses and ministers of the word, (‘the word' which throughout Acts will multiply and expand in effectiveness as seen in the summary above), and stresses the effort that he has put into tracing all things accurately from the beginning so that Theophilus may know with certainty about such things. It would be difficult to imagine a stronger claim to historicity and factualness. Luke wants us to know that he has written on the basis of the strongest testimony possible. And given his accuracy where we can prove it, we have good grounds for accepting that he will be accurate where we cannot prove it. That being established we may now move on into the second volume of his work.