A new commentary for today's world, The Story of God Bible Commentary explains and illuminates each passage of Scripture in light of the Bible's grand story.
The first commentary series to do so, SGBC offers a clear and compelling exposition of biblical texts, guiding everyday readers in how to creatively and faithfully live out the Bible in their own contexts. Its story-centric approach is ideal for pastors, students, Sunday school teachers, and laypeople alike.
Each volume employs three main, easy-to-use sections designed to help readers live out God's story:
LISTEN to the Story: Includes complete NIV text with references to other texts at work in each passage, encouraging the reader to hear it within the Bible's grand story.
EXPLAIN the Story: Explores and illuminates each text as embedded in its canonical and historical setting.
LIVE the Story: Reflects on how each text can be lived today and includes contemporary stories and illustrations to aid preachers, teachers, and students.
—Acts—
The question of Luke's purpose for writing this book has long been a topic of debate among Christians. Some see it as an apologetic defense against the misunderstandings of the Roman Empire. Others maintain that Luke's audience was primarily Christian, and the story of Acts offers pastoral encouragement. Still others believe that Acts was written to address theological issues facing the early church. In the end, no single purpose may be able to account for all the rich complexity that exists in Acts.
Edited by Scot McKnight and Tremper Longman III, and written by a number of top-notch theologians, The Story of God Bible Commentary series will bring relevant, balanced, and clear-minded theological insight to any biblical education or ministry.
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In the opening panel in Acts, Luke describes a dynamic new community that has emerged within Judaism, who continue to live under the authority of its leaders (see 3:1; 6:9). But this new community also understands itself as having entered “the last days” by the work of the Spirit. These “last days” are actually the firstfruits of “new creation,” and this time of new creation is marked by fresh practices and unforeseen challenges. Structurally the first panel begins with the introduction to the whole narrative (1:1–5) and a brief description of Jesus’s final instructions to his apostles before his ascension (1:6–11). The panel concludes with two distinct groups: Greek-speaking and Aramaic-speaking believers (6:1–7). In between, there are foundational moments (i.e., Pentecost in 2:1–12) and dramatic “firsts.” For example, Peter’s first sermon in 2:14–40; a first description of the new community’s common life in 2:42–47; the first healing by the apostles in 3:1–10; the first sign of opposition in 4:1–7; and the first judgment within the community in 5:1–11. There is no word from Luke about the length of time or geography in this opening stage about the early followers of Jesus. How this new community extends itself from a Jerusalem-based, Jewish-led sect of Judaism to become a worldwide movement including gentiles is what the next panel is all about—and why the first panel probably ends with mention of the Hellenist (i.e., Greek-speaking) Jews. It is Hellenist Jews like Stephen and Philip who will lead this break from the apostles, even though the apostles recognize and release them.
CHAPTER 1
Acts 1:1–11
LISTEN to the Story
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 presented himself to them 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.”
6Then they gathered around him and 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.”
9After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 11“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”
Listening to the Text in the Story: Isaiah 32:15; 44:3–5; Ezekiel 11:19–20; 36:25–27; 1 Corinthians 15:1–8.
EXPLAIN the Story
The Story continues. In one respect it is unfortunate that the Gospel of John separates Luke’s two volumes—the Gospel of Luke and the book of Acts—in the canonical arrangement of the NT.1 John’s Gospel is magnificent, to be sure, but it blocks the clear links Luke makes between part I and part II of the Jesus story. For that is what Acts is. It is a continuation of the story about the work and teaching of Jesus now in the lives of his followers. It is important to keep in mind that the opening of Acts serves a similar function to the opening of Luke. The Holy Spirit is active in bringing about the birth of Jesus in Luke 1–2, and the Spirit is now active in bringing about the birth of the church in Acts 1–2. Furthermore, as the Spirit propels Jesus’s ministry (see Luke 3:22; 4:1, 14, 18) into the world, so also the Spirit will propel his followers into the world, beginning “in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” (Acts 1:8).
The opening eleven verses of Acts are compact and full of important details. Luke makes the connection between “all that Jesus began to do and to teach” in his former book with the agenda that is set for his followers to do and teach. In Luke, Jesus’s actions and instructions proclaimed that he was the Lord of the new kingdom around whom God was restoring and reconstituting Israel. Now his apostles are to be “witnesses,” heralding that good news throughout the world. In the opening section (Acts 1:1–5), Luke offers a short summary of Jesus’s teaching from the previous volume before clarifying the new direction that will be taken by his followers (1:6–8). The key that connects the work and words of Jesus and the work and words of his followers is the person of the Holy Spirit. In these opening few lines, the Holy Spirit is mentioned three times (vv. 2, 5, 8). The same Spirit who empowered Jesus will empower his people. But in order for the Spirit to empower God’s people, Jesus must ascend into heaven, and so Luke closes his introduction with a description of this (1:9–11).
Introduction and Summary of Jesus’s Teaching (1:1–5)
The first five verses of Acts are one long sentence in the Greek text. Introductions to ancient documents are important, and this introduction sets the theme, shape, and tone for the whole of the narrative. As he did in the opening to the Gospel (Luke 1:1–4), Luke follows the introductory conventions of other historical narratives (e.g., Josephus, Ag. Ap. 1.1–5), by addressing his recipient, Theophilus, and providing a summary of what he has already written and what he will write next (see also Ag. Ap. 2.1; Eusebius, Hist. eccl. 2.1). The order in which Luke alerts Theophilus to what Jesus “began to do and to teach” until his ascension is interesting (Acts 1:1). Luke places what Jesus did first by describing his “doings” (vv. 3–4). While there is much that Jesus did in his lifetime, according to Luke his most significant “doing”—in his order—is the combined action of his ascension (v. 2), his suffering (v. 3a), and proof of life (v. 3b). In mentioning that Jesus gave many “convincing proofs” that he was alive (v. 3), Luke outlines what these proofs are: Jesus appeared to his disciples, spoke to his disciples, and ate with his disciples—all of which remind the reader of actions depicted at the end of the Gospel (see Luke 24:36–49).
Beyond what he did, Jesus also taught his disciples. After his resurrection he continued to teach about the “kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3) and offered a final command not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for the gift the Father promised and Jesus spoke about: the Holy Spirit (vv. 4–5). Jesus’s teaching on the kingdom of God is his most important teaching. It is mentioned no less than thirty-nine times in the Gospel and at crucial junctures in Jesus’s career (e.g., at the beginning of his ministry [Luke 4:43]; in his sending out of the Twelve [9:2]; in his teaching about prayer [11:2–4]; in his disputes with Pharisees [17:20–21]; and at the last supper [22:16, 18, 29–30]). Although the language of the kingdom of God appears only eight times in Acts, it does emerge at the beginning (Acts 1:3) and at the end of the narrative (28:31). Clearly the kingdom of God remains an important theme for Luke. The teaching on the Spirit, so fundamental in the Gospel of Luke, will continue to be important in the book of Acts as well. Further, the promise of the Father that concluded the Gospel (see Luke 24:49) sets the stage in Acts (Acts 1:4). The language of “the promise[d]” Holy Spirit not only evokes themes from the Gospel of Luke, it also echoes numerous OT passages from prophets like Isaiah (see 32:15; 44:3–5) and Ezekiel (11:19–20; 36:25–27). Importantly, then, the two teachings on the kingdom and the Spirit are linked for Jesus since he viewed the beginning of God’s reign and the rescue of sinners as coinciding with the return of the Spirit’s presence in his mission (see Luke 4:16–19). As John baptized people in water at the Jordan River as a signal of their readiness to follow the coming Messiah, Jesus in Acts 1:5 echoes the words of John (Luke 3:16) that “in a few days” the disciples will be baptized with the Holy Spirit as the fulfillment of God’s promise to return the Spirit to his people in the last days.
In this one long and important sentence Luke provides almost a mini-catechism, similar to Paul’s own gospel summary (1 Cor 15:1–8), of what he received and passed on to others. Luke describes the most significant actions Jesus did: he suffered (and died, Acts 1:3); he rose from the dead (v. 3, “he was alive”); and, after a period of forty days, he ascended to heaven (v. 3; cf. v. 9). Luke then encapsulates the most significant things Jesus taught: the kingdom of God and the promise of the Holy Spirit. Even though he does not speak in the language of later Trinitarian formulations, it should not be overlooked that in Luke’s introductory sentences he mentions Jesus, “my Father,” and the Holy Spirit.
A New Way for the Disciples (1:6–8)
The next three sentences (1:6–8) serve as the climactic section of Jesus’s postresurrection instruction to the apostles, especially as they relate to the key teaching already mentioned: the kingdom of God and the Holy Spirit. In order to clarify the apostles’ role in the continued work of Jesus on earth, Luke follows his opening sentence with a joint question from those gathered around Jesus. Their initial inquiry is, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” (1:6). Many times it seems that Jesus’s apostles are portrayed as simply misunderstanding what Jesus taught. At this point, it appears they have done it again. After misunderstanding that Jesus would be enthroned as king through suffering and death, they now think that the resurrection of Jesus puts back on track their hopes for the national restoration of Israel. This is signaled in their address to him as “the Lord.” It was the “Lord,” the God of Israel, who would restore the fortunes of his people (see Deut 30:3; Isa 49:8; Jer 30:18).
It is important to note that “Lord” (kyrios), which was the Greek substitute for the Hebrew tetragrammaton in the Greek translation of the OT, is used almost exclusively for Jesus Christ in Acts. Whatever else they may have misunderstood, the disciples were convinced that Jesus was the “Lord”—an unequivocally high view of the person of Jesus. In this hope of Jesus as the Lord, and in full continuity with the prophets, they believed Israel would shake off the chains of foreign domination, a king like David would be reinstated, and that God would establish Israel as the leading nation of the world. Oddly enough, Jesus does not deny their hope, but he does qualify and correct it. It is a question that arises naturally from Jesus’s teaching about the kingdom of God in 1:3. Jesus corrects their speculation about the “time” of restoration of the kingdom by qualifying their role as “witnesses” to the king in the concluding sentences (vv. 7–8). Strictly speaking, they were not simply to reiterate Jesus’s teaching about the kingdom of God. The risen and soon-to-be ascended King Jesus instructs them to “be my witnesses”—with their own lives if necessary. They were to begin their work in Jerusalem, the cultural and theological center of Israel, but continue to bear testimony of the risen king to their kin in Judea, to their neighbors (the Samaritans), and ultimately to all people. The narrative of Acts may end in Rome, but the goal is not Rome; it is the people of the whole earth. Luke’s story may have a westerly direction because that is the story he knows and has participated i...
