I. The Preparation for the Christian Mission
Chapter 1[a]
The Promise of the Spirit. 1 In the first book, Theophilus,
I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught 2 until the day he was taken up,
after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had
chosen. 3 He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had
suffered, appearing to them during forty days[b] and speaking about the kingdom
of God. 4 While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from
Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father[c] about which you have
heard me speak; 5 for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be
baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
The Ascension of Jesus. 6 When they had gathered together
they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going[d] to restore the kingdom to
Israel?” 7 [e]He answered them, “It is not for you to know the times or seasons
that the Father has established by his own authority. 8 [f]But you will receive
power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in
Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 When
he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took
him from their sight. 10 While they were looking intently at the sky as he was
going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. 11 They
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.” 12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from
the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away.
The First Community in Jerusalem. 13 When they entered the
city they went to the upper room where they were staying, Peter and John and
James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of
Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 All these devoted
themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the
mother of Jesus, and his brothers.
The Choice of Judas’s Successor. 15 During those days Peter
stood up in the midst of the brothers (there was a group of about one hundred
and twenty persons in one place). He said, 16 “My brothers, the scripture
had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand through the mouth of
David, concerning Judas, who. was the guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17 He
was numbered among us and was allotted a share in this ministry. 18 He bought a
parcel of land with the wages of his iniquity, and falling headlong, he burst
open in the middle, and all his insides spilled out.[g] 19 This became known to
everyone who lived in Jerusalem so that the parcel of land was called in their
language ‘Akeldama,’ that is, Field of Blood. 20 For it is written in the Book
of Psalms:
‘Let his encampment become desolate, and may no one dwell in
it.’
And:
‘May another take his office.’
21 Therefore, it is necessary that one of the men who
accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus came and went among us, 22
beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which he was taken up from
us, become with us a witness to his resurrection.” 23 So they proposed two,
Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. 24 Then
they prayed, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these
two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this apostolic ministry from which
Judas turned away to go to his own place.” 26 [h]Then they gave lots to them,
and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven apostles.
Footnotes
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, glorification, 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 first promised in Jesus’ final
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.
1:18 Luke records a popular tradition about the death of
Judas that differs from the one in Mt 27:5, according to which Judas hanged
himself. Here, although the text is not certain, Judas is depicted as
purchasing a piece of property with the betrayal money and being killed on it
in a fall.
1:26 The need to replace Judas was probably dictated by the
symbolism of the number twelve, recalling the twelve tribes of Israel. This
symbolism also indicates that for Luke (see Lk 22:30) the Christian church is a
reconstituted Israel.
Source Catholic Bible: New American Bible Revised Edition (NABRE)
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