Tom's Ordination

Lovers of God –

In the city of Jerusalem, the nation of Israel, and to the end of the earth

(Acts 1:1-11, Preaching: Pastor Stephen Magee, October 12, 2013)

[1:1] In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, [2] until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. [3] He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. [4] And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; [5] for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”The name Theophilus means “friend of God,” or “love of God.” Luke, who wrote the book of Acts addressed this book as well as the Gospel that bears his name either to a particular person named Theophilus or to the church as “lovers of God.” In the Gospel According to Luke he told the story of Jesus from before His conception until after His resurrection. Here in the opening of Acts we are first directed to the moment when Jesus was taken up, which we call his ascension.

Prior to His ascension He gave commands to the apostles, commands that no doubt had to do with faith, life, and especially the mission and ministry of His church. His resurrection was at the very center of what He showed them, not only in providing convincing proofs that He was alive as a resurrection man, but also in telling them about how they were to be living witnesses to His eternal reign over a coming resurrection world called here the “kingdom of God.”

The life of that kingdom was to be more than biological life. God would send His Holy Spirit in generous measure upon His disciples. It becomes evident from the conversation that followed that the further gift of the Spirit would be essential for their understanding of both the King and the kingdom that He was establishing through them.

[6] So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” [7] He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. [8] But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.”

They had been with Him for three years. First He was patiently and modestly displaying to them and to the world that He was the Messiah. He did this by doing the signs that the Messiah was supposed to do according to the Hebrew Bible. In Luke's first book, very early on in His ministry Jesus quoted the prophet Isaiah who had said what the Christ would do when He came. The Anointed One would preach good news to the poor. He would free those who were oppressed by evil. He would bring sight to the blind. That very day in the synagogue in Nazareth Jesus said, “Today this Scripture has been fulfilled in your hearing.”

He then spent three years doing the signs of the resurrection kingdom until He came to a key turning point in His ministry when He asked, “Who do you say that I am?” Peter said, “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” This was true, but they did not understand what it would take for Him to come into His kingdom. He then told them explicitly at least three times, “The Son of Man must suffer many things and be rejected by the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and on the third day be raised.” What they understood of this prophecy they rejected. But there was much that they did not understand about the King and His kingdom.

The disciples, now talking to Jesus after His three years with them, after His death, after His resurrection, after forty days of proof and instruction, wanted to know when the kingdom would come. In asking this question they revealed that their understanding of the kingdom was too small. They said, “Will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

Jesus would not answer the “when” question, but in His response He displayed that His understanding of the kingdom was much larger than theirs. The kingdom would come through their witness, not only in the city of Jerusalem, but in the old territory of the nation of Israel (Judea in the south and Samaria in the north), and then to “the end of the earth.” This “end” referred was not the end of the age but the furthest reaches of the earth. They would be witnesses of the Resurrection King and His kingdom to every tribe, tongue, and nation.

[9] And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. [10] And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, [11] and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.”

The fact that this kingdom would not only be bigger than old Israel but also different from all the nations of the world was displayed in what took place next. Jesus was lifted up in a cloud of glory right in front of their eyes. He ascended into heaven, and two of heaven's righteous residents, angels appearing here as men in white robes, revealed that Jesus would return from heaven in the same way that He was just taken up into heaven, on clouds of divine glory.

The kingdom of heaven would come first through the witness of the church and then in the return of the King from heaven with the fullness of the kingdom. This is the Christian hope. It is also what the Apostle Paul called “the hope of Israel.” The content of this hope was something that the church and her apostles would need to learn more deeply even after the pouring out of the Holy Spirit in the next chapter. In Acts 10 Peter would have to be taught that it was more than right for him to enter the home of a Gentile. The Spirit of the Lord of Heaven would come down upon non-Jews just as He had upon Jews in Acts 2.

Our Lord's simple plan of witness by Word and Spirit has now been taking place for many centuries. We might be tempted to think that it would be easier to believe in this plan of God if we could have lived in Israel with Jesus and the apostles. Nothing could be further from the truth. At the time of the original disciples, 11 very unlikely church leaders were gazing up into heaven wondering what they were supposed to do next. There were 120 men and women in their congregation who were told to wait until they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Their Leader was gone. They were supposed to go the end of the earth, but it would be years before they even understood that they were allowed to eat with non-Jews. Even after they finally understood that Gentiles could be Christians without first being Jews, they would engage in years of debate with other Jews who could not believe that it was necessary for the Messiah to suffer and die.

Where are we today? Simply put, we are everywhere. We do not have the Bible translated into every tongue yet, but we have a substantial presence on every continent on the planet. We can sing “Jesus shall reign where'er the sun does its successive journeys run,” and we can see evidence with our eyes that this is happening. The Suffering Servant and his centuries of suffering witnesses have been greatly blessed. Millions already inhabit the heavenly kingdom on high with Jesus. Billions name the name of Jesus all over the globe. (e.g. Pastor Marian in Romania helping youth) Only God could have done this. It is our privilege today to see a settled minister again on the Cranberries. May you know the best Shepherd better because of Tom's labors, and may the Word and life of His love go forth through you to the very end of the earth.