Acts 1:1,2 - Commands through the Spirit

1:1

“In the first book ..” This clearly demonstrates that this is the continuation of the account begun in Luke’s gospel. Luke wanted to set out a history of the life of Jesus and the early church. When he began to do this I would guess that he didn’t know just how important his works would be, yet they were God breathed. God often works through normal people, doing normal things. In the gospel Luke wrote about “all that Jesus began to do and teach”. This implies that Luke sees Jesus continuing to teach and act through the church. Indeed, a feature of Acts is that in many of the early miracles (ie the ones involving Peter and John) one could easily substitute the name of Jesus and the events would fit perfectly into the gospels. The church is not a manmade institution, and whenever we act like a manmade institution we are in trouble.

1:2

Jesus gave instruction through the Holy Spirit. It cannot be overemphasised how important Luke considered the role of the Holy Spirit to be. He, the Spirit, is prominent in Luke’s gospel, and equally prominent in Acts. It is also remarkable that even after Jesus is risen, Luke refers to Jesus teaching through the Holy Spirit. So if the risen Christ taught “through the Holy Spirit”, all of us who teach and preach should be looking for the Holy Spirit to lead and inspire our preaching and teaching. In time between the resurrection and the ascension Jesus taught the apostles. Another key feature of the church is the vital role that the apostles played. People chosen by Jesus, and personally taught by Jesus.