After appearing to them through forty days, the risen Chirst was lifted up. They were to await the baptism with the Holy Spirit.

1. ACTS 1:1-11
After appearing to them for forty days,
the risen Christ was lifted up. They
were to await the baptism of the Holy
Spirit.

2.  In
1 the first book, O Theophilus, I have
dealt with all that Jesus began to do and
teach, 
2until the day when he was taken up, after
he had given commandment through the
Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had
chosen. 
3To them he presented himself alive after
his passion by many proofs, appearing to
them during forty days, and speaking of
the kingdom of God. 
4And while staying with them he charged
them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to
wait for the promise of the Father, which,
he said, “you heard from me,
The Holy Bible : Revised Standard Version Second Catholic edition (2006), with the ecclesiastical approval of the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, Thomas Nelson Publishing for Ignatius Press.

3. 5for John baptized with water, but before
many days you shall be baptized with the
Holy Spirit.”
 So when they had come together, they
6
asked him, “Lord, will you at this time
restore the kingdom to Israel?”
 He said to them, “It is not for you to know
7
times or seasons which the Father has
fixed by his own authority.
 But you shall receive power when the
8
Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you
shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in
all Judea and Samaria and to the end of
the earth.”
The Holy Bible : Revised Standard Version Second Catholic edition (2006), with the ecclesiastical approval of the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, Thomas Nelson Publishing for Ignatius Press.

4.  And
9 when he had said this, as they were
looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud
took him out of their sight.
10And while they were gazing into heaven
as he went, behold, two men stood by
them in white robes,
11and 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 Holy Bible : Revised Standard Version Second Catholic edition (2006), with the ecclesiastical approval of the United States Conference of Catholic
Bishops, Thomas Nelson Publishing for Ignatius Press.

5. 1:1-3 Who is Theophilus?
• The person to whom the Gospel of Luke and the
book of Acts are addressed (Luke 1:3; Acts 1:1).
• Since both the Gospel and Acts are addressed to
the same person it supports the theory that both
documents were written by the same author.
• Hellenistic (Greek) authors sometimes dedicated
their books to patrons, benefactors, and it is
probable that the author of Luke-Acts followed
this tradition.
• In Luke 1:3, Theophilus is given a title (“most
excellent” or “your Excellency”) that would
appear appropriate for a high-ranking government
official
• The name Theophilus, means “one who loves
God.”

6. He Lives
• Luke stresses that the risen Jesus gave
the apostles convincing signs that he was
alive after his death.
• He appeared several times and
continued teaching them what God’s
kingdom meant.
• Since they both saw and heard Jesus
risen from the dead, they could be
genuine witnesses to his resurrection.
• Others had only hearsay knowledge
about Jesus (e.g., Herod in Luke 9:7–9).
• Throughout his Gospel and Acts, Luke
emphasizes how important it is to both
see and hear Jesus.

7. Why Is the Resurrection Important?
1) The Resurrection 4) The Resurrection
demonstrates that what entitles Jesus to a
Jesus predicted about position of glory (1
his being raised was Peter 1:11).
true (Mk 8:31,
9:9,31,10:34; Jn 2:19). 5) The Resurrection
2) The Resurrection proclaims that Jesus is
proves that Jesus is the Lord (Acts 2:36).
Son of God (Romans
1:4).
3) The Resurrection
testifies to the success
of Christ’s mission of
salvation (Romans
4:25).

8. Today, People Doubt Jesus’ Resurrection
• History records that Jesus • After seeing the resurrected
appeared in bodily form to Christ, they were fearless
and risked everything to
the disciples on many spread the Gospel
occasions after his throughout the world.
resurrection, proving that • They faced imprisonment,
he was alive. beatings, rejection, and
martyrdom, yet they never
• Think about the changes compromised their mission.
that occurred in the • These men and early
disciples’ lives. church members would not
have risked their lives for
• At Jesus’ death, they something they knew was a
scattered fraud.
• We can have confidence in
• They were disillusioned their historical testimony
and fearful. and share in their mission to
spread the word.