Acts 1:1-11

I'm gonna start in Acts. The first four books of the New Testament are the stories of Jesus' life written by four different view points. We'll get back to them.

Acts 1:1-11

In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. After his suffering, he showed himself to these men 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. On 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. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit."
So when they met together, they asked him, "Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?"
He said to them: "It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But 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."
After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. "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."


My bible, which is the Zondervan NIV states that Luke is the author and it was probably written anywhere from 63 A.D. to 70.

The former book Luke is talking about is his gospel Luke which discusses the life, death and resurrection of Jesus.

The gift he is talking about is the Holy Spirit which will be given to the disciples later on in Acts.

Restoring the kingdom to Israel - The disciples always had a hard time believing that Jesus wasn't going to give Israel back to them. When he would talk about being King or Lord, they always thought that it would be because he overthrew the current government and took over but he was always talking about the Kingdom of Heaven - which was the spiritual kingdom, concerning our souls as opposed to anything physical they were going to be rewarded.

When he talks about them being witnesses, the disciples were the next step in the formation of the church here on Earth. The early disciples had a lot of the same miraculous powers as Jesus did.

The two men in white - common description of angels. They were telling the disciples that Jesus was going to appear again the same way he had left - through the clouds.