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Acts 1:1-3
New Catholic Bible
Acts 1:1-3
New Catholic Bible
At Jerusalem[a]
From Jesus to the Community of the Lord[b]
Chapter 1
Prologue.[c] 1 In my previous book, Theophilus,[d] I wrote of everything that Jesus did and taught from the beginning 2 until the day he was taken up, after first giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
The Promise of the Spirit.[e] 3 After his passion Jesus had presented himself alive to them by many proofs. He appeared to them during forty days and spoke to them about the kingdom of God.
Read full chapterFootnotes
- Acts 1:1 In the Gospel of Luke, the life of Jesus takes the form of an ascent to Jerusalem, where through him God will decisively intervene in the destiny of humanity. The Book of Acts allows us to be present at the spread of the Gospel from that center to the ends of the earth. The Holy City is very important as the starting point of evangelization.
The experience of the young Christian community becomes exemplary, as in stories of foundations. Thus in chs. 1–7 everything takes place in Jerusalem, while in chs. 8–12 the city serves as the starting point and point of return of the stories. The Church of Jerusalem, then, is the source of Christianity: it is the mother Church and the inspiration for every other Church and for the whole Church. - Acts 1:1 The first two chapters of Acts serve a special purpose. In them we move from the risen Jesus to the community that is founded and established in the midst of the Jewish people—the community that is the starting point of the main routes along which the life of the Church develops. For readers of that period, the language used constantly recalls the great traditions of the Old Testament: the entire plan of God is recapitulated in these passages that in turn establish the perspective for what follows.
- Acts 1:1 One author conceived the third Gospel and the Book of Acts as a single whole; the combination is not the result of chance. The first work tells the story of the actions and teachings of Jesus, “beginning from [John’s] baptism” (see Acts 1:22; 10:37); the second shows us the life and activity of the risen Lord, which is likewise made visible in the deeds and acts of the various communities.
- Acts 1:1 Theophilus: perhaps a rich and distinguished person who has paid for the publication of the work. He is the same person as in Lk 1:3.
- Acts 1:3 This is the important theme that characterizes the period of the Lord’s appearances (the period lasts forty days, between Easter and Pentecost; the number 40, which recurs so often in the Bible, is a symbol of fullness). The story highlights what it means to experience the risen Lord.
It is the Spirit who links the past phase of the life of Jesus with its present phase. This Spirit, often promised by Jesus (Lk 11:13; 24:49), brings to fulfillment all the blessings that the Messiah was to bring (see Joel 4:9; Am 9:11). The day of national restoration is no longer something to be awaited; the decisive moment has already arrived, and the Spirit is beginning to unite the peoples.
