Jesus' Ascension and the Selection of Matthias' Replacement
As we delve into the opening verses of Acts, we find ourselves in the midst of a pivotal moment in redemptive history, where the resurrected Christ is about to ascend to the right hand of the Father, leaving His disciples to carry on the mission He had entrusted to them. In Acts 1:1-3, Luke reminds his readers of the earlier account he had written, the Gospel of Luke, where he had recorded the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus, and now he is about to unfold the story of the early church, as the disciples, empowered by the Holy Spirit, take the gospel to the ends of the earth. Jesus, having shown Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, is now giving final instructions to His apostles, charging them to be His witnesses in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the uttermost parts of the earth, as He had promised in Acts 1:8, a promise rooted in the Great Commission of Matthew 28:18-20.
As the disciples watch, Jesus is taken up into heaven, a cloud receiving Him out of their sight, an event that echoes the prophecy of Psalm 68:18 and Daniel 7:13, where the Son of Man is seen coming on the clouds of heaven. The disciples, however, are not left to ponder this event in isolation, for in Acts 1:9-11, two angels appear, reassuring them that Jesus will return in like manner, a promise that is rooted in the hope of 1 Thessalonians 4:16-17 and Titus 2:13. The disciples, then, are not to stand gazing up into heaven, but are to return to Jerusalem, awaiting the promise of the Father, the outpouring of the Holy Spirit, which will empower them for the task of worldwide evangelization, a promise Jesus had made in Acts 1:4-5, and which would be fulfilled in Acts 2:1-4, as the church is born on the day of Pentecost. As we reflect on this passage, we are reminded of the importance of obedience to the Great Commission, and the promise of the Holy Spirit's empowering presence, as we seek to carry on the mission of Christ in our own generation.