The key to the apostles' successful fulfillment of Jesus' commission was their baptism with and consequent indwelling by the Holy Spirit. Without this divine enablement they would only have been able to follow Jesus' example, but with it Jesus could literally continue to do His work and teach His words through them. Consequently their preparation for the baptism of the Spirit was very important. Luke recorded it to highlight its foundational significance.
Verses 6-8 announce the theme of Acts and set the stage for all that follows.
"The concept of witness' is so prominent in Acts (the word in its various forms appears some thirty-nine times) that everything else in the book should probably be seen as subsumed under it--even the primitive kerygma [preaching] . . ."31
1:6 The Old Testament associated Spirit baptism with the beginning of the messianic (millennial) kingdom (Isa. 32:15-20; 44:3-5; Ezek. 39:28-29; Joel 2:28-3:1; Zech. 12:8-10). It was natural therefore that the disciples would ask if that kingdom was about to begin in view of Jesus' promise that the Spirit would baptize them in a few days. "This time"refers to "not many days from now"(v. 5). In the Septuagint, the term "restoration"(Gr. apokatastaseos) technically refers to God's political restoration of Israel (Ps. 16:5; Jer. 15:19; 16:15; 23:8; Ezek. 16:55; 17:23; Hos. 11:11).32The Gentiles had taken the Jews' kingdom from them dating from Nebuchadnezzar's conquest in 586 B.C. Clearly the messianic kingdom is in view here.33
"In the book of Acts, both Israel and the church exist simultaneously. The term Israelis used twenty times and ekklesia(church) nineteen times, yet the two groups are always kept distinct."34
1:7 Note that Jesus did not correct the disciples for believing that the messianic kingdom would come.35He only corrected their assumption that they could know when the kingdom would begin and that the kingdom would begin in a few days.
"Jesus' answer to the question about restoring the reign to Israel denies that Jesus' followers can know the time and probably corrects their supposition that the restoration may come immediately, but it does not deny the legitimacy of their concern with the restoration of the national life of the Jewish people."36
"This passage makes it clear that while the covenanted form of the theocracy has not been cancelled and has only been postponed, this present age is definitely not a period in which a new form of theocratic administration is inaugurated. In this way Jesus not only answered the disciples' question concerning the timing of the future Davidic kingdom, but He also made a clear distinction between it and the intervening present form of the theocratic administration."37
Jesus' disciples were not to know yet when the messianic kingdom would begin. God would reveal the "times"(Gr. chronous, length of time) and "epochs"(Gr. kairous, dates, or major features of the times) after Jesus' ascension, and He would make them known through His chosen prophets (cf. 1 Thess. 5:1; Rev. 6-19).
"In Acts 3:20, the phrase chosen is kairoi anapsuxeos(seasons of refreshing). . . . In other words, the last days of fulfillment have two parts. There is the current period of refreshing, which is correlated to Jesus' reign in heaven and in which a person shares, if he or she repents. Then at the end of this period Jesus will come to bring the restoration of those things promised by the Old Testament."38
"There is a close connection between the hope expressed in 1:6 and the conditional promise of Peter in 3:19-21, indicated not only by the unusual words restore' and restoration . . .' but also by the references to times . . .' and seasons . . .' in both contexts. The times of restoration of all that God spoke' through the prophets include the restoration of the reign to Israel through its messianic King."39
1:8 Rather than trying to figure out when the kingdom would come, the disciples were to give their attention to something different, namely worldwide witness. Moreover the disciples would receive divine enablement for their worldwide mission (cf. Luke 24:47-49). As God's Spirit had empowered the Israelites and Jesus as they executed their purposes, so God's Spirit would empower the disciples as they executed their purpose.
"What is promised to the apostles is the power to fulfil their mission, that is, to speak, to bear oral testimony, and to perform miracles and in general act with authority. This power is given through the Spirit, and conversely the Spirit in Acts may be defined as the divine agency that gives this power."40
"You shall be"translates a future indicative verb (as in "you shall receive"). Is the clause "You shall be"a prediction or a command? Grammatically it could be either. The apostles clearly felt compelled to preach (cf. 10:42). However if it was a command it could have been stated more forcefully. Therefore both verbs ("you shall be"and "you shall receive") are probably predictions, statements of fact, rather than commands.
"They were now to be witnesses, and their definite work was to bear testimony to their Master; they were not to be theologians, or philosophers, or leaders, but witnesses. Whatever else they might become, everything was to be subordinate to the idea of personal testimony. It was to call attention to what they knew of Him and to deliver His message to mankind. This special class of people, namely, disciples who are also witnesses, is therefore very prominent in this book. Page after page is occupied by their testimony, and the key to this feature is found in the words of Peter: We cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard' (4:20)."41
This verse contains an inspired outline of the Book of Acts. Note that it refers to a person (Jesus Christ), a power (the Holy Spirit), and a program (ever expanding worldwide witness). Luke proceeded to record the fulfillment of this prediction until the gospel and the church had reached Rome. From that heart of the empire God would pump the gospel out to every other remote part of the world. Starting from Jerusalem the gospel message radiated farther and farther as ripples do when a stone lands in a placid pool of water. Rome was over 1,400 miles from Jerusalem.
"The Christian church, according to Acts, is a missionary church that responds obediently to Jesus' commission, acts on Jesus' behalf in the extension of his ministry, focuses its proclamation of the kingdom of God in its witness to Jesus, is guided and empowered by the self-same Spirit that directed and supported Jesus' ministry, and follows a program whose guidelines for outreach have been set by Jesus himself."42
Jerusalem was the most wicked city on earth in that it was there that Jesus Christ's enemies crucified Him. Nevertheless there, too, God manifested His grace first. The linking of Judea and Samaria preserves an ethnic distinction while at the same time describing one geographic area. The phrase "to the remotest part of the earth"is literally "to the end of the earth."It is rare in ancient Greek, but it occurs five times in the Septuagint (Isa. 8:9; 48:20; 49:6; 62:11; Pss. Sol. 1:4). Jesus was evidently alluding to Isaiah's predictions that God would extend salvation to all people, Gentiles as well as Jews.43
"Witnessing to the Jewsmeant witnessing to those who held a true religion, but held it for the most part falsely and unreally [sic].
"Witnessing in Samariameant witnessing to those who had a mixed religion, partly true, and partly false, Jewish and Heathen.
"Witnessing to the uttermost part of the earthmeant witnessing to those who had no real and vital religion at all."44
This pericope (vv. 6-8) is Luke's account of Jesus' farewell address to His successors (cf. Gen. 49; Num. 20:26; 27:16-19; Deut. 31:14-23; 34:9; 2 Kings 2; et al.). Luke used several typical features of a Jewish farewell scene in 1:1-14.45
