Acts begins by recalling an earlier account addressed to Theophilus. That first volume covered what Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.
After suffering, Jesus presented himself alive to the apostles with many convincing proofs. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about God’s kingdom. Their encounter with the risen Jesus was not described as one brief sighting but as repeated appearances over many days.
While sharing time with the apostles, Jesus ordered them not to leave Jerusalem. They were to wait there for the Father’s promise, which they had heard from him. John had baptized with water, but within a few days they would be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
When the apostles gathered, they asked whether this was the time when Jesus would restore the kingdom to Israel. Jesus replied that the times and seasons were set by the Father’s own authority. They were not for the disciples to know.
Instead, the disciples would receive power when the Holy Spirit came upon them. They would become Jesus’ witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the farthest part of the earth. Jesus did not give them the date they requested; he gave them the work that would follow the Spirit’s arrival.
After saying this, Jesus was lifted up while they watched. A cloud took him from their sight. The apostles remained looking intently toward heaven as he went.
Suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. Addressing them as people of Galilee, the men asked why they stood looking into heaven. This same Jesus, who had been taken from them into heaven, would return in the same manner in which they had seen him go.