The Bible Binge: Cracking the History Code (Acts 1:1-11)

The end of the world

May 21, 2011. Anyone remember that date? Neither do I. That date was almost 13 years ago. We still lived in Ohio at the time. I don’t remember the date. But I do remember the prediction. A radio Bible teacher by the name of Harold Camping said that the Bible predicted that the world was going to end on May 21, 2011. That day came and went. The world is still here. Eventually, Camping said he was wrong. But he wasn’t the first. Chuck Smith, founder of Calvary Chapel, predicted the Second coming of Jesus in 1981. I graduated from high school a year later. There have been so many… the most popular historical example is the Millerites who expected Jesus to return in 1844. Jesus did not return that year, but many who held on to that belief became what we now know as the Seventh Day Adventists and the B’hai movement.

People are always wanting to crack the history code. They make up charts and timelines and find verses in the Bible that point to what they think are historical details and come up with predictions. And if they aren’t predictions, since they know better, they’ll say something along the lines of “things are getting worse and this is how it probably will end.” What the Bible doesn’t make explicit becomes explicit by using codes and formulas and other forms of secret knowledge.

Our Bible Binge has us in a new book today. We’re in the Book of Acts. And the book of Acts is the story of how the church started. It is full of details about how the church came to be. There’s obviously more going on in the Book of Acts, which we will get to. But at the very beginning we have a question from the disciples. And the answer to their question is The Book of Acts itself. It must have been a question on the minds of those to whom Dr. Luke is writing. And it’s certainly a question that many in our world today simply won’t let go.

We come to Acts chapter 1, which is the beginning of a brand new chapter in the story of Jesus. Here’s the Bible project’s overview of the book and then of chapter 1:

Video

As we read the book of Acts over the next couple of weeks, here are some things to keep in mind:

Acts was written by Dr. Luke

Acts is the 2nd volume of a two volume set

Acts was written to Theophilus and his church, believers who are predominantly Gentile

Acts explains the birth and spontaneous expansion of the church

Acts explains the mission of the Gospel to the ends of the earth

Acts themes: Kingdom, mission, The Holy Spirit, Paul

What we’re going to find as we read the book of Acts is that as we read what happens to the church in these stories is that this is our story. This is our origin story. You want to know how it is that we came to worship here in Los Fresnos this morning, this explains that history. Whatever you’re reading in the book of Acts, you’re reading your story.

Jesus proclaims the kingdom

The book begins with Jesus spending time with his disciples. Here’s what Luke tells us:

Acts 1:3 After Jesus had suffered, he also presented himself alive to them by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

In the book of Luke, we have the account of Jesus rising from the dead. Luke doesn’t repeat that here. He simply tells us that over the 40 days after his resurrection, Jesus spends time with his disciples talking about all sorts of things, primarily about his kingdom and the promise of the Holy Spirit. The latter comes into focus in the next chapter, but for this first chapter, kingdom takes center stage.

Here is our definition of kingdom:

God’s people, in God’s place, under God’s rule - through a King (Graeme Goldsworthy).

There’s always a people. There’s always a place. And there’s always a rule. If you don’t have any one of those three, you don’t really have a kingdom.

Curious, isn’t it. If you had 40 days with the disciples before leaving their physical presence, what topic would you choose? Would it have been “kingdom”? Christ reaches for the very essence of who he is and what he has accomplished. This subject of kingdom doesn’t merely reach back to the early days of his ministry, or his cousin John the Baptist’s for that matter: repent for the kingdom of heaven is at hand. No, this reaches back to the very Messianic nature of the Incarnation.

This reaches back to the very earliest of those grand promises, and indeed back to the garden. The gardenic mandate that had been forsaken in the fall was for man to have “dominion” over the earthly kingdom of God… and it isn’t long before Joseph, the boy with a coat of many colors, is having dreams about a “ruler” to which all the other heavenly bodies will bow and then his father Jacob is prophesying that a scepter will come from his son Judah’s line. They all know there is a coming king. And this messianic ruler is then tied to David and Solomon… the House of David is promised a kingdom and a king whose rule and reign is FOREVER.

The BIG Question

Kingdom is a running theme through Acts all the way to the last chapter. Is it any wonder then, with kingdom being a central theme of Christ’s message and life work, that the storyline in the book of Acts that continues what Christ began to do and teach swings on a question about the kingdom?

The disciples ask a question and Luke uses this question to set up the entire book:

Acts 1:6 When the disciples had come together, they asked him, “Lord, are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time?”

If Jesus is all about kingdom, then before you go, one last time, we want to know… are you restoring the kingdom to Israel at this time? We want to crack the history code. We want to know what’s in the tea leaves. Are we going to see the overthrow of Rome now? Are you going to sit on David’s throne in Jerusalem now, once for forever? if there was ever a moment I’d like to see the look on Jesus’ face it would be this moment. Here’s his answer:

Acts 1:7 Jesus said to his disciples, “It is not for you to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority.”

Stop trying to crack the history code. Stop trying to figure out when it’s all going to end. Stop it with your charts and your timelines. Stop with your codes and formulas. It’s not up to you to know any of this. The disciples are with Jesus for 3 years and they still don’t get it. This isn’t the Jesus they expected. This is the same mistake made by the disciples on the road to Emmaus in Luke 24 on the day of Jesus resurrection. Those 2 guys were very disappointed that Jesus had died.. they thought that Jesus was supposed to overthrow Rome and set up his kingdom. And here the disciples are making the same mistake. But Jesus tells them to stop trying to figure it out…

In fact, stop expecting that kind of kingdom. That’s the kind of kingdom politicians and dictators want. A kingdom of earthly power. But setting up a rule on earth the way they’re looking for isn’t on his agenda. Their presumptions are all wrong. They’re misunderstanding not only the nature of Jesus’ work, but His message and their mission.

Jesus says, “Stop with the code cracking already.”

That was the problem in 1844. That’s was the problem in 1981. that was the problem in 2011. That’s not the way we’re supposed to be reading our Bibles. Those who read the Bible that way have Jesus all wrong. Even trying to connect current events to so-called codes and formulas and verse in the Bible runs counter to what Jesus is telling the disciples here. The Bible is not a manual for figuring out events at the end of time. It’s not for us to know times or periods that the Father has set by his own authority. However…

Their question sets up the book of Acts because Jesus does go on to answer their question and he does so in a manner that I’m sure left them shocked. Verse 8 is the answer to what they think they are really after:

Acts 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come on you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Here’s the kingdom: Jerusalem, Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth. Where you will be my witnesses. Don’t miss the significance of the English word “but” at the beginning of verse 8. That word points to the subtle rebuke and contrast Christ makes between his answer and their expectations. The disciples were still thinking way too small in terms of the scope of the kingdom, and too politically in terms of the nature of the kingdom. This kingdom is not what they thought it was supposed to be. They ask a question in terms of a nation and land. Christ answers with a different kind of nation, a different kind of land, and a different kind of kingdom, a kingdom that will eventually expand to fill the entire earth. Acts 1:8 is the answer to their question.

Jesus Christ, their Good Shepherd even to the end, is reorienting their hearts and their eyes of faith to that which cannot be seen, a kingdom that is not of this world. If there were any doubts among the disciples about the nature and scope of Christ’s kingdom and his message, he erases them with his final kingdom boundary marker: to the end of the earth.

Understanding the Book of Acts

As we think about the book of Acts and our Bible Binge, there are some things to think about from this one verse. Here’s a helpful graphic that shows us what the book of Acts is about from Acts 1:8. (And we’re not going to cover all of these today).

These concentric circles are the places mentioned, and the gospel of Jesus is going to move from the center outward. You’ll see here that the Table is at the end of the earth.

I just want you to notice that the story of Acts is moving from Jerusalem, where the disciples are in Acts 1 and 2 to the end of the earth, which is Rome in Acts 28.

Here’s how Acts 1:8 helps us understand the Book of Acts:

This verse is a template for the book of Acts.

This verse shows us what the kingdom looks like.

This verse shows us what history looks like.

This verse is a promise.

This verse is our key to understanding the book of Acts. What we find as we continue to read is the movement of Christ’s kingdom through His church from Jerusalem to the end of the earth. The book follows the mission of the church from Jerusalem to all the church planting efforts in the region around Jerusalem and then Samaria and pretty soon we see the church taking the message of Jesus to places all over what is now eastern Europe and then finally to Rome. That’s the story of the book of Acts.

But there’s also this. This verse is showing us a different kind of kingdom, a kingdom where Jesus is moving through Word and Sacrament to the ends of the earth. His kingdom is not of this world. It’s not about political power. It’s about the power of the Spirit moving wherever the Gospel is preached and the Sacraments are administered.

This then is a different kind of history. Instead of trying the crack the history code, the disciples are promised a different kind of history, one that is laid out for them from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth. It won’t be easy. It comes with suffering and persecution. And it’s all about the proclamation of Jesus and the forgiveness of sins.

And finally, this verse is a promise. Too often, this verse is preached as if it is a command. And that’s how I heard it growing up. There is no command verb here. Instead you have YOU WILL. That’s not prediction language. That’s promise language. Jesus is promising to use his disciples to spread His story from Jerusalem to the end of the earth.

So we have this. This is what the concentric circles of Acts 1:8 look like for us:

Acts 1:8 is a Promise:

A promise that you will go to who you know (Jerusalem).

A promise that you will go to where you know (Judea).

A promise that you will go to those you know but don’t like (Samaria).

A promise that you will go to those you don’t know and who aren’t like you (the ends of the earth).

Here, then, is how the promise is moving from The Table to the end of the earth:

We don’t have to spend our time trying to crack the history code. We already know what the history is and will be for us. We have his promise, just like his disciples, that he will use us to be witnesses of His story to our neighbors. To our families. To our friends. To Los Fresnos. To the world.

Part of our problem with the amount of time that we spend trying to predict history from the Bible is that we are not satisfied with Jesus. We want a kingdom that we can control. We like the power that Pilate and the world’s influencers and leaders offer. And we reinterpret the Bible through the lens of kingdoms of this world. We want to know what can’t be known or should be known instead of what we have been given: everything we need to know in Jesus. The revealed Jesus who loves us. Forgives us. That’s our message.

Jesus’ kingdom is not of this world. The story of Acts is the story of what Jesus continues to do through us right here, right now… as his Kingdom that gathers around His promise in His Word and sacrament.

Let’s pray.

The Table

Jesus promised that his kingdom would go to the ends of the earth. And here it is. You want to see His kingdom? You want to see Jesus ruling and reigning? It’s right here. At this Table. In His body and in His blood. FOR YOU.

Benediction

Numbers 6:24–26

May the Lord bless you and protect you;

may the Lord make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;

may the Lord look with favor on you and give you peace.