Book of Acts, Chapter 1, Verses 1-2 (continued)

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Book of Acts, Chapter 1, Verses 1-2

Acts 1:1 KJV. The former treatise (The same Greek word used in John 1:1, “In the beginning was the word and the word with God and the word was God.” The word is “logos” meaning a discourse) have I made, O Theophilus (lover of God), of all (many, or “the principle portion”) that Jesus began both to do and teach,

Acts 1:2 KJV. Until the day in which he was taken up, after that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto the apostles whom he had chosen:”

There’s More Theo, There’s More!

Theophilus had a good name – “lover of God.” Based on Luke sending a second writing to him, Theophilus was interested in what he had heard about Jesus. It is hard to imagine Luke sending a second such discourse – the book of Acts – to a person who had given no response to the earlier writing.

Theophilus, a lover of God and interested in the story of Jesus, is available to hear more and learn more. Every Luke is looking for a Theophilus; someone who desires to know more, a sponge absorbing the water of truth, rather than a rock.

Luke wanted Theophilus to know that the former treatise was “only the beginning.” There is a continuation of the doing and teaching. Further there is an expansion of the “doing and teaching.”

Perhaps we consider the era of the public ministry of Christ to be the highlight of the New Testament. The Lord Jesus did not see it that way. Jesus told His followers, “…it is expedient for you that I go away: for if I go not away, the Comforter will not come unto you…” (John 16:7).

Luke wanted Theophilus to realize that what had been written earlier (contained within the book of Luke) including the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ was only the beginning.

Don’t get stuck in first gear!

Began . . . a word that calls for a continuation. Luke was volume one of a saga that could not be contained in one writing. God’s approach is different, the tools being employed are different, but what He started has not concluded.

Consider how we use the word began:

• I began attending school on August 27, 1961.
• He began training to run a marathon last August.
• She began teaching school as soon as she graduated from college.

The word began creates an expectation. There is more to the story than attending school for one day, a single day of training to run the marathon or teaching school for a day.

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