To the Ends of the Earth

Luke, a Gentile, is writing this book that is the story of the work of the Holy Spirit through the apostles. Luke also wrote the Gospel of Luke. He is the only Gentile writer, as far as we know, in the New Testament.

Luke records these words of Jesus. He is deeply grateful that the saving grace of God extends beyond the Jewish community to his own people and to all other peoples.

Every Person is Dear to God:

"In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach." — Acts 1:1

Theophilus—“lover of God” or “dear to God,” as one commentator suggested. The name could be taken either with God as the lover or the one being loved. If we go with the former, and I think we should, then Theophilus would designate someone whom God loves.

• It was a practice at that time to address your book to someone. Luke is probably addressing a prominent person who is interested in faith in Christ. He is explaining to Theophilus—and to us—about what Jesus taught and did and how the apostles carried the gospel to the ends of the earth.
• This was a common name. Luke is addressing the one named “dear to God.” Could that possibly be a name symbolic of all the people of the earth? I think it could. I think we are all Theophilus, in a way, “dear to God,” as the name could be translated.
• Every person who hears or reads this book should feel addressed personally as the one who is dear to God.

We see Jesus in this moment, wrapping up his teaching to the apostles. He instructs them specifically and says that they will be his witnesses to the ends of the earth.

Jesus in his glorified body, liberated from the limitations of time and space, knows the name of every person in the world, past, present, and future. This is how I understand the quality of divine omniscience. So when Jesus talks about Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth, he is talking about people whom he knows.

And he loves them all. God’s love of all of our neighbors is the reason the command, “Love your neighbor” has such moral authority. If God did not love our neighbors, we would feel no compulsion to love them ourselves.

Every person is dear to God.

Every Person Needs to Know:

Jesus is likely delivering these last instructions in or near Jerusalem. They may at the last be gathered on the Mount of Olives. This is where the beautiful Church of the Ascension is located.

Jesus is living out his parable of the lost sheep. If the Good Shepherd has one sheep that is out of the fold, he will leave the 99 and go searching for that one whom he loves.

Jesus is emphatic, insistent, that his disciples, these simple men from around the Sea of Galilee, should now deploy outward from Jerusalem, sharing the news everywhere about his death and resurrection.

This is a recurring theme of the Lord both before and after his Resurrection. This is how the Kingdom of God will spread. 

• Luke says Jesus “spoke about the kingdom of God” (Acts 1:3). This was the theme of the teaching of Jesus during the 40 days between the resurrection and his ascension.
• The “kingdom” being restored to Israel is the question in the minds of the disciples as they near the conclusion of these 40 days. The kingdom of God was always larger than Israel or its kingdom. 

Jesus taught and proclaimed the coming of the Kingdom of God. The disciples taught and proclaimed the coming of the King, Jesus himself. Thus, Acts 28:30-31 summarizes the relationship between the two in Paul’s teaching: "For two whole years Paul stayed there in his own rented house and welcomed all who came to see him. He proclaimed the kingdom of God and taught about the Lord Jesus Christ—with all boldness and without hindrance!"

Also Paul spoke the Jewish leaders in Rome in Acts 28:23: "They arranged to meet Paul on a certain day, and came in even larger numbers to the place where he was staying. He witnessed to them from morning till evening, explaining about the kingdom of God, and from the Law of Moses and from the Prophets he tried to persuade them about Jesus."

From beginning to end the Acts of the Apostles through the power of the Holy Spirit connect the kingdom of God and the person and work of Christ. The kingdom of God is all about what Jesus began to do and to teach.

Every Witness Needs This Power:

The disciples anticipated that they might have ruling authority in a renewed kingdom of Israel. They wanted to be on the right and left of that earthly throne when Israel became glorious as a nation and Jesus, Son of David, took his throne.

Jesus puts off the question about the timing of Israel’s restoration as a kingdom. It is not for you to know. Jesus is inviting them again, and all of us, to see the Kingdom of God spiritually rather than Geographically. The promises made to Abraham are reinterpreted as spiritual benefits for all nations of the earth.

The “ends of the earth” is the outer ring in four concentric circles beginning where their feet are planted at that moment: “The ends of the earth.”  ἐσχάτου τῆς γῆς

Eschatou is “last in time or place.” But the word geis is definitely geographical—about the earth and land. So Jesus is telling them that they will be his witnesses to the very extremities of the earth.

• I was visiting with someone yesterday who loves to get in his RV and travel through the countryside. We know that Gene and Alice have that same love. And I love it too. All of my trips as a boy in my family or origin and as a man with my own family I have kept my nose on the window, watching the amazing sights go by. I truly love it.

When Jesus sees all of these amazing places, he is thinking of the people there. They are the most beautiful part of every scene to him. He enjoys the mountains and deserts and forests and oceans, I am sure. But not nearly so much as seeing the faces and hearing the voices of those who are dear to him.

They must be dear to us as well, for they are dear to Jesus and dear to the Father. If we love him, we will love them. And loving them, we will seek to bear witness to God’s grace.

And so Jesus insists that those first disciples, along with us, receive the presence and empowerment of the Holy Spirit before we assume the task of witnessing. 

The Holy Spirit is given so that we might exalt the Savior and proclaim the gospel in power.