Theme: The crucified and risen Jesus has ascended to the Father. His disciples are to wait for empowerment from the promised Holy Spirit.

COMMENTARY

Lesson 1: Acts 1:1-11 (C, RC, E)
The Gospel of Luke and the Book of Acts are the only two books in the Bible addressed to an individual (Theophilus). In this introduction, Luke informs Theophilus that he is taking up where his gospel ended. The Gospel of Luke concludes with the witness to the resurrected Christ and Acts begins by putting to a close this forty-day string of appearances. The disciples are still anticipating a kind of earthly reign (v. 6) but Jesus tells them not to be concerned with God's chronology but to wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, which would empower them for witness to the world. Having said this, he rose out…