Part Two . . . A Continuation . . .

Indian or Bollywood movies are usually long, lasting over two hours. They’ll be shown in two halves in theaters, with an intermission for people to use the bathrooms and buy snacks.

Luke’s writings (the Gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles) are the most extended literature in the New Testament. They are longer than all thirteen of Paul’s letters combined! Luke has 24 chapters, or 1151 verses, with 25,640 words, while Acts has 28 chapters, or 1007 verses, with 24,229 words. In total, Luke-Acts is nearly 50,000 words long!

It would have been too large to transport and read as a single volume in a scroll or codex (book) format. So, Luke divided it into two sections, which early churches named the “Gospel according to Luke” and “Acts of the Apostles.”

Scholars debate whether the “Luke” mentioned thrice in Paul’s letters (Col 4:14; 2 Tim 4:11; Phlm 1:24) wrote these documents. For this devotional series, we’ll refer to him as Luke.

The opening sentence shows the connection between Luke-Acts (I’ve retained the Greek word order):

“The first word I made concerning everything, O Theophilus, which Jesus began to do and to teach, i.e., commanding the apostles through the Holy Spirit, until the day he was taken up.” (Acts 1:1–2).

The Gospel of Luke describes Jesus’s life and teachings (by the Spirit) until his ascension. The ascension itself was recorded in verse 9: “After saying this, while they were watching, he was lifted, and a cloud hid him from their eyes.”

Between these verses, Luke summarizes what happened during Jesus's forty days on earth after his resurrection and before his ascension (1:3–8). In other words, Luke 24:50–53 and Acts 1:3–8 overlap, as if two clothes are stitched together with overlapping materials.

Luke 24:50–53

Acts 1:3–8

He led them to Bethany, lifted his hands, and blessed them. While blessing, he separated himself and was taken up into the heavens. They worshipped him and returned to Jerusalem, greatly rejoicing. They entered the temple praising God.

With many signs and for forty days, he appeared to them, presented himself as living after his suffering, and spoke about God’s kingdom. While eating with them in Jerusalem, he commanded them not to depart but to wait for the promise of the Father, which they heard from him—John baptized them with water, but he would baptize them with the Holy Spirit after a few days from then. All who gathered asked him, “Lord, Will you restore Israel’s kingdom in this hour?” He said, “It is not for you to know the time and hour God had appointed by his authority. Instead, you’ll receive power by the coming of the Holy Spirit upon you, and you’ll be my witnesses in Jerusalem, all of Judea, Samaria, and until the last of the earth.” After saying these, he was taken up while they were seeing, and a cloud hid him from their eyes.

As this chart shows, between the time Jesus blessed the disciples and ascended to heaven, there were forty days in which he repeatedly showed his human presence by eating with them and other evidence. Whatever doubts they would have had about his bodily resurrection would have disappeared. No wonder they were such strong witnesses until their martyrdom.

Our faith isn’t blind; it’s based on the historical fact of a resurrected Lord. That’s why we are not fools but wise to believe in the resurrected Lord.