on their understanding of chapter 1—and their understanding of chapter 1 on their understanding of verse 6. For that reason, a proper understanding of this verse is extremely important. Oi` me.n ou=n sunelqo,ntej hvrw,twn auvto.n le,gontej\ ku,rie, eiv evn tw|/ cro,nw| tou,tw| avpokaqista,neij th.n basilei,an tw|/ VIsrah,lÈ So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Almost every word of the apostles’ question raises a cluster of new questions for the reader. The four main concepts—Lord, restoration, kingdom, and Israel—are rich with theological meaning for the Bible reader, but they are also controversial and much debated. Let’s begin with the interpretation of this verse that is probably still the most common. This interpretation begins with the claim that the eleven could only have been thinking of earthly kingdoms when they used the word kingdom. The use of Israel also shows that the disciples are thinking in human, earthly, ethnic, and political categories. What other possibility is there at this point in the story? Restoration would recall Israel’s golden period, perhaps the recent Maccabean kingdom, but more likely the glorious days of King David. Putting all of these pieces together gives us a picture something like this: The eleven have shown throughout Jesus’s earthly ministry that they do not understand who Jesus really is, why he has come, and what he is going to, rather, now has accomplished. Although they acknowledge him as their Lord, their hopes are still tied to this earth and to the past. They still cannot even imagine the future God has in store for them. Realizing that Jesus’s time with them is ending, they anticipate that this will be the time he will restore Israel’s earthly glory and political power. He will make them a strong nation, like they were under David. As a strong nation, they will carry out his will and accomplish his purposes in the world. In short, they still don’t “get it.” But thanks be to God! The Holy Spirit will soon come upon them, correct their mistaken thinking, fill them with power, and send them out into the world to proclaim the gospel. John Calvin said concerning the disciples’ question in verse 6: “There are as many errors in this question as words,”22 but such an assessment creates some real problems for the careful reader of Luke’s writings. And the most serious of them all becomes clear when we “read backwards” from Acts into Luke. Luke has connected his two books in such a way that the reader is reminded of what has happened earlier in the story. He creates an overlapping section that connects the two books. Television shows do the same thing when they begin a new episode with a flashback to what happened “previously.” In Acts 1:1, Luke repeats the same sort of dedication to Theophilus that
Oschwald, The Word of the Lord Grew...
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