1In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, 2until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. 3He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.

4And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; 5for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” (ESV)

‘Of the original quartet of writers on Jesus, Luke alone continues to tell the story as the apostles and disciples live it into the next generation. The remarkable thing is that it continues to be essentially the same story. Luke continues his narration with hardly a break, a pause perhaps to dip his pen in the inkwell, writing in the same style, using the same vocabulary.

The story of Jesus doesn’t end with Jesus. It continues in the lives of those who believe in him.’ Eugene Peterson

When Luke writes that in his first volume he ”dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach”, his implication surely is that volume 2 is the story of Jesus continuing to do and teach. The ministry is still Christ’s, but He carries it out through His church. David Pawson, the eminent Bible teacher, put it like this: he said, at the Ascension Jesus switched bodies. In the gospel, we see Him moving towards Jerusalem in a physical body; in the ‘Acts’ we find Him moving out from Jerusalem in a spiritual body, the church.

In the book of ‘Acts’ there is an emphasis on the Person and Work of the Holy Spirit from the outset (2,5.8). In the gospel, Luke has a number of repeated themes. The Holy Spirit is one of them. (Prayer is another, and we’ll get to that great topic further on in the chapter). But here is another point of continuity between the gospel and ‘Acts’. What Jesus was enabled to do in the power of the Spirit, the church is now called and equpped to do in the power of that self-same Spirit. ‘The supernatural does not stop with Jesus.’ Peterson

As I read verse 3 again the other evening, I was impressed by the thought that, still today, encountering the risen Lord personally is the greatest evidence for the resurrection. ‘You ask me how I know He lives? He lives within my heart.’ I like the answer of the man who was challenged, ‘How do you know Jesus is alive?’ ‘Oh’, he replied, ‘I was talking with Him just five minutes ago!’