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NASB (UPDATED) TEXT: Act_1:6-11
6So when they had come together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom to Israel?" 7He said to them, "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority; 8but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth." 9And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them. 11They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."
Act_1:6 "they were asking Him" This imperfect tense means either repeated action in past time or the initiation of an act. Apparently these disciples had asked this many times.
▣ "Lord" The Greek term "Lord" (kurios) can be used in a general sense or in a developed theological sense. It can mean "mister," "sir," "master," "owner," "husband" or "the full God-man" (cf. Joh_9:36; Joh_9:38). The OT (Hebrew, adon) usage of this term came from the Jews' reluctance to pronounce the covenant name for God, YHWH, which was a form of the Hebrew verb "to be" (cf. Exo_3:14). They were afraid of breaking the Commandment which said, "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" (cf. Exo_20:7; Deu_5:11). Therefore, they thought if they did not pronounce it, they could not take it in vain. So, they substituted the Hebrew word adon, which had a similar meaning to the Greek word kurios (Lord). The NT authors used this term to describe the full deity of Christ. The phrase "Jesus is Lord" was the public confession of faith and a baptismal formula of the early church (cf. Rom_10:9-13; 1Co_12:3; Php_2:11).
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▣ "is it at this time You are restoring the kingdom of Israel" They still had a totally Jewish nationalistic perspective (cf. Psa_14:7; Jer_33:7; Hos_6:11; Luk_19:11; Luk_24:21). They possibly even were asking about their administrative positions.
This theological question still causes much controversy. I want to include here a part of my commentary on Revelation (see hyperlink ) which discusses this very issue.
"The OT prophets predict a restoration of a Jewish kingdom in Palestine centered in Jerusalem where all the nations of the earth gather to praise and serve a Davidic ruler, but the NT Apostles never focus on this agenda. Is not the OT inspired (cf. Mat_5:17-19)? Have the NT authors omitted crucial end-time events?
There are several sources of information about the end of the world:
1. OT prophets
2. OT apocalyptic writers (cf. Ezekiel 37-39; Daniel 7-12)
3. intertestamental, non-canonical Jewish apocalyptic writers (like I Enoch)
4. Jesus Himself (cf. Matthew 24; Mark 13; Luke 21)
5. the writings of Paul (cf. 1 Corinthians 15; 2 Corinthians 5; 1 Thessalonians 4; 2 Thessalonians 2)
6. the writings of John (the book of Revelation).
Do these all clearly teach an end-time agenda (events, chronology, persons)? If not, why? Are they not all inspired (except the Jewish intertestamental writings)?
The Spirit revealed truths to the OT writers in terms and categories they could understand. However, through progressive revelation the Spirit has expanded these OT eschatological concepts to a universal scope (cf. Eph_2:11 to Eph_3:13). Here are some relevant examples:
1. The city of Jerusalem is used as a metaphor of the people of God (Zion) and is projected into the NT as a term expressing God's acceptance of all repentant, believing humans (the new Jerusalem of Revelation 20-22). The theological expansion of a literal, physical city into the people of God is foreshadowed in God's promise to redeem fallen mankind in Gen_3:15 before there even were any Jews or a Jewish capital city. Even Abraham's call (cf. Gen_12:3) involved the Gentiles.
2. In the OT the enemies are the surrounding nations of the Ancient Near East, but in the NT they have been expanded to all unbelieving, anti-God, Satanically-inspired people. The battle has moved from a geographical, regional conflict to a cosmic conflict.
3. The promise of a land which is so integral in the OT (the Patriarchal promises) has now become the whole earth. New Jerusalem comes to a recreated earth, not the Near East only or exclusively (cf. Revelation 20-22).
4. Some other examples of OT prophetic concepts being expanded are (1) the seed of Abraham is now the spiritually circumcised (cf. Rom_2:28-29); (2) the covenant people now include Gentiles (cf. Hos_1:9; Hos_2:23; Rom_9:24-26; also Lev_26:12; Exo_29:45; 2Co_6:16-18 and Exo_19:5; Deu_14:2; Tit_2:14); (3) the temple is now the local church (cf. 1Co_3:16) or the individual believer (cf. 1Co_6:19); and (4) even Israel and its characteristic descriptive phrases now refer to the whole people of God (cf. Gal_6:16; 1Pe_2:5; 1Pe_2:9-10; Rev_1:6)
The prophetic model has been fulfilled, expanded, and is now more inclusive. Jesus and the Apostolic writers do not present the end-time in the same way as the OT prophets (cf. Martin Wyngaarden, The Future of The Kingdom in Prophecy and Fulfillment). Modern interpreters who try to make the OT model literal or normative twist the Revelation into a very Jewish book and force meaning into atomized, ambiguous phrases of Jesus and Paul! The NT writers do not negate the OT prophets, but show their ultimate universal implication."
Act_1:7
NASB "It is not for you to know times or epochs which the Father has fixed by His own authority"
NKJV "It is not for you to know times or seasons"
NRSV "It is not for you to know the times or periods"
TEV "the times and occasions"
NJB "It is not for you to know times or dates"
The term "times" (chronos) means "eras" or "ages" (i.e., the passing of time), while the term "epochs" (kairos) means a "time of specific events or seasons" (cf. Tit_1:2-3). Louw and Nida: Greek-English Lexicon, says they are synonyms simply denoting duration of time (cf. 1Th_5:1). It is obvious that believers are not to try to set specific dates; even Jesus did not know the time of His return (cf. Mat_24:36; Mar_13:32). Believers can know the general season, but they are to remain ready and active for the actual event at all times (cf. Mat_24:32-33). The twin emphases of the NT about the Second Coming are to stay active and be ready. The rest is up to God!
Act_1:8 "but you will receive power" Notice that the coming of the Holy Spirit is linked to power and witness. Acts is about "witness" (i.e., martus). This theme dominates the book (cf. Act_1:8; Act_1:22; Act_2:32; Act_3:15; Act_5:32; Act_10:39; Act_10:41; Act_13:31; Act_22:15; Act_22:20; Act_26:16). The church has been given her assignment—witness to the gospel of Christ (cf. Luk_24:44-49)! The Apostles were witnesses of Jesus' life and teaching, now they were witnesses about His life and teaching. Effective witness occurs only by means of the Spirit's power.
It is interesting that The Jerome Biblical Commentary (p. 169) notes Luke's tendency to express a "delayed paraousia." Here is the quote.
"The Spirit is the substitute for the Parousia. This is the force of alla, 'but,' the conjunction that joins the two parts of Jesus' reply. The Spirit is the principle of continued Christian existence in a new era of sacred history, the era of the church and mission. These realities must take the place of an early Parousia as the focal point of Christian awareness. The Spirit in the Church is the Lucan answer to the problem of the delay of the Parousia and the continuance of history."
▣ "Jerusalem. . .Judea. . .Samaria. . .the remotest part of the earth" This is a geographical outline of Acts:
1. Jerusalem, Acts 1-7
2. Judea and Samaria, Acts 8-12
3. ends of the earth (i.e., Rome), Acts 13-28.
This outline may denote the author's literary structure and purpose. Christianity is not a sect of Judaism, but a worldwide movement of the one true God fulfilling His OT promises to restore rebellious mankind to fellowship with Himself (cf. Gen_12:3; Exo_19:5; Isa_2:2-4; Isa_56:7; Luk_19:46).
The phrase "the remotest part of the earth" is used again in Act_13:47, where it is a quote from Isa_49:6, a Messianic text which also mentions "a light to the nations." A Savior (cf. Gen_3:15) for the nations (cf. Gen_12:3; Exo_19:5-6; Isa_2:2-4) has always been God's plan.
The first Jewish leaders, knowing the Septuagint and the many prophetic promises of YHWH restoring Jerusalem, raising Jerusalem, bringing the world to Jerusalem, expected these to be literally fulfilled. They stayed in Jerusalem (cf. Act_8:1). But the gospel revolutionized and extended the OT concepts. The world-wide mandate (cf. Mat_28:18-20; Luk_24:47; Act_1:8) told believers to go into all the world, not wait for the world to come to them. Jerusalem of the NT is a metaphor for heaven (cf. Rev_21:2), not a city in Palestine.
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Act_1:9 "He was lifted up" This event is known as the Ascension. The resurrected Jesus is returned to His place of pre-existing glory (cf. Luk_24:50-51; Joh_6:22; Joh_20:17; Eph_4:10; 1Ti_3:16; Heb_4:14; and 1Pe_3:22). The unexpressed agent of the passive voice is the Father. See hyperlink at Act_1:2.
Notice the variety in the verb used to describe this ascension.
1. "taken up," Act_1:2 – aorist passive indicative
2. "lifted up," Act_1:9 – aorist passive indicative
3. "has been taken up," Act_1:11 (same verb as Act_1:2) – aorist passive participle
4. "was carried up into heaven," Luk_24:51 (textual variant) – imperfect passive indicative
See hyperlink at Act_1:2.
▣ "a cloud" Clouds were a significant eschatological marker. See Special Topic following.
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Act_1:10 "they were gazing intently" This is a periphrastic imperfect. They were continuing to strain hard to see Jesus as long as possible. Even after He had been lost from sight, they kept on looking.
This term is characteristic in Luke's writings (cf. Luk_4:20; Luk_22:56; Act_1:10; Act_3:4; Act_3:12; Act_6:15; Act_7:55; Act_10:4; Act_11:6; Act_13:9; Act_14:9; Act_23:1, found in the NT outside of Luke and Acts only twice, in 2 Corinthians 3). It implies "to look at intently," "to gaze upon," or "to fix one's eyes upon."
▣ "into the sky" The ancients believed heaven was up, but in our day of a fuller knowledge of the universe, up is relative. In Luk_24:31, Jesus vanished. This might be a better model for our culture. Heaven is not up and out there, but possibly another dimension of time and space. Heaven is not a direction, but a person!
▣ "two men in white clothing" The NT often identifies angels by their bright white clothing, (cf. Luk_24:4; Joh_20:12). Angels appeared at His birth, His temptation, in Gethsemane, at the tomb, and here at His ascension.
Act_1:11 "Men of Galilee" Several times in Acts Luke records the Galilean origins of the disciples (cf. Act_2:7; Act_13:31). All of the Twelve, except Judas Iscariot, were from Galilee. This area was looked down on by residents of Judea because it had a large Gentilepopulation and it was not as "kosher" (i.e., strict) in its performance of the Oral Traditions (Talmud).
One wonders if Luke structured this exchange to answer the later questions about the delayed Second coming. Christians should not focus on the Parousia but on service, evangelism, and missions!
▣ "Jesus. . .will come" Some theologians try to make a distinction between "Jesus" and "the Christ." These angels affirm that it is the Jesus who they knew who would return. The glorified, ascended Christ is still the glorified Jesus of Nazareth. He remains the God/man.
Jesus will come again as He left, on the clouds of heaven (See Special Topic at Act_1:9, cf. Mat_10:23; Mat_16:27; Mat_24:3; Mat_24:27; Mat_24:37; Mat_24:39; Mat_26:64; Mar_8:38-38; Mar_13:26; Luk_21:27; Joh_21:22; 1Co_15:23; 1Th_1:10; 1Th_4:16; 2Th_1:7; 2Th_1:10; 2Th_2:1; 2Th_2:8; Jas_5:7-8; 2Pe_1:16; 2Pe_3:4; 2Pe_3:12; 1Jn_2:28; Rev_1:7). The Second Coming of Jesus is a recurrent and major theme of the NT. One reason the gospel took so long to be put into written form was the early church's expectation of the very-soon return of Christ. His surprising delay, the dying of the Apostles, and the rise of heresies all finally prompted the church to record the life and teachings of Jesus in written form.