Acts 1:1-5
Jesus Rose from His Death and Began to Teach His Disciples Again
1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God. 4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. 5 For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”
St. Luke wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen...After His suffering and death, He rose from His death...Jesus presented Himself to them and gave many convincing proofs that He was still alive...He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God after His death...On one occasion, while He was eating with them, He gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift My Father promised, which you have heard Me speak about...For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”...
Jesus had died on the cross for our sins suffering from being beaten, rose from His death, and now He is our Savior...
Author and Romanian Priest Richard Wurmbrand writes: “An Orthodox priest, a friend of mine, telephoned me and told me that a Russian officer had come to him to confess...My friend did not know Russian...However, knowing that I speak Russian, he had given him my address...The next day this man came to see me...He longed for God, but he had never seen a Bible...He had no religious education and never attended religious services (churches in Russia then were very scarce)...He loved God without the slightest knowledge of Him...I read to him the Sermon on the Mount and the parables of Jesus...After hearing them, he danced around the room in rapturous joy proclaiming, “What a wonderful beauty!...How could I live without knowing this Christ!”...It was the first time that I saw someone so joyful in Christ...Then I made a mistake...I read to him the passion and crucifixion of Christ, without having prepared him for this...He had not expected it and, when he heard how Christ was beaten, how He was crucified and that in the end He died, he fell into an armchair and began to weep bitterly...He had believed in a Savior and now his Savior was dead!...I looked at him and was ashamed...I had called myself a Christian, a pastor, and a teacher of others, but I had never shared the sufferings of Christ as this Russian officer now shared them...Looking at him, it was like seeing Mary Magdalene weeping at the foot of the cross, faithfully weeping when Jesus was a corpse in the tomb...Then I read to him the story of the resurrection and watched his expression change...He had not known that his Savior arose from the tomb...When he heard this wonderful news, he beat his knees and swore—using very dirty, but very “holy” profanity...This was his crude manner of speech...Again he rejoiced, shouting for joy, “He is alive!...He is alive!.”...He danced around the room once more, overwhelmed with happiness!...I said to him, “Let us pray!”...He did not know how to pray...He did not know our “holy” phrases...He fell on his knees together with me and his words of prayer were: “Oh God, what a fine Chap You are!...If I were You and You were me, I would never have forgiven You of Your sins...But You are really a very nice Chap!...I love You with all of my heart.”...I think that all the angels in heaven stopped what they were doing to listen to this sublime prayer from a Russian officer...The man had been won for Christ!”...