Acts 1:1 — Introduction (1:1-8)

Introduction (1:1–8)

Acts 1:1

τὸν μὲν πρῶτον λόγον ἐποιησάμην περὶ πάντων, ὦ Θεόφιλε, ὧν ἤρξατο ὁ Ἰησοῦς ποιεῖν τε καὶ διδάσκειν

1. Exegesis of the Text

ἤρξατο ("began") is in the aorist tense, marking an event at a single point in time. It points to the starting point of Jesus' earthly ministry.

By contrast, ποιεῖν τε καὶ διδάσκειν ("to do and to teach") is in the present tense, indicating an action that continues.

Taken together, the two tenses read like this: the beginning of the ministry happened at a single point, but the doing and teaching that began there does not stop — it continues. With the ascension of Jesus recorded at the end of Luke's Gospel, the history of the gospel did not come to an end. What began there was carried forward through the apostles, and today Jesus is still doing and teaching through us as well.

2. The Point the Text Gives Us

We tend to read Acts as centered on the apostles — what Peter did, what Paul did. But Luke corrects this way of reading from verse 1 onward. What Jesus began was carried out through the apostles, and today that same doing and teaching continues to be at work through us.