A short Introduction to The Book of Acts tells us about “Acts” and “Actors” in “God’s Big Movie”. Four Number 1s tell us how important Acts 1:1–11 is! The first named “Actor” is “Theophilus”, whose name means “loved by God”. He symbolizes all of us “actors” for whom The Book of Acts is written. The second “actor” is the somewhat anonymous author who wrote the first “Acts” in God’s Big Movie. “I” is St. Luke, (“bringer of light”).
The third “Actor” mentioned is “Jesus”. The fourth is “The Holy Spirit”. The fifth Actors are “The Apostles”. The final “Actor” is The Creator of the Stage, which we now see stretches out for 15 trillion light-years in every direction; “God, The Holy Trinity”. The stage is set! Now, we better understand Acts 1:1-11 and all that has followed in the past 2,000 years:
“In the first book, Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught until the day He was taken up, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.
He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after He had suffered, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God.”
Jesus told His Chosen Stars in God’s Big Movie not to leave the stage God had set in Jerusalem: “While meeting with them, He enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for ‘the promise of the Father about which you have heard Me speak; for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with The Holy Spirit.'”
Then, The Apostles wanted to get Directions from The Risen Lord: “When they had gathered together, they asked Him, ‘Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?’ He answered them, ‘It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by His own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.’”
How does this Scene of The First Act end? “When He had said this, as they were looking on, He was lifted up, and a cloud took Him from their sight. While they were looking intently at the sky as He was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them. They said, “Men of Galilee, why are you standing there looking at the sky? This Jesus who has been taken up from you into Heaven will return in the same way as you have seen Him going into Heaven.”
Every Catholic has a question about Acts 1:1-11! “Who are those mysterious ‘two men dressed in white garments'”? A possible answer: “Melchizedek, who had certified God’s Word to Abraham, and Moses who followed it.”
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