Acts 1
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
I. The Preparation for the Christian Mission
Chapter 1[a]
The Promise of the Spirit. 1 In the first book,(A) Theophilus, I dealt with all that Jesus did and taught 2 until the day he was taken up, after giving instructions through the holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen.(B) 3 He presented himself alive to them by many proofs after he had suffered, appearing to them during forty days[b] and speaking about the kingdom of God.(C) 4 While meeting with them, he enjoined them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father[c] about which you have heard me speak;(D) 5 for John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the holy Spirit.”(E)
The Ascension of Jesus. 6 When they had gathered together they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going[d] to restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 [e]He answered them,(F) “It is not for you to know the times or seasons that the Father has established by his own authority. 8 [f]But you will receive power when the holy Spirit comes upon you,(G) and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 When he had said this, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him from their sight.(H) 10 While they were looking intently at the sky as he was going, suddenly two men dressed in white garments stood beside them.(I) 11 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.”(J) 12 (K)Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a sabbath day’s journey away.
The First Community in Jerusalem. 13 When they entered the city they went to the upper room where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. 14 All these devoted themselves with one accord to prayer, together with some women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.(L)
The Choice of Judas’s Successor. 15 During those days Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers (there was a group of about one hundred and twenty persons in the one place). He said, 16 “My brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled which the holy Spirit spoke beforehand through the mouth of David, concerning Judas, who was the guide for those who arrested Jesus.(M) 17 He was numbered among us and was allotted a share in this ministry. 18 (N)He bought a parcel of land with the wages of his iniquity, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his insides spilled out.[g] 19 This became known to everyone who lived in Jerusalem, so that the parcel of land was called in their language ‘Akeldama,’ that is, Field of Blood. 20 For it is written in the Book of Psalms:
‘Let his encampment become desolate,
and may no one dwell in it.’
And:
‘May another take his office.’(O)
21 Therefore, it is necessary that one of the men who accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus came and went among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day on which he was taken up from us, become with us a witness to his resurrection.”(P) 23 So they proposed two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also known as Justus, and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen 25 to take the place in this apostolic ministry from which Judas turned away to go to his own place.” 26 [h](Q)Then they gave lots to them, and the lot fell upon Matthias, and he was counted with the eleven apostles.
Footnotes
- 1:1–26 This introductory material (Acts 1:1–2) connects Acts with the Gospel of Luke, shows that the apostles were instructed by the risen Jesus (Acts 1:3–5), points out that the parousia or second coming in glory of Jesus will occur as certainly as his ascension occurred (Acts 1:6–11), and lists the members of the Twelve, stressing their role as a body of divinely mandated witnesses to his life, teaching, and resurrection (Acts 1:12–26).
- 1:3 Appearing to them during forty days: Luke considered especially sacred the interval in which the appearances and instructions of the risen Jesus occurred and expressed it therefore in terms of the sacred number forty (cf. Dt 8:2). In his gospel, however, Luke connects the ascension of Jesus with the resurrection by describing the ascension on Easter Sunday evening (Lk 24:50–53). What should probably be understood as one event (resurrection, glorification, ascension, sending of the Spirit—the paschal mystery) has been historicized by Luke when he writes of a visible ascension of Jesus after forty days and the descent of the Spirit at Pentecost. For Luke, the ascension marks the end of the appearances of Jesus except for the extraordinary appearance to Paul. With regard to Luke’s understanding of salvation history, the ascension also marks the end of the time of Jesus (Lk 24:50–53) and signals the beginning of the time of the church.
- 1:4 The promise of the Father: the holy Spirit, as is clear from the next verse. This gift of the Spirit was first promised in Jesus’ final instructions to his chosen witnesses in Luke’s gospel (Lk 24:49) and formed part of the continuing instructions of the risen Jesus on the kingdom of God, of which Luke speaks in Acts 1:3.
- 1:6 The question of the disciples implies that in believing Jesus to be the Christ (see note on Lk 2:11) they had expected him to be a political leader who would restore self-rule to Israel during his historical ministry. When this had not taken place, they ask if it is to take place at this time, the period of the church.
- 1:7 This verse echoes the tradition that the precise time of the parousia is not revealed to human beings; cf. Mk 13:32; 1 Thes 5:1–3.
- 1:8 Just as Jerusalem was the city of destiny in the Gospel of Luke (the place where salvation was accomplished), so here at the beginning of Acts, Jerusalem occupies a central position. It is the starting point for the mission of the Christian disciples to “the ends of the earth,” the place where the apostles were situated and the doctrinal focal point in the early days of the community (Acts 15:2, 6). The ends of the earth: for Luke, this means Rome.
- 1:18 Luke records a popular tradition about the death of Judas that differs from the one in Mt 27:5, according to which Judas hanged himself. Here, although the text is not certain, Judas is depicted as purchasing a piece of property with the betrayal money and being killed on it in a fall.
- 1:26 The need to replace Judas was probably dictated by the symbolism of the number twelve, recalling the twelve tribes of Israel. This symbolism also indicates that for Luke (see Lk 22:30) the Christian church is a reconstituted Israel.
Gawa 1
Ang Salita ng Diyos
Si Jesus ay Umakyat sa Langit
1 O Teofilo, ako ay sumulat ng unang salaysay patungkol sa lahat ng sinimulang ginawa at itinuro ni Jesus.
2 Siya ay gumawa at nagturo hanggang sa araw na siya ay dinala paitaas. Nangyari ito pagkatapos niyang magbigay, sa pamamagitan ng Banal na Espiritu, ng mga utos sa mga apostol na kaniyang pinili. 3 Pagkatapos ng kaniyang paghihirap, nagpakita rin siyang buhay sa kanila sa pamamagitan ng maraming katibayan. Siya ay nakita nila sa loob ng apatnapung araw at nagsalita siya ng mga bagay patungkol sa paghahari ng Diyos. 4 Sa pakikipagtipon niya sa kanila, siya ay nag-utos sa kanila: Huwag kayong umalis sa Jerusalem, sa halip ay hintayin ninyo ang pangako ng Ama na inyong narinig mula sa akin. 5 Ito ay sapagkat totoong si Juan ay nagbawtismo sa tubig ngunit kayo ay babawtismuhan sa Banal na Espiritu ilang araw pa mula ngayon.
6 Nang sila nga ay nagkatipun-tipon, nagtanong sila sa kaniya: Panginoon, ibabalik mo bang muli ang paghahari sa Israel sa panahong ito?
7 Sinabi niya sa kanila: May oras o mga panahon na inilagay ng Ama sa sarili niyang kapamahalaan. Ang pagkaalam sa mga ito ay hindi para sa inyo. 8 Subalit tatanggap kayo ng kapangyarihan kapag dumating na sa inyo ang Banal na Espiritu. Kayo ay magiging mga patotoo sa akin sa Jerusalem, sa buong Judea, sa Samaria at sa pinakamalayong bahagi ng lupa.
9 Pagkasabi niya ng mga bagay na ito, habang sila ay nakamasid, siya ay dinala paitaas. At ikinubli siya ng isang ulap sa kanilang paningin.
10 Nang nakatitig sila, habang siya ay pumapaitaas, narito, dalawang lalaki na nakaputing damit ang tumayo sa tabi nila. 11 Sinabi ng dalawang lalaki: Kayong mga lalaking taga-Galilea, bakit kayo nakatayo at nakatitig sa langit? Itong si Jesus na dinala sa langit mula sa inyo ay babalik din katulad ng pagpunta niya sa langit na inyong nakita.
Pinili si Matias Bilang Kapalit ni Judas
12 Pagkatapos nito, sila ay bumalik sa Jerusalem mula sa bundok na tinatawag na mga puno ng Olibo, na malapit sa Jerusalem. Ito ay lakbaying makakaya sa isang araw ng Sabat.
13 At nang makapasok na sila, umakyat sila sa silid sa itaas. Doon nanunuluyan sina Pedro, Santiago, Juan, Andres, Felipe, Tomas, Bartolomeo, Mateo at Santiago na anak ni Alfeo. Gayundin si Simon na Makabayan at si Judas na kapatid ni Santiago. 14 Silang lahat ay matatag na nagpatuloy na nagkakaisa sa pananalangin at paghiling. Kasama nila ang mga babae at si Maria na ina ni Jesus. Kasama rin nila ang mga lalaking kapatid ni Jesus.
15 At sa mga araw na iyon, si Pedro ay tumindig sa kalagitnaan ng mga alagad. Ang bilang ng pangalan ng mga nagtipon ay halos isangdaan at dalawampu. 16 Sinabi niya: Mga kapatid, kinakailangang maganap ang kasulatang ito na sinabi ng Banal na Espiritu sa pamamagitan ng bibig ni David. Ito ay ang patungkol kay Judas na naging gabay ng mga dumakip kay Jesus. 17 Ito ay sapagkat siya ay napabilang sa atin at nagkaroon ng bahagi sa paglilingkod na ito.
18 Ang lalaking ito ay bumili ng isang parang mula sa kabayaran ng kalikuan. Doon ay bumagsak siya na nauna ang ulo. Bumuka ang kaniyang katawan at sumambulat ang lahat ng kaniyang bituka. 19 Ito ay nalaman ng lahat ng mga naninirahan sa Jerusalem. Sa ganito tinawag ang parang na iyon sa kanilang wika na Akeldama. Ang kahulugan nito ay parang ng dugo.
20 Ito ay sapagkat sinasabi ng kasulatan sa aklat ng mga Awit:
Hayaang ang kaniyang tahanan ay maging mapanglaw. Huwag patirahin ang sinuman doon. Hayaang kunin ng iba ang kaniyang pamamahala.
21 Kaya nga, kinakailangang pumili tayo sa mga lalaking nakasama sa buong panahon na ang Panginoong Jesus ay pumaparoon at pumaparitong kasama natin. 22 Kailangang nakasama natin siya mula sa pagbabawtismo ni Juan hanggang sa araw na siya ay dinala paitaas mula sa atin. Pipiliin natin ang isa sa kanila upang maging kasama nating tagapagpatotoo patungkol sa kaniyang pagkabuhay na mag-uli.
23 At nagmungkahi sila ng dalawa, si Jose na tinatawag na Barsabas na ang palayaw ay Justo, at si Matias. 24 Nanalangin sila at nagsabi: Ikaw Panginoon ang nakakaalam ng mga puso ng lahat. Ipakita mo kung sino sa dalawang ito ang iyong pinili. 25 Ipakita mo kung sino ang tatanggap ng bahagi ng paglilingkod na ito at ng pagka-apostol na kung saan si Judas ay sumalangsang. Nangyari ito upang siya ay pumaroon sa dakong karapat-dapat sa kaniya. 26 Sila ay nagpalabunutan at si Matias ang napili. Siya ay ibinilang sa labing-isang apostol.
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