The Fifth Sunday of Epiphany
Acts 1:1-18
Fr. Oliver Robinson
Acts 1:1-18
Fr. Oliver Robinson
In our reading today from Acts 1, we see the beginning of one of the most exciting parts of the Churches’ history. As one Bible translator describes, the Book of Acts:
"Where, within eighty pages, will be found such a varied series of exciting events— trials, riots, persecutions, escapes, martyrdoms, voyages, shipwrecks, rescues—set in that amazing panorama of the ancient world—Jerusalem, Antioch, Philippi, Corinth, Athens, Ephesus, Rome? And with such scenery and settings—temples, courts, prisons, deserts, ships, barracks, theaters? Has any opera such variety? A bewildering range of scenes and actions (and of speeches) passes before the eye of the historian. And in all of them, he sees the providential hand that has made and guided this great movement for the salvation of mankind."
(E.J Goodspeed, translator of the NT)
The Book of Acts is a thrilling rollercoaster ride of suspense, intrigue, and the fragile birth of the Church itself into the world. I would like to draw your attention to the very first lines.
“In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach” (Acts 1:1)
Before the story even begins, there are some important questions to establish:
Who is Luke? Who is his friend, Theophilus? What exactly is this book we are about to read?
Luke himself:
At the end of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, Paul sends greetings from people known to the church and mentions Luke by name:
“Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings.” (Colossians 4:14)
Luke, then, was a physician by profession.
Paul also refers to Luke as a close ministry partner in Philemon:
“Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.” (Philemon 23–24)
Later, writing from prison in his second letter to Timothy, Paul notes Luke’s remarkable loyalty:
“Only Luke is with me.” (2 Timothy 4:11)
All three of these references come from letters Paul wrote while in prison, suggesting that Luke was a deeply loyal friend to Paul.
Across these letters, Luke appears as a trusted companion, co-worker, and faithful presence—remaining with Paul even when others had left. That picture fits well with how Luke presents events in Acts. In fact, we know that Luke travelled with Paul because in Acts, he tells us so. In Acts 16:10, Luke’s language suddenly changes from “they” to “we”:
“After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia…” (Acts 16:10)
The same thing happens again later:
“These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. But we sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread…” (Acts 20:5–6)
And during Paul’s journey to Rome, Luke writes:
“We took such a violent battering from the storm… When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.” (Acts 27:18–20)
Luke is not only telling the story—at key moments, he is part of it. He is an eyewitness to many of the events he records, and that adds significant credibility to his account.
The early church on who Luke is:
Early church tradition identifies Luke as being from Antioch in Syria, modern-day Antakya, Turkey. At the time, Antioch was the third-largest city in the Roman Empire, after Rome and Alexandria. It was a major cultural and commercial center with a large Jewish population and became one of the most important cities in the growth of early Christianity. If Luke was from Antioch, this strongly suggests he was a Gentile—raised in a Greco-Roman city, yet deeply familiar with Jewish Scripture and culture. Many scholars believe Luke must have had a strong interest in Judaism, given his extensive knowledge of the Old Testament.
His writing
Luke is responsible for Luke’s Gospel and the Book of Acts, which together make up roughly one quarter of the New Testament. By sheer volume, he is the largest single human contributor to the New Testament.
He is clearly well-educated and a gifted writer, producing some of the most refined Greek in the New Testament. And there is virtually unanimous scholarly agreement—across both conservative and critical scholarship—that the same author wrote both Luke and Acts.
So in summary:
Luke was a physician, a close companion of the Apostle Paul, and a remarkably loyal friend. He travelled with Paul on his missionary journeys and remained with him even during imprisonment, when others had left. Luke was not only a careful researcher but also an eyewitness to many of the events he records in Acts.
Likely a Gentile from Antioch, one of the great cities of the Roman world, Luke was well educated, deeply familiar with the Scriptures of Israel, and skilled in writing. Together, his Gospel and the Book of Acts make up about a quarter of the New Testament.
Luke writes not as a distant observer or a collector of legends, but as a careful, credible witness—someone who knew the people, walked the roads, and saw the gospel advance firsthand.
But there is another character here in these verses, who also deserves our attention:
Theophilus
The person the books are addressed to ‘Most Excellent Theophilus,’ and frankly, we just don’t know very much about him at all.
You have probably heard that the name ‘Theophilus’ means ‘one who loves God.’ So in a theological sense, Luke is addressing his Gospel and the Book of Acts, to you, me, and anyone who professes to love God. And in a sense this is true. God crafted every single word of this text, breathed it through the inspiration of its human authors, and knows that we, Grace Anglican, along with millions of other Christians throughout the world, will be reading this particular text on this particular Sunday morning.
That being said, you may be surprised to hear that most likely, Theophilus was a real historical person. It’s true that we don’t know much about him (we know fairly little about Luke!). But there are some things we can glean from the text: In the opening of his Gospel, Luke addresses his writing to ‘Most Excellent Theophilus.” Now at first this sounds like a nice way to address a friend, but in the rest of Acts, this phrase is used specifically when addressing someone high up in Roman social status. In the rest of Acts, the characters address high-ranking Roman officials in the same way: The Roman Governor of Judea, Felix, is always given the same honorific ‘Excellent’ (Acts 23:26 and 24:2). And we see in Acts 26, in Paul’s speech to Agrippa and Festus that we looked at a few weeks ago, Paul says: "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words.” (Acts 26:5)
So this title is a clue: Theophilus may well have been a high-ranking Roman of some description.
There are also other theories about who Theophilus may have been.
God wrote them, knowing every moment, every second you spend reading them, and ordered them for you in this time.
So: we know a little of Luke, the Doctor, Companion of Paul, and a well-educated and researched chronicler of the events of Christ’s life and the Early Church of the Apostles. We know less of Theophilus but we know that he was important to Luke, and interested in these historical events. And we know that God knew that we would be reading this passage this morning, and crafted it in the knowledge that you would be reading it today, at this point in your lives, with all that’s going on for you.
We are that Church
The Book of Acts chronicles the growth of the Church from a small Jewish messianic movement into an established religion in the Greco-Roman World—spread across peoples, cultures, and nations. And now, that same mantle has been handed to us.
Where the Book of Acts ends, we carry on the story ourselves, across the world as Christians, and in the NW suburbs as Grace Anglican.
We are that same church today, thousands of years later. The same church as in the book of Acts.
The Book of Acts is YOUR history, YOUR heritage, and describes WHO WE ARE.
So let me ask you this: If Luke were writing about you—chronicling your life, collecting and arranging the stories of how the Holy Spirit has worked through you—what kind of story would he write?
What would be the defining episodes of your life, the moments where Christ’s work through you becomes clear? How has His Church been safeguarded, upheld, or protected by your faithfulness?
You may not have stood before emperors, slept through storms at sea, delivered grand speeches, been publicly beaten, run for your life, been imprisoned for your faith, or performed miracles—though I suppose it’s still possible; (I’m still getting to know some of you...!) But you may have spoken up for truth and justice and faced opposition. You may have humbled yourself so that Christ’s light could shine more clearly.
You may have a past you have turned away from—just like Paul.
And what about the moments yet to come? What are the chapters still waiting to be written?
Your story is not over. There is still time to write it well.
For all of us, no matter how much time we have left, have a place, a role, and a calling to follow Him.
What is that calling?
We know that we are all called to certain things. There are shared themes—common words—that appear in every one of our stories. We are called:
Perhaps you know exactly what God is calling you to next. Perhaps you feel as if there's too much going on right now. Or perhaps you feel as if you have no idea what this next episode will be.
It might be
Can you imagine for a moment what things would be like if every single one of us at Grace Anglican knew exactly what God was calling us to in this season? Can you imagine what the world would be like if Christians globally were known for the things like that which took place in the Book of Acts?
The world would be a very different place indeed.
In our time of silence, think, pray, and listen to God’s voice. He has a plan for your next chapter in your book, and I believe He wants to speak to us today.
"Where, within eighty pages, will be found such a varied series of exciting events— trials, riots, persecutions, escapes, martyrdoms, voyages, shipwrecks, rescues—set in that amazing panorama of the ancient world—Jerusalem, Antioch, Philippi, Corinth, Athens, Ephesus, Rome? And with such scenery and settings—temples, courts, prisons, deserts, ships, barracks, theaters? Has any opera such variety? A bewildering range of scenes and actions (and of speeches) passes before the eye of the historian. And in all of them, he sees the providential hand that has made and guided this great movement for the salvation of mankind."
(E.J Goodspeed, translator of the NT)
The Book of Acts is a thrilling rollercoaster ride of suspense, intrigue, and the fragile birth of the Church itself into the world. I would like to draw your attention to the very first lines.
“In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach” (Acts 1:1)
Before the story even begins, there are some important questions to establish:
Who is Luke? Who is his friend, Theophilus? What exactly is this book we are about to read?
Luke himself:
At the end of Paul’s letter to the Colossians, Paul sends greetings from people known to the church and mentions Luke by name:
“Our dear friend Luke, the doctor, and Demas send greetings.” (Colossians 4:14)
Luke, then, was a physician by profession.
Paul also refers to Luke as a close ministry partner in Philemon:
“Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends you greetings. And so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers.” (Philemon 23–24)
Later, writing from prison in his second letter to Timothy, Paul notes Luke’s remarkable loyalty:
“Only Luke is with me.” (2 Timothy 4:11)
All three of these references come from letters Paul wrote while in prison, suggesting that Luke was a deeply loyal friend to Paul.
Across these letters, Luke appears as a trusted companion, co-worker, and faithful presence—remaining with Paul even when others had left. That picture fits well with how Luke presents events in Acts. In fact, we know that Luke travelled with Paul because in Acts, he tells us so. In Acts 16:10, Luke’s language suddenly changes from “they” to “we”:
“After Paul had seen the vision, we got ready at once to leave for Macedonia…” (Acts 16:10)
The same thing happens again later:
“These men went on ahead and waited for us at Troas. But we sailed from Philippi after the Festival of Unleavened Bread…” (Acts 20:5–6)
And during Paul’s journey to Rome, Luke writes:
“We took such a violent battering from the storm… When neither sun nor stars appeared for many days and the storm continued raging, we finally gave up all hope of being saved.” (Acts 27:18–20)
Luke is not only telling the story—at key moments, he is part of it. He is an eyewitness to many of the events he records, and that adds significant credibility to his account.
The early church on who Luke is:
Early church tradition identifies Luke as being from Antioch in Syria, modern-day Antakya, Turkey. At the time, Antioch was the third-largest city in the Roman Empire, after Rome and Alexandria. It was a major cultural and commercial center with a large Jewish population and became one of the most important cities in the growth of early Christianity. If Luke was from Antioch, this strongly suggests he was a Gentile—raised in a Greco-Roman city, yet deeply familiar with Jewish Scripture and culture. Many scholars believe Luke must have had a strong interest in Judaism, given his extensive knowledge of the Old Testament.
His writing
Luke is responsible for Luke’s Gospel and the Book of Acts, which together make up roughly one quarter of the New Testament. By sheer volume, he is the largest single human contributor to the New Testament.
He is clearly well-educated and a gifted writer, producing some of the most refined Greek in the New Testament. And there is virtually unanimous scholarly agreement—across both conservative and critical scholarship—that the same author wrote both Luke and Acts.
So in summary:
Luke was a physician, a close companion of the Apostle Paul, and a remarkably loyal friend. He travelled with Paul on his missionary journeys and remained with him even during imprisonment, when others had left. Luke was not only a careful researcher but also an eyewitness to many of the events he records in Acts.
Likely a Gentile from Antioch, one of the great cities of the Roman world, Luke was well educated, deeply familiar with the Scriptures of Israel, and skilled in writing. Together, his Gospel and the Book of Acts make up about a quarter of the New Testament.
Luke writes not as a distant observer or a collector of legends, but as a careful, credible witness—someone who knew the people, walked the roads, and saw the gospel advance firsthand.
But there is another character here in these verses, who also deserves our attention:
Theophilus
The person the books are addressed to ‘Most Excellent Theophilus,’ and frankly, we just don’t know very much about him at all.
You have probably heard that the name ‘Theophilus’ means ‘one who loves God.’ So in a theological sense, Luke is addressing his Gospel and the Book of Acts, to you, me, and anyone who professes to love God. And in a sense this is true. God crafted every single word of this text, breathed it through the inspiration of its human authors, and knows that we, Grace Anglican, along with millions of other Christians throughout the world, will be reading this particular text on this particular Sunday morning.
That being said, you may be surprised to hear that most likely, Theophilus was a real historical person. It’s true that we don’t know much about him (we know fairly little about Luke!). But there are some things we can glean from the text: In the opening of his Gospel, Luke addresses his writing to ‘Most Excellent Theophilus.” Now at first this sounds like a nice way to address a friend, but in the rest of Acts, this phrase is used specifically when addressing someone high up in Roman social status. In the rest of Acts, the characters address high-ranking Roman officials in the same way: The Roman Governor of Judea, Felix, is always given the same honorific ‘Excellent’ (Acts 23:26 and 24:2). And we see in Acts 26, in Paul’s speech to Agrippa and Festus that we looked at a few weeks ago, Paul says: "I am not out of my mind, most excellent Festus, but I am speaking true and rational words.” (Acts 26:5)
So this title is a clue: Theophilus may well have been a high-ranking Roman of some description.
There are also other theories about who Theophilus may have been.
- Some note that in Antioch—Luke’s own city—a second-century leader is known by the name Theophilus. It has been suggested that this man may have been Luke’s benefactor, helping to fund the writing of Luke and Acts.
- Others point out that there were two Jewish High Priests named Theophilus around this period, raising the possibility of a connection there.
- Another theory suggests that Theophilus may have been the Roman legal advocate who defended Paul during his trial in Rome, and that Luke–Acts functions, at least in part, as a reasoned defense of Paul—and of Christianity itself—against the charge of being an illegal or subversive religion.
God wrote them, knowing every moment, every second you spend reading them, and ordered them for you in this time.
So: we know a little of Luke, the Doctor, Companion of Paul, and a well-educated and researched chronicler of the events of Christ’s life and the Early Church of the Apostles. We know less of Theophilus but we know that he was important to Luke, and interested in these historical events. And we know that God knew that we would be reading this passage this morning, and crafted it in the knowledge that you would be reading it today, at this point in your lives, with all that’s going on for you.
We are that Church
The Book of Acts chronicles the growth of the Church from a small Jewish messianic movement into an established religion in the Greco-Roman World—spread across peoples, cultures, and nations. And now, that same mantle has been handed to us.
Where the Book of Acts ends, we carry on the story ourselves, across the world as Christians, and in the NW suburbs as Grace Anglican.
We are that same church today, thousands of years later. The same church as in the book of Acts.
The Book of Acts is YOUR history, YOUR heritage, and describes WHO WE ARE.
- We, the Church, who have survived persecution from Pharisees and Jewish priests in the first century.
- We survived Roman occupation and the systematic attempt of the Empire to destroy us.
Our people stood before the crowds in the Coliseum and walked willingly to their deaths for the sake of Christ. - We survived the fall of Rome and the invasion of barbarians as the empire people once thought immortal empire crumbled to dust around us.
We preserved the light of Western civilization in monasteries and on parchment.
We raised up nations under God, and we survived, wars, toil, and famine. - We lived through the enlightenment and the growing encroachment of secularism and atheism who told us they signaled our end.
So let me ask you this: If Luke were writing about you—chronicling your life, collecting and arranging the stories of how the Holy Spirit has worked through you—what kind of story would he write?
What would be the defining episodes of your life, the moments where Christ’s work through you becomes clear? How has His Church been safeguarded, upheld, or protected by your faithfulness?
You may not have stood before emperors, slept through storms at sea, delivered grand speeches, been publicly beaten, run for your life, been imprisoned for your faith, or performed miracles—though I suppose it’s still possible; (I’m still getting to know some of you...!) But you may have spoken up for truth and justice and faced opposition. You may have humbled yourself so that Christ’s light could shine more clearly.
You may have a past you have turned away from—just like Paul.
And what about the moments yet to come? What are the chapters still waiting to be written?
Your story is not over. There is still time to write it well.
For all of us, no matter how much time we have left, have a place, a role, and a calling to follow Him.
What is that calling?
We know that we are all called to certain things. There are shared themes—common words—that appear in every one of our stories. We are called:
- To belong to Christ
- To grow into His image
- To live a holy life
- To love God and our neighbor
- To bear witness to the gospel
- To make disciples
- To bear the fruit of the Spirit
- To live as light and salt in the world
- To use the spiritual gifts God has given us
- To serve God’s Church
- To minister to your particular spouse and your particular children
- To be good and honest in the roles God has given you in your home and your place of work.
- To speak truth in the places and structures where God has put you
- To spend your retirement well—not simply in rest, but in renewed earnestness for the sake of the gospel
- That Christ will come again in glory
- The resurrection of the dead
- The life of the world to come
Perhaps you know exactly what God is calling you to next. Perhaps you feel as if there's too much going on right now. Or perhaps you feel as if you have no idea what this next episode will be.
It might be
- Evangelism
- Involvement in a Ministry
- Care for the poor
- Visiting the sick
- Caring for those in prison
- Standing firm against the religion of this secular age
- Or something else new and unique to you
Can you imagine for a moment what things would be like if every single one of us at Grace Anglican knew exactly what God was calling us to in this season? Can you imagine what the world would be like if Christians globally were known for the things like that which took place in the Book of Acts?
The world would be a very different place indeed.
In our time of silence, think, pray, and listen to God’s voice. He has a plan for your next chapter in your book, and I believe He wants to speak to us today.
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