Acts of the Apostles 2

I'm going to continue the theme from my previous post: a perspective shift, when reading Acts. Looking at the following verses, as an example:

Acts 1:9-11

9.	And after He had said these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received Him out of their sight.
10.	And as they were gazing intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing stood beside them.
11.	They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven, will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."

Upon first glance of this I would think that the 'return' mentioned here is no doubt referencing the second coming of Jesus. (Maybe you would have read it the same way? Let me know! Maybe I'm the only crazy one). After some studying, though, that seems less likely.

The trick here, seems to rest in the two visiting 'men'. Where have we seen this before? A couple of places:


Luke 24:4-7

4.	While they were perplexed about this, behold, two men suddenly stood near them in dazzling clothing;
5.	and as the women were terrified and bowed their faces to the ground, the men said to them, "Why do you seek the living One among the dead?
6.	"He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee,
7.	saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again."

Luke 9:28-32

28.	Some eight days after these sayings, He took along Peter and John and James, and went up on the mountain to pray.
29.	And while He was praying, the appearance of His face became different, and His clothing became white and gleaming.
30.	And behold, two men were talking with Him; and they were Moses and Elijah,
31.	who, appearing in glory, were speaking of His departure which He was about to accomplish at Jerusalem.
32.	Now Peter and his companions had been overcome with sleep; but when they were fully awake, they saw His glory and the two men standing with Him.

(NASB)

It is widely held that Luke is the author of both Luke and Acts. He is therefore undoubtedly drawing parallels between these three events, and even suggesting that the two men are the same characters. Any good author would know that if he had three accounts that mirrored each other in so many ways, but the coincidence was not intentional, he would indeed have to mention how they delineate.

Based on this argument lets take it that Acts 1:10 is meant to suggest Moses and Elijah. So the next question would be "What do Moses and Elijah signify, that they were included in this way?" One of the reasons for asking this, is that Luke is so succinct in describing this event; this event that must have been glorious or at the very least frightful. He must be relying on his readers' immediate connection and knowledge of Moses and Elijah. One that I do not readily draw upon, and one that I'll save for the next post.