ISB ~ Acts 1 v8

power … Spirit … come upon:These terms also appear together in Lk 1:35, showing that the same Spirit who brought forth Christ in the womb of Mary is about to bring forth the Church in the world.

• The wording of this promise is inspired by Is 32:15.

witnesses:That is, to the dying and rising of Jesus (1:22; 2:32; 3:15; 5:32; 10:41). The word translates the Greek martys, from which the English term “martyr” is derived. All the disciples in Acts witness to Christ with their words and life, while Stephen and James offer the testimony of a martyr’s death (7:58-60; 12:1-2; CCC 857, 995).

See word study:Witnessesat Rev 11.

• The witness motif comes from Isaiah, where the people of the covenant proclaim Yahweh as the God and Savior of all nations (Is 43:10-13; 44:8). This

missionary vocation of Israel to enlighten the world with the truth is now the mission of the Church (13:47). Jerusalem … Samaria … end of the earth: A thumbnail sketch of Acts: the gospel seizes Jerusalem (chaps. 1-7), spreads to Judea and Samaria (chaps. 8-12), and then stretches throughout the Roman Empire (chaps. 13-28).

• The outer limits of the mission recall Isaiah’s vision of salvation reaching the ends of the earth (Is 45:22; 48:20; 49:6; 62:11). Although writers in Jewish and pagan antiquity equated the outer rim of the world with the Atlantic coast of Spain, here the expression “end of the earth” signifies that the scope of the mission is unlimited rather than bound within geographical borders.