The passage
      v6-7. The disciples dream of the day when the nation of Israel will be reestablished as it was in the days of Solomon. They dream of themselves as the chief executives in the new kingdom, cf. Mk.10:35ff. Yet, the future state of the nation Israel is not their worry. It remains in the sovereign will of God, cf. Mk.13:32. In fact, Jesus is non committal over Israel's future, although he knows only too well that things are about to be put right; Israel will soon be judged. As for the timing of that coming day, it is not for the disciples to know. Their focus must be on a spiritual kingdom "not of this world".
      v8. The special task given the apostles by Christ is to proclaim the gospel, the message of God's sovereign grace in Christ. Christ's kingdom is realized when this message is proclaimed, heard, and acted on in repentance. They must proclaim this message from Jerusalem to the ends of the earth (for Luke this probably means Rome). To carry on this work, the work Christ himself was engaged in, they will be "anointed" as Christ was anointed. They will receive an empowering of the Holy Spirit to enable them to carry out the work of witness-bearing.
      v9. A cloud surrounds Jesus and he disappears from the apostles' sight. The cloud may have moved upward, or just dissolved. This event establishes the celebration of Ascension in the Church Year (40 days after Easter). Although we celebrate Christ's entry into glory and the taking up of his heavenly reign, in reality his resurrection establishes his rule at the right hand of the Father. Christ rises to reign in glory. His appearances to the disciples over the last 40 days are best described as theophanies - manifestations of divine glory. This last appearance in a cloud is a reminder of the transfiguration and represents the Shekhinah-glory - the sign of God's presence.
      v10. The disciples naturally look upward for Jesus, seeing he was leaving the earth. When the cloud clears, two angelic messengers stand before them. "Dressed in white", "in dazzling apparel", Lk.24:4, is the usual fashion statement for angelic visitors.
      v11. The angels, following their prime directive, convey a message to the disciples. Jesus now leaves in cloud and glory; in like manner he will return. He will come back as he went - in the same resurrection body, in the cloud of the Shekhinah-glory, or even possibly mysteriously in sign only. What of his coming back? Is this his Second Coming or the coming of the Holy Spirit? Either way, the disciples will experience his presence through the Holy Spirit. His present glorious reign will energize his people through the filling of the Holy Spirit. He "ascended far above all the heavens, that he might fill all things", Eph.4:10. The apostles hurry back to Jerusalem to wait for the promised anointing.

Servants of the glorious King
      Luke's message is simple enough. Christ now reigns in glory and will return one day. Meanwhile, his disciples must communicate the truth of his heavenly reign to all. In this task Christ will stand with us.
      Like the disciples, it's very easy to become focused on irrelevant issues, theological or otherwise. The disciples were still interested in the restoration of the kingdom of Israel. Little did they know that the political state of Israel was about to succumb to Roman power. The days and seasons of coming events were not something the disciples needed to worry about. Matters of churchmanship, denominational doctrines, social justice issues, church growth, church/state relations...... and the like, all pale before a far greater purpose. For Jesus, that purpose is witnessing. His disciples are witnesses of his life, death, resurrection, and now, his ascension.
      There is a sense where the gospels, Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, are examples of this witness. They tell the story of the Christ; they proclaim him saviour and Lord. This then is the task of the disciple, to testify to Jesus, to proclaim the gospel - the good news of God's free and complete acceptance available through Christ to all who ask. We have the honour of carrying this message to our broken world. There will be times when we can do it personally, but most often we will do it in the support of our local church and its outreach programs, missionary societies, the Bible Society, and the like. We must be ready, willing and able to speak for Jesus, and work to support others in this task.
      It is important to add that the disciples were not left to undertake this task in their own power. "You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you", then "you will be my witnesses." Of course, it's very easy to make the mistake that because the apostles received some particular blessing from God, it is therefore, a blessing for all believers. None-the-less, the gift of the Spirit is clearly a blessing for all believers, and there is little doubt that He supports us in our daily walk. We may not be equipped with a gift of ministry like evangelism, that is, we may not be specially endowed with that particular gift, but we are all supported in the business of testimony. Under the sovereign will of God, our words, direct or indirect, will find appropriate soil. Like the sower, we need only sow.

v7
      uJmwn pro. gen. "for you" - of you. Possessive genitive. "The times, or dates, are not your concern."
      gnwnai (ginwskw) aor. inf. "to know" - Epexegetic infinitive explaining the content of what they need not possess, namely, a concern for the times or dates. Of course, it could also be treated as the subject of the main verb, here the verb to-be; "to know the times or dates is not for you to know." It is not for the disciples to know the time-frame for God's setting things right. Jesus doesn't address their limited understanding of the kingdom. They look for the restoration of Israel, but God will set things right by judging the kingdom of Israel in the destruction of Jerusalem.
      cronouV h kairouV "times or dates" - The distinction between these two times is hard to draw, possibly an interval of time, duration, as compared to a point of time, punctiliar. So, "the ages" and "the periods by which these ages may be marked", Milligan. Probably a bit overdefined, so, "you don't need to know the times of these events", CEV.
      eqeto (tiqhmi) "has set" - has set, put, placed / appointed, made. The sense "placed" under the authority of the Father seems best; "the Father has reserved for his own decision", Barrett.

v8
      dunamin (iV ewV) "power" - power, strength, authority. Possibly "authority", but more likely divine strength to complete a divine task, here being "witnesses." The Holy Spirit is the facilitator of this power.
      epelqontoV (epercomai) aor. part. "when [the Holy Spirit] comes" - having come upon. The participle probably forming a temporal clause, as NIV.
      ef "on [you]" - upon, on, at, to. Nothing specific is intended with the use of this preposition other than to express the truth that they will be "clothed with heavenly power", Bruce.
      mou pro. gen. "my [witnesses]" - Probably a possessive genitive, as NIV, but possibly an objective genitive, "you will be witnesses for me."
      martureV (uV uroV) "witness" - a person who bears witness of events which they know about, although not necessarily having experienced them personally. Only the disciples can testify to the historicity and meaning of Jesus' life, death, resurrection and ascension, and it is on their testimony that we base our own.
      en "in [all Judea]" - Not found in some manuscripts.
      eJwV "to" - until. "Until at last it reaches Rome", Bruce.
      escatou neu. adj. "end" - last. The sense of "last" may imply Rome rather than the extremities of the known world. Obviously not masculine, "the last man." Luke's eschatology might have motivated the choice of this word. All things come to an end at Rome. None-the-less, today we would say something like, "and everywhere in the world", CEV.

v9
      eipwn (eidon) aor. part. "after he said [this]" - having said [these things]. The participle probably forms a temporal clause as NIV, while the tense expresses punctiliar action; Jesus has finished speaking.
      ephrqh (epairw) aor. pas. "he was taken up" - Possibly a divine passive, where the passive implies that God is the agent of the action. The verb may be descriptive of a literal "lifted up", or may just be indicating the destination of Jesus; he is being taken to heaven. The Superman style "up, up, and away" is unlikely. It is likely that at the conclusion of Jesus' words he is surrounded by the Shechinah-glory, which then drifts from the disciples sight as Jesus is taken from them.
      blepontwn autwn "before their very eyes" - looking they. Genitive absolute (part. + pro., both gen.), usually translated as an independent temporal clause. "On saying this he was lifted up while they looked on", Moffatt.
      nefelh "cloud" - the image of a cloud serves to illustrate the presence of the divine. It images the Shechinah-glory, at times manifested in Solomon's temple.
      upelaben (upolambanw) aor. "hid" - took up, lifted up / replied / supposed. Often taken to mean "received", as NIV, although that is not the sense of this compound verb. Movement needs to be conveyed, so "took him from their sight", NJB.

v10
      wJV "-" - as, while. Temporal; it was "while" they were gazing at the sky.
      atenizonteV hsan "they were looking intently" - gazed. Periphrastic imperfect. Here, a continued gazing with fixed eyes. "While they were still gazing up into the sky", Barclay.
      poreuomenou autou "as he was going" - going he. Genitive absolute, best expressed as a temporal clause, as NIV. "As he went away", Barclay.
      kai idou "when suddenly" - and behold. Expressing an immediate unexpected action, "but just then", Moffatt.
      en esqhsesi (hs htoV ... esqhti) "dressed in white" - in clothing [white]. The identification of the clothing serves to cue us to their supernatural origin, ie. they are angels.