Acts 1

Ac 1:1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach

Theophilus - The name means ‘dear to God’. Who was Theophilus? One suggestion is that the name designates the “Christian reader” in general, rather than any individual. But the honorific title “most excellent” {Lu 1:3} makes this unlikely. It is probable that he was an intelligent, middle-class Roman citizen whom Luke wished to win over from the negative opinion of Christianity which prevailed in Rome.

Ac 1:1-11 recapitulates (with greater detail) the events recorded in Lu 24:36-53.

All that Jesus began to do and to teach - The implication is that in Acts Luke writes about all that Jesus continued to do and to teach (through his Spirit and through his apostles). Acts, accordingly ‘is a continuation of the life of Christ. The Acts is but the history of Christ in his disciples. He it is who appoints the twelve witnesses, {Ac 1:24} who, after he has received the Spirit, sends him down on the Church, {Ac 2:33} who adds to his Church, {Ac 2:47} and is ever near his people, turning them away from their iniquities. {Ac 3:26} he it is who works miracles both of healing and destruction in testimony to his apostles’ preaching. {Ac 3:6,10,30,9:34,13:11,14:3,19:13} To Stephen he reveals himself standing at the right hand of God (7:55, 56). His angel speaks unto Philip, {Ac 8:26} and it was his Spirit that caught him away. {Ac 1:31} he appears to Saul. {Ac 19:5,27,22:8,26} his hand established the first Church among the Gentiles. {Ac 11:27} his angel delivers Peter, {Ac 12:7,11,17} and strikes the hostile Herod (12:23). He it is again who appears to Paul in the temple, and commits to him the conversion of the Gentiles. {Ac 22:17,21} To him the apostles and brethren address themselves on the occasion of the first mission to the Gentiles. {Ac 13:2 5:47} To him are the infant Churches commended. {Ac 14:23} his Spirit prevents the missionaries from preaching in Bithynia. {Ac 16:7} he calls them by the voice of the Man of Macedonia into Europe. {Ac 16:10} he opens the heart of Lydia, {Ac 16:14} comforts and encourages Paul at Corinth, {Ac 18:9,10} strengthens him in prison, and informs him of his journey to Rome. {Ac 23:11} These interventions of Jesus, so numerous, express, and decisive, are a sufficient warrant for our ascribing all to his influence, even in those instances when his name is not expressly mentioned.’ (Baumgarten, in The Biblical Illustrator)

Stott comments, ‘Luke’s first two verses are, therefore, extremely significant. it is no exaggeration to say that they set Christianity apart from all other religions. These regard their founder as having completed his ministry during his lifetime; Luke says that Jesus only began his. True, he finished the work of atonement, yet that end was also a beginning. For after his resurrection, ascension and gift of the Spirit he continued his work, first and foremost through the unique foundation ministry of his chosen apostles and subsequently through the post-apostolic church of every period and place. This, then, is the kind of Jesus Christ we believe in: he is both the historical Jesus who lived and the contemporary Jesus who lives. The Jesus of history began his ministry on earth; the Christ of glory has been active through his Spirit ever since, according to his promise to be with his people ‘always, to the end of the age’ {Mt 28:20}

Ac 1:2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen.

Instructions - especially the Great Commission, Mt 28:19 Mr 16:15-19.

The apostles - By this term, Luke usually means the Twelve.

Ac 1:3 After his suffering, he showed himself to these men and gave many convincing proofs that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

Many convincing proofs - examples of which had been given in Lk 24. As Flavel says, ‘we have testimonies of it both from heaven and earth.’ From heaven, the testimony of angels, Joh 20:14. From earth, the witness of honest eyewitnesses,

He…spoke to them about the kingdom of God - ‘The only things we know that Jesus said during the forty days between his resurrection and his ascension are those reported in Mt 28,Mr 16,Lu 24,Joh 20-21 and Acts 1. There were seven major items. (1) he confirmed that he really had raised from death. (2) he explained how he fulfilled the OT Scriptures, “the law of Moses, the prophets, and the psalms.” (3) he gave the great commission to preach the gospel to the whole world. (4) he promised that power would be sent from the Father. (5) he reinstated Peter so he would feed Jesus’ sheep. (6) he predicted the manner of Peter’s death. (7) he uttered various ordinary greetings in general conversation. What do these seven things teach us about the kingdom? From its beginning the church has accepted (3) as central to her mission. Her mouth was full of (1) and (2). At his ascension Jesus said (4) would be “in a few days.” {Ac 1:5} The special empowering events of Pentecost, recorded in Acts 2, were just ten days after his ascension. Peter certainly aligned his energies with the new Christian community in preaching the gospel and building up the church, (5) and (6). Ordinary greetings, (7), have nothing distinctive about the kingdom.’ (College Press Commentary on Heb 1:2)

He appeared to them over a period of forty days -

Ac 1:4 On one occasion, while he was eating with them, he gave them this command: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about.”

While he was eating with them – (lit. ‘took salt together’ – an idiom for table fellowship). This demonstrates both the physicality of Jesus appearances to his disciples (according to many Jewish traditions, angels did not eat human food) and also its intimacy.

“Wait for the gift my Father promised” – ‘There is no need for us to wait, as the one hundred and twenty had to wait, for the Spirit to come. For the Spirit did come on the day of Pentecost, and has never left his church. Our responsibility is to humble ourselves before his sovereign authority, to determine not to quench him, but to allow him his freedom. For then our churches will again manifest those marks of the Spirit’s presence, which many young people are specially looking for, namely biblical teaching, loving fellowship, living worship, and an ongoing, outgoing evangelism.’ (Stott)

Ac 1:5 “For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

“In a few days” – ‘The proofs of Jesus’ resurrection lasted for a period of forty days while he appeared to his disciples. Since Pentecost (2:1) occurred fifty days from the Sabbath of Passover week, we infer that the waiting period of 1:5 was ten days.’ (ECB)

Ac 1:6 So when they met together, they asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”

They asked him – better, ‘they were asking him,’ or, ‘they kept on asking him.’

‘This question was the most natural one for the disciples to ask Jesus. He had been talking about the kingdom (1:3), and the references to the outpouring of the Spirit in the Old Testament were all in the context of Israel’s restoration.’ {Isa 32:15 44:3 Eze 36:25-28 37:14 39:29 Joe 2:28-3:1} (IVP NT Background Commentary)

‘But such questions became them not. Theirs was to be work, not rest; suffering, not triumph. The great promise before them was of spiritual, not outward, power of the Holy Ghost-and their call not yet to reign with him, but to bear witness for him.’ (Edersheim)

And yet, ‘as Calvin commented, “there are as many errors in this question as words.” The verb, the noun and the adverb of their sentence all betray doctrinal confusion about the kingdom. For the verb “restore” shows that they were expecting a political and territorial kingdom; the noun “Israel” that they were expecting a national kingdom; and the adverbial clause “at this time” that they were expecting its immediate establishment. In his reply (vv7-8) Jesus corrected their mistaken notions of the kingdom’s nature, extent and arrival.’ (Stott)

Ac 1:7 he said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority.”

“It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set” – Mt 24:36.

‘If I were introduced into a room where a large number of parcels were stored up, and I was told that there was something good for me, I should begin to look for that which had my name upon it, and when I came upon a parcel and I saw in pretty big letters, “It is not for you,” I should leave it alone. Here, then, is a casket of knowledge marked, “It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power.” Cease to meddle with matters which are concealed, and be satisfied to know the things which are clearly revealed.’ (Spurgeon)

Ac 1:8 “But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

Although the time of Israel’s restoration was unknown, the responsibility of Christ’s disciples to engage in world-wide testimony was clear. This itself would be in fulfilment of prophecy, Isa 42:1,4,6 43:10-12 44:3,8.

This verse may be regarded as a summary of the Book of Acts. Summary statements throughout the book emphasise the spread of the gospel, Ac 6:7 9:31 12:24 16:5 19:20 28:31.

“You will receive power” – this is not physical, intellectual, or political power. It is spiritual power, a divine enabling for the work of spreading the gospel. This power is seen in the great transformation that occurred in the disciples and in the wonderful effectiveness of their work, as recorded in Acts.

This power will be seen in the supernatural ability to work miracles and preach effectively. {Ac 4:7-10,31,33 6:5,8 8:13}

‘Through the Holy Spirit the disciples will receive power to communicate. This power will make the witnesses clear and convincing and the listeners open and receptive, thus producing converts and genuine disciples.’ {Mt 28:19} (ECB)

“My witnessess in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth” – The latter phrase might have signified Rome (this was certainly the immediate goal so far as Acts was concerned). Some ancient texts used this expression to refer to Ethiopia (cf. 8:27). Ultimately, however, all peoples are meant (Ps 67:1,7 Isa 45:22 49:6 52:10; so Ac 13:47).

We have no right to neglect those closest to us (Jerusalem) or those furthest away (the ends of the earth).

‘Put yourself in the shoes of the apostles. How would you feel if you were the first to be given the task described in verse 8? We are indeed given the task of being Jesus’ witnesses throughout the world. The purpose of this question is to ‘feel’ the awesomeness of the task as first presented to the apostles…and for that awesomeness to penetrate us as we continue in the task.’

‘Today the unfinished task remains a formidable challenge. But it is possible to complete the task-to take the witness to the ends of the earth and plant a church in each unreached ethnic group. For the 1989 Lausanne II Congress on World Evangelization in Manila, David Barrett calculated that there remain twelve thousand distinct cultural groups (1.8 billion persons) that have no church in their language and culture (Lausanne Committee 1989:13-14).’ (IVP NT Commentary)

‘How are we equipped for this task, according to the passage?’

In our own day we have many advantages in achieving this goal. We have worldwide mobility, excellent education and training facilities, electronic and mass media. So what is holding us back in acomplishing our mission?

‘The series of Holy Spirit baptisms in the book of Acts does not teach the norm of a particular post-conversion experience. Rather Luke seems to follow his introductory outline of 1:8 in tracing how the gift of the Holy Spirit and the gospel is given first to believing Israel and then to all the nations through the witness bearing work of the Apostles.5 God pours out his Spirit in Acts 2 which came to the Jews1 living in Jerusalem, {Ac 2:5} to the Samaritans, {in Ac 8:4-17} and to the Gentiles (represented by Cornelius household, Acts 10).’ (Ken Ewart, U.Turn, http://www.u-turn.net/8-1/chartoref.shtml)

Ac 1:9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.

‘According to C. K. Barrett, Ac 1:9-11 may be based on tradition, but it is the tradition spawned by the theological conviction, expressed in terms of Ps 110:1, that Jesus after his death now reigns at God’s right hand in heaven (Barrett, 62).’ However, ‘This approach’s historical reconstruction reveals more about the constraints of its antisupernaturalist presuppositions than it does about what occurred.’ (DLNT)

He was taken up before their very eyes – ‘It is not for nothing that the cloud is said to have received him “out of their sight;” for lest it should be thought that he had simply disappeared while they were looking in some other direction, the historian emphatically says, it, was ‘while they were looking,’ or ‘gazing steadily’ atenizontes, that he was taken up, “and a cloud received him out of their sight.”‘ (JFB)

A cloud hid him from their sight – The cloud over the tabernacle {Ex 40:34 1Ki 8:10-11} and the one that led the Jews through the wilderness {Ex 13:21} symbolised the glory and presence of God with the people of Israel. Now Jesus is entering that same immediate presence of the Lord. He will be where God is (“heaven”).

‘Our mind is not able to ascend so high as to take a full view of the glory of Christ; therefore, let this cloud be a mean to restrain our boldness, as was the smoke which was continually before the door of the tabernacle in the time of the law.’ (Calvin)

‘That the disciples can no longer “see” Jesus indicates the times of Jesus’ physical appearances are ended. Now the crucified Christ, risen from the dead, has been “lifted up” and enters into his glory. He will no longer be visibly observed by his gathered community. Now a new relationship between Jesus and the company of believers is established. From now on Jesus will not be physically perceived but will be known through “what my Father has promised,” the “power from on high” {Lu 24:49, NRSV} -the promised Holy Spirit.’ {Ac 1:4-5}

Jesus departed, in C.S. Lewis’ words, ‘through a fold in space.’

It is tempting to wonder what Jesus was doing, and where he was, during the forty days between his resurrection and ascension when he was not actually in contact with his disciples. Lu 24:31, for example, describes him as ‘disappearing’ after his appearance to the two on the road to Emmaus. Some suggest that, in his resurrected body, his home was already in heaven, and the ascension was then simply the last of his returns to that abode.

‘Our Lord’s ascension into heaven was an important part of his ministry, for if he had not returned to the Father, he could not have sent the promised gift of the Holy Spirit. {Joh 16:5-15} Also, in heaven today, the Saviour is our interceding High Priest, giving us the grace that we need for life and service. {Heb 4:14-16} he is also our Advocate before the Father, forgiving us when we confess our sins. {1Jo 1:9-2:2} The exalted and glorified Head of the church is now working with his people on earth and helping them accomplish his purposes.’ {Mr 16:19-20} (Wiersbe)

Ac 1:10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them.

They were looking intently up into the sky – What were they thinking: “What next?;” “Has he gone for ever?”

As he was going – one can almost picture the scene, the action freeze-framed in these four words. Our Lord did not simply vanish out of sight. The realism of the situation is accentuated by the fact that the ascension took place in broad daylight.

Two men dressed in white – probably angels: see Lu 24:4, where the same description is used of angels.

Ac 1:11 “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen him go into heaven.”

‘The angels describe in simple terms what has just happened: Jesus has been taken up into heaven. The implications are unmistakable. Jesus will no longer be with the disciples in the way he was with them during his earthly ministry or in postresurrection appearances. In heaven Jesus is in a position of authority, at the Father’s right hand, whence he can pour out salvation blessings as by his Spirit he directs and empowers the church’s mission. {Ac 2:33 4:10-12 5:30-31} The angels conclude with an affirmation of the certainty of Christ’s return. He will come in the same way that he has gone.’ (IVP NT Commentary)

The angels have a twofold message: (a) to dissuage the disciples from unhelpful curiosity; (b) to assure them of Christ’s return.

“Men of Galilee” – the angels indicate their knowledge of the disciples. This suggests that angels observe and know us more than we think.

“Why do you stand here looking into the sky?” – Yet there is ‘a slight degree of censure implied in this, as well as a design to call their attention away from a vain attempt to see the departed Saviour’ (Barnes). They may have (a) felt disappointed, as if he would not restore the kingdom to Israel after all; (b) felt puzzled, despite his many promises of ascension; (c) felt bereaved, for the Saviour who had so gloriously manifested himself as being alive after his death was now being taken from them again; (d) not know what else to do. But they had already been told what to do next, vv4ff.

This may have been a gaze of anticipation (what next?), of regret (we won’t see him again?), of confusion (what is going on?)

‘They were not reprehended because they looked up towards heaven; but because they coveted to see Christ, when as the cloud which was put between them and him did keep them from seeing him with their bodily senses: Secondly, because they hoped that he would return again straightway, that they might enjoy the sight of him again, when as he did ascend to stay in the heavens until such time as he should come to judge the world.’ (Calvin)

It was very natural for them to do so. But sometimes natural feelings are not to be carried too far. ‘Sometimes you stand by a grave where one is buried whom you dearly loved: you go there often to weep. You cannot help it, the place is precious to you; yet you could not prove that you do any good by your visits, perhaps you even injure yourself thereby, and deserve to be gently chidden with the question, “why?” It may be the most natural thing in the world, and yet it may not be a wise thing.’ (Spurgeon)

‘The implication seems to be that they will not bring him back by gazing up into the sky. He has gone, and they must let him go; he will return in his own good time and in the same way.’ (Stott)

We are not to spend too much of our time gazing. ‘Like the apostles, I hope our memorial will be our acts. There are good brethren in the world who are impractical. The grand doctrine of the Second Advent makes them stand with open mouths, peering into the skies, so that I am ready to say, “Ye men of Plymouth, why stand ye here gazing up into heaven?” The fact that Jesus Christ is to come again is not a reason for star-gazing, but for working in the power of the Holy Ghost.’ (Spurgeon, An All-Round Ministry, 54)

‘Their gentle rebuke to the sky-gazing disciples implies that in the interim there is a task to be done: fulfillment of the missionary mandate.’ (IVP NT Commentary)

‘There was something fundamentally anomalous about their gazing up into the ‘sky’ when they had been commissioned to go to the ends of the ‘earth’. It was the earth not the sky which was to be their preoccupation. Their calling was to be witnesses not stargazers. The vision they were to cultivate was not upwards in nostalgia to the heaven which had received Jesus, but outwards in compassion to a lost world which needed him. It is the same for us. Curiosity about heaven and its occupants, speculation about prophecy and its fulfilment, an obsession with ‘times and seasons’ – these are aberrations which distract us from our God-given mission. Christ will come personally, visibly, gloriously. Of that we have been assured. Other details can wait. Meanwhile, we have work to do in the power of the Spirit.’ (Stott)

‘Here is the practical point for us: What1 they did we are very apt to imitate. “Oh,” say you, “I shall never stand gazing up into heaven.” I am not sure of that. Some Christians are very curious, but not obedient. Plain precepts are neglected, but difficult problems they seek to solve…I have known men marvellously great upon Daniel, and specially instructed in Ezekiel, but singularly forgetful of the twentieth of Exodus, and not very clear upon Romans the eighth. I do not speak with any blame of such folks for studying Daniel and Ezekiel, but quite the reverse; yet I wish they had been more zealous for the conversion of the sinners in their neighborhoods, and more careful to assist the poor saints. I admit the value of the study of the feet of the image in Nebuchadnezzar’s vision, and the importance of knowing the kingdoms which make up the ten toes, but I do not see the propriety of allowing such studies to overlay the common-places of practical godliness.’ (Spurgeon)

“This same Jesus” – ‘This was said to comfort them. The same tried Friend, who had been so faithful to them, would return. They ought not, therefore, to look with despondency at his departure.’ (Barnes)

‘Jesus is gone but he still exists. He has left us, but he is not dead; he has not dissolved into nothing like the mist of the morning. “This same Jesus” is gone up unto his Father’s throne, and he is there to-day as certainly as he once stood at Pilate’s bar. As surely as he did hang upon the cross, so surely does he, the self-same man, sit upon the throne of God and reign over creation. I like to think of the positive identity of the Christ in the seventh heaven with the Christ in the lowest deeps of agony. The Christ they spat upon is now the Christ whose name the cherubim and seraphim are hymning day without night. The Christ they scourged is he before whom principalities and powers delight to cast their crowns.’ (Spurgeon)

‘He will be “the same Jesus” in nature though not in condition: he will possess the same tenderness when he comes to judge, the same gentleness of heart when all the glories of heaven and earth shall gird his brow.’ (Spurgeon)

‘This same Jesus shall come again in his own person, clothed with a glorious body; this same Jesus, who came once to put away sin by the sacrifice of himself, will appear a second time without sin, {Heb 9:26,28} who came once in disgrace to be judged, will come again in glory to judge. The same Jesus who has given you your charge will come again to call you to an account how you have performed your trust; he, and not another,”‘ (MHC)

“who has been taken from you into heaven” – The expression ‘into heaven’, ‘denotes into the immediate presence of God; or into the place of perpetual purity and happiness, where God peculiarly manifests his favour. The same thing is frequently designated by his sitting on the right hand of God, as emblematic of power, honour, and favour.’ (Barnes) And it is from heaven that he now acts as mediator and intercessor.

‘The implications are unmistakable. Jesus will no longer be with the disciples in the way he was with them during his earthly ministry or in postresurrection appearances. In heaven Jesus is in a position of authority, at the Father’s right hand, whence he can pour out salvation blessings as by his Spirit he directs and empowers the church’s mission.’ {Ac 2:33 4:10-12 5:30-31} (IVP NT Commentary)

By this the disciples were to understand that Jesus’ earthly appearances are now at an end, and they should not look for any more, until the time when he…

…will come back in the same way you have seen him go” personally, physically, visibly, locally. Or, more specifically, in a cloud, Lu 21:27.

‘Thus the promise of the parousia forms the background of hoipe against which the disciples are to act as the witnesses to Jesus. In effect the present passage corresponds to Jesus’ statement in Mr 13:10 tha t the gospel must first be preached to all nations before the end can come.’ (Marshall)

‘Imagine that you were there, looking into the sky. How do you think the followers of Jesus were affected by the promise that he would return?’

‘Until then the Christian life is a life of hope, lived with the assurance that the ascended Lord is with his people always, even to the close of the age.’ {Mt 28:20} (ISBE)

In saying this, the angels ‘initiate that spirit of watchfulness that would characterize the early church as it worked and waited for its Lord to return.’ {see 1Th 1:10} (ECB)

And in between these two events – his ascension and his return – the gift of the Holy Spirit and the worldwide spread of the gospel.

‘Would that Christians realized more vividly the delightful and soul-stirring identity between the crucified, risen, ascending, and returning Redeemer-that as that very Jesus who ate and drank, and slept and waked, and wept and groaned, and bled and died here be low, is he who rose again from the dead, was seen with men’s eyes to go into heaven, and now wields the sceptre of universal dominion; so he will at the time appointed so come in like manner as he was seen to go into heaven! Would not this put substance in place of the shadows in which our faith of such truths is apt to lose itself; and, connecting earth with heaven in that glorious Person on whom our faith reposes, impart to our Christianity the solidity of the one and the brightness of the other? Nor let the promised presence of the Spirit-precious compensation though that is for the absence of Christ-dim the recollection that our only full consolation under that absence is the assurance of his Personal Return; in prospect of which, instead of looking idly upwards, we learn with joyful alacrity to “occupy until he come.”‘ (JFB)

‘The remedy for unprofitable spiritual stargazing lies in a Christian theology of history, an understanding of the order of events in the divine programme. First, Jesus returned to heaven (Ascension). Secondly, the Holy Spirit came (Pentecost). Thirdly, the church goes out to witness (Mission). Fourthly, Jesus will come back (Parousia). Whenever we forget one of these events, or put them in the wrong sequence, confusion reigns. We need especially to remember that between the ascension and the Parousia, the disappearance and the reappearance of Jesus, there stretches a period of unknown length which is to be filled with the church’s world-wide, Spirit-empowered witness to him. We need to hear the implied message of the angels: ‘You have seen him go. You will see him come. But between that going and coming there must be another. The Spirit must come, and you must go – into the world for Christ.” (Stott)

Ac 1:12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city.

Then they returned to Jerusalem – ‘There is no need to doubt the literal nature of Christ’s ascension, so long as we realize its purpose. It was not necessary as a mode of departure, for “going to the Father” did not involve a journey in scape and presumably he could simply have vanished as on previous occasions. The reason he ascended before their eyes was rather to show them that this departure was final. He has now gone for good, or at least until his coming in glory. So they returned to Jerusalem with great joy and waited – not for Jesus to make another resurrection appearance, but for the Holy Spirit to come in power, as had been promised.’ (Stott, Authentic Christianity, p63)

Acts 1:13  When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James.

Ac 1:14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.

They all joined…in prayer – ‘Given the fifty days from Passover to Pentecost, and subtracting Jesus’ time in the tomb and the forty days of 1:3, this meeting may have lasted close to a week. (In church tradition, possibly based on this passage, it is ten days before Pentecost.)…The text need not imply uninterrupted prayer, but it must mean more prayer than usual (i.e., more than several hours a day) or Luke would have no reason to mention it.’ (IVP NT Background Commentary)

Acts 1:15  In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty)

1:15-26 Replacing Judas

‘When the probably Essene community of the Dead Sea Scrolls chose a group of leaders which included twelve special officials, it was meant to symbolize that this community was the true remnant of Israel, faithful to God even though the rest of the nation was apostate. Jesus had chosen twelve special disciples to make the same point, so the number had to be restored to twelve official leaders at least until the point of having twelve had been effectively communicated.’ (IVP NT Background Commentary)

A group numbering about a hundred and twenty – ‘The number a hundred and twenty here is more than just a round number. This is the smallest number in Jewish tradition for a population that could have its own ‘council’. There was a tradition that each judge should rule or represent at least ten members. It may be, therefore, that Luke is suggesting the young church was already a community in its own right and that a twelfth ‘leader’ was required.’ (NBC)

Acts 1:16  and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus-

Acts 1:16:  ‘Peter comes forth as the leader of this group. He goes to Scripture immediately when he speaks. How do these words of David affect their confidence as well as give them direction? It would build their confidence greatly to see again that some of these remarkable things that were happening to them were written down many years before they had happened. David was a very important patriarch. The direction came from the instructions that were in the quoted passage (Ps 69:25; 109:8).’

Acts 1:17  he was one of our number and shared in this ministry.”

Acts 1:18  (With the reward he got for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out.

Acts 1:19  Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

Acts 1:20  “For,” said Peter, “it is written in the book of Psalms, “‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, “‘May another take his place of leadership.’

Acts 1:21  Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

21f – Note the importance of eyewitnesses.  They were as crucial to the verification of historical fact then as they are today.  Cf. 1:8.

Acts 1:22  beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.”

Acts 1:23  So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias.

Barsabbas – means ‘son of the Sabbath’.  Possibly this man was born on that day.

Acts 1:24  Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen

Acts 1:25  to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.”

Acts 1:26  Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.

‘Acts 1:15-26 shows us the church before Pentecost prayerfully asking Christ through the casting of a lot to choose a successor to Judas. Whether they were right to do this, and Paul was Christ’s thirteenth apostle, or whether Paul was Christ’s intended replacement for Judas and the choice of Matthias was a mistake, is not clear in Acts; Luke himself may not have known.’ (Concise Theology)