Acts 1: Morning Repost: Jesus- From Passion to Pentecost
1 The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach, 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He through the Holy Spirit had given Commandments to the apostles whom He had chosen, 3 to whom He also presented Himself alive after His suffering by many infallible proofs, being seen by them during forty days and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God.
The former account I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach... “This former treatise, undoubtedly, means the gospel, which was written by St. Luke, and dedicated by him to Theophilus.” (Cokes Commentary) And now St. Luke pens the Acts of the Apostles, wherein is contained the true apostolic faith, to the same audience- "Theophilus" meaning "lovers of God."
Jesus is Creator, Lawgiver from Sinai and Redeemer from Calvary. This introduction seems to intimate that, as Luke "had already in his Gospel given an account of the life and actions of our Lord, so in this second treatise he was about to give an account of the lives and acts of some of the chief apostles, such as Peter and Paul...” (Adam Clarke) but there is a deeper significance.
Between His Resurrection and Ascension, Jesus appeared to the apostles and gave them Commandments, "as the Church’s Lawgiver, Isaiah 33:22; 1 Corinthians 11:23." (John Trapp)... Appearing to them by many infallilble proofs- “The proofs were such as these: Appearing to several different persons at different times. His eating and drinking with them. His meeting them in Galilee according to his own appointment. His subjecting his body to be touched and handled by them. His instructing them in the nature and doctrines of his kingdom. His appearing to upwards of five hundred persons at once, 1 Cor 15:6. And continuing these public manifestations of himself for forty days." (Adam Clarke) And speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of God... "whatever concerned the doctrine, discipline, and establishment of the Christian Church." (Adam Clarke)
4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the Promise of the Father, “which,” He said, “you have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.”
“The apostles were scattered after his death. But this passage denotes that he had assembled them together by his authority, for the purpose of giving them a charge respecting their conduct when he should have left them. When this occurred does not appear from the narrative; but it is probable that it was not long before his ascension; and it is clear that the place where they were assembled was Jerusalem.” (Barnes Notes)
One Commandment of the Lawgiver was for them not to depart from there, but rather to wait for the Promise of the Father- the Spirit. “In Jesus Christ dwells all the fulness of the Godhead bodily (Colossians 2:9). Thus the Holy Spirit is literally the Spirit that was in the man Jesus Christ. All of Christendom confesses that Jesus is Lord, and II Corinthians 3:17 plainly identifies the Lord as the Spirit: ‘Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.’ The Bible also describes the Holy Spirit as ‘the Spirit of Christ,’ ‘the Spirit of his (God's) Son,’ and ‘the Spirit of Jesus Christ’ (Rom 8:9; Gal 4:6; Phil 1:19). The way that Christ dwells in our hearts is as the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:9-11; Eph 3:14-17)." (David Bernard)
The Promise of the Father- Jesus said, “If you love Me, keep My commandments. And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever— the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot receive, because it neither sees Him nor knows Him; but you know Him, for He dwells with you and will be in you. I will not leave you orphans; I will come to you. (John 14:15-18)
"‘I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever.’ But the context reveals that Jesus was speaking of Himself in another form--in Spirit rather than in flesh. In the next verse He identified the Comforter as someone who already dwelt with the disciples: ‘Even the Spirit of truth; whom the world cannot receive, because it seeth him not, neither knoweth him: but ye know him; for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you’. Jesus was the One whom they knew and who dwelt with them. The difference was that the Comforter would soon come in them, in a new relationship of spiritual indwelling rather than physical accompaniment.” (David Bernard)
It seems to me that the Acts of the Apostles are a continuation of the Acts of Jesus Christ. Know this, o lovers of God.
6 Therefore, when they had come together, they asked Him, saying, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” 7 And He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority. 8 But you shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” 9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”
“The question they asked of Him concerning the restoration of the Kingdom to Israel was perfectly in order. This is the Hope of Israel; the Hope of the church is not an earthly kingdom, but a heavenly glory; not to be subjects in the kingdom on earth, but to reign and rule with the King. The answer they received assured them that the kingdom was to be restored to Israel; the times and seasons for that, however, rested with the Father." (Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible) This is a righteous expectation of every generation. But Jesus returns the discussion to the issue of waiting on His Spirit to do anything. By His Spirit alone we are effective witnesses of Him to the ends of the earth. “So he said to me, "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ’Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,' says the LORD Almighty.” (Zechariah 4:6)
“What a sight it must have been! Their Lord was ‘received into Glory.’ Gradually in majestic silence He must have been lifted out of their midst. Lovingly His eyes must have rested upon them, while their eyes saw only Him. Then a cloud received Him out of their sight. ‘And then a cloud took Him in (literal rendering) out of their sight.’ The cloud was not a common cloud of vapor, but the glory-cloud. It was the cloud of glory which had filled Solomon’s temple, which so often in Israel’s past history had appeared as an outward sign of Jehovah’s presence. Then angels announced His coming in like manner. And thus He will come, even back to the Mount of Olives (Zech 14:4)…” (Gaebelein) in the latter days to judge the quick and the dead. But soon He would baptize them with His Spirit for the work of the church from Pentecost to Judgement Day.
Acts 1: During the Wait from Ascension to Pentecost
12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. 13 And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James. 14 These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said, 16 “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; 17 for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry. 18 (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. 19 And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.) 20 For it is written in the Book of Psalms: 'Let his dwelling place be desolate, and let no one live in it' [Psalm 69:25] and, 'Let another take his office.' [Psalm 109:8]
21 Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” 23 And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen 25 to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” 26 And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
“The apostles having seen our Saviour thus gloriously ascended into heaven from Mount Olivet, they return to Jerusalem;…
And here observe, 1. How the names of all the eleven apostles are repeated, and distinctly set down, to shew, that although they had fallen from their profession, and forsaken Christ, yet they had recoverd themselves by repentance, and were risen again; and upon their recovery, were continued by Christ in their former office and dignity. O the mighty power of a sincere repentance, to reinstate us in the favour and friendship of an offended God!
Observe, 2. How the sight of Christ's ascension had established and confirmed the apostles faith: they now adore and worship him, and assemble together to perform their joint devotions to him. True, they looked upon him as a person sent from God, a great prophet, and the Son of David; but his Deity being evinced, and now made evident to them by his resurrection form the grave, and ascension into heaven, they now worshipped him as the Son of God. Luke 24:52
Observe, 3. The place where this Christian congregation did assemble; In an upper room; that is, says Dr. Hammond, in one of the chambers belonging to the temple; in the large upper room, say others, where Christ had lately eaten the passover with his disciples; it was no doubt the most convenient place they could find for that solemnity; an upper room being remote from noise and company, and capacious enough to receive this primo-primitive church, consisting of an hundred and twenty persons….” (Burkitt's Expository Notes with Practical Observations on the NT)
A Sabbath day’s journey— This is the first word in this apostolic literature about the Saturday Sabbath. “The Greek sabbatou hodos (Acts 1:12) designates the distance from the Mount of Olives to the city of Jerusalem. In New Testament times, Jewish rabbis used this term as the limit in distance a Jew could go from his or her home on the Sabbath. The rabbis set this distance by their tradition as 2,000 cubits or about 1,000 yards (a cubit was slightly less than 18 inches). First, the rabbis based their tradition on the last part of Exodus 16:29,30, which forbade the Israelites to go out on the Sabbath to gather manna. ‘Bear in mind that the Lord has given you the Sabbath; that is why on the sixth day he gives you bread for two days. Everyone is to stay where he is on the seventh day; no one is to go out. So the people rested on the seventh day.’ Then, since the distance separating the people from the ark as they marched across the Jordan was 1,000 yards (Joshua 3:4), the rabbis believed this was the distance between the peoples’ tents and the tabernacle during their wilderness journeys. They concluded it was reasonable for the people to travel that far to approach the tabernacle and worship. Rabbis supported this contention further by the fact 1,000 yards around the towns were given to the Levites (Numbers 35:5).” (A Sabbath Day’s Journey by Stanley M. Horton, Church of God)
No command to change the Sabbath has been given by the Lawgiver. Moreover, "The mention of the distance, and the measure of distance employed are, both of them, remarkable, and suggest the thought that St. Luke’s reckoning was a different one from that which Christendom has commonly received, and that the ‘forty days’ expired before the last renewal of our Lord’s intercourse with His disciples, and that this ended on the following sabbath—i.e., eight days before the day of Pentecost. On this supposition we get a reason, otherwise wanting, for this manner of stating the distance. Symbolically, too, there seems a fitness in our Lord’s entering into His rest, on the great day of rest, which is wanting in our common way of reckoning…” (Ellicott’s Commentary)
“These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication— “The better MSS. give ‘prayer’ only, without ‘supplication.’ The prayer thus offered may be thought of as specially directed to the ‘promise of the Father.’ Whether it was spoken or silent, unpremeditated or in some set form of words, like the Lord’s Prayer, we have no data to determine.” (Ellicott's Commentary)
With the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers… “This is the last we hear of her; how long she lived after this, is not certain: her continuance with the apostles of Christ shows her religion and piety, and was both for the increase of her faith, and spiritual comfort.” (Gill)
And with his brothers… who for some time did not believe on Him, but apparently now have been convinced by the infallible proofs done by the Lord Jesus during the forty days since His crucifixion.
And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty)… “An hundred and twenty was the number of a Jewish council.” (Coke Commentary) We are all disciples by faith in Jesus. Many claim with Arno Gaebelein that “the action of Peter in proposing to place another in Judas’ place was not a mistake… that Peter acted upon the Scriptures and was guided by the Lord.” But I am in the other camp. Matthias is never heard of again; and so this appointment may well have come to naught. I believe that Paul was the man of the Lord’s choosing. The fact that this council’s action was meant to be based on Scriptures reveals the dangers and futility of the use of the Bible without the Spirit of Christ. The Word of the Lord was only to wait on the Promise of the Father, but the natural man must stay busy to feel productive. Prayer only was the right response of this group.