From time to time, I get the chance to teach a Sunday School class. Here are the notes from the class.
Acts 1 Bible Study – Digging Deeper
"The Acts of the Apostles" is the name given since at least the middle of the second century to the second volume of Luke's two volume history of Christian origins.
There has almost never been any doubt that the author of Acts is also the author of the third gospel. Luke 1:1-4 (Question 1 How do these statements help assure us of the historical accuracy of the Book of Acts (and the gospel of Luke)?
Theophilus -
- It means "beloved of God" or "friend of God."
- Little is known about him. Second-century sources indicate he was a wealthy, influential official in Antioch.
- Theophilus was a Roman citizen who was a believer.
- He may have been a high-ranking Roman official because Luke referred to him as "most excellent Theophilus" (Luke 1:3). The term excellent is also used by Luke in reference to Felix and Festus, who were Roman governors (Acts 23:26, 26:25).
- Put yourself in Theophilus’ shoes.
The scroll for Acts is 25 feet in length! It cost Luke to write these books, not only time, but also financial resources. What is God asking of us today?
Acts begins with a prologue in which Luke says that he told us in his first volume "all that Jesus began to do and teach." Acts is intended to tell us what Jesus continued to do and teach after his ascension to heaven, but now through his witnesses. We are to continue the work of evangelism and teaching that Jesus began.
What does v.1 tell us about Luke’s theme or subject for the Book of Acts?
if “Luke” is about what Jesus began to do and teach, then “Acts” is about what Jesus continues to do and teach.
Verse 2: And we are to utilize the same power that Jesus did, namely "through the Holy Spirit". Any work that we try to do or teach without the Holy Spirit is not His work.
"the apostles whom he had chosen" Jesus chose His own missionaries, taught them, and commissioned them with certain responsibilities. The same is true of all Christians: we are chosen by Christ. John 15:16.
Verse 3: "To them he presented himself alive" Luke 24: 40 – 43. – Jesus is ALIVE! He proved it! The Greek word for "proof" here is a word that includes the idea of being convincing – infallible. No other religion in the world can claim anything like this!
Appeared to them during 40 days. NT accounts of Jesus' appearances make clear that Jesus was not continually visible to the apostles during the forty days, but appeared to them on various occasions. 1 Cor 15: 5-7.
The apostles’ exposure to the proofs of the resurrection was spread over more than a month. The resurrection would become the center of every sermon they preached that is recorded in Acts.
"Speaking about the kingdom of God": A constant theme of Jesus' teaching. See, for example, Luke 4:43; 8:1; 9:11. It also a theme of the first missionaries, the Seventy, in Luke 10:1-9. As it should be with us also, preaching the coming kingdom!
Verse 4: Luke had previously recorded this request for the apostles to stay in Jerusalem (Luke 24:49) until they “were clothed with power from on high.
- The disciples, many of whom were from Galilee, would otherwise perhaps have returned to Galilee, but Jerusalem was to be the place of the Spirit's descent. Jesus orders them to stay in Jerusalem.
- “Don’t start ministering until you have the power to do so.”
What was the "promise of the Father" that He had told them about? The gift of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told the apostles they would receive the Holy Spirit after He left them (Luke 24:44-49, John 14:16, 26; 15:26; 16:7; 20:22).
Verse 5: For John the Baptizer's prediction that the Messiah would baptise people with the Holy Spirit, see Mark 1:8; Matthew 3:11; Luke 3:16; John 1:33.
"Not many days from now": The apostles had been with Jesus 40 days, and they would have to wait another 10 days before the Holy Spirit fell, hence, 50 days from Resurrection to Pentecost.
Verse 6: When Christ taught the apostles about the kingdom after His resurrection, they thought perhaps now He would begin His reign.
- The apostles were probably familiar with Ezekiel 36:26 and Joel 2, which say that the kingdom will come when the Holy Spirit is poured out.
- When they heard Christ say the Holy Spirit would come soon (v. 5), they thought He was about to set up His kingdom on earth. .
- Notice that they do not ask, “When?”, as they had before, but the question is “At this time..?” .
- Prophecies are found in Jeremiah 33:7; Psalms 14:7; 85:1; Hosea 6:11.
- Did they also have hopes of having great positions of authority in the reign of the Messiah, as before? Luke 22:24-29.
- Remember that Israel at this time could be considered a "Roman occupied territory".
Verse 7: Jesus answered the disciples' question about the time of the kingdom's coming,
- He didn't tell them there would be no kingdom. He simply said that the time of the kingdom's coming was not for them to know.
- If there were no literal kingdom planned for the future, Christ would have said so in Acts 1:7.
- It is not for us to know when the Lord will return, for no man knows the day or the hour(Matt 24:36, 25:13, Mar 13:32).
Verse 8: "But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you"
- They are presently powerless. That powerlessness was manifested at the arrest of Jesus. He was arrested and all of the disciples fled into the night. They ran like frightened sheep. But there will be a change. They will receive power.
- The Greek word is dunamis. This is the word from which derives our English words "dynamite", "dynamic" and "dynamo." It is more than mere authority. It the power of ability.
"You will be my witnesses":
- Their task will not be speculation about the end, but filling up the time that does remain with bearing witness to Christ throughout the world.
- A witness is simply someone who tells what he knows, what he himself has seen and heard. 1 John 1:1-2
- The word in the Greek is where we get the term “martyrs”.
- We are witnesses. There is no sense in which we are “to be witnesses”.
"Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth" is something of an outline of the book of Acts. Chapters 1-7 = "in Jerusalem"; 8:1-11:18 = "Judea and Samaria"; and the rest of the book, "to the ends of the earth." The Holy Spirit was given for this reason: to empower the apostles to be Christ's witnesses in Jerusalem, and then on to the ends of the earth.
Verses 9: The Ascension.
For direct verbal echoes, see 2 Kings 2:9-13 (Elijah's ascension).
“And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. 4 And where I go you know, and the way you know.” John 14:3-4
“But now I go away to Him who sent Me, and none of you asks Me, ‘Where are You going?’ 6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart. 7 Nevertheless I tell you the truth. It is to your advantage that I go away; for if I do not go away, the Helper will not come to you; but if I depart, I will send Him to you. John 16:5-8
Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. Rom 8:34
“and what is the exceeding greatness of His power toward us who believe, according to the working of His mighty power which He worked in Christ when He raised Him from the dead and seated Him at His right hand in the heavenly places, far above all principality and might and dominion, and every name that is named, not only in this age, but also in that which is to come.” Eph 1:19-21
- While only Luke tells us the story of the Ascension, there are other possible traces of the tradition of the Ascension in Ephesians 4:8-10; 1 Timothy 3:16; John 20:17.
- He had given them the instruction they needed, their commission, and told them to await the descent of the Spirit. His work was done and so he left them.
- Note the quiet removal; no pomp, no ceremony, as would have certainly been the case in a legendary account.
- Cloud the Shekinah glory of the Lord? Clouds at Trans, Ascen, Return
- What is the point behind the Ascension? The Return
Verse 10: While they strain to look(gazing into heaven) for Jesus, two angels stood by them.
Verse 11 There is almost a reproach in the words of the two angels: "Why are you standing here looking into the sky?" It is a gentle reproach as indicated by the fact that they encourage them with the thought that the Lord will return, just as they saw him leave.
- Why two angels?(Deut 19:15)
- The Ascension occurred on the Mount of Olives, as we are told in v. 12.
- He will return to the Mount of Olives, as Zechariah tells us... Zech 14: 4-5
- The same Christ who ascended into heaven in Acts 1:9 will return the same way. He won't be different. He will return in the same glorified body that the disciples saw when Christ joined them for breakfast by the Sea of Galilee in John 21:4-14.
- He said that He would leave (John 6:62, 20:17).
- He said that He needed to leave in order for the Spirit to come
- He needed to make the disciples realize that He would not be appearing to them again
- He is now interceding for us in heaven
- He will be returning the same way He left
Application: Knowing that Christ will return someday should motivate us to serve Him diligently. Someday we will all appear before the judgment seat of Christ to receive rewards for what we did while on earth (2 Cor. 5:10). Christ said, "Behold, I come quickly, and my reward is with me, to give every man according as his work shall be" (Rev. 22:12). One of the greatest motivators for serving Jesus is that He will reward us for what we have done.
Verse 12: They were on the Mount of Olives for the Ascension. The spot was a Sabbath days journey – how far? Half mile?
Verse 13: They go to the Upper Room where they were staying.
- The disciples most likely gathered in the same upper room where the Last Supper was held and where Jesus appeared to them after His resurrection.
- In those days, houses frequently had upper rooms or chambers. The upper rooms were like living rooms. It was a place for fellowship or devotions.
- In Acts 9 we read a dead widow named Dorcas was placed in an upper room prior to her planned burial (she was resurrected by Peter).
Eleven Apostles The list of apostles is the same as in Luke 6:14-16 except Judas Iscariot
Verse 14: Everybody was together praying.
- While the disciples were waiting for the Holy Spirit, they didn't just stay in the upper room. Luke 24:53 says they "were continually in the temple, praising and blessing God."
- So the upper room served as a meeting place.
- One thing they weren't praying for was the coming of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit's coming didn't depend on their prayers. Acts 1:4 says that the Holy Spirit was a promise of the Father. They already had the promise; it was just a matter of waiting. In fact when the Spirit did come in Acts 2:2, the people weren't even in prayer.
"The women" were probably the ladies who were with Jesus throughout His ministry, death, and resurrection:
- Mary Magdalene,
- Mary the wife of Clopis,
- Mary and Martha, Salome, and perhaps others (cf. Luke 8:1-3). Acts 1:14 says that the disciples were praying with Mary, not to her.
- This is the last mention of Mary, the mother of Jesus.
- Christ's mother and half-brothers were also in the upper room. (James, Joseph, Simon, and Jude--whom we see mentioned in Matthew 13:55
- Christ's brothers at one time weren't believers, but they became believers by the time Acts 1 was written.
- How did they become saved? Scripture doesn't say, but I think it may have happened when James saw Christ after the resurrection (1 Cor. 15:4, 7).
- Who else was there with the 120? Nicodemus, Joseph of Arimethea..?
Fear of the Jews - John 20:19 “..when the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in the midst, and said to them, "Peace be with you."
The overarching principle at this point in the disciples lives is not so much that they spent time rejoicing at the Temple and praying in the upper room, but that they were obedient to Christ's command to stay in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came.
Verse 15: During the 10 day wait between Ascension and Pentecost, business needed to be done.
- Peter stood up among the brethren – leader or among equals?
- About 120 in the company. But their small number was made up by the power they derived from God.
- Within thirty years the gospel spread all over the known world and penetrated Rome.
- They were people just like us.
Verse 16: Scripture to be fulfilled. Holy Spirit spoke - by David - concerning Judas.
- Judas was a guide to those who arrested Jesus.
- The Old Testament prophesied that Judas would be replaced (Ps. 109:8), so the change was a part of God's plan.
- Peter reassured them that God's plan wasn't thwarted because Judas betrayed Jesus.
- God doesn't lose those who really belong to Him.
- Judas's betrayal fulfilled Scripture. That doesn't mean God made Judas betray Jesus; it simply means that He used Judas's actions to accomplish His purpose.
- God can work through men whether they are saved or not.
Verse 17: Judas was one of their number.
- At this time, the disciples were all probably wondering why Judas betrayed Jesus.
- Christ had told them that one day the disciples would sit on twelve thrones (Matt. 19:28), but now there were only eleven disciples.
- So the things Peter says are a message from God that Judas's betrayal was expected, and that the prophecy in Matthew 19:28 wasn't wrong.
Verse 18: Judas bought a field with the 30 pieces of silver, and died in it.
- These verses tell a different story from Matthew of how the Field got its name.
- Here the blood is Judas’ rather than Jesus’.
- “falling headlong”: Literally flat or prone.
Verse 19: “their language”: i.e. Aramaic, a dialect related to Hebrew.
“Blood”: Here the “blood” in question is that of the betrayer; in Matthew 27:4-5, it is that of the betrayed.
Verse 20 Psalm 69:26
Verses 21-22: Note that Paul does not meet the requirements for being an apostle (not being with Jesus throughout his earthly ministry), but 1 Cor15:8-9: but traceability to Jesus was still required.
Note that Luke does not suppress Paul’s claim to be an apostle: in Acts 14:4 Luke writes “When the apostles Barnabas and Paul heard of it ...”.
Verse 22: The “baptism of John” marks the start of Jesus’ ministry: see Mark 1:1-4 and Acts 10:37 (Peter’s teaches at Cornelius’ house). This verse is a summary of vv. 1-5.
Verse 23: This verse sets us up to expect the election of Joseph; it is almost as though he was better known than Matthias.
Verse 26: “they cast lots”: This is no casting of votes, for it is God who does the choosing (v. 24) via the incalculable lots. Prov 16:33 “The lot is cast into the lap, But its every decision is from the LORD.”
First, then, in the place of Judas, the betrayer, Matthias, who, as has been shown was also one of the Seventy, was chosen to the apostolate. Ecclesiastical History, Eusebius of Caesarea,
Application: The call of Matthias reminds me of a story told by Fred Craddock about his own ministry and sense of call. Craddock says that he always imagined that someday he'd do something really great, he'd be a martyr for Jesus. There'd be a monument built for him to recognize his deed and people would come by and read "Here's where Fred gave it all for Jesus."
He always thought his call would play out as a spectacular $100 bill kind of experience. But then he came to realize that his ministry was actually about giving lectures, reading books, grading papers, going to meetings. He knew he'd finally accepted that call when he took the $100 bill to the bank and said, "give it to me in quarters." Now, Craddock says, he lives out his call one ordinary quarter at a time.
