May
12th Acts
1 A. Prologue
Luke’s Introduction
1:
The former treatise have 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 that he through the Holy Ghost had given commandments unto
the apostles whom he had chosen: 3: To whom also he shewed himself
alive after his passion by many infallible proofs, being seen of them
forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the kingdom of
God: 4: And, being assembled together with them, commanded them that
they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of
the Father, which, saith he, ye have heard of me. 5: For John truly
baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost not
many days hence.
B.
Waiting for Power The Holy Spirit is promised
6:
When they therefore were come together, they asked of him, saying,
Lord, wilt thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel? 7:
And he said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the
seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power. 8: But ye shall
receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye
shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and
in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. 9: And when he
had spoken these things, while they beheld, he was taken up; and a
cloud received him out of their sight. 10: And while they looked
stedfastly toward heaven as he went up, behold, two men stood by them
in white apparel; 11: Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand
ye gazing up into heaven? this same Jesus, which is taken up from you
into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into
heaven.
Disciples
all together
12:
Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which
is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day's journey. 13: And when they were
come in, they went up into an upper room, where abode both Peter, and
James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and
Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the
brother 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 brethren. 15: And in those days Peter stood up in the midst
of the disciples, and said, (the number of names together were about
an hundred and twenty,) 16: Men and brethren, this scripture must
needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David
spake before concerning Judas, which was guide to them that took
Jesus. 17: For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this
ministry. 18: Now this man purchased a field with the reward of
iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and
all his bowels gushed out. 19: And it was known unto all the dwellers
at Jerusalem; insomuch as that field is called in their proper
tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood. 20: For it is
written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and
let no man dwell therein: and his bishoprick let another take. 21:
Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that
the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22: Beginning from the
baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us,
must one be ordained to be a witness with us of his resurrection. 23:
And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed
Justus, and Matthias. 24: And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord,
which knowest the hearts of all men, shew whether of these two thou
hast chosen, 25: That he may take part of this ministry and
apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go
to his own place. 26: And they gave forth their lots; and the lot
fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
Luke
writes this account to Theophilus even as he wrote his Gospel. And he
writes to describe the ongoing work of Christ toward Israel through
the apostolic ministry. Luke the Gentile Medical Doctor and companion
of Paul outline the long history of the early church. He outlines the
ongoing ministry of the apostles and of there slow transformation
from a fully Jewish Church with Jewish thinking and customs and with
a Jewish hope to a church made up of Jews and Gentiles living in
christian fellowship. There are a number of significant events in
this narrative From the appointment of Matthias to the day of
Pentecost. From the healing of the Lame man to the deliverance from
prison of Peter. From the Conversion of Saul to the Conversion of
Cornelius. From the missionary journeys of Paul and Barnabas to the
Council of Jerusalem. From the second missionary Journey to the
rejection of the Gospel at Rome by the Jews. When we arrive at
Chapter 28 we find that the Gospel of the Kingdom has gone out to the
whole Jewish world and that shortly the Roman legions will march on
Jerusalem. For 40 Years the Gospel was preached to Israel calling on
them to repent and return to the God of their Fathers. Now in the end
the Jews scattered will reject Christ even as the Jews of Jerusalem
crucified Christ. During this period the Apostles Peter, James, John
and possibly Paul (in Hebrews) write letters to warn the Jews not to
reject their Messiah. All of this takes place before Paul in Rome
writes regarding the church which is the body of Christ. This
doctrine is set out in his prison epistles. But first we must turn to
Acts Chapter 1. Luke’s Gospel takes the story of Christ in order
right up until the day that Christ ascended. Christ remained with the
disciples for 40 days teaching them the things regarding the kingdom
of God. He told them that they were to remain in Jerusalem until they
were empowered from above. He describes the great change that will
separate the old order from the new – the baptism of the Holy
Spirit. John being the last prophet of the old order was never
baptised with the Holy Spirit. he was never a christian or part of
the Church which is body. The disciples were still thinking within
the framework of the Messianic kingdom, which Christ had always said
was near at hand so they ask him will you now restore the kingdom to
Israel. All through the OT God had promised that when the Messiah
came he would establish a kingdom on earth more glorious than
Solomon’s. In which he would bring universal peace and prosperity
to the whole world and in which Abraham Isaac and Jacob and all the
OT saints would be raised from the dead to sit with the Messiah and
see the blessing of God rest on every family of the earth. They
asked, are you going to do this now? Christ responded that it was not
for then to know the times and seasons and then to moves their train
of thought to the coming of the Holy Spirit and of their mission
which would start in Jerusalem and eventually reach the whole world.
At this moment Christ ascended up into heaven. At that moment two
angels appeared and said why are you looking up into heaven Jesus
will come back in the same way that you have seen him go into heaven.
The Disciples returned to Jerusalem to an upper room where they
continued in prayer and supplication. During those ten days Peter led
the assembly to appoint a witness to the resurrection to be numbered
with the eleven. Judas had died. They prayed and asked the Lord to
give his decision by lot and then they cast lots in the Jewish custom
and the lot fell on Matthias.
- Why did Luke write this book?
- What were the disciples wanting for?
- What did the disciples need to sort out and how did they do it?
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