seekeroftruth
Well-Known Member
Acts 1:1 In my former book, Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles he had chosen. 3 After his suffering, he presented himself to them 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. 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. 5 For John baptized with[a] water, but in a few days you will be baptized with[b] the Holy Spirit.”
6 Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?”
7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 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.”
9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. 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.”
12 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk[c] from the city. 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. 14 They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) 16 and said, “Brothers and sisters,[d] the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. 17 He was one of our number and shared in our ministry.”
18 (With the payment he received for his wickedness, Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong, his body burst open and all his intestines spilled out. 19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this, so they called that field in their language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
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,’[e]
let there be no one to dwell in it,’[e]
and,
“‘May another take his place of leadership.’[f]
21 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, 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.”
23 So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. 24 Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen 25 to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” 26 Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
Footnotes:
a. Acts 1:5 Or in
b. Acts 1:5 Or in
c. Acts 1:12 That is, about 5/8 mile or about 1 kilometer
d. Acts 1:16 The Greek word for brothers and sisters (adelphoi) refers here to believers, both men and women, as part of God’s family; also in 6:3; 11:29; :17; 16:40; 18:18, 27; 21:7, 17; 28:14, 15.
e. Acts 1:20 Psalm 69:25
f. Acts 1:20 Psalm 109:8
So already they have chosen a replacement for Judas. I guess they needed a bookkeeper.... because basically... that's what Judas did... he handled the finances for Jesus' mission. So they picked Matthias by the luck of casting lots.
This is from bible-studys.org.
The Book of Luke (penned by Luke), and the Book of Acts (penned by Luke), were both addressed to Theophilus. The word Theophilus means friend of God. If there was a real Theophilus, he was probably a person high in government. I personally believe that for fear of the letter being intercepted and getting in the wrong hands, Luke wrote this to a friend of God (unnamed).
So... this is from the easy English site.
Luke had several reasons why he wrote Acts. People were telling false stories about Christians. They were afraid that Christians wanted to make trouble. Luke wanted the Roman rulers to know that this was not true. Christians helped other people to behave well. He wanted to show that to the rulers. It was good for the Roman government.
Luke wrote about many miracles. God gave to Christians the power to cure people, for example. Also, God rescued Peter from prison by a miracle. So, anyone who opposed the Christians was opposing God. He also wanted to show to the Jews that the Christian *aith was not a separate religion. Instead, it made Judaism complete, because Jesus is the Messiah.
However, Luke had one main reason why he wrote this book. The good news about Jesus had travelled from Jerusalem to Rome. Luke wanted to record how that happened. Rome was the most important city in the world. Luke showed that the gospel was for all people in every nation. It was for Jews and it was also for Gentiles.
The Jews were proud that God had chosen them as his people. They wanted other nations to know that they (the Jews) were important. But other nations had defeated them. The Jews seemed weak and the Romans ruled over them. The Jews wanted God to prove that they were superior. They wanted him to give them power over all the other nations. So, the disciples asked Jesus, ‘Lord, will you now give back the *kingdom to *Israel?’
Jesus did not answer ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to the disciples’ question. Instead, he said that this information belonged to the Father only. He did not want them to think about political power. He wanted them to preach the gospel. He wanted them to concentrate on that.
The power that they would receive was not power over other people. Instead, it was power from heaven. This power would make them able to continue Christ’s work on earth.
They were ‘staring up at the sky’. Some students say that Jesus did not actually rise up to heaven. But Luke uses words like ‘watched’, ‘see’, ‘staring’, ‘look’ and ‘seen’. With their own eyes, the disciples saw everything that happened!
The ‘two men in white clothes’ were angels with a message. Two men also appeared in front of the women in Luke 24:4. These men in Acts were like them. Luke wants us to consider them as witnesses. There had to be two witnesses that saw an event. (Two was the minimum number.) Only then, people would believe that the event had happened (Deuteronomy 19:15).
A Sabbath day’s walk’ was the distance that Jews could walk on the Sabbath day. The Sabbath is the day when Jews rest. On that day, they must not walk further than 2000 cubits. (This is about a kilometre or two thirds of a mile.)
Luke records that there were about 120 believers there. The church began with only a few people. It is good for us to remember this. You may be the only Christian in your family. Or you may be the only Christian in the place where you work. There may be only a few Christians in your country. But God will use you to spread the good news.
The 11 disciples that remained had been very close to Jesus all the time. He had taught them when they were away from the crowds. They had helped him in his special work on earth. Also, they had seen him many times after his resurrection. They had watched him leave the earth. And they had watched him go up to heaven. They wanted the new disciple to be someone who had known Jesus like this. With them, he must tell everyone that Jesus had beaten death. So, he needed to have seen with his own eyes that Jesus was alive.
‘Then they cast lots.’ This was the usual way for Jews to make a choice. It was used many times in the Old Testament.
When people ‘cast lots’, they wrote people’s names on stones. They put the stones in a jar. Then they shook the jar until a stone fell out. The name on the stone was the person that they must choose. This was the last time when they cast lots in the New Testament. After the Holy Spirit came, the disciples did not need to do this. Instead, the Holy Spirit guided them.
OK.... right off the bat.... who told those Apostles to choose another human on their own? Jesus said go and wait..... not go and choose.... not go and start picking fabric for the curtains and pew pillows for their new digs.... Jesus said "go and wait".
Those guys are still asking if Jesus is going to take Rome on. Those guys are still expecting the Messiah to destroy Rome and put the leaders of the Temple in their proper place. Those guys are still asking "now are you going to restore the kingdom to Israel". What idiots.... sorry.... what ignorant humans.
IMHO.... the Apostles were looking for a political leader who would run Rome right out of Israel. The Apostles must have really had their hopes on the leader who couldn't be murdered taking on the Romans who tried to murder Him. I mean think about it.... they saw Jesus arrested.... they knew He had been beaten.... and they saw Him taken to the hillside.... they saw Him loaded onto the cross...... He died and they proved that by piercing Him.... the blood and water that gushed out were post mortem. Two men.... important men.... arranged to take the body down and place it in a tomb..... and they prepared that human body with herbs and strips of cloth. Then..... before the end of Sabbath..... Jesus just got up and walked away from the strips of cloth and everything. Surely anyone who could beat the Romans at their crucifixion game could run them out of town. So I can understand them still hoping they were backing the right "political" choice...... "Now are you going to run them out of town?"
Those stupid Apostles figured they needed another to make the number complete... so they choose Matthias..... how embarrassing will it be for Matthias to be replaced when Jesus sends His choice for that empty spot.
IMHO.... the start is rocky.....
