Acts 1

Luke begins his second book by linking it to his Gospel: the risen Jesus gives his apostles their last instructions and promises the Holy Spirit’s power. Jesus is then taken up into heaven, and the disciples wait and pray in Jerusalem. Peter leads them to replace Judas with Matthias, so that the Twelve are restored as witnesses of the resurrection.

Acts 1:1-2

Luke writes to Theophilus, and his first book is the Gospel of Luke. That book told what Jesus began to do and teach. Acts carries the story on, as Jesus continues his work through his people. Before leaving, he gave the chosen apostles their instructions by the Spirit.

BSA: began (“to initiate, to start”): The Gospel was only the start of what Jesus did, and Acts shows him still at work. Theophilus (“friend of God”): The name means ‘friend of God,’ a fitting name for the first reader of this book.

See also: Luke 1:1-4.

Acts 1:3

Jesus did not leave his followers with doubts. After his suffering and death he showed himself alive in ways they could not dismiss. For forty days he appeared to them and taught about God’s kingdom, God’s rule over his people and the world.

BSA: convincing proofs (“clear signs, evidence”): The resurrection rested on solid, repeated evidence, not on a feeling or an idea. suffering (“intense, passionate”): It points to the depth of what Jesus went through on the cross.

Greek: τεκμηρίοις (tekmēriois, G5039) — “sure, certain proofs.” This word was used for firm evidence that settles a matter. Luke is saying that the resurrection was established, not merely claimed.

See also: 1 Corinthians 15:3-6.

Acts 1:4-5

Jesus tells them to stay in Jerusalem and wait for the Father’s promised gift, the Holy Spirit. John’s baptism used water as a sign of repentance. Soon they would be baptized, immersed, in the Spirit himself. They were not to start the work by their own strength.

BSA: baptized (“fully immersed”): The picture is of being completely soaked in the Spirit, not given a small touch of him. gift (“promise, assurance”): The Spirit is something the Father had pledged, so they could wait with confidence.

See also: Luke 24:49; John 14:16-17.

Acts 1:6

The disciples still think of the kingdom in terms of Israel’s national future. Their question is natural, since the prophets had promised a restored people. Jesus does not call the hope wrong. He turns their eyes from the timetable to their task.

BSA: restore (“re-establish, bring back”): They hoped for the kingdom to be set up again, as the prophets had promised.

Acts 1:7

Jesus tells them the timing belongs to the Father alone. It is not their business to work out the dates. This does not deny the kingdom. It tells them to trust the Father’s plan and get on with what he has given them to do.

BSA: authority (“power, or right”): The Father alone has the right to decide when God’s purposes come about.

See also: Mark 13:32.

Acts 1:8

Here is the promise and the plan of the whole book. The Spirit will give them power, and they will be Jesus’ witnesses, starting in Jerusalem and spreading outward. Acts follows that path from Jerusalem to Judea, Samaria, and eventually to Rome and beyond.

BSA: power (“ability to perform miracles, strength”): The Spirit gives real strength to speak and to live for Christ. witnesses (“those who testify, give evidence”): A witness reports what he has seen and known, and tells it truthfully.

Greek: δύναμιν (dynamin, G1411) — “power, ability.” This is the root of our word dynamite. It means real, active strength to do something, and it is given by the Spirit.

See also: Luke 24:48-49.

Acts 1:9

Jesus rises before their eyes, and a cloud takes him from sight. In the Bible, a cloud often marks God’s presence. The disciples are shown that he has not just vanished. He has gone to the Father, and his earthly appearances are at an end.

BSA: cloud (“a visible mass of water vapor”): It was a real cloud, and it also recalls the cloud of God’s glory in Scripture.

See also: Luke 24:50-51; Daniel 7:13.

Acts 1:10-11

Two men in white, evidently angels, stand beside the staring disciples. They ask why the disciples stand gazing. The same Jesus who left will return in the same way. The disciples are given hope and are pointed back to their work.

BSA: looking intently (“gazing steadfastly, with focused attention”): They could not take their eyes off him, as anyone would find hard. come back (“return, appear again”): His return will be as real and personal as his departure.

See also: 1 Thessalonians 4:16; Matthew 24:30.

Acts 1:12

The disciples walk back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. A Sabbath day’s journey was the distance Jews were allowed to walk on the Sabbath, roughly three-quarters of a mile. So the mountain was close to the city, and they went back to wait as Jesus had told them.

BSA: journey (“road, path”): It names a short, measured walk, which shows how close the mountain was to the city.

Acts 1:13

Luke lists the eleven apostles by name, and Judas is no longer among them. They stay in an upstairs room, probably a large room in a Jerusalem house. The list shows that the group Jesus chose was still together, and was ready to be joined by the Spirit.

BSA: upper (“upper chamber, a private space”): It was an upstairs room, a quiet place away from the crowds.

See also: Luke 6:13-16.

Acts 1:14

Their waiting was not idle. They prayed together, with one heart. The women were with them, and so were Mary and the brothers of Jesus, who once doubted him. Now they are united and praying with the believers.

BSA: with one accord (“united, in harmony”): They were of one mind and one purpose in prayer. continued (“persevered, remained steadfast”): They kept praying and did not give up.

Greek: ὁμοθυμαδὸν (homothymadon, G3661) — “with one mind, together.” The word means to be of one passion and one purpose. Luke uses it often in Acts for the united life of the early church.

See also: John 7:5.

Acts 1:15

About a hundred and twenty believers are gathered, a small group in a large city. Peter, who denied Jesus and was forgiven, stands up to lead. He speaks to them as brothers, which shows he sees himself as one of them.

BSA: brothers (“fellow believers, disciples”): Believers are a family, and Peter speaks to them as one of them.

Acts 1:16-17

Peter says Judas’s betrayal did not catch God off guard. The Holy Spirit had spoken of it long before through David. Judas was not an outsider. He had been counted among the Twelve and had a share in their ministry, which makes his fall more sobering.

BSA: foretold (“spoke beforehand, predicted”): God had spoken about this beforehand, so it did not undo his plan. shared (“received his portion, had obtained part”): Judas had been given a real part in the work, which he threw away.

See also: Psalm 41:9.

Acts 1:18-19

Luke adds a short explanation for his readers. Judas used the payment for his treachery to buy a field, and he died there in a terrible way. The people of Jerusalem knew the story, and they named the place Akeldama, Field of Blood. Matthew tells the same events from another angle.

BSA: wickedness (“unrighteousness, evil-doing”): The money was gained by doing wrong, and it brought him no good.

See also: Matthew 27:3-8.

Acts 1:20

Peter finds the guidance in the Psalms. The first line describes the ruin of a man who turned against the righteous, and the second speaks of another taking his office. Peter sees that the empty place was to be filled.

BSA: position (“office, responsibility, oversight”): It is an office of oversight, with real responsibility, and not just a seat.

Greek: ἐπισκοπὴν (episkopēn, G1984) — “oversight, office of overseer.” The word means a position of watching over others. It is the root of the New Testament word for an overseer.

See also: Psalm 69:25; Psalm 109:8.

Acts 1:21-22

The replacement had to be someone who had been with Jesus from John’s baptism to the ascension. His main job was to be a witness of the resurrection, since the apostles’ message rested on that fact. They wanted someone who had seen and heard it all.

BSA: witness (“one who sees, testifies”): An apostle is someone who saw the risen Lord and can vouch for him. resurrection (“standing up again from death, revival”): The Greek word pictures a body standing up again after death.

See also: 1 Corinthians 15:14-15.

Acts 1:23

The company put forward two men who met the requirements: Joseph, also called Barsabbas and Justus, and Matthias. We know little about either of them. The group did not choose on their own. They set two men before the Lord.

BSA: proposed (“put forward, appointed”): The believers set the candidates forward but left the final decision to the Lord.

Acts 1:24-25

They pray, not for a better plan, but for the Lord’s choice. They address Jesus as the one who knows every heart. Judas gave up the ministry and went to the place his own choices had earned. The new apostle must be the Lord’s own selection.

BSA: heart (“the innermost thoughts and intentions”): Only the Lord can see what a man is really like inside. abandoned (“fell away, gave up”): Judas stepped away from the ministry he had been given.

See also: 1 Samuel 16:7.

Acts 1:26

They cast lots, a way used in the Old Testament to leave a decision in God’s hands, and the lot fell to Matthias. He was counted with the eleven. After Pentecost, the Spirit guides the church’s decisions in other ways, and we hear of lots no more.

BSA: lot (“portion or share, determined by chance”): A lot was a way of leaving the outcome with God instead of with human preference. added (“numbered with, counted as”): Matthias was counted in with the apostles, and the Twelve were made whole again.

See also: Proverbs 16:33.