SUMMARY.--The Preface.
The Promise of the Father.
The Command to Witness in Jerusalem, and in All Judea,
and Unto the Uttermost Parts of the Earth.
The Ascension.
The Charge of the Angels.
The Week of Prayer.
The Fate of Judas.
The Choice of an Apostle.
1. The former treatise. Luke's Gospel. Theophilus. See
note on
Luke 1:3.
Luke, whose history of Acts is really a continuation of the
history of his Gospel, very naturally refers to the former.
2. Through the Holy Ghost. Jesus received the Spirit without
measure, and all he did was in the Spirit. He also imparted a measure
of the Spirit, before he ascended, to the apostles to help them in
their work
(John 20:22).
Commandments. The Great Commission.
(Matt. 28:18-20;
Mark 16:15, 16; Luke 24:49).
3. To whom he shewed himself alive. He is a living Savior.
Otherwise he could no more be a Savior than Socrates, Buddha, or any
other sage.
After his passion. Suffering on the cross.
Seen of them forty days. At various times during forty days.
Eleven appearances are recorded. There were probably others.
Pertaining to the kingdom of God. His church, about to be
established on the earth.
4. Commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem.
Because, right in the citadel of his enemies, where he had been slain,
the Risen Lord was to be first proclaimed, his Gospel preached, the
Holy Spirit shed forth, and his kingdom established. Because, too, the
prophet
(Isa. 2:3, 5)
had declared that Jerusalem should be the place where the Gospel should
be first preached.
But wait for the promise of the Father.Joel 2:28;
Zech. 2:10; John 14:16; 15:26; Matt. 3:11.
They must wait for the Spirit, that they might speak, on the great day
of the inauguration of the kingdom, as the Holy Spirit gave them
utterance
(Acts 2:4).
The conditions of citizenship in the kingdom must be spoken by the
Spirit.
5. John truly baptized with water. They had received John's
baptism; they were now to be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Not many days. Only ten days after these words were spoken.
[416]
6. Wilt thou at this time, etc.? They still held to their old
ideas of a worldly restoration of the kingdom of Israel. Their only
question was, "Wilt thou restore it now?" After the Holy Spirit
was given, this delusion was dismissed, and they understood that
Christ's kingdom is not of this world.
7. It is not for you to know. This was a reproof, not only to
them, but to those in all ages who seek to know "the times or the
seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power."
8. Ye shall receive power. Not temporal power, such as they
dreamed of, but spiritual and moral power.
Shall be witnesses unto me. Testify of him of their personal
knowledge. They all knew personally of his life, his miracles,
his death, his resurrection, and the Great Commission. There could be
no mistake. Their witness is true, unless they were deceivers.
In Jerusalem. First, in the headquarters of Judaism, the capital
of their own country, the place where the Lord was crucified; then in
an ever-widening circle from that center; in Judea, then in Samaria,
then to the uttermost parts of the earth. This order was followed
exactly. It should always be followed in our efforts to evangelize the
world.
11. Ye men of Galilee. The apostles were mostly, if not all,
Galileans.
This same Jesus . . . shall so come. The cloud received him from
their sight. He shall come in the clouds of heaven
(Dan. 7:13;
Matt. 24:30; 26:24).
12. Then returned they . . . from the mount called Olivet. See
Luke 24:50.
The place of ascent was near Bethany. A church now stands on the
supposed place.
A sabbath day's journey. "The traditions of the elders" defined
the distance that might be traveled on the Sabbath. It was a little
less than a mile. Bethany is nearly two miles, but Luke here is stating
the distance of the Mount of Olives from the city.
13. Went into an upper room. A guest chamber on the second
floor.
Where abode. All the apostles are named except Judas Iscariot,
who had fallen away and was now dead. [417]
14. These all continued with one accord in prayer and
supplication. The latter clause is omitted in the Revision.
They were waiting for the "promise of the Father,"
and the time was spent in worship. There were ten days of prayer, the
best preparation for the Pentecostal blessing; an example to all
churches which seek an ingathering of souls.
With the women. Especially those women who had followed and
ministered to the Lord, lingered at his cross, and at his tomb.
Mary. This is the last time she is named in the sacred history.
Tradition reports that she lived until the near the time of the
overthrow of Jerusalem.
His brethren. The sons of Joseph and Mary. One of them, James,
was afterwards the James of Jerusalem and the author of the Epistle of
James. See
Acts 15;
also
Matt. 13:55.
They were unbelievers six months before
(John 7:5),
but now believed. James had seen the risen Lord
(1 Cor. 15:7).
15. And in those days. The interval of ten days.
Were about a hundred and twenty. This was the number of
disciples at Jerusalem, but not all who were then disciples. See
1 Cor. 15:6.
16. This scripture must needs have been fulfilled.Psa. 69:26.
18. This man purchased a field. He returned the bribe money to
the priests, who used it to purchase the potter's field.
Peter here intends to say that his money bought the field. The Greek
verb
rendered "purchased," has the form that means "caused to be purchased."
Falling headlong.Matt. 27:5
says he hanged himself. Peter tells some additional particulars, which
Matthew omitted. He probably hanged himself on a tree projecting over
the precipices of the Valley of Hinnom, and afterwards, on account of
the rope or limb breaking, fell headlong with such force as to burst
his body open on the jagged rocks. This is the traditional account of
his death.
19. That field is called. The field bought with the bribe money
of Judas. He came to such a bloody end that this, and the origin of the
purchase money, gave the field its name.
20. His bishoprick let another take.Psa. 109:8.
His office. This is, rather, an application of the spirit of the Psalm,
than its exact words. It sets forth the desert of persecutors.
21, 22. Must one be ordained to be a witness with us. These
verses set forth the necessary qualifications of an apostle. In order
to be a witness, he must have been a disciple of John,
left him in [418]
order to follow Jesus, attended his ministry, and seen him after his
resurrection. He must be able to testify of all these as an eye
witness.
23. They appointed two. Not the apostles, but the brethren, men
who met these conditions, then cast lots between them in order that the
Lord might make the choice. The two men named are not mentioned
elsewhere.
24. They prayed. That the Lord might choose between them. A
choice of men for any responsible church work ought to be made with
earnest prayer. It is likely that one of the apostles offered the
prayer, all joining in the petition.
26. The lot fell on Matthias. Some have held that the choice
of Matthias was unauthorized and that he was never accepted as an
apostle. The reasons for this view are that he is not named again, and
Paul was finally chosen as an apostle. To this it may be replied: (1)
Neither are more than half the other names in the apostolic band again
mentioned, Thomas, Thaddeus and Bartholomew, for example. (2) Paul was
not an apostle to the Jews, but to the Gentiles, and hence, not one of
the Twelve. (3) There is no hint anywhere in Acts, or elsewhere, that
the selection of Matthias was not recognized. (4) In
Acts 6:2,
"the twelve" are spoken of, and he must have been one of "the twelve,"
for Paul was not yet converted. These facts show that such speculations
as those referred to above are without foundation.