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| Chapter 1 |
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1 ¶ In the former treatise, O Theophilus, I have given an account of all that Jesus began both to do and teach 2 until the day in which He was taken up, after He had given commandments through the Holy Spirit unto the apostles, whom He had chosen. 3 To these also He showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs, being seen by them forty days, and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. 4 And being assembled together with them, He commanded them that they should not depart from Jerusalem, but wait for the promise of the Father, "which," saith He, "ye have heard from Me; 5 for John truly baptized with water, but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence." 6 ¶ When they therefore had 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 the Holy Spirit is come upon you; and ye shall be witnesses unto Me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea 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 steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, "Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who is taken up from you into Heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into Heaven." 12 ¶ Then they returned unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath day’s journey. 13 And when they had 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 the Zealot, 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 (the number of names altogether were about a hundred and twenty) and said, 16 "Men and brethren, it was necessary that this Scripture be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit by the mouth of David spoke before concerning Judas, who was the guide to those who took Jesus. 17 For he was numbered with us, and had obtained a part of this ministry. 18 Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the middle, and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem, so that field is called in their proper tongue, Akel Dama, 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 bishopric let another take.’ 21 Therefore from these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until 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, who knowest the hearts of all men, show us which 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 cast their lots, and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. |
The book of Acts is the story of the Church of Christ’s creation and the spread across the Roman controlled world. In the book we see Jesus at work through the Holy Spirit, He has chosen to use His people, with all their weaknesses, to take His message of salvation to the world. v1,2 A brief introduction of the connections to the Gospel of Luke and who the writings were for. We do not know who Theophilus was. Luke 1:1-4. v2 The power and actions of the Holy Spirit are introduced and is the main "worker" throughout Acts. v3 Jesus had remained on earth for 40 days after His resurrection providing proof of His resurrection to many people and gave further teaching about the kingdom of God. The teaching of the kingdom of God makes regular appearances during Acts. Act 8:12; Acts 20:25; Acts 28:23,31 v4 A repeat of the command to wait in Jerusalem for the promised Holy Spirit Luke 24:49 The words "assembled together" can indicate "eating with" or "living with." v5 John’s message and baptism was in preparation for the coming Messiah,a change of mind and a physical showing of their change. The believers were shortly to be baptized by the Holy Spirit, an inward change, God will live in them. v6 The believers thought that the kingdom of God was about to appear on the earth, a political kingdom centered upon the nation of Israel. But God’s plan was to create a spiritual kingdom first, no one had realized at this time the plan. v7 The reply from Jesus was that it was not for them to know what God’s plan was and when it was to be completed, This knowledge was with the Father only and under His power. v8 He told them that they had a job to do, they are to take the truth of salvation through Jesus to Jerusalem, Acts chapter 1-7; then Judea and Samaria, Acts Chapters 8-11 and then to the world. Acts chapter 11 to 28. v9 The departure of Christ from the earth meant that He had broken off the physical and visible contact with the believers, He had now entered into the invisible presence of God. A cloud, in the Old Testament, often indicated the presence of God. e.g. Ex 40:34 Then a cloud covered the tent of the congregation, and the glory of the LORD filled the tabernacle. v10,11 The angels tell the disciples that He will return one day to the earth in the same way. Luke 21:27; Mark 13:26; Mark 14:62. A promise that all believers are waiting for. v12 The departure of Jesus to heaven had taken place from the Mount of Olives, just under 2 miles to the east of Jerusalem. v13 The upper room may have been where they had the Last Supper Luke 22:12ff; possibly the home of Mary, the mother of Mark. Acts 12:12. For other lists of disciple Matt 10:2-4; Mark 3:16ff; Luke 6:14ff. v14 "With His brethren" The half brothers of Jesus Matt 13:55,56 who thought He was mad and did not believe in Him before his death and resurrection. John 7:5. In 1 Cor 15:7 James, the older brother, appears to have received a personal resurrection appearance. The women may have been as given in Luke 8:2 and Luke 24:10. v15-26 Matthias is chosen. The apostle felt the need to chose a man to replace Judas Iscariot. v15-26 Peter has now become the natural leader among the 120 believers. He reminds them that the betrayal of Judas was part of the plan of God and was prophesied in the Old Testament, see v20. When Judas Iscariot betrayed Jesus then killed himself he automatically ended his position as one of the twelve apostles, he must be replaced so that there was twelve disciples, why? In Matt 19:28 Jesus had made a promise for the twelve disciples, there must be twelve disciples for the judging of Israel. How and who to chose as Jesus made the original choice.? The person had to have been following Jesus during His earthly life and to have seen the resurrected Jesus. Without the guidance of Jesus or the coming Holy Spirit the group used a normal Jewish practice of selection. Two men met the conditions, "Joseph called Barsabas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias." v23. The group prayed, v24,25 and then "cast lots." They probable wrote the name of the person on paper or put coloured stones, for example a black stone for Joseph or a white stone which represented Matthias, into an jar or urn. (see Proverbs 16:33 The lot is cast into the lap; but the whole disposing thereof is of the LORD..) They then count the numbers of stones or paper for each person. Matthias was chosen and so became one of the twelve disciples. v18-19 Were probable put in for the sake of the readers as they may not have known the complete story. |
Easy English Translation
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