(Suggested Reading: Chapter 1)
The Acts opens with a reference to “the former treatise” which the author wrote. This we believe to be the gospel of Luke, so that a connection between the gospel of Luke and the Acts of the Apostles is to be expected. The two “treatises” are roughly equal in length—the gospel being the life of Christ on earth—The Acts the continuation of that life in redeemed man, born of the Spirit, and united to an ascended Christ. In the gospel Luke writes to “most excellent Theophilus”, “most excellent” being the title of a Roman official of rank. At the beginning of the Acts he changes his style to “O Theophilus”. It is not that Theophilus is less in his eyes than when he pens his gospel—simply that Christ is more. For Acts unfolds Christianity. At the mention of the Savior’s Name man is brought low. “His Name alone is excellent” —Ps. 148:13. If Luke so writes of Theophilus he humbles himself too. Throughout the Acts he contrives to obscure himself, only indicating his presence by “we.” Though a most talented man—physician, sailor, and historian, he takes a veil and hides himself, like Rebecca nearing Isaac. For he realizes that Christ and His interests in the world are what he is to write about—not himself. It is not from his pen but from Paul’s that we learn that he is “the beloved physician” —Col. 4:1414Luke, the beloved physician, and Demas, greet you. (Colossians 4:14)—although references to diseases, the physician and the medical terms of his day can be traced in his writings. His knowledge of the sea, and ships too, shines through in his detailed account of Paul’s shipwreck. And then he is an historian. While the Holy Spirit inspired his writings, Luke compiled the history of early Christianity and wrote it.
The first five verses of Acts are introductory. In the first verse we have the expression “to do and to teach” —a key to both the gospel of Luke and the Acts itself. Man usually tries to teach and to do, and then finds he cannot do. The Lord’s teaching flows from His work and words. This is what we find in the Acts—living Christianity—doctrine in practice. We have Jesus in the first verse also, the Holy Spirit in the second verse (followed by ‘the kingdom of God’ in the third verse, for “the kingdom of God is not meat and drink but righteousness, and peace and joy in the Holy Spirit” —Rom. 14:1717For the kingdom of God is not meat and drink; but righteousness, and peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. (Romans 14:17)) and the promise of the Father in the fourth verse. Notice the prominence given here to the Holy Spirit. In Acts there are only three references to God the Father and they are all in the first two chapters. Two of these references are to the promised gift of the Holy Spirit—1:4; 2:33.
This gift of the Holy Spirit follows a divine pattern—the Lord’s sufferings and death, His resurrection, His forty day stay on the earth, His ascension to His Father. Only then could the Holy Spirit be sent down. In preparation for this great event the Lord now assembles the Apostles and commands them “not to depart from Jerusalem.”
Jerusalem—the City of the Great King
It was David, the anointed of the God of Jacob, and the sweet Psalmist of Israel, who took Jerusalem and made it his capital. In the Psalms he refers to it as Mount Zion (the mount of grace), and writes “Jerusalem! Mountains are round about her, and Jehovah is round about His people, from henceforth and for evermore” —Ps. 125:2. David’s son and David’s Lord also spoke about Jerusalem— “swear not at all, neither by heaven for it is God’s throne. Nor by the earth for it is His footstool, neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King” Mat. 5:34, 35. The Great King had visited His city— “and a very great multitude spread their garments in the way, others cut down branches from the trees and spread them in the way. And the multitudes that went before, and that followed, cried, saying, Hosanna to the Son of David. Blessed is He that cometh in the Name of the Lord. Hosanna in the highest. And when He was come into Jerusalem all the city was moved, saying ‘WHO IS THIS?’” —Mat. 21:8-10. It was a question that was not fully answered until they took Him outside His city and erected a sign above His cross reading “THIS IS JESUS THE KING OF THE JEWS.”
Yet in the midst of the guilty nation there were those who acknowledged Him as their Messiah. Although but a remnant of the nation, they represented the nation itself in God’s eyes. The Lord showed Himself alive to these—not to the world. It is noteworthy that from the time His own took down His body from the cross to the time He ascended to heaven, only His own saw Him. The world will not see Him again until He comes in judgment on them and then they will wail—see Rev. 1:77Behold, he cometh with clouds; and every eye shall see him, and they also which pierced him: and all kindreds of the earth shall wail because of him. Even so, Amen. (Revelation 1:7). When the Lord rose from among the dead, Cleopas, who was part of this godly remnant, said to Him— “art Thou only a stranger in Jerusalem?” This question, posed at the end of Luke’s gospel, is really taken up and answered at the beginning of Acts. From His circumstances we see that He is truly a stranger in Jerusalem, His own city. Acts also continues with the hope and theme of the godly remnant— “but we trusted that it should have been He which should have redeemed Israel.”
The Lord’s Mandate to His Apostles
The Apostles had forgotten the Lord’s words— “and I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you forever” —John 14:1616And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (John 14:16). He will not leave them comfortless. So important is this truth (that the Holy Spirit, a Divine Person, must come down to earth to replace the Lord Jesus who will shortly go to heaven) that the whole Trinity is involved in its declaration—John 14:1616And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (John 14:16)—also in the opening verses of Acts already quoted. In Acts, though, the thought is the Holy Spirit as the energy—the power of the new life God has given us. The Lord is about to give a mandate to His Apostles, and it cannot be carried out except in the might of the Holy Spirit.
Clearly the Apostles are not ready for this. Their vision is limited to things Jewish for they say— “Lord, wilt Thou at this time restore again the kingdom to Israel?” From this question, and from casting lots etc. later, we see clearly that the whole of Chapter 1 is Jewish. But the way is being opened up for something new going far beyond this—that is the establishment of the Church. This is given in the next chapter. So the question “at this time” cannot be answered. How could they know that before God introduces the earthly kingdom He plans to take out of this world a bride for His Son? And the Church, once established, is to walk by faith, not by sight. Anticipating this the Lord replies “it is not for you to know the times or the seasons.” The Lord is about to cut them off from their Jewish connections and bring them into the Church, which, being heavenly in origin, character and destiny, is really outside of time considerations. “But” He continues— “ye shall receive power after the Holy Spirit is come upon you.” Power? Yes, the power of the Holy Spirit. And for what purpose? Why it is that “ye shall be witnesses unto Me, both in Jerusalem, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth” —1:8. This statement is unquestionably connected with the end of Luke’s gospel— “that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His Name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem” —Luke 24:4747And that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in his name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. (Luke 24:47)—where the eleven are—Acts 1—waiting until clothed with power from on high—the Holy Spirit. Without this power they were “not to depart from Jerusalem”; with it they could go to “the uttermost part of the earth.”
There is a divine order in the Lord’s mandate to His Apostles. First they were to testify to the Messiah before His people who rejected Him, beginning at Jerusalem, the city of the great but despised King. Then in Judea and Samaria, scenes of His ministry on earth, and finally to the uttermost part of the earth. It is clear that the Apostles did not carry out this mandate much beyond Jerusalem. Humble Christians carried the gospel to Judea and Samaria while the Apostles remained in Jerusalem—8:1. As to “the uttermost part of the earth” this was to be the work of the Apostle Paul who received a commission of a special character from the risen Lord—9:15; 22:15, 21; 26:16-18. This does not suggest failure on the part of the Apostles. The Lord’s mandate to them indicates the scope of the gospel, agreeing with John 3:1616For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16)—and the center from which it should radiate, the guiltiest of all the cities in the world. It is “Father forgive them” in practice. If God could forgive them and send the message out from such a city, who could deny His boundless grace elsewhere in the world? But Paul, as he insists in his epistles, is an apostle apart from the twelve. They accompanied the Lord on earth and their ministry centered in and radiated from Jerusalem, and the Assembly formed there later on. They were witnesses to His resurrection. Their principal testimony at Jerusalem was to preach and teach the cardinal truth that the Messiah was raised from the dead.
The Election of Matthias
Something now stands in the way of the Lord’s mandate being carried out. The ranks of the twelve Apostles have been depleted by the treachery of Judas. Another must be chosen to replace him. At this juncture Peter begins his rise to prominence among the Apostles. He addresses them concerning Judas’ perfidy. Judas, a false Apostle, has gone “to his own place.” He is the first of three circles opposed to Christ who must go. The Sanhedrin, the great Council of the Jews, must vanish in due course, and finally the nation itself. So the question is, who shall replace Judas—Joseph or Matthias—for both have been companions of the Lord and witnesses of His resurrection. Of this scene an able commentator writes— “Unable to judge between them definitely, the rest spread the matter before the Lord, who must choose His own Apostle. The mode of the disciples in this case, it is true, might seem peculiar to us; but I have no doubt they were guided by the Lord. There is no reason from Scripture to believe that Peter and the others acted hastily, or were mistaken. The Spirit of God in this very book sanctions the choice that was made that day and never alludes to Paul as the necessary twelfth Apostle. To do so would be, in my judgment, to weaken if not to ruin the truth of God. Paul was not one of the twelve. It is of all consequence that he should be permitted to retain a special place, who had a special work. All was wisely ordered.
“Here then they prayed, and said ‘Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts of all men, show which of these two Thou hast chosen.’ Man never chooses an Apostle. Apostles did not, could not, elect an Apostle. The Lord alone chose. And so they drew their lots after the Jewish custom. The twelve apostles were clearly, as it seems to me, in relation to the twelve tribes of Israel, ‘and they gave forth their lots.’ This was sanctioned by God in the Old Testament when Israel was before Him; it will be sanctioned by God when Israel returns on the scene in the latter day. . . . We shall find a little later, yet before Paul appears, that ‘the twelve’ were recognized. So says the Spirit of God.”1
How blessed the election of Matthias is. It is preceded by general prayer—v. 14—and then by specific prayer—vs. 24, 25. Unlike Peter, Matthias is not prominent in the Scriptures, but he is chosen by the One who knows the hearts of men. He knew Peter’s heart as well as Matthias’. He had restored Peter publicly at that scene by the sea where He probed him— “Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou Me?” Now Peter is restored to usefulness among God’s people, and in the circle of the Apostles. “The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, and He delights in his way. Though he fall he shall not be utterly cast down, for the Lord upholds him with His hand” —Ps. 37:23, 24. And so Peter is restored and the Apostles are once more twelve, with the election of Matthias. Everything is now ready for the descent of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost, and the formation of the Church.