Chapter 1
Chapter 1 stands as the divine record of the Lord’s resurrection from the dead and His ascension into heaven. This is an all-important fact, for as the book will show, heaven will be the administrative seat of all operations on earth in this new departure of God in Christianity. The Lord is seen throughout the book acting from heaven as the “Head of the Church” (Eph. 5:23) and as “Head over all things to the Church” (Eph. 1:22), directing everything by the Holy Spirit. Thus, this new vessel of testimony (the Church) that God would form has no earthly center, as did Judaism.
The Introduction
Vss. 1-3—By mentioning “the former treatise,” which is Luke’s Gospel, Luke was intimating that he was now going to continue that narrative in another treatise. This would be a companion to the former treatise, giving us a history of events from the ascension of Christ through the first 30 years of the Church’s existence on earth.
This present treatise was written for “Theophilus,” as was the former treatise (Luke 1:1-4). He was a high-ranking government official. Luke identifies him as such by using the title “Most Excellent.” Tradition says that he held office in Antioch. The interesting thing to note is that Luke does not use that title here in the book of the Acts, as he did in his Gospel. This would indicate that Theophilus was no longer in that public office. Having believed the gospel, did he feel that occupying such a position in government was inconsistent with his Christian, calling and thus, stepped down from that place? We don’t know; Luke does not say.
In his former treatise, Luke recorded “all that Jesus began to do and teach” on earth; now in this present treatise, he gives the things that the Lord continued to do and teach—but from heaven. This, as we shall see, would be done through the members of His body, of which He is the Head. The apostles and other members of His body were merely the human instruments through which the Lord worked. As chapter 2 shows, the first thing He did upon ascending to God’s right hand was to shed forth (send) the Holy Spirit so that the saints would be linked together in one body, and as such, He would direct them in His service.
The Christophanies
Vss. 2-3—Luke then makes reference to the Lord’s resurrection appearances, which have been called, “Christophanies.” In a period of “forty days,” after the Lord rose from the dead, but before He ascended to heaven, He showed Himself to His disciples alive. He appeared in resurrection only to believers; unbelievers will not see Him until He comes out of heaven in judgment at the end of the age (Rev. 1:7). In those forty days, the Lord not only showed Himself to His own with “many infallible proofs” which proved that He had truly risen, but He also spoke to them of “things pertaining to the kingdom of God.” This refers to the moral side of the truth pertaining to the believer’s walk and ways (Rom. 14:17). The Lord did not give them the Christian revelation of truth at that time—that came out later through the apostles after the Spirit had come to reside on earth in the saints.
These infallible proofs confirmed the fact of the Lord’s resurrection beyond a shadow of doubt. This is important to establish, for the resurrection of Christ is the bedrock foundation of the gospel (1 Cor. 15:1-23). Hence, the purpose of the resurrection appearances was to strengthen the faith of the apostles as to this great fact (John 20:26-29), and thus prepare them to be witnesses of His resurrection (Luke 24:46-48). The “Christophanies” are:
Mary Magdalene (Mark 16:9; John 20:11-18).
The Galilean women (Matt. 28:9-10).
Peter (Luke 24:34; 1 Cor. 15:5).
Cleopas and his wife (Mark 16:12; Luke 24:13-35).
Ten apostles (Luke 24:36-48; John 20:19-23).
Eleven apostles (John 20:24-29).
Seven apostles at the sea of Tiberias (John 21:1-25).
Eleven apostles on a mountain in Galilee (Matt. 28:16-20).
Above five hundred brethren (1 Cor. 15:6).
James (1 Cor. 15:7).
All the disciples when He ascended (Luke 24:49-53; 1 Cor. 15:7).
The Lord’s Parting Command
Vss. 4-11—Luke focuses on the Lord’s last resurrection appearance when He gave the assembled brethren His parting command to “wait” in the city of Jerusalem “until” they had received “the promise of the Father” (vs. 4). They would thus be “endued with power from on high” through the coming of the Spirit (Luke 24:49). At that time, the Lord said, “For John truly baptized with water; but ye shall be baptized with the Holy Ghost [Spirit] not many days hence.” We know from 1St Corinthians 12:13 that this baptizing action of the Spirit is what formed the Church, the body of Christ. By this act of the Spirit there was an entirely new company of believers on earth, separate and distinct from the Jews and the Gentiles. There are now three distinct companies of people on earth: “the Jews,” “the Gentiles,” and “the Church of God” (1 Cor. 10:32).
It is of note that in quoting John the Baptist’s remark concerning the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Lord did not mention being baptized with “fire,” as did John (Matt. 3:11). This is because that baptism is a baptism of judgment (of which fire is a figure) on the wicked. The baptism with fire does not refer to the day of Pentecost, but to the time when the Lord, as John said, will “gather His wheat into the garner and burn the chaff with fire unquenchable” (Matt. 3:12). He will execute that fiery judgment at His second coming—the Appearing of Christ (2 Thess. 1:8-9).
Since the Lord spoke of these things on the 40th day after He rose from the dead, and the Spirit would come on the 50th day (Pentecost), as chapter 2 indicates, the “not many days hence” that the Lord referred to were an interim period of ten days.
The Public Manifestation of the Kingdom Postponed
Vss. 6-8—Having announced to the disciples that they were about to be baptized with the Holy Spirit, the disciples asked the Lord if that meant that “the kingdom” as promised in the Old Testament Prophets was going to be “restored to Israel” at that time (vs. 6). We can hardly blame them for thinking this, they had not understood that there was a change about to take place in the dispensational ways of God in which there would be an interposed heavenly calling of the Church, before He undertook to restore and bless Israel.
It is significant that in answering their question, the Lord didn’t deny that the kingdom would be restored to Israel in a literal sense. If it wasn’t going to be—as Reformed (Covenant) Theology mistakenly teaches—the Lord would have corrected their misunderstanding and told them right then and there that a literal restoration of Israel was not going to happen. Surely, He wouldn’t have allowed them to go on thinking that there was a literal kingdom coming when there wasn’t! Not to correct them on such a crucial point would have been deceptive and misleading. The answer He gave assured them that those literal things having to do with the kingdom and Israel’s blessing in it were sure to happen, but “the times” and “the seasons” of it rested with the Father who would bring it to pass “in His own power” and in His own time (vs. 7). For the time present, He said, “But ye shall receive power after that the Holy Ghost [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” (vs. 8). Thus, the times and seasons for the earthly restoration of Israel were not for them to know; their part was to wait in obedience to His command by remaining in Jerusalem until they received the gift of the Holy Spirit. At that time, they would receive power so that they might be effective witnesses for Him and of His resurrection. This present period—when the Lord is rejected and absent from the earth—is not the time for the restoring of the kingdom to Israel, but a time of gospel testimony.
This postponement of Israel’s restoration is not unscriptural; it is alluded to in a number of Old Testament prophecies. Many of the same prophecies that foresee Israel’s restoration also show that there would be a suspension in the Lord’s dealings with the nation, on account of its rejection of its Messiah—before those promises of restoration would be fulfilled (Dan. 9:24-27; Micah 5:1-3; Zech. 11–13:6; Psa. 69:22-36).
The order in which the Lord speaks of their witness going out from Jerusalem to the end of the earth is really a brief summary of the book of the Acts. Their testimony in “Jerusalem and in all Judea” is given in chapters 1-7. Their testimony in “Samaria” is found in chapter 8, and their witness to “the uttermost part of the earth” is told forth in chapters 13-28.
The Ascension
Vss. 9-12—After the Lord had given them this parting word, “He was taken up; and a cloud received Him out of their sight.” The Apostle Paul states that He was “received up in (not “into” as in the KJV) glory” (1 Tim. 3:16). This means that He went up in a glorified state. The cloud was not mere vapour, but a cloud of glory. Thus, He made a glorious entrance into heaven. “Two men (angels) stood by them in white apparel” to bear witness of the fact that He had ascended into heaven. They were there to confirm that what the apostles saw was not something they had imagined, but an actual event that took place.
There is now a glorified Man in heaven! The angels that stood by said, “This same Jesus, which is taken up from you into heaven, shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go into heaven” (vs. 11). This is a reference to the second coming of Christ—His Appearing. It coincides with the coming of the Lord described in Zechariah 14:4-5, when He will put His foot upon the Mount of Olives—the very spot where they stood and from which they saw Him ascend. But what Zechariah does not tell us is that the One who will come is “this same Jesus!” However, a study of his prophecy will reveal that it could be none other than the Lord Jesus Christ. See chapters 12:10 and 13:6.
In Acts, Luke says that they returned to Jerusalem “from the mount called Olivet” where they saw Him ascend (vs. 12), but in his Gospel he says that the Lord was carried up into heaven from “Bethany” (Luke 24:50-51). There is no discrepancy here; Bethany is on the Mount of Olives.
The Waiting Company
Vss. 13-14—The ten days of waiting began. They had to wait for the Spirit to come, for there could be no witness to the world with power until He was given. No company of believers has ever been in this position before or since; this was a unique thing at the inauguration of a new dispensation. Ever since the Spirit came, there has never been a need to wait for Him again. Christians who hold prayer meetings to call for the Spirit to come are denying the fact that He has come; it is ignorance and unscriptural to do so. It was not wrong for this company of believers to pray for the Spirit to come because at that time He had not yet come (Luke 11:13), but it would be wrong for us to do so today because He has come.
The eleven apostles are mentioned by name, beginning with Peter, James, and John—the three who had been given special experiences with the Lord (Mark 5:37; 9:2; 14:33). They were a waiting company of Jewish believers on Jewish ground. They were not part of the Church yet; they needed the baptism of the Spirit for that to be true.
They made good use of their time while they waited by continuing in prayer (vs. 14) and searching the Word of God (vss. 15-20). These are the two great resources of the children of God. It says, “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren.” Mary, the mother of the Lord, is mentioned among the saints assembled in the upper room. She is not given a special place of honour and distinction among them; she was not an object of veneration as the Church of Rome would make her to be. She is simply seen as one of the saints waiting for the Spirit to come. After this, she is not mentioned again in Scripture. The Lord’s brothers and sisters were also there among the waiting saints. The previous mention of them in Scripture shows that they were unbelieving (John 7:5), but they had been converted since. Scripture is silent as to how or when. None of the Lord’s brothers were apostles, though James and Jude wrote divinely inspired epistles.
The Twelfth Apostle—Matthias
When the Lord rose from the dead, He gave the apostles the Holy Spirit as a temporary provision until the Spirit would come to abide in them and with them (John 20:22). In doing this, He opened their understanding that they might understand the Scriptures (Luke 24:45). Peter made full use of this understanding, and by consulting two Psalms of David, he learned that there should be a replacement for Judas. With this in mind, Peter “stood up” among the brethren (“about a hundred and twenty”) and announced that they should have another person replace Judas in “this ministry.”
Verses 18-19 are not the words of Peter, but a parenthesis which Luke inserts to give us some further details concerning the death of Judas. Matthew records that he “hanged himself” (Matt. 27:5), but Luke tells us here that he fell “headlong” and “burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.” Putting these two accounts together, we take it that the rope which he hanged himself with must have broken and as a result he fell down the precipice over which he was hung.
Vss. 20-26—As to Judas, Psalm 69:25 says, “Let his habitation [homestead] be desolate,” and Psalm 109:8 says, “His bishoprick [overseership] let another take.” It was clear from these passages what should be done. Since an apostle has to be one who has seen Christ in life and in His resurrection, they concluded that “beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that He was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be a witness with us of His resurrection” (vs. 22). Not wanting to act independently in this, they appointed two men who had these qualifications—“Joseph” and “Matthias”—and set them before the Lord and left the choice to Him. They cast lots, and “the lot fell on Matthias” and he was “numbered with the eleven apostles” (vss. 23-26).
The casting of lots is an Old Testament practise (Lev. 16:8; Josh. 18:6-10; 1 Sam. 14:41-42; Prov. 16:33, etc.). In keeping with the transition from Judaism to Christianity, this is the last time in Scripture that it is used. With the coming of the Spirit, the Church would have a greater way to be guided (Acts 13:2: 16:7)