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who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky, will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.”
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.
Acts 1:11-12 sits inside this longer paragraph.
When he had said these things, as they were looking, he was taken up, and a cloud received him out of their sight. While they were looking steadfastly into the sky as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white clothing, who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky, will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.”
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. When they had come in, they went up into the upper room where they were staying; that is Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord continued steadfastly in prayer and supplication, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
who also said, “You men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into the sky? This Jesus, who was received up from you into the sky, will come back in the same way as you saw him going into the sky.”
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mountain called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.
which also sayde: ye men of Galile why stonde ye gasinge vp into heaven? This same Iesus which is taken vp from you in to heaven shall so come even as ye haue sene him goo into heaven.
Then returned they vnto Ierusalem from mount olivete which is nye to Ierusalem coteyninge a Saboth dayes iorney.
Which also sayde, Yee men of Galile, why stande yee gasing into heauen? This Iesus which is taken vp from you into heauen, shall so come, as yee haue seene him goe into heauen.
Then returned they vnto Hierusalem from the mount that is called the mount of Oliues, which is neere to Hierusalem, being from it a Sabbath daies iourney.
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv11–12 11. Ye men of Galilee, etc. I am not…
11. Ye men of Galilee, etc. I am not of their opinion who think that this name was given the apostles after an opprobrious sort, as if the angels meant to reprehend the slowness and dullness of the apostles. In my opinion, it was rather to make them more attentive, in that men, whom they did never see before, did name them as though they had perfectly known them. But they seem to reprehend without cause, for looking up into heaven. For where should they rather seek for Christ than in heaven? Doth not the Scriptures also oftentimes exhort us thereunto? I answer, that they were not reprehended because they looked up towards heaven; but because they coveted to see Christ, when as the cloud which was put between them and him did keep them from seeing him with their bodily senses: Secondly, because they hoped that he would return again straightway, that they might enjoy the sight of him again, when as lie did ascend to stay in the heavens until such time as he should come to judge the world. Wherefore, let us first learn out of this place that we must not seek Christ either in heaven, either upon earth, otherwise than by faith; and also, that we must not desire to have him present with us bodily in the world; for he that doth either of those two shall oftentimes go farther from him. So this their admiration is reprehended, not simply, but inasmuch as they were astonied by the strangeness of this matter; like as we are oftentimes carried unadvisedly into a wonderful great wondering at God’s works; but we never apply ourselves to consider for what end and purpose they were done.
Jesus, which is taken up into heaven There are two members in this one sentence. The first is, that Christ was taken up into heaven, that they may not henceforth foolishly desire to have him any longer conversant with them upon earth. The other is straightway added as a consolation concerning his second coming. Out of these two jointly, and also severally, is gathered a firm, stable, and strong argument, to refute the Papists, and all other which imagine that Christ is really present in the signs of bread and wine. For when it is said that Christ is taken up into heaven; here is plainly noted the distance of place. I grant that this word heaven is interpreted divers ways, sometimes for the air, sometimes for the whole connection of the spheres, sometimes for the glorious kingdom of God, where the majesty of God hath his [its] proper scat, howsoever it doth fill the whole world. After which sort Paul doth place Christ above all heavens, (Ephesians 1:22,) because he is above all the world, and hath the chiefest room in that place of blessed immortality, because he is more excellent than all the angels, (Ephesians 4:15.) But this is no let why he may not be absent from us bodily, and that by this word heavens, there may not be signified a separation from the world. Let them cavil as much as they will, it is evident that the heaven whereinto Christ was received is opposite to the frame of the world; therefore it doth necessarily follow, that if he be in heaven, he is without [beyond] the world.
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But, first, we must mark what the purpose of the angels was, for thereby we shall more perfectly know what the words mean. The angels’ intent was to call back the apostles from desiring the carnal presence of Christ. For this purpose was it that they said that he should not come again until he came to judge the world. And to this end serveth the assigning of the time, that they might not look for him in vain before that same time. Who seeth not that in these words is manifestly showed that he was bodily absent out of the world? Who seeth not that we are forbidden to desire to have him upon the earth? But, they think they escape safe with that crafty answer, when as they say that then he shall come visibly; but he cometh now invisibly daily. But we are not here to dispute of his form; only the apostles are taught that Christ must abide in heaven until such time as he appear at the latter day. For the desiring of his corporeal presence is here condemned as absurd and perverse. The Papists deny that he is present in the sacrament carnally, while that his glorious body is present with us after a supernatural sort, and by a miracle; but we may well enough reject their inventions concerning his glorious body, as childish and frivolous toys. They feign unto themselves a miracle not confirmed with any testimony of Scripture. The body of Christ was then glorious, when as he was conversant with his disciples after his resurrection. This was done by the extraordinary and secret power of God; yet, notwithstanding, the angels do forbid to desire him afterward after that sort, and they say that he shall not come unto men in that sort (before the latter day.) Therefore, according to their commandment, let us not go about to pull him out of the heavens with our own inventions; neither let us think that we call handle him with our hands, or perceive him with our other senses, more than we can see him with our eyes. I speak always of his body. For in that they say it is infinite, as it is all absurd dream, so is it safely to be rejected. Nevertheless, I willingly confess that Christ is ascended that he may fulfill [fill] all things; but I say that he is spread abroad everywhere by the power of his Spirit, not by the substance of his flesh. I grant, furthermore, that he is present With us both in his word and in the sacraments. Neither is it to be doubted, but that all those which do with faith receive the signs of his flesh and blood, are made truly partakers of his flesh and blood. But this partaking doth nothing agree with the dotings of the Papists; for they feign that Christ is present in such sort upon the altar as Numa Pompilius did call down his Jupiter Elicitus, or as those witches did fetch down the moon from heaven with their enchantments. But Christ, by reaching us the bread in his Supper, doth will us to lift up our hearts into heaven, that we may have life by his flesh and blood. So that we do not eat his flesh grossly, that we may live thereby, but he poureth into us, by the secret power of his Spirit, his force and strength.
He shall so come I have said before, that by this consolation all sorrow which we might conceive, because of Christ’s absence, is mitigated, yea, utterly taken away, when as we hear that he shall return again. And also the end for which he shall come again is to be noted; namely, that he shall come as a Redeemer, and shall gather us with him into blessed immortality. For as lie doth not now sit idle in heaven, (as Homer signifieth, that his gods be busied only about their bellies;) so shall not he appear again without profit. Therefore, the only looking for Christ’s coming must both restrain the importunate desires of our flesh, and support our patience in all our adversities; and, lastly, it must refresh our weariness. But it worketh this only in the faithful, which believe that Christ is their Redeemer; for it bringeth unto the wicked nothing but dread, horror, and great fearfulness. And howsoever they do now scoff’ and jest when as they hear of his coming, yet shall they be compelled to behold him sitting upon his tribunal-seat, whom now they will not vouchsafe to hear speak. Furthermore, it were but frivolous to move any question about his apparel wherewith he was then clothed, whether he shall come again being clothed with the same or no. Neither am I now determined to refute that which Augustine, in his Epistle unto Consentius, doth touch, (August. ad Con. Epist. 146;) notwithstanding, it is better for me to omit that thing which I cannot unfold.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv11–12 That is, out of your sight.
That is, out of your sight.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv11–12 11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why…
11 Which also said, Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven? 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.
Ver. 11. Shall so come] De tempore ne quire, not a word of the time when, in answer to that overly curious question, Act 1:6. Solomon’s temple was finished in the year of the world 3000; whether Christ’s shall be consummated in 3000 more, I have not to say.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv11–12 Which also said; the two angels (in the form…
Which also said; the two angels (in the form of men) before mentioned.
Ye men of Galilee; that is, the apostles, who were of that country.
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Why stand ye gazing up into heaven? They are roused out of the ecstasy they were in at that glorious sight, to learn what was so much to their and our advantage. Shall so come:
1. Visibly.
2. In a cloud.
3. By his own power.
4. With the like majesty.
5. With the same soul and body.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v12 The apostles having seen our Saviour thus gloriously ascended…
The apostles having seen our Saviour thus gloriously ascended into heaven from Mount Olivet, they return to Jerusalem; which is called a sabbath-day’s journey that is, about two miles. Eight furlongs make a mile, and Bethany, in which was the Mount of Olivet, was from Jerusalem about fifteen furlongs, Joh 11:18. This was the common walk which the Jews used on the sabbath-day, but rather for meditation than recreation’s sakes. The apostles thus returned, assemble together at Jerusalem, where they lay the foundation of the first gospel-church.
And here observe, 1. How the names of all the eleven apostles are repeated, and distinctly set down, to shew, that although they had fallen from their profession, and forsaken Christ, yet they had recoverd themselves by repentance, and were risen again; and upon their recovery, were continued by Christ in their former office and dignity. O the mighty power of a sincere repentance, to reinstate us in the favour and friendship of an offended God!
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Observe, 2. How the sight of Christ’s ascension had established and confirmed the apostles faith: they now adore and worship him, and assemble together to perform their joint devotions to him. True, they looked upon him as a person sent from God, a great prophet, and the Son of David; but his Deity being evinced, and now made evident to them by his resurrection form the grave, and ascension into heaven, they now worshipped him as the Son of God. Luk 24:52
Observe, 3. The place where this Christian congregation did assemble; In an upper room; that is, says Dr. Hammond, in one of the chambers belonging to the temple; in the large upper room, say others, where Christ had lately eaten the passover with his disciples; it was no doubt the most convenient place they could find for that solemnity; an upper room being remote from noise and company, and capacious enough to receive this primo-primitive church, consisting of an hundred and twenty persons.
It teaches us, That all advantages, with respect to time and place, and other circumstances, for the better performance of holy duties, ought to be made use of and improved by us.
Observe, 4. The persons who were the first constituting members of this new constituted church; together with the apostles, mention is made of women in general, and of the Virgin Mary in particular; where we may remark, That this is the first and last time that the scripture makes mention of her after Christ’s death. None of the Evangelists record one word of our Lord’s appearing once to her, during his forty days stay and continuance upon earth after his resurrection.
Doubtless, the Spirit of God in the holy scriptures, by speaking so sparingly of her life, and nothing at all of her death, took care that all those fabulous reprots of her assumption, which have since arisen, should find no footsteps in the word of God. God dealeth with her, as with Moses, of whose sepulchre no man knoweth unto this day, lest it should be abused to idolatry.
The learned Dr. Lightfoot is of opinion, that she continued, under the care of the beloved disciple, unto whom Christ committed her for some time, and at last was taken away by martyrdom, according to Simeon’s prophecy. A sword shall pierce through thine own soul also. Luk 2:35 Which prophecy, he thinks, pointed at the manner of her death: But notwithstanding the silence of the scriptures, the church of Rome confidently affirms, that the Virgin lived sixty-three years, and that all the apostles were at her funeral, except St. Thomas, who desiring afterward to see her holy corpse, the sepulchre being opened the third day, the body was gone, being assumed and taken up into heaven.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain On v12 We are here told, I. Whence Christ ascended -…
We are here told, I. Whence Christ ascended - from the mount of Olives (Act 1:12), from that part of it where the town of Bethany stood, Luk 24:50. There he began his sufferings (Luk 22:39), and therefore there he rolled away the reproach of them by his glorious ascension, and thus showed that his passion and his ascension had the same reference and tendency. Thus would he enter upon his kingdom in the sight of Jerusalem, and of those undutiful ungrateful citizens of his that would not have him to reign over them. It was prophesied of him (Zac 14:4), That his feet should stand upon the mount of Olives, which is before Jerusalem, should stand last there; and presently it follows, The mount of Olives shall cleave in two. From the mount of Olives he ascended who is the good olive-tree, whence we receive the unction, Zac 4:12; Rom 11:24. This mount is here said to be near Jerusalem, a sabbath day's journey from it, that is, a little way; no further than devout people used to walk out on a sabbath evening, after the public worship was over, for meditation. Some reckon it a thousand paces, others two thousand cubits; some seven furlongs, others eight. Bethany indeed was fifteen furlongs from Jerusalem (Joh 11:18), but that part of the mount of Olives which was next to Jerusalem, whence Christ began to ride in triumph, was but seven or eight furlongs off. The Chaldee paraphrast on Ruth 1 says, We are commanded to keep the sabbaths and the holy days, so as not to go above two thousand cubits, which they build upon Jos 3:4, where, in their march through Jordan, the space between them and the ark was to be two thousand cubits. God had not then thus limited them, but they limited themselves; and thus far it is a rule to us, not to journey on the sabbath any more than in order to the sabbath work; and as far as is necessary to this we are not only allowed, but enjoined, Kg2 4:23.
II. Whither the disciples returned: They came to Jerusalem, according to their Master's appointment, though there they were in the midst of enemies; but it should seem that though immediately after Christ's resurrection they were watched, and were in fear of the Jews, yet after it was known that they were gone into Galilee no notice was taken of their return to Jerusalem, nor any further search made for them. God can find out hiding-places for his people in the midst of their enemies, and so influence Saul that he shall not seek for David any more. At Jerusalem they went up into an upper room, and there abode; not that they all lodged and dieted together in one room, but there they assembled every day, and spent time together in religious exercises, in expectation of the descent of the Spirit. Divers conjectures the learned have about this upper room. Some think it was one of the upper rooms in the temple; but it cannot be thought that the chief priests, who had the letting of these rooms, would suffer Christ's disciples constantly to reside in any of them. It was said indeed, by the same historian, that they were continually in the temple (Luk 24:53), but that was in the courts of the temple, at the hours of prayer, where they could not be hindered from attending; but, it should seem, this upper room was in a private house. Mr. Gregory, of Oxford, is of this opinion, and quotes a Syriac scholiast upon this place, who says that it was the same upper room in which they had eaten the passover; and though that was called anōgeon, this huperōon, both may signify the same. "Whether," says he, "it was in the house of St. John the evangelist, as Euodius delivered, or that of Mary the mother of John Mark, as others have collected, cannot be certain." Notes, ch. 12.
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III. Who the disciples were, that kept together. The eleven apostles are here named (Act 1:13), so is Mary the mother of our Lord (Act 1:14), and it is the last time that ever any mention is made of her in the scriptures. There were others that are here said to be the brethren of our Lord, his kinsmen according to the flesh; and, to make up the hundred and twenty spoken of (Act 1:15), we may suppose that all or most of the seventy disciples were with them, that were associates with the apostles, and were employed as evangelists.
IV. How they spent their time: They all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication. Observe, 1. They prayed, and made supplication. All God's people are praying people, and give themselves to prayer. It was now a time of trouble and danger with the disciples of Christ; they were as sheep in the midst of wolves; and, Is any afflicted? Let him pray; this will silence cares and fears. They had new work before them, great work, and, before they entered upon it, they were instant in prayer to God for his presence with them in it. Before they were first sent forth Christ spent time in prayer for them, and now they spent time in prayer for themselves. They were waiting for the descent of the Spirit upon them, and therefore abounded thus in prayer. The Spirit descended upon our Saviour when he was praying, Luk 3:21. Those are in the best frame to receive spiritual blessings that are in a praying frame. Christ had promised now shortly to send the Holy Ghost; now this promise was not to supersede prayer, but to quicken and encourage it. God will be enquired of for promised mercies, and the nearer the performance seems to be the more earnest we should be in prayer for it. 2. They continued in prayer, spent much time in it, more than ordinary, prayed frequently, and were long in prayer. They never missed an hour of prayer; they resolved to persevere herein till the Holy Ghost came, according to the promise, to pray, and not to faint. It is said (Luk 24:53), They were praising and blessing God; here, They continued in prayer and supplication; for as praise for the promise is a decent way of begging for the performance, and praise for former mercy of begging further mercy, so, in seeking to God, we give him the glory of the mercy and grace which we have found in him. 3. They did this with one accord. This intimates that they were together in holy love, and that there was no quarrel nor discord among them; and those who so keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace are best prepared to receive the comforts of the Holy Ghost. It also intimates their worthy concurrence in the supplications that were made; though but one spoke, they all prayed, and if, when two agree to ask, it shall be done for them, much more when many agree in the same petition. See Mat 18:19.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv11–12 Which also said, ye men of Galilee,.... And which…
Which also said, ye men of Galilee,.... And which was said by them, not to reproach them with their country, but partly to let them know that they knew them, who they were, and from whence they came; and partly to observe the rich and distinguishing grace of God in choosing such mean and contemptible persons to be the apostles of Christ, and eyewitnesses of his majesty:
why stand ye gazing up into heaven? reproving them for their curiosity in looking after Christ with their bodily eyes, who was no more in common to be seen this way, but with an eye of faith; and for their desire after his corporeal presence, which they were not to look for; and as if they expected he would return again immediately, whereas his return will not be till the end of the world: and besides, they were not to remain on that spot, or stand gazing there; they were to go to Jerusalem, and abide there, as Christ had ordered, till they should receive the Holy Spirit in an extraordinary way; and then they were to preach a crucified Christ, and declare that he was risen from the dead, and was gone to heaven, and was ordained to be the Judge of quick and dead,
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This same Jesus; and not another; the same in person, in body and soul:
which is taken up from you into heaven; who was taken up in a cloud out of their sight, and received into heaven, where he will be till the times of the restitution of all things; and which might be matter of grief to them, because of the loss of his bodily presence; though it should have been rather joyful to them, since he was gone to the Father, and as their forerunner, to prepare a place, and make intercession for them:
shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven; he shall come in the same flesh, in the same human nature; he shall come in the clouds of heaven, and shall be attended with his mighty angels, as he now was; he shall descend himself in person, as he now ascended in person; and as he went up with a shout, and with the sound of a trumpet, see Psa 47:5 so he shall descend with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and the trump of God; and, it may be, he shall descend upon the very spot from whence he ascended; see Zac 14:4 and it is a notion of the Jews, that the resurrection of the Israelites will be there: they say (m), that "when the dead shall live, the Mount of Olives shall be cleaved asunder, and all the dead of Israel shall come out from under it; yea, even the righteous which die in captivity shall pass through a subterranean cavern, and come out from under the Mount of Olives.
(m) Targum in Cant. viii. 5.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v12 A Sabbath-day's journey - The Jews generally fix this…
A Sabbath-day's journey - The Jews generally fix this to two thousand cubits, which is not a mile.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv11–12 Verse 11. Gazing up into heaven] Not to the…
Verse 11. Gazing up into heaven] Not to the top of a mountain, to which an unbridled fancy, influenced by infidelity, would intimate he had ascended, and not to heaven.
This same Jesus] Clothed in human nature. shall so come in like manner-with the same body, descending from heaven by his sovereign and all-controlling power, as ye have seen him go into heaven. Thus shall he come again to judge the quick and the dead. It was a very ancient opinion among Christians, that when Christ should come again to judge the world he would make his appearance on Mount Olivet. Some think that his coming again to destroy the Jewish nation is what the angels refer to. See a connected account of the different appearances of Christ at the end of this chapter.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On v12 Act 1:12. Then returned they unto Jerusalem — According…
Act 1:12. Then returned they unto Jerusalem — According to their Master’s appointment, having first worshipped him, Luk 24:52. Here they were in the midst of enemies; but it seems, though immediately after Christ’s resurrection they were watched, and were in fear of the Jews, yet after it was known that they were gone into Galilee, no notice was taken of their return to the city, nor any further search made for them. In Jerusalem they employed themselves in a daily course of public and private devotion, rejoicing in what they had seen and heard, and firmly believing some extraordinary event was at hand, whereby they should be more fully qualified for the great work assigned them; which, whatever the hazard of it might be, they were firmly determined to undertake and prosecute.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv11–12 Ye men of Galilee - Galilee was the place…
Ye men of Galilee - Galilee was the place of their former residence, and they were commonly known by the name of Galileans.
Why stand ye ... - There is doubtless a slight degree of censure implied in this, as well as a design to call their attention away from a vain attempt to see the departed Saviour. The impropriety may have been:
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In the feeling of disappointment, as if he would not restore the kingdom to Israel. Possibly they were expecting that he would again soon appear, though he had often foretold them that he would ascend to heaven.
(3)There might have been an impropriety in their earnest desire for the mere bodily presence of the Lord Jesus, when it was more important that he should be in heaven. We may see here also that it is our duty not to stand in idleness, and to gaze even toward heaven. We, as well as the apostles, have a great work to do, and we should actively engage in it without delay.
Gazing up - Looking up.
This same Jesus - This was said to comfort them. The same tried friend who had been so faithful to them would return. They ought not, therefore, to look with despondency at his departure.
Into heaven - This expression denotes into the immediate presence of God; or into the place of perpetual purity and happiness, where God especially manifests his favor. The same thing is frequently designated by his sitting on the right hand of God, as emblematic of power, honor, and favor. See the Mar 16:19; Mar 14:62 notes; Heb 1:3; Heb 8:1 notes; Act 7:55 note; Rom 8:34 note; Eph 1:20 note.
Shall so come - At the day of judgment. Joh 14:3, “if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again,” etc.
In like manner ... - In clouds, as he ascended. See the Act 1:9 note; 1Th 4:16 note. This address was designed to comfort the disciples. Though their master and friend was taken from them, yet he was not removed forever. He would come again with similar majesty and glory to vindicate his people, and to tread his enemies under his feet. The design for which he will come will be to judge the world, Matt. 25. There will be an evident fitness and propriety in his coming for such reasons as the following:
(1) Because his appropriate work in heaven as mediator will have been accomplished; his people will have been saved; the great enemy of God and man will have been subdued; death will have been conquered; and the gospel will have shown its power in subduing all forms of wickedness; in removing the effects of sin; in establishing the Law, and in vindicating the honor of God; and all will have been done that is necessary to establish the authority of God throughout the universe. It will be proper, therefore, that this mysterious order of things shall be wound up, and the results become a matter of record in the history of the universe. This will be better than it would be to suffer an eternal millennium on the earth, while the saints should many of them slumber, and the wicked still be in their graves.
(2) It is proper that he should come to vindicate his people, and raise them up to glory. Here they have been persecuted, oppressed, put to death. Their character is assailed; they are poor; and the world despises them. It is fit that God should show himself to be their friend; that he should do justice to their injured names and motives; that he should bring out hidden and obscure virtue, and vindicate it; that he should enter every grave and bring forth his friends to life.
(3) It is proper that he should show his hatred of sin. Here it triumphs. The wicked are rich, and honored, and mighty, and say, Where is the promise of his coming? 2Pe 3:4. It is right that he should defend his cause. Hence, the Lord Jesus will come to guard the avenues to heaven, and to see that the universe suffers no wrong by the admission of an improper person to the skies.
(4) The great transactions of redemption have been public, open, often grand. The apostasy was public, in the face of angels and of the universe. Sin has been open, public high-handed. Misery has been public, and has rolled its deep and turbid waves in the face of the universe. Death has been public; all worlds have seen the race cut down and moulder. The death of Jesus was public: the angels saw it; the heavens were clothed with mourning; the earth shook, and the dead arose. Jesus was publicly whipped, cursed, crucified; and it is proper that he should publicly triumph - that all heaven rejoicing, and all hell at length humbled, should see his public victory. Hence, he will come with clouds - with angels - with fire - and will raise the dead, and exhibit to all the universe the amazing close of the scheme of redemption.
(5) We have in these verses a description of the most grand and wonderful events that this world has ever known - the ascension and return of the Lord Jesus. Here is consolation for the Christian; and here is a source of ceaseless alarm to the sinner.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv11–12 So shall he come, as you have seen him…
So shall he come, as you have seen him going. This word going, says St. John Chrysostom, sufficiently intimates, that he ascended by his own power: for so will he come by his own power to judge the world. (Witham) --- Jesus Christ shall come on the last day, in the same body, in the same majesty, to judge the living and the dead. This he had likewise promised, in more than one place of the gospel, speaking of the vengeance, which he will exercise on the city of Jerusalem. St. Jerome, St. Hilary, and many other ancients, have believed that the Son of God will appear again on Mount Olivet, and that all people shall be assembled to judgment. (St. Jerome, super Joel iii. 2.; St. Hilary, super Matthew xxiv. 32.) --- And that same body, which thus ascended to heaven, and which will thus descend, is given us in the blessed Sacrament. "O miracle! exclaims St. John Chrysostom, He that sitteth with his Father above, is at the same time handled by men below. Jesus Christ ascending to heaven, both hath his flesh with him above, and hath left it with us below. Elias being taken up, left his disciple, Eliseus, his mantle and double spirit, but the Son of Man ascending, left his own flesh for us." (Lib. iii. de Sacerd. him. 2. ad pop. Ant. hom. de divit. et paup.) --- Sulpicius Severus, and St. Paulinus, assure us, that the marks of the feet of our Saviour were imprinted in the place off which he rose to heaven; and St. Augustine informs us, that many in his time went to Judea, to venerate these sacred marks. Ven. Bede testifies the same in the eighth age [i.e. in the 8th century]. In the time of Constantine the great, the empress Helen built a church on the place. (Calmet)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v12 CHAPTER Act_1:12-26
B. THE RETURN OF THE APOSTLES TO JERUSALEM; THEIR CONTINUED INTIMATE UNION; THE COMPLETION OF THE APOSTOLIC NUMBER TWELVE, BY THE APPOINTMENT OF MATTHIAS AS AN APOSTLE
CHAPTER Act_1:12-26
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Contents:—The Apostles, after returning from Mount Olivet, continued with one accord in prayer, with others, Act_1:12-14; Peter proposes the appointment of a witness of the resurrection of Jesus, in the place of the traitor Judas; two persons are chosen; Matthias is numbered with the Eleven
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12Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from [near] Jerusalem [, being distant] a sabbath day’s journey. 13And when they were come in, they went up into an [the, τὸ] upper room, where [they then] abode[,] both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alpheus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother [omit—the brother] of James. 14These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication,8 with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.15And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, and said (the number of names together were [there was a multitude of persons together,] about a hundred and twenty,) 16[Ye] Men and brethren, this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Ghost by the mouth of David spake before concerning Judaswhich was [who became a] guide to them that took Jesus. 17For he was numbered with [among9] us, and had obtained part [assumed the lot] of this ministry [service]18Now this man purchased a field [a piece of ground] with the reward of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out.19And it was [became] known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem; insomuch as [so that] that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The [omitThe] field of blood. 20For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his habitation be [become] desolate, and let no man dwell therein: and, His bishoprick10 let anothertake.11 21Wherefore of these men which [who] have companied with us all the time thatthe Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22Beginning from the baptism of John, unto that same day that he was taken up from us, must one be ordained to be [mustone become, γενέσθαι] a witness with us of his resurrection. 23And they appointed [placed] two, Joseph, called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias. 24And they prayed, and said, Thou, Lord, which [who] knowest the hearts of all men, shewwhether of these two thou hast chosen, 25That he may take part [receive the lot12] of this ministry and apostleship, from which Judas by transgression fell [Judas turnedaside], that he might go to his own place. 26And they gave forth their lots; and the lot fell upon Matthias; and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
Act_1:12. From the mount—This verse distinctly shows that the mount of Olives was the scene of the ascension. The narrator assumes that the reader already possesses a general knowledge of the place where the Lord ascended; when he expressly remarks that the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the mount, he describes the locality with sufficient precision. A sabbath day’s journey (2,000 cubits or 4,000 [German] feet [about three-quarters of an English mile.—Tr.]) was the extent of a walk allowed on the sabbath by the rabbinic traditions; this approximate measure of the distance of the mount from the city is furnished by Luke simply because Theophilus was not acquainted with the Holy Land from personal observation. His statement, however, refers only to the general distance of the mount, and does not imply that such was the exact distance of the spot whence the Lord ascended. The remark in Luke’s Gospel, Luke 24:50, that Jesus led the disciples out of the city ἔως εἰς Βηθανίαν, as far as to Bethany, does not contradict the statement in the present passage, as some commentators, de Wette, for instance, have intimated. For that passage in the Gospel does not assert that the ascension had occurred in the immediate vicinity of Bethany, nor does the one before us assert that Jesus, at the moment of the ascension, had been as near as a sabbath day’s journey to Jerusalem; the former passage merely states that the occurrence had taken place on the way to Bethany, which was situated on the eastern declivity of the mount [“at the mount,” πρὸς, Mar_11:1; Luk_19:29.—Tr.]; even Strauss conceded that the two passages do not involve a contradiction.—As Bethany lay at a distance of fifteen stadia from Jerusalem (Joh_11:18), and as only six stadia are assigned to a sabbath day’s journey, the precise point from which the Lord ascended, must lie between these two extremes. (Robinson: Palestine, I. 253 f.; 275).
Act_1:13-14. They went up into an [the] upper room.—When the apostles returned to the city, they did not disperse, but with one accord continued together, and diligently prepared, with prayer and supplication, for the promised outpouring of the Spirit. For this purpose they went up into the upper room, that is, a chamber in the highest story of a certain house, immediately below the flat roof, where, remote from the tumult of the world, they could devote themselves without disturbance to their holy occupations. It was not a chamber in the temple, as some earlier interpreters have supposed, but was one that belonged to the private residence of an adherent of Jesus; for the statement in Luk_24:53, that, after the ascension, the apostles were continually in the temple, does not necessarily imply that in the present passage the temple is again to be regarded as the locality; still less do the two statements contradict each other, as Strauss and others maintain. The words in the Gospel can only mean, in accordance with all the circumstances of the case, that when all the people visited the temple, namely, at the usual hours of prayer, the apostles invariably came thither also; the present passage informs us that at other intermediate times, they abode in the chamber already described.—The names of the eleven apostles are here given in full at the commencement of the narrative, for the purpose of placing those in a prominent position who constituted the central point of the Church of Christ and to whom personally the promise of the Spirit had been given. They remained with one accord together, for “in union there is strength.” Still, they did not vainly imagine that they possessed any strength of their own; on the contrary, they deeply felt their weakness and poverty, and earnestly prayed for the power of the Holy Ghost which had been promised.—They were, moreover, not led by pride of office to draw a line of demarcation between themselves and others, but, on the contrary, cordially united in prayer and supplication with all others who believed on Jesus. And here three groups of believers appear, besides the apostles: (1) The women who had followed Jesus; some of them had attended him from Galilee to Jerusalem, Luk_23:49; among these Mary, the mother of Jesus, is alone expressly named; she is not again mentioned in the New Testament. (2) The brethren of Jesus, who had formerly (Joh_7:5) been, not for, but against him, but who now unquestionably believe on him. It is, moreover, worthy of observation, that the brethren of Jesus are here, on the one hand, plainly distinguished from, the eleven apostles, and, on the other, obviously placed in a certain connection with the mother of Jesus: hence it may be inferred, first, that brothers, in the direct sense of the word, and not cousins of Jesus, are meant, and, secondly, that no one of them was at the same time an apostle. (3) For the other disciples, see Act_1:15.
Act_1:15. a. About a hundred and twenty.—Besides the ἀπόστολοι, Act_1:2, the γνναῖκες and the ἀδελφοὶ τον͂ ̓ Ιησον͂, Act_1:14, a larger assemblage of μαθηταί appears before us, consisting of the whole number of those who received Jesus as their Master and Lord, and were willing to yield obedience to him. A meeting was held on one of those days, i.e., during the interval of ten days between the ascension of Jesus and the outpouring of the Spirit, at which about 120 individuals were present: this number doubtless includes the apostles, the brethren of Jesus, and other disciples; the last, of course, constitute the majority. This statement of the number has been regarded by some writers with suspicion, and been represented as inaccurate and unhistorical (Baur: Paulus, p. 57; Zeller: Apostelgesch, p. 117 f.), on the ground that it is in conflict with Paul’s words that Jesus “was seen of above five hundred brethren at once.” 1Co_15:6. Two considerations, however, show that his words by no means contradict the present passage: (1) Luke does not at all intend to state in the present passage the precise number of all the disciples of Jesus in the whole country, but simply to report the number of those who were present at this meeting, the object of which was to appoint in the company of the apostles a successor to the traitor Judas. (2.) Paul, on the other hand, does not specify, in the passage just mentioned, the place in which the Lord appeared to the 500 disciples. This event may have occurred in Galilee, where the great majority of the disciples of Jesus resided; a comparatively small number dwelt in Jerusalem, in which city even the apostles themselves had remained only in consequence of the express command of the Lord; see Lechler’s [the author’s] Apost. u. nachapost. Zeitalter. 2 Aufl. p. 275 f.
b. And in those days.—Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples, addressed them, and made a certain proposition. It is apparent that “he is the mouth of the Apostles and their corypheus,” as Chrysostom says; and, indeed, he occupies the first place in the list of their names in Act_1:13. Still, he does not himself regard his primacy in such a light as to assume the authority to supply the vacated twelfth apostolate, as if he possessed sovereign power; neither do the apostles believe that even they have, collectively, sufficient authority to fill a vacancy which had occurred in their number, by an act of their own, independently of the action of others. On the contrary, the apostles, in whose name Peter acts, submit this matter, which concerns their office and ministry, to the assembled disciples, in order that they all, as the Church, may deliberate, resolve, and act. Such a course was accordingly adopted; for those who appointed Barsabas and Matthias (Act_1:23), who referred to the two latter in their prayer (ver 24), and who, finally, gave forth their lots (Act_1:26), were, as it appears from the connection, not the apostles exclusively, but all the assembled disciples.—How different the conduct of Peter here is from that of his pretended successor in Rome! How readily he concedes liberty of action to the congregation of believers, at a time, moreover, when they had not yet received the gift of the Holy Ghost!
Act_1:16. Concerning Judas.—The address of Peter refers to two closely connected subjects: the departure of one apostle, and the necessity of appointing another in his place; he presents both in the light of the word of God. The circumstance that an apostle of the Lord could fall so deeply as to become a guide to them that took Jesus, and that he then died in so shocking a manner, might easily awaken grave doubts in the minds of others, and cause them to stumble. It was, therefore, of great importance that the whole subject should be placed in the proper light. This task Peter performed. He begins with the declaration that the circumstances must needs [ἐδει] occur; they are not merely accidental, but constitute the fulfilment of prophecies which the Scriptures contain (Act_1:16; Act_1:20). David had—he continues—spoken prophetically, by the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, concerning Judas and the desolation of his habitation, and also concerning the appointment of another in his place. In the 109th Psalm, which, in the early ages of Christianity, was called the “Iscariotic Psalm,” and also in the 69th Psalm, David, the type in the Old Testament of the Redeemer, after certain very painful experiences, pours forth all his feelings: in the course of his complaints he also utters fearful imprecations in reference to those enemies who treated the Anointed of God unmercifully. He says, for instance; “Let their habitation be desolate; and let none dwell in their tents.” Psa_69:25. “Let his days be few; and let another take his office.” Psa_109:8. And as Jesus was the antitype of the sorely persecuted and devout king, so Judas was the antitype of those earlier enemies of God and his Anointed; in Judas, accordingly, the curse and also those imprecations were necessarily fulfilled. As Peter is fully convinced that these words in the book of Psalms were fulfilled in him who betrayed Jesus, he changes the plural into the singular when he refers to the sense of the language occurring in Psalms 69; he does not, however, intend to assert that David himself had consciously and distinctly referred exclusively to Judas and his apostleship; for he does not say here that David had spoken of Judas, but that the Holy Ghost had spoken prophetically by the mouth of David (Act_1:16) concerning Judas. This fact fully accords with the following view:—David expressed his own grief in those Psalms, and referred to his own enemies whom he well knew; but as he was at the same time animated by the Spirit of God, he uttered thoughts and words which would be actually fulfilled in the most perfect manner only in the experience of the Redeemer; hence Peter applies the words specially to the accursed traitor, of whose expulsion from office and horrible end any previous deposition from office would afford only a feeble image.
Act_1:17-20. He was numbered with [among] us.—In order to show that the prophecy in Psa_109:8 was really fulfilled in Judas, Peter mentions, in Act_1:17, the circumstance that the traitor had once been a fellow-apostle, without which the words could not be applied to him; and, in Act_1:18, he refers to the property of Judas which had become desolate in consequence of his awful death. He establishes the former declaration by adducing the fact that Judas had actually been enumerated among the Twelve and had obtained the ministry, that is, the apostolate, as the portion belonging to him. When Peter (for it is he who speaks in Act_1:18 ff. and not Luke in his own person) refers, subsequently, to the property of Judas, and then to his death, it cannot be denied that the words are so framed that, without the aid of the parallel passage in Mat_27:5 ff., it would have occurred to no one that Judas had perished by committing suicide (“hanged himself”), and that the “field of blood” had been purchased only after his death. The words before us undoubtedly seem rather to convey the idea that Judas had himself purchased that piece of ground, and had afterwards been killed by a violent fall. Nevertheless, no reasons of sufficient weight exist to sustain the assertion that the two passages contradict each other, or to countenance the theory that two positively divergent traditions are here indicated. For it is quite possible that Peter simply expressed himself rhetorically, as if Judas himself had purchased the field, which was, it is true, purchased only after his death, but for which payment was made with the wages of his treachery; and that the manner of his death, as here described, (falling headlong, πρηνής, he burst asunder, etc.) can be easily reconciled with Matthew’s statement (suicide, by hanging himself) is well known [“by merely supposing what is constantly occurring in such cases, that the rope or branch from which he was suspended broke, and he was violently thrown, etc.,” (J. A. Alexander, ad. loc.) Tr.].—A certain gloom, intended by the speaker, hovers over the expression in Act_1:25, that Judas had gone to his own place; the words can convey no other sense than that Judas had gone to a place of condemnation, where an eternal curse and destruction are found.
Act_1:21-22. Wherefore … must one.—As it is now established, in consequence of the fulfilment of the prophecies already mentioned, that a vacancy had occurred in the place and office previously assigned to Judas, it is essential that this vacancy should be supplied, and the number Twelve be restored. It was, besides, indispensable that one of those men should be added to the Eleven as a witness of the resurrection of Jesus, who had continually associated with the apostles during the whole period of the Lord’s intercourse with the disciples, extending from the first appearance of John to the day of the Lord’s ascension. Peter mentions only one of the qualifications of those who are suited for the apostleship, namely, an uninterrupted association with Jesus and his disciples during the whole period of the Lord’s ministry. He is here primarily influenced by the consideration that the individual who shall be chosen, must be a witness of Jesus, and should therefore necessarily possess a personal and direct knowledge of the Person and the whole life and work of Jesus, as both an eye-witness and an ear-witness. This qualification, however, to which Peter gives prominence, is not merely of an external nature, as it might, at the first view, seem to be; for the steadfastness of any man who, from the beginning of the public ministry of Jesus to his ascension, had attached himself permanently to the company of the disciples, was undeniably an evidence of his inward state; it proved that such an individual possessed the qualities of fidelity and perseverance so eminently as to justify the act of giving him with confidence a special call to labor in the kingdom of God, as far as that call proceeded from men. The sentiments of one who had adhered to Jesus so long and so faithfully, and had fully attached himself to the disciples, had been subjected to a sufficient trial; it could not be doubted that the guidance and influence of Jesus had imparted to him a treasure of religious experience.
Act_1:23-25. And they appointed.—The choice of the twelfth apostle instead of Judas, is partly a human, and partly a divine act; the former was performed by the entire assemblage of about one hundred and twenty believers. They were convinced by the address of Peter, that the place of Judas ought to be supplied by another, and they concurred with him in the opinion that the candidate should have attached himself to Jesus and his disciples from the beginning. In accordance with this view, the assembled believers proceed to action, but confine that action to the nomination of two persons among the whole number of those who were qualified; these two men, who were both present at the time, were then directed to stand forth in the view of all (ἔστησαν). The number—two—proposed by the meeting could create no embarrassment, since the qualification which Peter had mentioned and the meeting had acknowledged as indispensable, could be readily, and, indeed, unerringly recognized. Neither the New Testament nor history furnishes us with any other information whatever respecting the two persons mentioned in Act_1:23, nor does either Matthias, who received the apostolate, or Joseph, the son of Sheba, who was surnamed Justus, afterwards re-appear. [Sheba occurs as a proper name in 2Sa_20:1, and de Wette, with others, thinks it probable that Bar-sabas is formed according to the analogy of Bar-jona, Mat_16:17, or Bar-jesus, Act_13:6, but no etymology that has yet been proposed, has been generally recognized as correct.—Tr.]. The conjecture is not well supported that the latter is identical with Joses Barnabas mentioned below in Act_4:36, since Luke does not there allude to the present passage, but rather introduces Barnabas as an individual who had not been previously mentioned.—The assembled believers did not regard themselves as authorized to take any additional steps, but submitted the ultimate decision respecting the particular individual to the Lord, because he was to be the Lord’s apostle. Hence, in the prayer which they offered to the Lord “who knoweth the hearts of all men,” and which was doubtless also pronounced by Peter as “the mouth of the disciples,” they besought the Lord to indicate by a sign, which one of the two men He had chosen. Commentators differ in opinion on the point whether this prayer was addressed to God the Father, or to the exalted Lord Jesus. Meyer, who adopts the former view, appeals to Act_15:7 ff., where Peter repeats the term καρδιογνώστης and applies it expressly to God, of whom he also says: ἐξελέξατο διὰ τον͂ στόματός μον ἀκον͂σαι τὰ ἔθνη, etc.; this passage, however, does not refer to the choice of an apostle. The correctness of the second view—that the prayer was addressed to Jesus—appears from the following considerations; (1) In Act_1:21, Jesus is expressly termed ὁ κν́ριος, to which αν̓τον͂ in Act_1:22 refers, whence it. appears that κν́ριε in Act_1:24 is naturally to be referred to Jesus also; (2) As the individual who was to be chosen was designed to be an apostle of Jesus, the choice was obviously to be submitted to Jesus also; (3) As the Lord Jesus himself chose his apostles on earth (Act_1:2, τοῖς ἀποστόλοις - - ο*ς ἐξελέξατο; comp. Act_1:24, έξελέξω), so, too, he chose on this occasion Matthias as an apostle by a direct act, although he had ascended to heaven, even as, at a later period, he chose Saul, Act_9:15; Act_9:17. If we, besides, compare the terms occurring in Act_1:17; Act_1:25 respectively [in both the same words, τὸν κλῆρον τῆς διακονίας ταν́της.—Tr.], we receive the impression that as Judas had obtained “the lot of this ministry” by the choice which Jesus made of him, so one of the two disciples now nominated would also receive “the lot of this ministry” by the special choice of Christ.
Act_1:26. a. They gave forth their lots.—The resort to the lot for the purpose of reaching a decision, was in conformity to the usage prevailing under the old covenant. Tablets, on which the names of Joseph and Matthias were written (but not dice, as some have supposed), were employed; these were shaken in the vase or other vessel in which they had been deposited, and the lot which first fell out (ἐπεσεν). furnished the decision; the best illustrations of the latter will be found in 1 Chronicles 24 ff., and 1Ch_25:8 ff. The lots were annually cast, under the old covenant, upon the two goats, when the day of atonement arrived, Lev_16:8; Moses commanded that the land of Canaan should be divided by lot, Num_34:13; the command was subsequently obeyed, Jos_14:2; Jos_18:2. This assignment of different portions of the territory to the tribes of Israel specially occurred to the apostles as a type: the office of an apostle was, in one sense, the inheritance which a particular individual obtained—the lot that fell upon him (κλῆροι, Act_1:17; Act_1:26).—But the apostles and the assembly of believers did not proceed to cast lots until they had themselves decided conscientiously in accordance with their personal knowledge, as far as any human decision could avail. It was only the final word—that word which required a previous glance into the heart—which they besought the Lord to pronounce through the lot. They were the more easily disposed to adopt this course, as the Spirit had not yet been poured out upon them; but after that event, the lot was never again employed. When all these circumstances are considered, no abuse of the lot can be justified or even be extenuated by an appeal to the present case.
b. And the lot fell upon Matthias.—It has been asserted by some writers that this whole procedure—the substitution of Matthias as an apostle in place of Judas—was premature and in opposition to the will of God, since Paul had been appointed to take the place of Judas as an apostle, although the call was actually given to him only at a later period. This view has again been advocated quite recently by Stier (Reden der Ap. 1861, I. 15. [Discourses of the Apostles, 2d ed.]), but no valid arguments whatever can be adduced in favor of it. Not the least indication is given at any time that God had signified his disapprobation of this election; for the circumstance that the labors of Matthias are not afterwards mentioned, as little proves that he was not a genuine and true apostle after the heart of God, as the silence observed with respect to the labors of several of the Twelve would prove that they, too, did not possess the true apostolical character. And with regard to Paul, the view referred to above [“Paul was, in place of Matthias, or, more accurately, of Judas, the true Twelfth apostle,” Stier, loc. cit.—Tr.], is certainly erroneous; for Paul himself never claimed, on any occasion, that he was one of the Twelve, while, on the contrary, he makes a plain distinction between them and himself in 1Co_15:5. He cannot, indeed, be enumerated among them, since his call constituted him the Apostle of the Gentiles; he is thus obviously contradistinguished from the Apostles of the Jews (comp. Gal_2:9); he is “the Apostle of progress” (Lange), while the latter are those who presided at the original founding of the work.
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. The fulfilment of the Scriptures is the theme of Peter’s address; in such a light he views both the events connected with Judas, and also the necessity of supplying the vacancy which the latter made in the company of the apostles. He was doubtless influenced in adopting these views by intimations which he had previously received from Jesus. And his course was strictly correct. For Christ is both the heart of the old covenant, and also the foundation on which it rests; the most holy sentiments which characterized the spiritual life, the confidence in God, and the patient expectation of devout men of the old covenant, really referred to Christ as their great end, although such believers might often themselves be unconscious of this great truth. And, on the other hand, the most painful experiences of the servants of God under the old covenant, and their deeply wounded feelings, when they were misjudged, insulted, and persecuted, were only shadows and preludes of the sufferings of the Redeemer. When David, full of faith in the truth and the righteous retribution of God, denounced the enemies of God and of himself, his words were to be actually fulfilled in the case of the faithless man who betrayed the Lord. Even if David himself was not aware of this fact (which, indeed, Peter does not assert), still “the Spirit of Christ which was in him … testified beforehand the sufferings of Christ.” 1Pe_1:11.
2. Peter recognizes it (Act_1:22) as the great purpose of the vocation of the apostles that they should be witnesses of the resurrection of Jesus; the latter was the decisive act of God. That event attested the Person and crowned the Work of Jesus; it constitutes the foundation of the Christian’s faith. Not only was it originally the great and pre-eminently glorious fact of the history of redemption in the eyes of the first disciples, but it is still regarded in that light by all believers. What results could the incarnation of God, or the crucifixion of Jesus have produced, without this resurrection from the dead? Comp. 1Co_15:14-19. The resurrection of Jesus still affords a test in our day, whether, in essential points, an individual is in bondage to unbelief, or whether he offers his homage to the true faith. He who cannot prevail on himself to receive the fact of the resurrection of Jesus from the dead in faith, has not yet, even in a general respect, acquired a correct knowledge of the Son of God, for he does not know the living Christ.
3. While Peter demands, on the one hand, that the person who shall be elected, should have been regularly in the company of Jesus like the other disciples, from the baptism of John to the ascension, he assigns, on the other, certain allowable limitations of that personal knowledge of the life of Jesus which it is indispensable that an Apostle should possess. For if the thirty years which Jesus passed in calm retirement, undoubtedly contributed their share to the work of redemption, still, it is in the life, the acts and the sufferings of the Lord during the three years of his ministry that the foundation of our faith in him is to be sought. The fact that the narratives of the Evangelists refer almost exclusively to this period, and introduce only a few incidents belonging to that of the childhood of Jesus, fully agrees with this view.
HOMILETICAL AND PRACTICAL
Act_1:12. a. Then returned they unto Jerusalem.—As the Lord proceeded from Tabor, the mount of transfiguration (on which Peter desired to make tabernacles), to the scene of his sufferings and death, so, too, the disciples, after gazing at the open gate of heaven, are directed to return to the hostile city, in which they were first of all to bear witness. And so, too, the Christian must often descend from the holy heights to which he had been carried by his devotional exercises, down to his earthly field of labor and battle. [Lange adduces weighty reasons in the first vol. of the present publication (Mat_17:1) for rejecting the tradition that Tabor was the mount of transfiguration, as Gerok here assumes.—Tr.]
b. From the mount called Olivet.—Not far from this mount the Redeemer endured his most awful agony of soul; but now he ascends from its summit victoriously to heaven; so near together, too, are the sufferings and the glory of the servants of Christ. Their battle-fields become the scenes of their triumph. (Apost. Past.).—Which is from Jerusalem a sabbath day’s journey.—As Mount Olivet was so near that the Jewish traditions permitted the disciples to visit it even on the sabbath, their continued abode in Jerusalem became endurable and even satisfactory. (Williger.).—In whatever spot the Christian now dwells, its distance from the mount of Olivet does not exceed a sabbath day’s journey; let him, therefore, daily go thither in spirit, especially when peaceful sabbatic hours visit him.
Act_1:14. These all continued with one accord, etc.—The ten days which intervened between the Ascension and Pentecost—between the departure of the Lord in the flesh and his return in the Spirit—constituted a memorable period of time; in some of its features it resembled the period which intervened between the death and the resurrection of the Lord. And yet the disciples now assemble under very different and far more happy circumstances. If they are again apparently as sheep having no shepherd, they are not filled with sadness and fear as once they were, neither do they weep for the Lord as for one who is dead. They know now that he lives, that he is enthroned in heaven, and that he is with his people alway, even unto the end of the world. They are again assembled in a secluded spot, but have not again shut the doors for fear of the Jews [Joh_20:19], neither do they tremble and flee as sheep when the wolf is coming. They are assembled together in calm expectation and with holy hopes in their souls; and they remind us of a group of children waiting in a darkened chamber on Christmas-eve, until the expected Christmas gifts shall have been duly arranged in the adjoining apartment. For in truth a season like Advent had now arrived for the disciples, in which they waited with blessed hope for the coming of the Lord in the Spirit.—What varied natural gifts, dispositions, gifts of grace, and spiritual tendencies, are represented by the names of these eleven Apostles! And yet the nature of each, however different the one may be from the other, is now sanctified and ennobled by the grace of Him who is able to employ each individual in his service to the praise of his glory. Even opposite features of character among them are beautifully tempered and associated in brotherly love under one Lord, so that they can exclaim: He is the Head, we are his members; He is the light, we are the reflection; He is the Master, we are brethren; He is ours, and we are his!—With the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus.—How well matured and purified in spirit must Mary be at this period, after the long and varied experience which followed the salutation of the angel! She whose soul was pierced through with a sword, was, nevertheless, blessed among women. [Luk_1:42; Luk_2:35]. With what tender love and devout reverence must not only John, to whom the Lord on the cross had given her as a precious legacy, but also all others, have looked on, and ministered to, this mother of their Lord! And yet, how unassuming the manner is in which she presents herself on this occasion also, when she is mentioned for the last time in the Scriptures! Her name is here the last of all, and not the first of those recorded by Luke; she prays with the others, not for them, as a handmaid of the Lord [Luk_1:38], not as a queen of heaven!—And with his brethren.—They, too, who had not at first believed in the divine character of Jesus, but had remained far from his kingdom, have now learned to prostrate themselves before the crucified and risen Lord, as Joseph’s brethren in an earlier age paid homage to their honored and powerful brother.—The blessed commemoration: I. The appropriate application of the blessing received; II. The appropriate prayer for further blessings. (Lisco.).
Act_1:15. And in those days Peter stood up.—He who had fallen so deeply as even to deny his Lord, has, nevertheless, the courage to speak of the treachery and dreadful end of Judas before all the brethren. For he was conscious that his sins were forgiven, and was influenced by the Lord’s words: “When thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”—“Whenever I look at Peter, my very heart leaps for joy. For although I am a poor sinner, Peter also was a poor sinner; if I should paint a portrait of Peter, I would paint on every hair of his head the words: ‘I believe in the forgiveness of sins.’ O Peter, if thou hast been saved, I, too, shall be saved.” (Luther).
He who daily obtains a clearer view of the multitude and heinousness of his sins, but whose conviction that the blood of Christ cleanses from all sin, at the same time increases in power, will always stand forth like Peter, and avail himself of every occasion on which he can perform any work to the praise of the glorious grace of his Mediator and Redeemer. (Ap. Past.)
Act_1:16-20. Concerning Judas, which was guide, etc.—Peter speaks of the grievous sin and horrible death of Judas with the greatest earnestness and candor, but also with devout sorrow and with gentleness. He speaks, too, with earnestness and candor of the treachery and the suicide of his fellow-disciple, who involved himself and his brethren in disgrace by his iniquitous conduct. Not a trace appears here of that unworthy desire which, in such painful cases, sometimes prompts men to conceal the truth and practise deception for the sake of avoiding a loss of honor; not a trace appears of apostolic pride or priestly pride of station, as if no blemish could be permitted to be seen in the character of those who are invested with the sacred office, or as if they were not amenable to civil laws nor pledged to respect public opinion. Peter, on the contrary, refers with a holy earnestness to the divine judgment which had overtaken the wretched man, and shows that even this painful event promoted by its results the honor of the one true God; his punitive justice appears in its majesty, and the prophecies which his word contains, were most remarkably fulfilled; thus the case of Judas enables Peter to give a solemn warning to all succeeding ages respecting the self-deception to which sin conducts. And yet Peter speaks of this “son of perdition” [Joh_17:12] in gentle tones, and with a sorrow not unmingled with pity. Not a trace appears of those uncharitable judgments which are often pronounced in such cases—not a trace of that haughty, self-exalting spirit with which Christians often look down upon a miserable self-murderer; no other feeling is here revealed save that of holy sorrow for the soul that is lost. Peter’s language is characterized by moderation both when he speaks of the treachery of Judas (“he was guide to them that took Jesus”), and when he speaks of his eternal lot (“he went to his own place”). In such a spirit we should remember our own infirmities, in every case in which others incur guilt, and apply Nathan’s words to ourselves: “Thou art the man!”
Act_1:21-22. Wherefore … must one, etc.—The term must [δεὶ] here refers not only to the necessity of supplying the vacant place of Judas, but also to the essential qualifications of the persons who shall be nominated. The levity and irreverence of the opinion that it is indeed an advantage when a teacher possesses the qualifications which are demanded in the Scriptures, but that these are not precisely necessary, since he may be an able pastor without acquiring them, are fully exposed by this divine oportet. (Ap. Past.)—Which have companied with us all the time, etc.—Two qualifications are here indicated: first, a certain measure of Christian knowledge; the individual who is chosen, must possess a direct personal knowledge of Christ’s Person and walk on earth; secondly, a certain measure of Christian fidelity; he must have faithfully adhered to Jesus during the whole period specified, without having ever gone back [Joh_6:66] or taken offence. Both of these qualifications are still required of those who are appointed to preach the Gospel and feed the flock of Christ—a living knowledge of the Lord, and sincere devotion to him.
A witness with us of his resurrection.—The testimony concerning the resurrection of Jesus comprehends every other important topic—his death, his life, and his doctrine; for without a statement of these points, the significance of his resurrection cannot be unfolded. And, further, that testimony constitutes the crown and glory of the preaching of Christ’s name; for while his doctrine is glorious and his life holy, and while his sufferings affect our feelings and his death deeply impresses us, still it was only when his resurrection occurred that he was declared to be the Son of God with power, and the Saviour of the world. [Rom_1:4].
Act_1:23. And they appointed two, etc.—Both possessed the qualifications which Peter had particularized; the selection of either for the office would have consequently been judicious. But those really tempt God who nominate incompetent persons under the pretext that God will nevertheless so order the course of events as to lead to the selection of the individual who is acceptable to him. (Ap. Past.).—Listen to the unison of the three chords which are struck at this election of a bishop! The sacred office directs that election in self-denying humility; the congregation yields a voluntary obedience and presents two chosen ones to the Lord; He, who is the sole patron of his Church, is entreated to designate the individual whom He has chosen as an offering for the extension of his kingdom. (Leonh. and Sp.).
Act_1:24-25. Prayed, and said, etc.—Teachers who have been given in answer to prayer, and whom devout prayer attended when they assumed office, enjoy the divine blessing, when they also themselves continue instant in prayer even to the end. (Ap. Past.).—Thou, Lord, which knowest the hearts, etc.—It is cheering to the heart to survey the intimate personal intercourse which the disciples maintain with the exalted Lord Jesus, unmoved as they are by the circumstance that their eyes no longer behold him. The election of the twelfth Apostle was so ordered as to be the first work which they on earth, and He in heaven, would unitedly perform in the Holy Ghost. (Besser).—Thou … knowest the hearts of all men—a description of our God and Saviour, of which the teacher of religion should never lose sight. We may so labor in the sight of men that our praises shall be loudly proclaimed, “but the Lord looketh on the heart.” [1Sa_16:7]. (Ap. Past.)
Act_1:26. And they gave forth their lots. The disciples desire that their prayer: “Lord—shew whether of these two thou hast chosen,” should be answered through the medium of the lot. They ask the Lord to reveal to them his will, and, as in the case of the other apostles in Galilee, so, now, to call and choose himself the twelfth apostle in the place of Judas. The employment of the lot, although a familiar practice under the old covenant (as when the land was divided by lot among the twelve tribes. Num_26:55, of which the twelve apostles were designed to be the representatives), is not once repeated in the Scriptures after the day of Pentecost; for, after the fulness of the Holy Spirit had been poured out upon the Church, the latter, in devout obedience, was guided by that Spirit into all truth. Now this “truth,” even in our day, is still no other than the revealed word of the Old and New Testaments. When we receive the word of God as a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path, we shall not walk in the night and stumble. When we humbly give heed to the leadings of the Lord, and in prayer commit our way to him, he conducts us in the paths of righteousness, and leads us by his Spirit into the land of uprightness. (Leon. and Sp.).
ON THE WHOLE SECTION.—Prayer, the weapon of the Church. (Starke).
Judas, an illustration of the deep guilt which an individual may contract, who begins well, but continues to yield obedience to a single sin. (Ibid.).
When may an individual be regarded as well fitted and prepared to assume the sacred office? I. When he faithfully adheres to Jesus and to his disciples; II. When Jesus himself dwells in his heart (Ib.).
The life of man, a journey to his eternal abode; I. There are two ways; II. Let us choose the narrow way! (Ibid).
The manner in which the welfare of the Church was secured at the election of Matthias; I. Whatever office an individual in the Church may receive, two points are of primary importance: Clear views of the divine will, and inviolable fidelity in the imitation of Christ; II. Among Christians, no election without prayer and the divine blessing; III. The lot justifiable as a means of excluding private influences, when both of the persons nominated were in all respects equal.
(Schleiermacher.). That the word of God is our only safe guide in difficult situations of life: I. It teaches us to consider even the most embarrassing relations in which we may be placed, as dispensations of Providence; II. It teaches us to form comprehensive and clear views of those circumstances which may aid us in finding the right way; III. It teaches us to pray in faith, and then submit the ultimate decision to the Lord himself. (Langbein).
The wages of sin, or, The awful death of Judas Iscariot: I. He should have remained Christ’s disciple; but he betrayed his Master; II. He should have administered a sacred charge; but he purchased the field of blood; III. He should have preached the name of the risen Saviour; but he committed suicide; IV. He should have received the Holy Ghost; but he was lost forever. (Florey).
The choice of Matthias by lot, an evidence of faith: a faith, I. Which even after painful trials confidently awaited the victory of the kingdom of Christ; II. Which fully recognized the lofty purpose and the significance of the apostleship; III. Which, conscious of its own weakness, in all things submitted the decision to the Lord. (Leonh. and Sp.).
The divine election: I. It proceeds from the free grace of God; II. It demands a mind and a walk of which God can approve. (Kapff.).
On looking upward to God, the Searcher of hearts; this practice, I. Humbles the heart; II. Strengthens the heart. (C. Beck: Hom. Rep.).
The disciples of the Lord, waiting for his Spirit: I. They obediently abode in Jerusalem, Act_1:13; II. They remained with one accord together, Act_1:14; III. They prayed, Act_1:14; (Lisco).
The Christian, waiting until the Lord shall be revealed: like the disciples, who abode in Jerusalem, I. He obeys, for he is full of faith: II. He dwells with others in unity, for he is full of love; III. He prays, for he is full of hope. (id.).
That even the apostasy of those who had received a special call to the ministry, cannot retard the progress of the kingdom of God on earth: I. The fact that such individuals at times apostatize, Act_1:15-20; II. The certainty that these occurrences cannot seriously retard the progress of the kingdom of God, Act_1:21-26. (id.).
The devout spirit and the harmony of the first disciples, an example for all ages: I. A devout spirit perpetuates and sanctifies the harmony of brethren: II. That harmony communicates new ardor and elevation to a devout spirit. (Lechler).
By what considerations should we be induced to persevere in prayer? By those derived, I. From our urgent wants; II. From the precious promises of God. (id.)
The sources of Christian energy and boldness, (as illustrated in the case of Peter): I. Deep views of our own sinfulness; II. An experimental knowledge of divine grace and the atonement of Christ, (id.).
Judas and Peter, viewed as monuments of divine justice and grace. (id.).
In what mode shall we judge and speak of the sins and punishments of others?—I. With candor and truth; II. With humility and self-examination; III. With grief, flowing from Christian love. (id.).
The gradual advances of sin, illustrated by the history of Judas. (id.).
The love of money, the root of all evil. [1Ti_6:10]. (id.).
The proverb; Ill-gotten, ill-spent. (id.).
The word of God, a light unto our path, [Psa_119:105]: I. It gives us right views of our experience of life; II. It makes known to us alike our general and our special duties.
The necessary qualifications of a teacher of religion: I. Accurate knowledge of the truth which is after godliness [Tit_1:1]; II. Personal communion with Jesus. (id.).
The office of a teacher, viewed as that of a witness.
Genuine prayer; it is, I. Full of reverence and humility, as in the presence of the divine majesty; II. Full of faith and confidence, as a conversation with the friend of our souls.
The lessons taught by the truth that the Lord is the Searcher of hearts: it conducts to, I. Humble self-knowledge; II. Child-like confidence in God. (ibid.).
Judas lost, Matthias chosen; I. Judas lost, (a) not on account of an antemundane divine reprobation, but (b) on account of his own transgression, which necessarily demanded (c) the action of the punitive justice of God; II. Matthias chosen, (a) not on account of any merit of his own (for wherein was he superior to Barsabas?), (b) but by the free grace of God, to which, however, (c) he devoutly subjected his own will and his whole life.
Barsabas the Just, [Justus, Act_1:23], and Matthias the Chosen One, or, My Grace is sufficient for thee! [2Co_12:9].
Matthias, numbered with the apostles, an image of him who assumes the office of the ministry with the divine blessing; three conditions must here be observed: I. The spiritual fitness of the individual, Act_1:21-22 : II. The regular external call, Act_1:23-24; III. The divine confirmation of the act, Act_1:25-26.
[The consultations of Christians: I. The spirit in which they are conducted; a spirit of (a) humble faith (prayer-hope); (b) brotherly love (forbearance); (c) humility (self-denial): (d) earnestness of purpose (deep interest); II. The action in which they result; it is distinguished by (a) a sincere concern for the honor of religion (choice of means); (b) disinterestedness (concern for the temporal and spiritual welfare of others;) (c) zeal; (liberality); (d) perseverance (not discouraged). —Tr.]
Footnotes:
[8]Act_1:14.—[The reading of the text. rec. καὶ τῇ δεήσει, after προςευχῇ, is found in C. (second correction), but is omitted in A. B. C. (original) D. E. Cod. Sin., Vulg., and is cancelled by Lachmann, Tischendorf, and Alford.—Tr.]
[9]Act_1:17.—[Lechler’s translation indicates that he, like Alford, rejects σὺν of the text. rec., as found in most of the minuscules, and reads ἐν, in accordance with the best manuscripts, viz., A. B. C. D. E. Cod. Sin.; and this reading is preferred by nearly all recent critics.—Tr.]
[10]Act_1:20.—a. [Lechler renders the original, ἐπισκοπὴν, by Aufseheramt, literally, overseer’s office; the margin of the English Bible presents the rendering: “office (Geneva, 1557), or, charge.” This translation strictly conforms to the original in Psa_109:8, פְּקֻדָּה, comp. Num_4:16. Peter here designates by the term, according to Meyer, de Wette, etc., the apostolic office.—Tr.]
[11]Act_1:20.—b. [λάβοι, of text. rec., with E., “is a correction to suit the Sept.” (Psa_109:8). (Alf.)—Lach., Tisch., Bornemann, and Alf. read λαβέτω, with A. B. C. D. Cod. Sic.—Tr.]
[12]Act_1:25.—[For κλῆρον, of text. rec., before τῆς διακ., with minuscules, but also Cod. Sin. Lach., Tisch., Born., and Alf. read τόπον, with A. B. C. (original) D. Vulg. (locum.)—Tr.]
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv11–12 Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up…
Ye men of Galilee, why stand ye gazing up into heaven, &c.--"as if your now glorified Head were gone from you never to return: He is coming again; not another, but 'this same Jesus'; and 'as ye have seen Him go, in the like manner shall He come'--as personally, as visibly, as gloriously; and let the joyful expectation of this coming swallow up the sorrow of that departure."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv11–12 11. Men of Galilee—Galilean men; a pathetic epithet now,…
11. Men of Galilee—Galilean men; a pathetic epithet now, sending back their thoughts to their origin and home.
Stand… gazing—After Jesus receded from sight they stood a long while gazing into the vacant sky, their eyes longing to recover that loved form now henceforth translated. The angels’ words rebuke their distrust and reassure their faith.
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In like manner—This passage is an immovable proof-text of the actual personal second advent of our Jesus. It is the same personal, visible Jesus which ascended that shall come. The coming shall be in like manner with the going. A figurative or spiritual coming would clearly not be a coming of the same Jesus, and still more clearly not a coming in like manner. So in Mat_24:30, “They shall see the Son of man coming in the clouds of heaven.” See notes on that chapter. Very natural was it for these apostles to infer, what was not said, that they should see him during their own day instead of the day of their resurrection.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv11–12 11. Ye men of Galilee] The Galilæan dialect was…
11. Ye men of Galilee] The Galilæan dialect was a marked peculiarity of the apostolic band. It seems also to have been our Lord’s manner of speech. For when Peter is accused (Mat_26:73) of being one of Christ’s followers the words of the accusation are “Surely thou art one of them, for thy speech bewrayeth thee.”
shall so come] This promise of the return of Jesus, on the immediate expectation of which so many of the first Christians fixed their thoughts, explains those words in the abridged account of the Ascension in St Luke’s Gospel (Luk_24:52), “They returned to Jerusalem with great joy.”
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv11–12 (11) Shall so come in like manner as ye…
(11) Shall so come in like manner as ye have seen him go into heaven.—So our Lord, following the great prophecy of Dan_7:13, had spoken of Himself as “coming in the clouds of heaven” (see Note on Mat_26:64), in visible ‘majesty and glory. Here, again, men have asked questions which they cannot answer; not only, when shall the end be, but where shall the Judge thus appear? what place shall be the chosen scene of His second Advent? So far as we dare to localise what is left undefined, the words of the angels suggest the same scene, as well as the same manner. Those who do not shrink from taking the words of prophecy in their most literal sense, have seen in Zec_14:4, an intimation that the Valley of Jehosophat (= Jehovah judges)—the “valley of decision”—shall witness the great Assize, and that the feet of the Judge shall stand upon the Mount of Olives, from which He had ascended into heaven. This was the current mediæval view, and seems, if we are to localise at all, to be more probable than any other.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv11–12 Looking for gazing up, A.V.; this for this same,…
Looking for gazing up, A.V.; this for this same, A.V.; was received for is taken, A.V.; beheld him going for have seen him go, A.V. In like manner; i.e. in a cloud. The description of our Lord"s second advent constantly makes mention of clouds. "Behold, he cometh with clouds". (Rev_1:7) "One like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven" (Dan_7:13; and so Mat_26:64; Luk_21:27, etc.) We are reminded of the grand imagery of Psa_104:3, "Who maketh the clouds his chariot, who walketh upon the wings of the wind." It may be remarked that the above is by far the fullest account we have of the ascension of our Lord. St. Luke appears to have learnt some further particulars concerning it in the interval between writing his Gospel (Luk_24:50-52) and writing the Acts. But allusions to the Ascension are frequent (Mar_16:19; Joh_6:62 Joh_20:17; Rom_8:34; Eph_4:8, Eph_4:9; Php_2:9; Col_3:1; 1Pe_3:22, etc.) With reference to Zeller"s assertion, that in St. Luke"s Gospel the Ascension is represented as taking place on the day of the Resurrection, it may freely be admitted that the narrative in the Gospel does not mark distinctly the interval of time between the different appearances and discourses of our Lord from the day of the Resurrection to that of the Ascension. It seems to group them according to their logical connection rather than according to their chronological sequence, and to be a general account of what Jesus said between the Resurrection and the Ascension. But there is nothing whatever in the text of St. Luke to indicate that what is related in the section 24:44-49 took place at the same time as the things related in the preceding verses. And when we compare with that section what is contained in Act_1:4, Act_1:5, it becomes clear that it did not. Because the words "assembling together with them," in ver. 4, clearly indicate a different occasion from the apparitions on the day of the Resurrection; and as the words in Luk_24:44-49 correspond with those in Act_1:4, Act_1:5, it must have been also on a different occasion that they were spoken. Again, the narrative of St. John, both in the twentieth and the twenty-first chapters, as well as that of Mat_28:10, Mat_28:16; Mar_16:7, precludes the possibility of the Ascension having taken place, or having been thought to have taken place, on the day of the Resurrection, or for many days after, so that to force a meaning upon the last chapter of St. Luke"s Gospel which it does not necessarily bear, and which places it at variance with St. Luke"s own account in the Acts, (Act_1:3 Act_13:31) and with the Church traditions as preserved by St. Matthew, St. Mark and St. John, is a violent and willful transaction.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On v12 Then returned they unto Jerusalem.
Act_1:12-14
Then returned they unto Jerusalem.
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The return to Jerusalem
The distance was a Sabbath-days journey; not that Moses had limited a journey on the Sabbath; but the Rabbins derived the rule from the prohibition to depart, on the sacred day, from the camp, which was supposed to be two miles square. The return, had it not been for the promise of the Father, would have been like turning from the gates of heaven to the antechamber of hell.
I. The place. An upper room. This could hardly have been in the temple, for the ecclesiastical authorities were too hostile to suffer such a company within the sacred precincts. It was probably the room in which our Lord ate His last supper, and which, from His manner of pointing it out, seems to have belonged to a disciple. The Jews had such an upper room for their devotions, as we read of Peter going up to one, for prayer; and of Paul holding, in an upper room, a meeting of the Church at Miletus. In the houses of Jerusalem such apartments were provided for those who came up to keep the feasts. Here the disciples abode, i.e., probably spent the day there; retiring to separate lodgings at night. What reflections must have rushed into their minds on coming to the scene of the Last Supper! How much better they now understood our Lords discourse, and how soothing must have been the remembrance of His prayer! After seeing Him make the clouds His chariot, what must they have thought of His condescension in washing the disciples feet! In that room, after a few days, descended the Spirit, of which Jesus said not in vain, He shall glorify Me.
II. The company. As if to show how important it is for us to know who the apostles were, Luke, after giving the list in the Gospel, here repeats it. The women seem to be those who came up with our Lord from Galilee, and who ministered to Him of their substance. Mary, the mother of Jesus, not of God, as she has been impiously called, is there; and this is all that the inspired history says of her whom all generations shall call blessed. Verily the Scriptures are not chargeable with Mariolatry. By the brethren of Christ being there, we conclude that it could no longer be said, neither did they believe on Him. The hundred and twenty included probably the seventy evangelists; some inhabitants of Jerusalem, who, like the master of the house, believed, and such persons as Joseph of Arimathea. This upper room was the cradle of the Christian Church, now an infant, but soon to become a giant and stride over a conquered world. Who then would despise the day of small things?
III. Their employment.
1. Their harmony was secured by the discourses which they had heard and the scenes they had witnessed, which had extinguished self, that fire-brand of discord. With a world ready to rise in arms against them, their strength lay in union; and now that the traitor, the discordant one, was gone, we may say, Behold, how good and pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity!
2. They were commanded to wait, but not to be idle; and their business was prayer for that Spirit who was to fit them for their work. They came from this retirement, to live in the view of a world, eyed by enemies as the butt of persecution, and by friends as examples and guides. Not the least of the blessings which resulted from these days of prayer was the lesson given to public men to prepare for great doings by secret devotions. (J. Bennett, D. D.)
The ten days
The interval between Ascension and Whitsuntide represents an exceptional portion of the history of the Church, and may be compared, or rather contrasted, with the three days during which our Lord rested in the tomb; in each Christ was gone and the Comforter was not come; in each the Church had received a part of her endowments but not the whole; in each the disciples waited patiently till they should obtain a more complete commission, though in the one case they waited with sad hearts and disappointed hopes, while in the other, notwithstanding the absence of their Lord, they experienced great joy, and were continually praising and blessing God. (Bp. Harvey Goodwin.)
The first assembly of the Christian Church
This assembly was marked by--
I. Separation from the world. The work was unworldly, and therefore separation was necessary. This separation was--
1. Local. Worldly business was not likely to come to the upper room, as there were no attractions for buyers and sellers. Every Church should have a place of meeting set apart for its own use.
2. Mental. No worldly-minded man could have anything in common with their mental state. They were waiting for the bestowal of what no outsider had ever seen or heard. Does this mental distinction exist to-day?
3. Moral. They had given themselves up to be directed by Jesus. Such renunciation marks all true Christians. It cannot co-exist with the pride and self-sufficiency which mark unregenerate men.
II. Unity. The separation would not have answered its purpose without this. All present--
1. Recognised one Head. Attachment to a chief often unites men of varying gifts, tastes, and ambitions. So high and low, educated and illiterate, etc., are united in Christ. The light of the sun illumines planets of different magnitudes in various orbits, and each reflects the light of the ruling orb. So Christ is the centre of the Christian system, binds each member of the system to Himself, and freely sheds His light on all. Discord in a Church is therefore unchristian.
2. Had oneness of spirit. They all stood in the same relation to Christ, agreed in the exercises to which they were now devoted, and had grace to love one another. This oneness has often appeared where personal elements have been of very diverse kinds. Such unity in diversity is one of the beautiful effects of Christianity.
3. Were of one purpose--viz., to know, experience, and do the Divine will. For this end they conferred, waited, and prayed. In the abolition of slavery men of opposite opinions, etc., were united by a common purpose. Such union will ever be shown where men aim at Christian ends.
III. Confident expectation. They persevered in the work to which they had given themselves. They had strong faith in Him whose words had brought and now kept them together. When that faith was tried by delay it bore the test. Continuance in prayer would increase the sense of power at the throne of grace; and this would intensify the longing for the promised blessing. This confident expectation ought to appear in all Christian assemblies, for there are Divine promises yet to be fulfilled. (W. Hudson.)
The waiting time
Was--
I. A transition period. It stood midway between Christs completed work on earth and the unopened work of the Spirit from heaven. In the history of redemption the first chapter closed on the day of the Incarnation. A long, dreary, chequered period that had been, but it was succeeded by one in all respects the reverse--brief, bright with heaven, and, though ending tragically, bringing life and immortality to light. But it was reserved for the Spirit to make this good, and His dispensation, the last chapter, was now to open. But ere the curtain should be drawn, a breathing time of ten days was in the wisdom of God to take place. It was like the silence in heaven, for the space of half an hour between the breaking of the seals and the appearance of the angels.
II. A time of felt need. The eleven were told that they were to be their Masters witnesses, but they had no clear comprehension of the tale they were to tell, and could not but feel that they had neither position, culture, influence, nor any ground to hope for success save in their assurance of the truth of their story, and the help they might receive in telling it. As they thought of this what sinkings would come over them, which would rather be intensified, as day after day found them in the upper room, but for some counteractive.
III. A time of expectancy. How often would they recall and find it indispensable to recall the promise of the Father--ill as they understood what it meant. Yet being charged not to stir till it was fulfilled, they could not but hope that it would bring a full qualification for their arduous mission. But it was no time of silent waiting, for it was--
IV. A time of prayer. Who can doubt that the burden of the supplication was the promised power. But besides this it was--
V. A time of fraternal conference. They could hardly have prayed without intermission; and it is only reasonable to assume that the intervals would be filled up with the interchange of recollections and encouragements.
VI. It was a time of action (verses 15-26.) (D. Brown, D. D.)
Waiting for the promise
It is on Thursday, probably in the evening, that the disciples return to Jerusalem. Did they expect to receive it that very night? This we know not; but we do know that then opened a new era in the intercourse of man with heaven. As they began to pray, how would they find all their conceptions of the Majesty on high changed! The glory of the Father encompassing a human form, a beaming from a human brow! Mingling with this first joy for the Masters exaltation would be the feeling, He has entered for us within the veil! He maketh intercession for us! Hush! which of the-twelve is it that says to the brethren--Let us ask the Father in His name? (Joh_16:23-24). The angels had often sung together over the prayer of repenting sinners, Now, for the first time, they hear prayers authorised and accredited by the name of the Only-begotten of the Father. That name has just been set above every name; and as it echoes through the host on high, with the solemn joy of a hundred believing voices, things in heaven bow. What must have been that moment for the saints in Paradise, who had seen the Saviour afar off, but never known the joy of praying directly in His name! Father Abraham had rejoiced to see His day. What would be His gladness now? David, what would be the things which, in that wonderful moment, his voice would sing, touching the King? Oh, the joy of that first hour of praying in the name of Christ! What short and burning petitions would go up from the lips which first quoted, Whatsoever ye shall ask the Father in My name, He shall give it you! But the Spirit has not seen it good to hand down the strong and tender collects of these ten days. Then surely it is unlawful to impose good forms of prayer upon all men, because ancient saints wrote them. He who will never use a form in public prayer casts away the wisdom of the past. He who will use only forms casts away the hope of utterance to be given by the Spirit at present, and even shuts up the future in the dead hand of the past. Does any one of the hundred and twenty up to this moment forget that Thursday night? The Friday morning dawns: the day the Lord had died. Would He not send His promised Substitute to-day? Now came back all His words about the death which He should accomplish. Yet the Friday wears away, and no baptism of fire! The Saturday sets in; its hours are filled up as before, with prayer; but no answer. And now dawns the first day of the week, the day whereon He rose, the first Lords day He had passed on His throne of glory. Surely they would expect that the blessing be delayed no longer. But the evening steals on, and all their prayers might have risen into a heaven that could not hear. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday pass. Their faith does not fail; still in the temple praising and blessing God, or in the upper room in prayer and supplication, they continue of one accord. Though He tarry, yet will they wait for Him. This is waiting. Some speak of waiting for salvation as if it meant making ourselves at ease, and dismissing both effort and anxiety. Who so waits for any person, or any event? When waiting, your mind is set on a certain point; you can give yourself to nothing else. You are looking forward and preparing; every moment of delay increases the sensitiveness of your mind as to that one thing. A servant waiting for his master, a wife waiting for the footstep of her husband, a mother waiting for her expected boy, a merchant waiting for his richly-laden ship, a sailor waiting for the sight of land, a monarch waiting for tidings of the battle: all these are cases wherein the mind is set on one object, and cannot easily give attention to another. To-morrow will be Thursday, a full week from the Ascension; that will be the day. The Thursday finds them, as before, of one accord in one place; no Thomas absent through unbelief. How the scene of that day week would return to their view! How they would over and over again, in mind, repeat the occurrences of a week ago! But the day wears on, and no blessing. Is not the delay long? Not many days! Does the promise hold good? They must have felt disappointed as the evening fell. Now is the hour of trial. Will their faith fail? Will some stay at home, or go a-fishing, saying that they will wait the Lords time, and not be unwarrantably anxious about what, after all, does not depend on them, but on the Lord? Or will they begin to find out that the cause lies in the unfaithfulness of their companions? Happily the spirit of faith and love abides upon them. Happy for them that none fancied He could fix upon others the cause of their unanswered prayers! The Thursday is gone; eight days! The Friday and the Saturday follow it, marked by the same persistency in union, in praise, in prayer, and by the same absence of encouragement. Ten days gone! the promise, Not many days, is all but broken. The final proof given by Peter, that he was waiting indeed, making all preparation for the event, was in calling upon his brethren to fill up the number of apostles. (W. Arthur, M. A.)
Waiting for the promise
They were waiting in quiet expectation and hope, as little children sitting together on a Christmas Eve in a dark room, while in the next room the Christmas presents are preparing; for it was again the time of Advent, of the Advent of the Lord in the Spirit. (J. P. Lange, D. D.)
Waiting for the promise
As those who dye cloth first prepare the cloth to receive the dye which it is to take, so does God ordain that the soul which is to receive His grace must be fitted for the sanctifying Spirit. (Chrysostom.)
Waiting for the promise: the duty of ministers and churches
It may be asked whether we are to expect that in all ages, a sufficient number of men will be raised up, bearing the primitive marks of a call from God, and of gifts from God; and our reply would be simply, Remember the ten days. There we see men whose commission had come from the lips of the Lord Jesus, whose training has been under His own eye, who have forsaken houses, and lands, and all that could bind them to secular avocations, who are ready to set forth upon the work of calling and warning a world that is lying in the wicked one; and yet day after day the inhibition lies upon them, that they are to tarry until they are endued with power from on high. As we look at that spectacle--sinners dying, time rolling on, the Master looking down from His newly-ascended throne on the world which He has redeemed, seeing death bear away its thousands while His servants keep silence--there is in that silence a tone which booms through all the future, warning us that never, never, under the dispensation of the Spirit, are men to set out upon the embassy to Christ, be their qualifications or credentials what they may, until first they have been endued with power from on high, been baptized with tongues of fire. Better let the Church wait ever so long--better let the ordinances of Gods house be without perfunctory actors, and all, feeling sore need, be forced to cry with special urgency for fresh outpourings and baptisms of the Holy Ghost, to raise up holy ministers, than that, by any manner of factitious supply, substitutes should be furnished-substitutes no more ministers of God, than coals arranged in a grate are a fire; or than a golden candlestick with a wax taper, never kindled, is a light. (A. Arthur, M. A.)
The first prayer-meeting after the Ascension
I. The scene. Upper does not mean a room above the lower floor, much less a garret or inferior apartment, but one comparatively spacious--reserved in Greek and Jewish houses for the use of guests, or for unusual occasions. Upper rooms were a kind of domestic chapels in every house. There they assembled to read the law, and to transact religious affairs. In returning to Jerusalem the disciples showed--
1. Their obedience to Christ.
2. Their fearless faith.
II. The attendance. The roll of names reminds us of--
1. The sociality of Christs system. If you would unite men in social affection, you must get them to love supremely your common object. Christianity alone supplies an object that all hearts can love supremely; and therefore of all systems it is the most social.
2. The triumph of grace. Here is Peter no longer fearful, and Thomas no longer incredulous, etc. Women are also here: their presence being noted in strong contrast which assigned a separate court in the temple, and kept women apart in the synagogue. In Christ there is neither male nor female. Christianity has raised woman to her present position, and woman has ever proved most loyal to the system that has made her what she is.
3. The ravages of sin. Where is Judas? He was present at the supper, perhaps in this very room.
III. The spirit was a spirit of--
1. Union. They were not only assembled in the same place and for the same purpose; but there was a great unanimity of sentiment amongst them. They agreed in the blessings they sought, and in the mode of seeking them.
2. Perseverance. Cf. Parable of unjust judge. Conclusion: Would that all prayer-meetings were something like this. We must go back to apostolic times for our models of devotion. (D. Thomas, D. D.)
A model prayer-meeting
If the prayer-meeting is the thermometer of the Church, then the first Christian prayer-meeting registers a high degree of spiritual life existing just after the departure of Christ. This was a model in point of--
I. Attendance. There were one hundred and twenty present.
1. All the office-bearers were there. Are modern elders and deacons as exemplary?
2. The male members were there. Business or pleasure did not hinder them.
3. The female members were there. The women still form a large proportion of the attendants at prayer-meetings.
II. The spirit. Peace and unity prevailed. The day of murmuring had not yet come (Act_6:1.) Union is strength. A divided Church cannot long remain a praying Church. God answers prayer when it is offered by few or many with one accord. The promise is addressed to those who are agreed.
III. The results (see chap. 2.). The Church was born at a prayermeeting, which should encourage us to sustain our often thinly attended and cold-spirited prayer-meetings. The prayer-meeting is more than the thermometer of the Church, it is the source of her spiritual power. There is as intimate a relation between the prayer-meeting and the outpouring of the Spirit as between the gathering of the cloud and the downpour of the shower. Pentecostal revivals must be preceded by ante-Pentecostal prayer-meetings. (T. S. Dickson, M. A.)
The meeting for prayer preparatory to the day of Pentecost
This passage refers to the most interesting period in the history of the Church, the results of which will be felt to all eternity. In one point of view the infant Church was in a bereaved condition. Still their glorified Lord had given to them words of promise which inspired them with the confident expectation of coming glory. And never was there a more interesting congregation. No Jewish ruler, no Rabbi, no Roman senator was there. It was a select and happy group of holy men and women, who had met for the most important purpose, to agonise in prayer. They were not acting under a momentary impulse; nor as the result of a transient excitement, but under the influence of that deep personal piety that needs no other impulse but what is supplied by a sense of duty, or by its own spontaneous energy.
I. The features by which they were distinguished.
1. They contemplated the attainment of a special object. The Saviours promise, so far from inducing indifference, awoke attention, urged to duty, and gave a specific character to prayer. During the greater part of the Saviours ministry they seem to have known little of the doctrine of Divine influence. But at its close the Lord dwelt mainly upon this fundamental truth; and now the doctrine inspired their hopes, warmed their hearts, and must have formed the subject of their prayerful appeal to heaven. This blessing is as important for us as for them, The doctrine of Divine influence is admitted as an article of our faith, but it fails to exert the amount of influence over us which its importance demands. Yet, upon the prayers of the Church is made to depend the bestowment of the Spirit in any enlarged degree. And what else can secure the salvation of the perishing? or warm the hearts of slumbering saints? or reclaim the backslider from his wanderings? or correct the existing errors of the Church?
2. The prayers were presented in concert and union. The place was humble, but it served the purpose. It was not enough that that each one separately should have been endued with the spirit of prayer. Religion is social. Like gravitation, its tendency is to bring its recipients into contact; and the wants of the Church make it necessary for its members to meet that they may blend their affections and unite in service.
3. These devotional exercises were continuous and persevering. The disciples laid aside for several days their ordinary occupations and gave themselves to the uninterrupted pursuit of spiritual things. This course was as true to philosophy as it was consistent with religion. It is by oft-repeated strokes that the artisan produces the desired impression on the metal; and that the heart may be subdued and elevated, it must be brought into continuous contact with spiritual realities. It is partly on such grounds that extraordinary religious services may be adopted and justified. A state of things may exist in a Church such as to call for some special effort. It may have lost its first love, and the things that remain may be ready to die. All ordinary effort to revive its piety seems to be in vain. It may be necessary, therefore, to resort to, extraordinary measures and give ourselves to special prayer.
4. These exercises must have been marked by fervency and sustained by faith and hope.
II. The influence and results by which these devotional exercises would de attended.
1. They would improve personal piety. That indeed had progressed considerably. Still, in point of depth, comprehensiveness, and power, it was susceptible of improvement. And if the first disciples needed an improvement in spiritual character, how much more we? What, then, shall accomplish it? United, as well as private prayer.
2. They would prepare the disciples to receive the promised effusion of the Spirit, and for their future vocation. A fixed rule in the Divine government is that the minds of men must be prepared by a suitable course of discipline for the reception of any special token of the favour of God. Isaiah was not called to witness before the live coal from the altar touched his lips. Moses was instructed by immediate communion with the Most High, preparatory to his mission. Would you be endued with power from on high and win souls to Christ? Then pray in unison.
3. They sustained an intimate relation to the events of the day of Pentecost. May they not be regarded as a most gracious answer to the prayers of the suppliant Church? (W. A. Hurndall.)
Prayer-meetings not to be given up
A pious woman, when it was decided to close the prayer-meeting in a certain village, declared that it should not be, for she would be there if no one else was. True to her word, when, the next morning, some one said to her jestingly, Did you have a prayer-meeting last night? Ah, that we did, she replied. How many were present? Four, she said. Why, said he, I heard that you were there all alone. No, she said; I was the only one visible; but the Father was there, and the Son was there, and the Holy Spirit was there, and we were all agreed in prayer. Before long others took shame themselves at the earnest perseverance of this poor woman, the prayer-meeting was revived and the church prospered. (W. Baxendale.)
Prayer-meetings, Sunday morning
I have been endeavouring to establish among us what are called Aaron and Hur Societies; i.e., little collections of four or five or more persons, who meet before service on Sabbath morning, to spend an hour in prayer for a blessing on the minister and the ordinances. They began on New Years Day and we seemed to have an immediate answer, for the meeting was unusually solemn; and we have reason to hope that the Word was not preached in vain. (E. Payson, D. D.)
Social prayer
By this is meant such meetings as are held pre-eminently for the purpose of prayer, praise, and revival.
I. Importance.
1. The inauguration of the Christian Church was preceded and attended with social prayer. The Day of Pentecost followed a ten days prayer-meeting of the one hundred and twenty disciples.
2. Seasons of joy or danger were marked by meetings for prayer (Act_4:23-31; Act_12:12; Act_16:13).
3. Revivals of religion are closely connected with them. When Zion travails in prayer she brings forth her spiritual children (Isa_66:8).
4. Great movements have been originated in them. The first foreign missionary society had its inception in the meeting for prayer held by five young men--Mills, Richards, Robbins, Loomis, and Green--under a haystack at Williams-town in 1806.
II. Different kinds of meetings for social purposes.
1. The weekly Church prayer-meeting.
2. Ladies prayer-meetings.
3. Business mens noonday meetings.
4. The week of prayer.
5. Neighbourhood or cottage prayer-meetings.
6. Conventions or convocations for prayer and revival.
III. Scripture promises.
1. That Christ will make one in their company, whether they be few or many (Mat_18:20).
2. That the prayer of faith shall be answered (Mat_18:19; Joh_16:23-24).
3. That their rewards shall be sure (Mat_3:16).
IV. How may the efficiency of such meetings be enlarged?
1. By preceding them with secret prayer.
2. By regular and prompt attendance.
3. By labouring to secure the attendance upon them of every able-bodied Church member and others. (L. O. Thompson.)
An assembly of Christians
You know those lights which we use in public places, where you have a ring pierced with a hundred tiny holes, from each of which bursts a separate flame; but when all are lit they run into one brilliant circle, and lose their separateness in the rounded completeness of the blended blaze. This is like what Christs Church ought to be. We each, by our own personal contact with Him, by our individual communion with our Saviour, become light in the Lord, and yet we joyfully blend with our brethren and fused into one, give forth our mingled light. (A. Maclaren, D. D)
Prayer meetings
One of the greenest spots upon earth was the parish of St. Peters, Dundee, when the lovely MCheyne was its pastor. He thus records in his diary the spirit of prayer which prevailed among his people: Many prayer-meetings were formed, some of which were strictly private, and others, conducted by persons of some Christian experience, were open to persons under concern at one anothers houses. At the time of my return from the mission to the Jews I found thirty-nine such meetings held weekly in connection with the congregation.
The social power of prayer
Akin to the moral are the social effects of prayer. Prayer makes men as members of society different in their whole being from those who do not pray. It gilds social intercourse and conduct with a tenderness, an unobstructiveness, a sincerity, a frankness, an evenness of temper, a cheerfulness, a collectedness, a con-stunt consideration for others, united to a simple loyalty to truth and duty, which leavens and strengthens society. (Canon Liddon.)
Result of united prayer
There was an old deacon in a city in Michigan who was connected with a church which had no conversion for sixteen years. He came to his death-bed, and felt that he could not die in peace. He sent for the minister, but he had been too long accustomed to the darkness to be easily awakened. Failing with all the male members of the church he sent for the ladies, and pleaded with them to pray for a revival. They prayed and fasted before God. In a little while the whole church was moved. I received a despatch from the minister. On my arrival he took me into a room filled with these ladies praying that the Lord would reveal His power. I felt, as soon as I entered, that God was there. The next night the power came, and in forty-eight hours there was scarcely a young man or young woman who was not converted to God, or anxious to be saved. (D. L. Moody.)
The substance of the Church
There is a mine near Plymouth, where the men work in it two hundred and fifty feet below the surface, have a little shelf for their Bibles and their hymn-books, and a little place where every morning, when they go down in the black darkness, they bow before God, and praise Him whose tender mercies are over all His works. You never heard of these miners, perhaps, and do not know them; but possibly some of them are the very substance of the Church. There sits Mr. Somebody in that pew; oh, what a support he is to the Church! Yes, in money matters, perhaps; but do you know there is poor old Mrs. Nobody in the aisle that is most likely a greater pillar to the Church than he, for she is a holier Christian, one who lives nearer to her God and serves Him better, and she is the substance thereof? Ah, that old woman in the garret that is often in prayer, that old man on his bed that spends days and nights in supplication, such people as these are the substance of the Church. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The duty of prayer
I. The circumstances of the apostles.
1. They had just been visited with a very afflicting dispensation. We all know something of the pangs of separation, but how trying must have been separation from the Redeemer Himself! Amidst the experience of the pain which separation inflicted, however, they betook themselves to prayer, and in the exercise they sought and found consolation. Have you such a salve for the experience of trials?
2. They had just met with disappointment in reference to their worldly views and expectations. How did they act? did they exhibit symptoms of chagrin or hesitate about persevering in the service of Christ? No, they betook themselves to prayer. Let us follow their example.
3. They were placed in circumstances of great trial and perplexity. Not only were they now deprived of their Adviser and Friend, not only were their worldly expectations blasted, but they were taught to look for the experience of difficulty, persecution, and death. And, besides this, there was perplexity as to the duties they were to discharge (verse 8). How were they qualified then to go to the uttermost parts of the earth to appear before the learned, the great, and the wise? But in the midst of all this they went to Him who could comfort them; and they did not repair to Him in vain.
4. A promise had been made to them, and their prayers had a very special reference to this. There are many who contend that prayer is useless because it is impossible that it can alter the decrees of the Almighty. There are some who condemn it for the same reason. But the apostles were made aware, not only of Gods decrees, but they had a promise actually made to them, yet they prayed for the very things which Christ had declared should be bestowed. True it is that no one can resist the will of the Almighty; but God works by means, and prayer is one of them.
II. The spirit and temper that characterised their supplications.
1. They doubtless prayed in the name of Christ (Joh_16:22). When we go to God never let us forget that the name we mention is that of Him who sitteth at the right hand of the Father.
2. They prayed in a spirit of obedience. We read here of their supplication, but notice their practice: They returned unto Jerusalem. Let us be taught by this, that if we expect our prayers to be heard we must not only go to God in the name of Christ, but we must go seeking, and praying, and aspiring after obedience.
3. They showed also the spirit of love. We do read of their disputes, hut we shall read of these no more. They are met with one accord.
4. They united together. And this teaches us the importance of public worship. (J. Marshall.)
Church attitudes: unity
To separate ourselves from our brethren is to lose power. Half-dead brands heaped close will kindle one another, and flame will sparkle beneath the film of white ashes on their edges. Fling them apart and they go out. Rake them together and they glow. Let us try not to be little, feeble tapers, stuck in separate sockets, and each twinkling struggling rays over some inch or so of space; but draw near to our brethren, and be workers together with them that there may rise a glorious flame from our summed and collective brightness which shall be a guide and hospitable call to many a wandering and weary spirit. (A. Maclaren, D. D)
Church attitudes: expectancy
The sunshine flows into the opened eye, the breath of life into the expanding lung--so surely, so immediately, the fulness of God fills the waiting, wishing souls. (A. Maclaren, D. D)
Church attitudes: receptivity
If the Church is to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit she must cultivate the receiving frame of mind--she must place herself in right attitude toward the gift she would receive. The thirsty man who comes to the fountain must hold his cup the right side up if he is to receive the refreshing water, then the water will fill it; but if he holds the cup the wrong side up the water will flow over and dash away from it, and thus his thirst will not be quenched. Penitence, unity, prayer, earnestness, constitute the receptive attitude of the soul; to such the Spirit will be given without measure. Peter, James, and John:--A curious text was once used by the Rev. J. Thain Davidson, D.D., in his first ministerial charge in Scotland, for the purpose of securing a large gathering of children whom he was anxious to address. The text was Peter, James, and John--from which he sought to show the individualising love of Christ. Fifteen years passed away and he heard nothing of that sermon; but one day, after he was settled in London, a young man called upon him: Do you remember me, sir? No; I do not. Do you remember the sermon you preached years ago on Peter, James, and John? Yes. I was but a boy then, but I walked six miles to hear you, and God blessed that sermon to my conversion. Since then the young man has devoted himself to the ministry, and he is now a useful minister of Christ in America. This illustrates the importance of presenting to childrens minds Bible truth in the most striking manner.
Prayer, patience in
How many courtiers go a hundred times a year into the princes chamber without hope of once speaking with him, but only to be seen of him! So must we come to the exercise of prayer, purely and merely to do our duty and to testify our fidelity. (St. Francis de Sales.)
Prayer, persevering
Two Christian ladies, whose husbands were unconverted, feeling their great danger, agreed to spend one hour each day in united prayer for their salvation. This was continued for seven years; when they debated whether they should pray longer, so useless did their prayers appear, and decided to persevere till death, and, if their husbands went to destruction, it should be loaded with prayers. In renewed strength they prayed three years longer; when one of them was awakened in the night by her husband who was in great distress for sin. As soon as the day dawned she hastened, with joy, to tell her praying companion that God was about to answer their prayers. What was her surprise to meet her friend coming to her on the same errand! Thus ten years of united and persevering prayer was crowned with the conversion of both husbands on the same day. (E. Foster.)
Prayer, the secret of strength
There is an old story of mythology about a giant named Antaeus, who was born by the earth. In order to keep alive this giant was obliged to touch the earth as often as once in five minutes, and every time he thus came in contact with the earth he became twice as strong as before. The Christian resembles Antaeus. In order to become and continue a truly living Christian, the disciple of Christ must often approach his Father by prayer. (Preachers Lantern.)
Prayer, the secret of usefulness
Spurgeon, being asked as to the reason of his marvellous and blessed usefulness for God, pointed to the floor of the tabernacle saying, In the room beneath you will find three hundred praying Christians. Every time I preach here they gather together, and uphold my hands by continuous prayer and supplication--there you will find the secret of all the blessing.
Prayer, faith in
Prayer is the bow, the promise is the arrow; faith is the hand which draws the bow, and sends the arrow with the hearts message to heaven. The bow without the arrow is of no use; and the arrow without the bow is of little worth; and both, without the strength of the hand, to no purpose. Neither the promise without prayer, nor prayer without the promise, nor both without faith, avail the Christian anything. What was said of the Israelites, They could not enter in because of unbelief, the same may be said of many of our prayers: they cannot enter into heaven because they are not put up in faith. (H. G. Salter.)
Prayer and revivals
The great revival in New York in 1858-9 began in answer to the earnest believing prayers of one man. After long waiting upon God, asking Him to show him what He would have him to do, and becoming more and more confident that God would show him the way through which hundreds might be influenced for their souls good, he at last began a noon-day prayer-meeting. The first half-hour nobody came, and he prayed through it alone. At half-past twelve the step of a solitary individual was heard on the stairs; others came, until six made up the whole company. His record of that meeting was, The Lord was with us to bless us. Of those six, one was a Presbyterian, one a Baptist, another a Congregationalist, and another a Reformed Dutch. (The Power of Prayer.)
Church unity
They were all together in one mind. How graphic this sketch of true union; and of union for the attainment of a definite object I The expression implies not only concord, union of heart, but concert, agreement of will, prearrangement, and design. All together in one mind. How fair a model for the imitation of the expectant Church in every age--for sure His after-comings will be like to His first, to them that are, and not to any but them that are of one accord. All, comprising every diversity of mental and moral constitution, in every degree of development, each retaining his proper individuality, yet each in vital sympathy and unison with all the rest. Various yet one, and the more completely one because various. All together, the individual influencing the community, and the whole community influencing each individual; each communicating something to all; and all communicating something to each; Peters quickness and vigour acting upon Thomass sober considerateness; and Thomass quiet considerateness keeping Peters impetuous energy under wholesome restraint; the serene fervour of John blending with the activity of Andrew, and the unhesitating openness of Bartholomew; Marthas vivacity combining with her sister Marys thoughtfulness, and the subdued and tender seriousness of Mary, the mother of the Lord; each simultaneously active and passive, and all sensibly quickened, by their union, to increasing earnestness and confidence. All together, and of one mind, that single mind centring all its hopes, exercising all its energies on one object-the immediate descent of power from on high. (F. W. Briggs.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv11–12 11. Ye men of Galilee. The apostles were mostly,…
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).
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v12 Act_1:12. A Sabbath day’s journey—according to Josephus six (Ant.,…
CRITICAL REMARKS
Act_1:12. A Sabbath day’s journey—according to Josephus six (Ant., XX. viii. 6) or five (Wars, V. ii. 3) furlongs—marked the distance of the Mount of Olives from Jerusalem, not of Bethany, which was fifteen furlongs from the city (Joh_11:18). Luke (Luk_24:50) does not say the Ascension took place at, but over against (πρός) Bethany. Nor does Acts affirm that it occurred at the sixth furlong from the city, but merely that Olivet, the scene of the Ascension, was distant a Sabbath day’s journey from Jerusalem. The two Statements do not collide. From the latter statement it has been inferred that the Ascension happened on a Sabbath; but Act_1:3 rather points to a Thursday, the exact date being 28th April, A.D. 29, shortly before midday (Holtzmann).
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Act_1:13. Come in.—“To the city probably, not the house” (Hackett); though Holtzmann considers it was the temple they entered (compare Act_2:46; Luk_24:53). Not an but the upper chamber should be read, meaning “of the private house” where they were abiding—most likely that mentioned in Mar_14:15; Luk_22:12.
Act_1:14. With one accord, or with one mind. Omit “supplication” and “the” before women. Last mention in Scripture of Mary, the mother of Jesus, whose reappearance after the crucifixion (Joh_19:27) is noteworthy. His brethren were most probably Mary’s children, though the idea that they were only His kinsmen or relatives is not excluded by the term.
HOMILETICAL ANALYSIS.—Act_1:12-14
The Church in Jerusalem; or, the Ten Days before Pentecost
I. The Church’s meeting place.—An upper room in Jerusalem.
1. Humble. Not a splendid cathedral or ornate ecclesiastical edifice; but an apartment in a private house, in the topmost story beneath the flat roof. Compare the meeting-place of the Christians at Troas (Act_20:8) and Rome (Act_28:13; Rom_16:5).
2. Obscure. Not a chamber connected with the temple, as some suppose, but most likely a room belonging to a follower of the Risen Christ, perhaps in the house of the goodman mentioned in Luk_22:11, or in that of John Mark’s mother (Act_12:12).
3. Small. Large for a private house, but in comparison with the buildings afterwards possessed by Christians, contracted and meagre. Yet
4. Sufficient. Capable of holding the entire company of Christ’s disciples in Jerusalem before Pentecost. And
5. Consecrated. If the goodman’s upper room, by the Last Supper there held; if Mary’s, by the last interview of Christ with the Twelve before His Ascension (Act_1:4; Act_1:13).
II. The Church’s Membership.—
1. Its number. “About a hundred and twenty.”
(1) Representing the fruits of Christ’s ministry in Jerusalem, not throughout the country (see 1Co_15:6), the five hundred Galilean brethren having not yet come up to the metropolis. Christ’s ministry, externally judged, had not been eminently successful.
(2) Not a large or powerful band of spiritual soldiers. Indeed, in comparison with Christ’s army of to-day, extremely diminutive and feeble. Yet
(3) Christ was about to employ them in the magnificent task of reducing the world into subjection to Himself, the weakness of the weapon being more than counterbalanced by the Almightiness of the Arm that was to wield it (1Co_1:27).
2. Its composition.
(1) Men and women. A distinct advance upon the Church of the Old Testament, in which woman had no place as an individual, but only in and through and as represented by the male head of the family to which she belonged. The exceptional case of Zelophehad’s daughters (Num_26:6-7) proved the rule. But now in Christ Jesus there is neither male nor female (Gal_3:28). In the Church of the New Testament woman finds a place in her individual capacity, and enjoys rights and privileges equal with those of her male companion. Nothing more characteristic of Christianity or more demonstrative of her heavenly origin than the change she has effected on the position of woman both in Church and State.
(2) Persons of distinction and people of no name. Individuals of repute, ability, and influence like the Apostles who had been selected by Christ, and had companied with Him from the beginning (Act_1:21); like the Galilean women who had followed Him with devotion and ministered to Him of their substance (Luk_8:3); like Mary, the mother of Jesus, and like the brethren of our Lord, of whom one (James) was soon to take his place (if already he had not secured it) as president of the congregation. Happily, however, also men and women of no name or fame, influence or ability, rank or wealth. Christian Churches should never be of one class; but “rich” and “poor,” “wise” and “unwise,” “patrician” and “plebeian,” should meet together in profession of a common faith, in acts of common worship and in service of a common Lord.
3. Its leaders. Leadership not incompatible with equality. Never had the Church such a company of able and trusted guides as when it started on its glorious career.
(1) Males, the Apostles. The first three: Peter, the man of rock (Mat_16:18; Joh_1:42) and Apostle of action (Mat_14:28; Joh_18:10); John, the beloved disciple (Joh_21:20) and Apostle of love (1Jn_3:18; 1Jn_4:7); and James, his elder brother, who afterwards suffered martyrdom (Act_12:2), perhaps distinguished by courageous zeal (Luk_9:54). The next five: Andrew, one of the first to follow Christ, a man of decision (Joh_1:40); Philip, whom Christ found in the wilderness (Joh_1:43), representing spiritual aspiration (Joh_14:8); Thomas, called Didymus, doubtful and anxious (Joh_20:25), touched with melancholy (Joh_11:16), yet of ardent devotion (Joh_20:28); Bartholomew or Nathanael (Joh_1:45), the soul of guileless simplicity; Matthew, who left all and followed Christ (Mat_9:9; Luk_5:28), the man of whole-hearted consecration. The last three: James, the son of Alphæus, sometimes called “James the Less” (Mar_15:40), though “James the Little” would be better, of whose character nothing is reported; Simon Zelotes, otherwise named The Canaanite (Mat_10:4; Mar_3:18), or the Zealot, perhaps noted for fervour; and Judas, the brother or son of James, styled Lebbæus (Mat_10:2) and Thaddæus (Mar_3:18), presumably from the warmth of his disposition, hence the man of heart. Along with these James, the brother of our Lord, enjoyed the reputation and held the position of a leader (Act_15:13; Gal_1:19).
(2) Females, the women already referred to, Mary Magdalene, Mary the Mother of James and Joses, Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod’s steward, Salome, the mother of John and James, and Susanna (Luk_8:1; Joh_19:25), and Mary the Mother of Jesus, here mentioned for the last time in Scripture and not assigned that precedence given her by the Church of Rome.
III. The Church’s disposition.—Unanimous. Her members were all of one mind. The spirit of discord had not yet revealed itself among them. Their ranks were unbroken through either jealousy or rivalry.
2. Steadfast They persevered in maintaining this becoming and excellent temper. Doubtless it had not then been tried by either prosperity or adversity. Yet was it praiseworthy that they did not themselves grow weary of the monotony of concord.
IV. The Church’s occupation.—Waiting for the promise.
1. Praying. Always becoming on the part of Christians (Php_4:6; 1Th_5:17), it was specially suited to the circumstances of the Church during the ten days before Pentecost. That the chief theme of their supplications was the heavenly baptism for which they were looking need not be doubted. That, though sure of it, they still prayed for its coming, accorded with a law of the kingdom (Eze_36:37; Mat_21:22; Jas_1:5). That they prayed in a social as distinguished from a private capacity, was grounded on Christ’s well-known assurance (Mat_18:19).
2. Working. The duty lying to their hand they did. They proceeded to fill the vacancy in the apostolic college. A hint to Christians to leave no known duty unperformed while waiting for other tasks to be enjoined.
“Strong in His faithfulness, praise Him and sing,
Then as He beckons thee,—‘Doe the next thing.’ ”
Learn.—
1. Not to suppose a splendid, or indeed any, building necessary to constitute a church. 2. Not to despise the day of small things.
3. Not to foster the class spirit in connection with Christian Churches.
4. Not to resent the leadership of those who by superior ability or influence are manifestly called to that office.
5. Not to mar by discord or division the unity of fellowship among believers.
6. Not to think praying can ever be out of place.
7. Not to mistake idleness for waiting.
HINTS AND SUGGESTIONS
Act_1:13. The Upper Room.—The upper chamber still forms the distinctive feature of a Syrian house. It is the guest chamber, where the guest is quartered outside the part of the house used by the host and his family in private life. The poor were generally content to leave their terraces uncovered, but the first luxury they indulged in was an upper chamber. The rich Shunamite made one for Elisha (2Ki_4:3). This was the most convenient part of the house, because it was large compared to the rooms inside, and was entirely independent of the rest of the building. It served for numberless uses. There the corpse was laid before burial (Act_9:37). It was in an upper chamber Jesus met with His apostles to bid them farewell, to eat the Passover with them for the last time, and to institute the Lord’s Supper. The ordinary meals He no doubt took, as they are still taken, in the court of the house and in public.—Stapfer, Palestine in the Time of Christ, p. 178.
The Four Lists of the Apostles.
MATTHEW.
MARK.
LUKE.
ACTS.
Peter
Peter
Peter
Peter
Andrew
James
Andrew
John
James
John
James
James
John
Andrew
John
Andrew
Philip
Philip
Philip
Philip
Bartholomew
Bartholomew
Bartholomew
Thomas
Thomas
Matthew
Matthew
Bartholomew
Matthew
Thomas
Thomas
Matthew
James (of Alpheus)
James (of Alpheus)
James (of Alpheus)
James (of Alpheus)
Thaddeus
Thaddeus
Simon the Zealot
Simon the Zealot
Simon the Cananean
Simon the Cananean
Judas son of James
Judas son of James
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot
Judas Iscariot
From a comparison of these lists the following conclusions may be drawn:
1. That Peter was universally recognised as the leader of the apostolic band.
2. That, following him, Andrew, James, and John enjoyed a precedence over the remaining eight.
3. That, after these, the next in rank was Philip, who in all the lists occupies the fifth place.
4. That Bartholomew was another name for Nathanael.
5. That Thomas and Matthew, like Peter and John, Philip and Bartholomew, were probably companions.
6. That Thaddeus and Judas were the same individual.
7. That Judas Iscariot deserved the lowest place in the apostolic brotherhood.
Act_1:14. The Brethren of Our Lord.
I. Their names.—James, Joses, Simon, and Judah (Mat_13:55). With the exception of the first, all ordinary men, who would probably never have been heard of but for their connection with Christ. The vast majority of this world’s population are names, and nothing more; and even of those who emerge from obscurity it is not always true that they shine in their own lustre. Reflected radiance, or renown at secondhand, is more common than most suppose.
II. Their relation to Jesus.—
1. According to some His cousins—i.e., the children of Alpheus and Mary. An opinion in support of which it is usual to advert to:
(1) the customary practice among the Jews of employing the term “brother” in a loose sense, as equivalent to “near kinsman”;
(2) the circumstance that Christ, when dying, commended His mother to John (Act_19:26), which, it is thought, He would hardly have done had she possessed other children besides Himself;
(3) the Scripture statement that Alpheus or Cleopas and Mary had two sons named James and Joses (Mar_15:40), if not a third called Judas (Act_1:13); and
(4) the appearance of individuals bearing the names of James, Simon, and Judas in the circle of the apostles, who are not the brethren of our Lord, but the sons of Alpheus (Mat_10:3; Mar_3:8). Against this opinion, however, it is urged, and with force,
(1) that they are never styled Christ’s cousins, but always his brethren—a fact remarkable, but not decisive;
(2) that they always appear associated with the mother of Jesus, and not with the wife of Cleopas;
(3) that one cannot be certain whether Mary, the mother of James and Joses, was the sister of our Lord’s mother (see Joh_19:25); and
(4) that our Lord’s brethren were not even among His disciples till towards the close of His ministry (Joh_7:5), whereas the two sons of Alpheus and Mary were among the apostles from the first.
2. According to others, His half brothers—i.e., the sons of Joseph by a former marriage. But this opinion, though not improbable, rests solely on the authority of the Gospel of James
3. According to a third class of interpreters, His whole brothers—i.e., children of Mary by her husband Joseph. In favour of this the arguments run—
(1) that it is the simplest and most natural hypothesis;
(2) that Our Lord’s brethren are always spoken of as brothers, not as cousins;
(3) that they are never said to be sons of Joseph, but always represented as brethren of Jesus; and
(4) that they always appear to be under Mary’s care. (See Whitelaw on The Gospel of St. John, 2:12.)
III. Their changed attitude towards Jesus.
1. The nature of the change. They had become believers, which they were not prior to His crucifixion. Then they refused to accept His Messianic pretensions, though they found it impossible to deny His miracles (Joh_7:3). Now their doubt was dispelled and their unbelief changed into faith.
2. The cause of the change. This was unquestionably the fact of Our Lord’s Resurrection, and perhaps in particular His manifestation of Himself to James (1Co_15:7).
Act_1:1-14. The Ascending Lord and His Witnesses.—The ascension of the Lord Jesus is the one fact which properly belongs both to the story of the Gospels and to the history of the Acts of the Apostles.
I. The preparation of the witnesses.—For witnesses must be qualified. You cannot lay hands on any man at random, and ask him to bear testimony even to undisputed facts. He must have seen the things of which he claims to be the witness. And then he must be a man of truthful spirit. These two qualifications for a faithful witness Jesus supplies in the things which He does and says in this last interview with His disciples. By what He did that day before their eyes He gave them knowledge of the final fact which was to complete the circle of their testimony. They had wept by the cross and mourned beside the sepulchre. They had seen Him, heard Him, touched Him risen from the dead, and had been glad when they saw the Lord again. And now they are assembled that the last needed link in the evidence they are to give may be added to make the chain complete. But what He said was needful, too, that they might discharge their office rightly. Not merely must their eyes behold the dying and the rising of the Son of man, but it was quite as essential that their spiritual vision should be illumined. It was for this that the Holy Spirit was needed. His coming is to complete what their outward vision had begun. He will teach all things, and bring all Jesus’s sayings to remembrance. He will show things to come. They are to have power; but it shall be power, not to be warriors, but to be witnesses. This is the work of His disciples in every age. For this cause the Master came into the world—to bear witness to the truth. As the Father sent Him into the world, so He sends us. As He equipped the Twelve, so He furnishes us for the work. Instead of the vision of His face we have the fourfold Gospel.
II. The limitation of the witnesses.—For, even “while they beheld, a cloud received Him out of their sight.” There was clear vision for a way, and then an utter mystery. Between Him and the eyes which gazed their love into the heavens came the intercepting cloud. So all our knowledge ends in mystery. Even where a veil is not hung to hide the divine realities from us, the shortness of our vision is as effective to conceal them. The strength and power of the witnessing of the early disciples was in this very thing: that they testified with all boldness up to the limits of their knowledge, and then relapsed into utter silence. It will be well for the later witnesses for Christ to follow more nearly the example of these earlier martyrs. We may with all boldness declare the well-attested facts. But do not let us try to witness to the things which are beyond the cloud, whether it may have been spread by divine wisdom or by human ignorance. Many an earnest witness has lost his power in the world because there was no clear line between the things which he has seen and known and the things which he has only felt and fancied. Nor is it necessary, because a cloud hides that which we long to see, that it should cast a shadow upon us, or darken our horizon. The cloud which underlies the mysteries of heavenly truth is not black with thunderbolts, not scarred with seams of lightning, but edged at least with the silver glory which it hides, and only laden for us with showers of peace and plenty. For it is not the darkness which hides God from us, but the light in which He dwells, which no man can approach unto, whom no man hath seen nor can see. This was the cloud of the transfiguration—the cloud of brightness. Paul, telling the story of his conversion, says, “I could not see for the glory of that light.” Jesus is the brightness of the Father’s glory and the Light of the World, but it is a light softened and screened for human eyes by the veil of His flesh; so that we now can look and see, and look and live. The cloud is the condescension of divine love to our weak sight. It testifies God’s grace equally with the sunshine.
III. The attitude of the witnesses.—They stand gazing after Him up into heaven—how long we do not know; long enough, it is evident, to lead to the rebuke and reassurance which came to them from the lips of the two angels. However full of love or faith their motive may have been, their posture was not approved. It is when they cease their gazing and begin their going that they assume their true relation to the risen Christ. For the return to Jerusalem was their first act of obedience to Him. There He had told them to go, and there to wait, and there to witness first. To testify of Him first where it is hardest and most perilous to do it; back where the people of all tongues will gather soon—they are to speak where their word will reach the greatest number; back where He bids them—that is, more than all beside, that they obey His last command. It is not by peering into the mysteries of God’s unrevealed truth that any disciple gains grace to be a faithful witness. It is far rather by unquestioning obedience to His plain command that we shall come to such further light as He may have to give us. They who are actively engaged in doing His will and work shall be led on with surest step into the mysteries of godliness. They shall have more to witness who witness faithfully to what they know, rather than they who wait and watch for more to tell. Nor did they separate when the Master, who had at first drawn them together, had left them. He had appointed them a common mission. There was to come on them a common gift of power. And so they stayed together during the interval till it should come. And as it is in the way of obedience that we learn the truth, it is in the way of fellowship that we most often receive the richest spiritual gifts. If we would share the gifts which Jesus bestows upon His own, we shall be wise to keep with the other disciples. And then, of course, they prayed; not of necessity only for that which He had promised, and which was to come to them so soon, but quite as much, perhaps, for patience to wait for it, and then for grace to use it for His praise. Obedience, fellowship, and prayer, shall make you strong to be witnesses, martyrs if needs be, unto Him.—Monday Club Sermons.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
William B. Godbey 1900 · Public Domain On vv11–12 11. “And they said, Galilean men, why stand ye…
11. “And they said, Galilean men, why stand ye gazing up into Heaven? The same Jesus who was taken up from you into Heaven will so come in the manner in which you saw Him going into Heaven.” Such was the testimony of those radiant angels whose effulgent glory flashed out on the astounded multitude standing on the summit of Mount Olivet and witnessing the glorious ascension of our Lord. He went up amid the clouds, bright and glorious (as there are no rain clouds in Jerusalem in the summer time); so He will come again, riding on a brilliant white cloud, bright as the lightning. He went up accompanied by hosts of angels as well as redeemed spirits. So He will return, attended by mighty hosts of unfallen angels and all the disembodied spirits of the Bridehood, returning to the earth to receive their risen and glorified bodies. Zechariah beautifully corroborates the testimony of these angels: “His feet shall stand again upon Mount Olivet.” This is grand and conclusive, assuring us beyond the possibility of cavil that the very same transfigured and glorified body of Jesus which flew up from Mount Olivet is coming back again to put His feet on that mountain summit. The word of the Lord is unmistakable. The same Jesus who rode over Mount Olivet on the donkey is going to ride down on a cloud and put His glorified feet on the spot He evacuated to fly away to heaven. The very same Jesus who hung on the cross is going to sit on the throne.
William B. Godbey, Commentary on the New Testament (1896–1900) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
F. W. Grant 1903 · Public Domain On v12 Subdivision 2. (Act 1:12-26.)
Subdivision 2. (Act 1:12-26.)
Matthias added to the Eleven Apostles.
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We have now the inroad that Satan has made upon their ranks repaired, and Matthias substituted for Judas in the number of the twelve apostles. Dreadful was the apostasy of one in such a position: and it could not be permitted that men should have the least apparent cause to blaspheme on this account; it must be shown that sin in its extremest manifestation had not yet exceeded the bounds ordained by God for it; -that in its worst uprising He was Master still.
1. They return from the mount of Olives to Jerusalem: Olivet is their spring of power; Jerusalem the sphere of their ministry: they break no sabbath-rest by journeying between the two. Olivet is their Gilgal, for their new conquest of the land; but they are a small company for so great a work, and realize their weakness. Gathering in the upper room where the eleven are staying, they continue with one accord in prayer, waiting for the fulfilment of the promise made. This conscious weakness is a main element of strength. The work being so entirely beyond them, they are delivered from the necessity of calculating their own resources, and are left to the unobstructed view of God as their sole argument and their sufficient resource.
Mary the mother of Jesus is seen here for the last time in Scripture. She takes her place simply with the rest, humbled, no doubt, rather than exalted by God’s grace towards her. What a grief it would have been to her to have known the place in which an apostate church would set her in the time to come! She is neither prayed to, nor even leads in prayer, but remains as in the beginning "the handmaid of the Lord," and with this passes out of the history. In the doctrine of the epistles she has no place, and is never mentioned. Blessed and honored she is, and always will be; by none so dishonored as by those who would force her into a place impossible for a creature, that of a Pagan goddess rather than a Christian saint.
2. We see now the authority of Scripture over these disciples of the Lord Jesus, in which they are true followers of their Master. We have traced His ways in the Gospels, and know how fully the principle that "by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God doth man live" was acted upon by Him. Scripture that "cannot be broken" had for Him, therefore, all the authority of unalterable truth. "But how, then should Scripture be fulfilled, that thus it must be?" He gives as a convincing reason for not taking Himself out of the hands of those who came to seize Him. On the Cross, "that the Scripture might be fulfilled, He saith, I thirst." Twice over He speaks of the course and end of Judas as needful "that Scripture might be fulfilled." Peter, therefore, does but follow his Lord, when now, standing up amongst the brethren, he declares that "it was necessary that the Scripture should be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became guide to those who took Jesus." How blessed to realize the control of the Word of God in the darkest events, as in those most evidently displaying the signs of His handiwork! How dark they would be, if we had not in this way the assurance of His perfect oversight of every circumstance! But the Cross is, above all, this assurance, as the speaker here will presently point out to us. What a blaze of prophetic light is concentrated upon it! and how the worst evil the world ever saw is there gloriously overruled to be the greatest good! And what is true of this is true of every evil that has stained man’s history: "He maketh the wrath of man to praise Him; and the remainder of wrath He will restrain."
So, then, with Judas, whose terrible descent is spoken of here, from his reception of the lot of his apostleship to his suicide in the field of blood, which he had purchased with the price of his iniquity. The apparently discordant accounts as to this purchase have been reconciled in a manner well-known and probable enough. Begun by the traitor, we have only to suppose it closed by the leaders of the people; Judas returning to it to hang himself in his despair, as Matthew relates; the judgment of God ensuing, as related here. That the character of the purchase-money should combine with the horror of his death to give its name of Aceldama to the potter’s field, is in no wise difficult to understand.
Peter in his quotation connects two psalms (Psa 69:25; Psa 109:8); the first fulfilled in the judgment at which his own hands had doubly wrought, the second as defining the duty which now pressed upon them. The office which he has shamed and cast aside is not to be left vacant to bear witness of the enemy’s victory. All has been provided for, -all has been specified beforehand in the prescient wisdom of God, which cannot be taken by surprise or overmatched by Satan’s subtlety or power. Nay, the Word is shown by his apparent success only the more fully master in all circumstances. It lies with them now to see filled up their broken ranks, -not by the appointment of a fresh apostle, for which plainly they have no authority, but by choosing out from among themselves those who had the necessary qualifications for one who was to be a witness of that wondrous life which had shone out among men, and then referring to the Lord Himself to determine which of these was according to His mind.
3. Scripture had settled for them what His mind was as to the place being filled; for the determining of the individual there was the lot, used so often in Israel for a matter like this. They had even the scripture for this, that. if "the lot is cast into the lap, the whole disposing thereof is of the Lord" (Pro 16:33). They had no reason to doubt, therefore, that they would have His guidance in acting on such an assurance; the Spirit had not yet come; and this, which some have taken to cast doubt upon the issue, and to dispute Matthias, right to the apostleship, they had no ground for believing to be a cause for delay when Scripture was thus clear. They acted in obedience, not in self-confidence; we never find their act disputed afterwards, and we have surely no right to dispute it now. It would be a totally different thing to imitate their conduct, now that the Spirit of God is come.
It is true that we have nothing of Matthias afterwards; but the same could be said of most of the apostles; nor of the fancied substitution of Paul for him at a later time have we any proof whatever. We have no reason for believing Matthias to have been other than his name imports, "the gift of the Lord" to them, according to their faith; and it is a happy thing to see faith acting in them in such simplicity and confidence, the word of God being its justification as always, -in this case before the Spirit has come. When He comes, it will not be to render us less subject to the Word, but on the contrary, to give us the fulness of it, even of the Old Testament; and the new dispensation which is now being introduced, with all its higher blessing, will confirm the old.
F. W. Grant, The Numerical Bible (4th ed., 1903) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On vv11–12 Luke - Acts
Luke - Acts
THE ASCENSION
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WAS, IS, IS TO COME
Luk 2:16. - Luk 24:51. - Act 1:11.
These three fragments, which I have ventured to isolate and bring together, are all found in one author’s writings. Luke’s biography of Jesus stretches from the cradle in Bethlehem to the Ascension from Olivet. He narrates the Ascension twice, because it has two aspects. In one it looks backward, and is necessary as the completion of what was begun in the birth. In one it looks forward, and makes necessary, as its completion, that coming which still lies in the future. These three stand up, like linked summits in a mountain. We can understand none of them unless we embrace them all. If the story of the birth is true, a life so begun cannot end in an undistinguished death like that of all men. And if the Ascension from Olivet is true, that cannot close the history of His relations to men. The creed which proclaims He was ‘born of the Virgin Mary’ must go on to say ‘. . . He ascended up into heaven’; and cannot pause till it adds ‘. . . From thence He shall come to judge the quick and the dead.’ So we have then three points to consider in this sermon.
I. Note first, the three great moments.
The thing that befell at Bethlehem, in the stable of the inn, was a commonplace and insignificant enough event looked at from the outside: the birth of a child to a young mother. It had its elements of pathos in its occurring at a distance from home, among the publicity and discomforts of an inn stable, and with some cloud of suspicion over the mother’s fair fame. But the outside of a fact is the least part of it. A little film of sea-weed floats upon the surface, but there are fathoms of it below the water. Men said, ‘A child is born.’ Angels said, and bowed their faces in adoration, ‘The Word has become flesh’. The eternal, self-communicating personality in the Godhead, passed voluntarily into the condition of humanity. Jesus was born, the Son of God came. Only when we hold fast by that great truth do we pierce to the centre of what was done in that poor stable, and possess the key to all the wonders of His life and death.
From the manger we pass to the mountain. A life begun by such a birth cannot be ended, as I have said, by a mere ordinary death. The Alpha and the Omega of that alphabet must belong to the same fount of type. A divine conformity forbids that He who was born of the Virgin Mary should have His body laid to rest in an undistinguished grave. And so what Bethlehem began, Olivet carries on.
Note the circumstances of this second of these great moments. The place is significant. Almost within sight of the city, a stone’s throw probably from the home where He had lodged, and where He had conquered death in the person of Lazarus; not far from the turn of the road where the tears had come into His eyes amidst the shouting of the rustic procession, as He had looked across the valley; just above Gethsemane, where He had agonised on that bare hillside to which He had often gone for communion with the Father in heaven. There, in some dimple of the hill, and unseen but by the little group that surrounded Him, He passed from their midst. The manner of the departure is yet more significant than the place. Here were no whirlwind, no chariots and horses of fire, no sudden rapture; but, as the narrative makes emphatic, a slow, leisurely, self-originated floating upwards. He was borne up from them, and no outward vehicle or help was needed; but by His own volition and power He rose towards the heavens. ‘And a cloud received Him out of their sight’-the Shechinah cloud, the bright symbol of the Divine Presence which had shone round the shepherds on the pastures of Bethlehem, and enwrapped Him and the three disciples on the Mount of Transfiguration. It came not to lift Him on its soft folds to the heavens, but in order that, first, He might be plainly seen till the moment that He ceased to be seen, and might not dwindle into a speck by reason of distance; and secondly, that it might teach the truth, that, as His body was received into the cloud, so He entered into the glory which He ‘had with the Father before the world was.’ Such was the second of these moments.
The third great moment corresponds to these, is required by them, and crowns them. The Ascension was not only the close of Christ’s earthly life which would preserve congruity with its beginning, but it was also the clear manifestation that, as He came of His own will, so He departed by His own volition. ‘I came forth from the Father, and am come into the world. Again, I leave the world and go unto the Father.’ Thus the earthly life is, as it were, islanded in a sea of glory, and that which stretches away beyond the last moment of visibility, is like that which stretched away beyond the first moment of corporeity; the eternal union with the eternal Father. But such an entrance on and departure from earth, and such a career on earth, can only end in that coming again of which the angels spoke to the gazing eleven.
Mark the emphasis of their words. ‘This same Jesus,’ the same in His manhood, ‘shall so come, in like manner, as ye have seen Him go.’ How much the ‘in like manner’ may mean we can scarcely dogmatically affirm. But this, at least, is clear, that it cannot mean less than corporeally visible, locally surrounded by angel-guards, and perhaps, according to a mysterious prophecy, to the same spot from which He ascended. But, at all events, there are the three moments in the manifestation of the Son of God.
II. Look, in the second place, at the threefold phases of our Lord’s activity which are thus suggested.
I need not dwell, in more than a sentence or two, on the first of these. Each of these three moments is the inauguration of a form of activity which lasts till the emergence of the next of the triad.
The birth at Bethlehem had, for its consequence and purpose, a threefold end: the revelation of God in humanity, the manifestation of perfect manhood to men, and the rendering of the great sacrifice for the sins of the world. These three-showing us God; showing ourselves as we are and as we may be; as we ought to be, and, blessed be His name, as we shall be, if we observe the conditions; and the making reconciliation for the sins of the whole world-these are the things for which the Babe lying in the manger was born and came under the limitations of humanity.
Turn to the second of the three, and what shall we say of it? That Ascension has for its great purpose the application to men of the results of the Incarnation. He was born that He might show us God and ourselves, and that He might die for us. He ascended up on high in order that the benefits of that Revelation and Atonement might be extended through, and appropriated by, the whole world.
One chief thought which is enforced by the narrative of the Ascension is the permanence, the eternity of the humanity of Jesus Christ. He ascended up where He was before, but He who ascended is not altogether the same as He who had been there before, for He has taken up with Him our nature to the centre of the universe and the throne of God, and there, ‘bone of our bone, and flesh of our flesh,’ a true man in body, soul, and spirit, He lives and reigns. The cradle at Bethlehem assumes even greater solemnity when we think of it as the beginning of a humanity that is never laid aside. So we can look confidently to all that blaze of light where He sits, and feel that, howsoever the body of His humiliation may have been changed into the body of His glory, He still remains corporeally and spiritually a true Son of man. Thus the face that looks down from amidst the blaze, though it be ‘as the sun shineth in his strength,’ is the old face; and the breast which is girded with the golden girdle is the same breast on which the seer had leaned his happy head; and the hand that holds the sceptre is the hand that was pierced with the nails; and the Christ that is ascended up on high is the Christ that loved and pitied adulteresses and publicans, and took the little child in His gracious arms-’The same yesterday, and to-day, and for ever.’
Christ’s Ascension is as the broad seal of heaven attesting the completeness of His work on earth. It inaugurates His repose which is not the sign of His weariness, but of His having finished all which He was born to do. But that repose is not idleness. Rather it is full of activity.
On the Cross He shouted with a great voice ere He died, ‘It is finished.’ But centuries, perhaps millenniums, yet will have to elapse before the choirs of angels shall be able to chant, ‘It is done: the kingdoms of the world are the kingdoms of God and of His Christ.’ All the interval is filled by the working of that ascended Lord whose session at the right hand of God is not only symbolical of perfect repose and a completed sacrifice, but also of perfect activity in and with His servants.
He has gone-to rest, to reign, to work, to intercede, and to prepare a place for us. For if our Brother be indeed at the right hand of God, then our faltering feet may travel to the Throne, and our sinful selves may be at home there. The living Christ, working to-day, is that of which the Ascension from Olivet gives us the guarantee.
The third great moment will inaugurate yet another form of activity as necessary and certain as either of the two preceding. For if His cradle was what we believe it to have been, and if His sacrifice was what Scripture tells us it is, and if through all the ages He, crowned and regnant, is working for the diffusion of the powers of His Cross and the benefits of His Incarnation, there can be no end to that course except the one which is expressed for us by the angels’ message to the gazing disciples: He shall so come in like manner as ye have seen Him go. He will come to manifest Himself as the King of the world and its Lord and Redeemer. He will come to inaugurate the great act of Judgment, which His great act of Redemption necessarily draws after it, and Himself be the Arbiter of the fates of men, the determining factor in whose fates has been their relation to Him. No doubt many who never heard His name upon earth will, in that day be, by His clear eye and perfect judgment, discerned to have visited the sick and the imprisoned, and to have done many acts for His sake. And for us who know Him, and have heard His name, the way in which we stand affected in heart and will to Christ reveals and settles our whole character, shapes our whole being, and will determine our whole destiny. He comes, not only to manifest Himself so as that ‘every eye shall see Him,’ and to divide the sheep from the goats, but also in order that He may reign for ever and gather into the fellowship of His love and the community of His joys all who love and trust Him here. These are the triple phases of our Lord’s activity suggested by the three great moments.
III. Lastly, notice the triple attitude which we should assume to Him and to them.
For the first, the cradle, with its consequence of the Cross, our response is clinging faith, grateful memory, earnest following, and close conformity. For the second, the Ascension, with its consequence of a Christ that lives and labours for us, and is with us, our attitude ought to be an intense realisation of the fact of His present working and of His present abode with us. The centre of Christian doctrine has, amongst average Christians, been far too exclusively fixed within the limits of the earthly life, and in the interests of a true and comprehensive grasp of all the blessedness that Christianity is capable of bringing to men, I would protest against that type of thought, earnest and true as it may be within its narrow limits, which is always pointing men to the past fact of a Cross, and slurs over and obscures the present fact of a living Christ who is with us, and in us. One difference between Him and all other benefactors and teachers and helpers is this, that, as ages go on, thicker and ever-thickening folds of misty oblivion wrap them, and their influence diminishes as new circumstances emerge, but this Christ’s power laughs at the centuries, and is untinged by oblivion, and is never out of date. For all others we have to say-’having served his generation,’ or a generation or two more, ‘according to the will of God, he fell on sleep.’ But Christ knows no corruption, and is for ever more the Leader, and the Companion, and the Friend, of each new age.
Brethren! the Cross is incomplete without the throne. We are told to go back to the historical Christ. Yes, Amen, I say! But do not let that make us lose our grasp of the living Christ who is with us to-day. Whilst we rejoice over the ‘Christ that died,’ let us go on with Paul to say, ‘Yea! rather, that is risen again, and is even at the right hand of God, who also maketh intercession for us.’
For that future, discredited as the thought of the second corporeal coming of the Lord Jesus in visible fashion and to a locality has been by the fancies and the vagaries of so-called Apocalyptic expositors, let us not forget that it is the hope of Christ’s Church, and that ‘they who love His appearing’ is, by the Apostle, used as the description and definition of the Christian character. We have to look forwards as well as backwards and upwards, and to rejoice in the sure and certain confidence that the Christ who has come is the Christ who will come.
For us the past should be full of Him, and memory and faith should cling to His Incarnation and His Cross. The present should be full of Him, and our hearts should commune with Him amidst the toils of earth. The future should be full of Him, and our hopes should be based upon no vague anticipations of a perfectibility of humanity, nor upon any dim dreams of what may lie beyond the grave; but upon the concrete fact that Jesus Christ has risen, and that Jesus Christ is glorified. Does my faith grasp the Christ that was-who died for me? Does my heart cling to the Christ who is-who lives and reigns, and with whom my life is hid in God? Do my hopes crystallise round, and anchor upon, the Christ that is to come, and pierce the dimness of the future and the gloom of the grave, looking onwards to that day of days when He, who is our life, shall appear, and we shall appear also with Him in glory?
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
J. W. McGarvey 1914 · Public Domain On vv11–12 See notes on verse 10
See notes on verse 10
J. W. McGarvey (with Philip Y. Pendleton), Commentaries on the New Testament (The Fourfold Gospel, 1914; Acts; and the epistles) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On vv11–12 The two Advents--Summary:
come
The two Advents--Summary:
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(1) The O.T. foreview of the coming Messiah is in two aspects--that of rejection and suffering (as e.g. in Is 53), and that of earthly glory and power (as e.g. In Is 11 Jeremiah 23 Ezekiel 37). Often these two aspects blend in one passage (e.g. Psalms 2). The prophets themselves were perplexed by this seeming contradiction 1Pe 1:10; 1Pe 1:11. It was solved by partial fulfilment. In due time the Messiah, born of a virgin according to Isaiah, appeared among men and began His ministry by announcing the predicted kingdom as "at hand."
(See Scofield "Mat 4:17"). The rejection of King and kingdom followed.
(2) Thereupon the rejected King announced His approaching crucifixion, resurrection, departure, and return (Matthew 24, 25). Mat 12:38-40; Mat 16:1-4; Mat 16:21; Mat 16:27; Luk 12:35-46; Luk 17:20-36; Luk 18:31-34; Luk 19:12-27.
(3) He uttered predictions concerning the course of events between His departure and return Mat 13:1-50; Mat 16:18; Mat 24:4-26
(4) This promised return of Christ becomes a prominent theme in the Acts, Epistles, and Revelation.
Taken together, the N.T. teachings concerning the return of Jesus Christ may be summarized as follows:
(1) That return is an event, not a process, and is personal and corporeal Mat 23:39; Mat 24:30; Mat 25:31; Mar 14:62; Luk 17:24; Joh 14:3; Act 1:11; Php 3:20; Php 3:21; 1Th 4:14-17.
(2) His coming has a threefold relation: to the church, to Israel, to the nations.
(a) To the church the descent of the Lord into the air to raise the sleeping and change the living saints is set forth as a constant expectation and hope Mat 24:36; Mat 24:44; Mat 24:48-51; Mat 25:13; 1Co 15:51; 1Co 15:52; Php 3:20; 1Th 1:10; 1Th 4:14-17; 1Ti 6:14; Tit 2:13; Rev 22:20.
(b) To Israel, the return of the Lord is predicted to accomplish the yet unfulfilled prophecies of her national regathering, conversion, and establishment in peace and power under the Davidic Covenant Act 15:14-17 with Zec 14:1-9.
See "Kingdom (O.T.)" 2Sa 7:8-17.
(See Scofield "Zec 13:8")
Luk 1:31-33
(See Scofield "1Co 15:24")
(c) To the Gentile nations the return of Christ is predicted to bring the destruction of the present political world-system Dan 2:34; Dan 2:35. (See Scofield "Rev 19:11"), the judgment of Mat 25:31-46 followed by world-wide Gentile conversion and participation in the blessings of the kingdom; Isa 2:2-4; Isa 11:10; Isa 60:3; Zec 8:3; Zec 8:20; Zec 8:23; Zec 14:16-21.
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain On v12 The Election of Matthias.
The Election of Matthias.
The return to Jerusalem:
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v. 12. Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath-day’s journey.
v. 13. And when they were 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 Zelotes, and Judas, the brother of James.
v. 14. These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus, and with His brethren.
The ascension of Jesus took place on Mount Olivet, east of Jerusalem, not very far from the town of Bethany, Luk 24:50. its distance from the Jewish capital is a Sabbath-day’s journey, seven and a half stadia (a little over 1,500 yards) There is no contradiction between the accounts concerning the location of the various places and the exact spot where the ascension occurred. The summit of the mountain was approximately seven and one-half stadia from Jerusalem, Bethany was almost twice that distance, and the ascension took place in the Bethany neighborhood, on the southeastern slope of the hill. After the removal of their Lord in such a miraculous manner the disciples returned to Jerusalem. Note how exactly Luke describes the geographical location for his non-Jewish readers. At Jerusalem they were to wait for the great miracle of the outpouring of the Spirit. So they went to their usual meeting-place, to the upper chamber, probably in the house of one of the disciples. The disciples held public meetings In the Temple, Luk 24:53, principally in the interest of mission-work. But for mutual consolation and encouragement they met at the houses of members of the congregation. The names of the chief men and of some of the women of this first congregation are here recorded. Peter is named first, as usual in the gospels; James, the elder, and John, the younger son of Zebedee, are next named. These three head the list as the special intimates of the Lord Then comes Andrew, the brother of Peter: Philip, also of Bethsaida; Thomas, surnamed Didymus; Bartholomew, formerly known as Nathanael; Matthew, the publican, previously known as Levi; James, the son of Alphaeus; Simon the Zealot, of Cana; and finally Judas, the brother of James. All of these men had been preserved, though the storm of adversity occasioned by the Passion and death of Christ had struck them with great severity. But they all were now ready at their post, eager to begin their appointed work and waiting only for the promised power from on high, in the sending of the Holy Spirit. The eleven disciples spent the interval between Ascension and Pentecost in the best possible way; they were engaged continually and perseveringly in prayer, and all with one accord, in the same mind. Their prayers were both general and specific, for they deeply felt their weakness and spiritual poverty, and they were anxious to receive the gift of the Spirit, as promised by their Master. Their action is to be commended as an example for the believers of all time, to join both publicly and privately in the earnest prayer for the gift of the Holy Ghost, without whose power and enlightenment we can do nothing. In this service of prayer the apostles were not alone, for there were with them some of the faithful women, probably those that had ministered to the Lord even in Galilee, and later had made the journey to Jerusalem to be present under the cross, witness the burial, and receive the message of the risen Lord. One woman is mentioned by name, Mary, the mother of Christ. She had not returned to Nazareth, since John was faithfully carrying out the request of the crucified Jesus to consider Mary his mother. Mary was undoubtedly regarded with great respect by the apostles, but there is no indication of the idolatrous homage which was later paid to her in various churches. To this small congregation or inner circle now belonged also the brethren (half-brothers, cousins) of the Lord, who are previously mentioned as unbelieving, Joh 7:5. Just when they relinquished their unbelief and accepted Jesus as their Savior and Lord is not recorded in the gospels, but they were staunch adherents of Jesus from this time forward. Note: No matter how energetically a person has formerly opposed the Gospel of salvation, all this should be forgotten as soon as he accepts the Gospel-truth. The conviction of faith, in such a case, is usually coupled with the firm intention to work all the more humbly and sincerely for the once despised Master.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v12 Then they returned
Then they returned
"The apostles returned"
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a Sabbath day's journey
This refers to the distance which, according to Rabbinical tradition, a person was allowed to walk on a Sabbath day. AT: "about one kilometer away" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)
When they arrived
"When they reached their destination." Verse 12 says they were returning to Jerusalem.
the upper chamber
"the room on the upper level of the house"
They were all united as one
This means that the apostles and believers there all shared a common commitment and purpose, and there was no strife among them.
as they diligently continued in prayer
This means that the disciples prayed together regularly and frequently.
translationWords
Jerusalem
Mount of Olives
Sabbath
Peter
John (the apostle)
James (son of Zebedee)
Andrew
Philip, the apostle
Thomas
Bartholomew
Matthew
James (son of Alphaeus)
Simon the Zealot
Judas the son of James
Mary
pray
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv11–12 1:11 Jesus promised to return from heaven in the…
1:11 Jesus promised to return from heaven in the same way (see Matt 24:30; Mark 13:26; John 14:3). Jesus has gone to heaven to prepare the place for his followers (John 12:26; 14:1-4; 2 Cor 5:4; Phil 3:21; Heb 6:20).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.