Acts 1:1-19

1 Acts is a continuation of the account of our Lord's ministry as recorded by Luke, who presents Him as Son of Mankind. As Theophilus is mentioned elsewhere only in Luke's account, it seems that the latter is the writer of Acts (Luk_1:3). Though carried on through His apostles, it is the same ministry which the Lord began. It is largely confined to the one aspect treated in Luke's narrative-Christ as Man-but covers all the characters in which He is presented, He is the King of Israel, as in Matthew, the Servant as in Mark, and the Son of God as in John. The distinct commissions in each previous account are often combined in this continuation of the history of the kingdom proclamation.

3 The interval between His resurrection and ascension was used by our Lord to present indisputable proofs of His resurrection and to instruct His disciples concerning the kingdom of God. This was the preparation He deemed necessary for the ministry recorded in this book. These two subjects dominate it to the very end.

6 He had been telling them about the kingdom of Israel, but did not tell them when it would be restored to them. He does not correct their ideas as to the character of the kingdom, but keeps them in suspense as to the time. That would depend on the reception accorded their testimony, hence could not be foretold without unfavorably affecting its proclamation. Indeed, we are kept in suspense throughout the book, till the very close, when the kingdom is rejected by the Jews in Rome, and even then we are referred to Isaiah's question, "Till when?" God alone knows when, though in these days there are many signs that the longed-for time is near.

8 The ministry of the twelve apostles was devoted to three spheres-Jerusalem, Samaria, and the rest of the earth. They did not go to all nations (Luk_24:47). Paul was called outside the land and commissioned for the regions beyond. The first seven Chapter s deal with their ministry in Jerusalem, the eighth and ninth with Samaria and the tenth, eleventh, and twelfth with the proselytes and Jews in the land. The balance of the book leads us outside the sphere of the ministry of the Twelve.

9 The resurrection and ascension of Christ are the two dominating factors in the kingdom testimony in this book. The kingdom had been proclaimed by the King in meekness and humiliation. Now it was about to be proclaimed in power by His apostles while He is glorified in heaven. They rejected Him when He spoke on earth. Will they refuse when He speaks from heaven? They scorned Him before His death. Will they hear One Who had risen from the dead!

11 The manner of His descent upon Olivet is to be precisely that which Zechariah had foretold (Zec_14:3-4):

And Jehovah shall go forth and fight against those nations,

As the day He fought in the day of the attack.

And His feet stand in that day upon the mount of Olives

Which faces Jerusalem from the east.

He will come with the clouds of heaven (Dan_7:13; Rev_1:7) with power and great glory (Mat_24:30) as the Son of Mankind to a handful of faithful Israelites, just as He left. But for the church, the body of Christ, He comes, not to Olivet, but to the air, not to judge and make war, but to save us and take to Himself in glory all the members of His body, long before He returns to the mount of Olives.

12 The apostles seem to have had permanent quarters in Jerusalem. The list is probably arranged according to rank, for Peter and John, the "pillars", come first, followed by James. Simon the Zealot, so named from a class in the nation which arose at the time of the Maccabees, who were excessively zealous for the Mosaic law, is called a Cananite, the Hebrew equivalent or zealot, i n (Mat_10:4) and Mar_3:18). Judas James was surnamed Thaddeus (Mat_10:3) and Lebbeus.

16 The buying of a freehold was typical of Judas' loss of his allotment and going to his "own" place. Almost all land in Israel was held in common and allotted each year. But there were a few parcels of ground, such as the garden of Gethsemane, the titles of which were held by individuals. Judas bought one of these. This shows that he had no faith in the coming kingdom. when lands would be re-distributed. Contrast the course of the believing disciples (Act_4:34).