Acts 1:1-26 Ascension, Wait for Power, 12th Man
Well, we spent over two years going through the 24 chapters of the Gospel of Luke verse by verse—let’s see how long it takes to get through the 28 chapters of the Book of Acts! We should all write our guesses on slips of paper and seal them in a jar. When we’re done, the winner could get a prize. Maybe an all expense paid cruise to the island of Malta or something. We’ll totally do it if someone wants to make it happen.
We’re doing Acts because it’s the second volume of what Luke started in his Gospel. Part one was all about the life and times of Jesus in His earthly ministry—from His birth to His death and resurrection. He picks up right where he left off and continues the story of the followers of Jesus as they spread the Gospel and establish the church all over the Roman empire. Acts is the story of the early church. So, here we go…
In the first book, O Theophilus, I have dealt with all that Jesus began to do and teach, until the day when he was taken up, after he had given commands through the Holy Spirit to the apostles whom he had chosen. Acts 1:1-2
Just like how he started the Gospel of Luke, he dedicates it to Theophilus. Probably a believer in Jesus who was part of the educated, middle-class in Rome. Probably someone with influence and power. This two-volume set was written to inform Theophilus—and anyone else who reads it—about what Jesus did and taught, and what the apostles continued to do after He ascended to heaven.
All those apostles and disciples and followers of Jesus who were still doing amazing things in His name.
Luke wasn’t around in the early days, he didn’t come on the scene until Paul preached the Gospel in Antioch—the city Luke was from. He was a Roman physician and became Paul’s traveling companion on his missionary journeys. If you know anything about Paul’s adventures, you know it was very helpful to have a doctor around. Roman medicine was actually pretty rocking—especially at treating battle wounds. Toward the end of the Book of Acts, Luke will start including himself in the story and he’s mentioned a few times in Paul’s epistles.
So, probably with financial assistance from Theophilus, he traveled around and interviewed all the eyewitnesses he could find to write his two-volume history of Jesus and the early church. He’s the only Gentile author in the New Testament and because his books are so long, he’s also the largest contributor to it—Luke and Acts make up about 25%.
Chapter one starts after the resurrection and just before the ascension—it’s still what we would consider the season of Easter. Jesus is hanging out with the disciples and preparing them for their next big adventure.
He presented himself alive to them after his suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days and speaking about the kingdom of God. Acts 1:3
Jesus left no room for doubt among His disciples that He had physically come back from the dead. Not just spiritually. Not as a ghost. Not symbolically. He was flesh and bone, as real as any of them—more real, if that’s possible. They were going to need this assurance to be the kind of witnesses they were going to be to everyone else.
40 days. A nice strong Biblical number. Jesus spent this time teaching them how He was the Christ who had been promised in the Scriptures. The anointed prophet, priest and king who would usher in the kingdom of God. Do you remember what the kingdom of God is? Jesus talked about it all the time, “The kingdom of God is like… A mustard seed, a lost sheep, a man who had two sons.” All the parables were preparing the disciples to understand the kingdom of God. The new reign and activity of God in the world—a kingdom in this world but not of this world. A kingdom that begins now but will be consummated later when Christ returns at the end of time—a kingdom that is marked by grace and peace with God through faith in Jesus. Jesus spent 40 days teaching and clarifying the implications of His life, death, resurrection, and exaltation. Transition them from students following a rabbi to leaders in their own right—equipped and authorized to spread Jesus’ teachings across the world. They still didn’t understand but they were about to.
And while staying with them he ordered them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, which, he said, “you heard from me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.” Acts 1:4-5
Jerusalem was the center of Jewish religious life and the starting point of the Christian mission. They were to wait until the promise of the Father, The Holy Spirit, was poured out on them like water poured over the head in baptism. Like oil poured over the head of the prophets, priests and kings—a true anointing.
This wasn’t a completely new thing. In the Old Testament, the Holy Spirit would empower certain people at various times to say and do special things that God wanted them to say or do. It’s the same thing that happened in the Gospels during the ministry of Jesus—as a man, Jesus received the Holy Spirit at His baptism. He had already given the Spirit to the disciples after the resurrection when He breathed on them. But the promise of the Father was to pour out His Spirit on all believers. Jesus told them to wait in Jerusalem until this happened—which will be the official transition from the Old covenant to the New Testament.
The Holy Spirit will be the comforter, giving them power and strength to do the mission Jesus had called them to do. All believers receive this power when they are baptized in the name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. John’s baptism was a baptism of repentance—this new baptism with the Holy Spirit is life, salvation, and the power to be who He called you out of the world to be. You, as the church, are literally the temple of the Holy Spirit, the special presence of God in the world—saying and doing what God wants to happen on earth as it is in heaven.
But they still didn’t get it…
So when they had come together, they asked him, “Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?” Acts 1:6
“Okay, Lord, got it. Wait in Jerusalem to receive power! Cool. Then we’ll be like mighty warriors, charged with the power of the Spirit of God! Then we’ll join the armies of heaven and destroy the Romans! You’ll sit on the throne of David and Israel will rule the world! Right?”
And we look back on them and think, “Man, they’re so dumb! So silly. Didn’t they listen to anything He said?”
Unlike us. We totally get it, right? We know Israel was going to be destroyed in 70 AD, just like Jesus said. So, the new Israel, spiritual Israel, would be made up of all the people who recognize Jesus as the Messiah, the fulfillment of the promise of the Old Testament. Every tribe, every tongue, every nation. The new people of God are the ones who accept Jesus, believe in Christ—we understand that God’s chosen people are from now on the Christians, the church. Not only Jews but also Gentiles. We totally get that, right? That it has nothing to do with a little nation state in the Middle East.
No. Most of us don’t get it at all.
There is only one kingdom of God, only one people of God—they are the ones who recognize Jesus as King. That’s the whole point of the Gospel. There is only one name by which you must be saved. The name of Jesus. This is what the Book of Acts is all about. Keep that in mind as we go through it.
So after everything Jesus had taught them, everything they had seen, they still thought it was about restoring national Israel.
He said to them, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by his own authority. Acts 1:7
Jesus is going to take His throne on earth someday and the whole world will be one unified nation but that’s not going to happen until He returns in power and glory at the end of time. So His answer is basically, “Guys, that’s none of your business.” That’s not how the kingdom of God is going to work right now—it’s going to work like this…
But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you, and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” Acts 1:8
“Wait in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit has come upon you—you’ll know when that happens, don’t worry. Then you have big work to do. Tell the whole world about me.”
And they had to be like, “Jerusalem sounds good, we get that—that’s where we are. Judea is cool, the area surrounding Jerusalem. But Samaria? I don’t know about that. It’s full of Samaritans—and I don’t mean “Good Samaritans. They don’t like us and we don’t like them. You kind of lost me there, Lord. And what do you mean by ‘to the end of the earth?’ That sounds scary.”
This is basically an outline for the Book of Acts. We’ll start in Jerusalem, move out to the surrounding area of Judea, head into Samaria, and then start hitting all the Gentile cities throughout the Roman Empire, ending up in Rome. From there, as we all know, the Gospel will keep spreading until it gets to scary places like Katy, Texas. It will keep going until the end of the earth.
They probably had more dumb questions but He didn’t wait around for that…
And when he had said these things, as they were looking on, he was lifted up, and a cloud took him out of their sight. Acts 1:9
This is called The Ascension. Jesus rose up to the clouds and disappeared out of their sight.
Throughout the Scriptures, God’s glory has been visualized as a cloud. The shekinah. The people of God followed a cloud by day and fire by night for 40 years in the wilderness.
Jesus ascended to heaven. In Psalm 19 it says, “The heavens declare the glory of God,” a reference to the transcendent beauty of the stars on a clear night.
But this isn’t Jesus going into outer space. He’s ascending to heaven, to sit at the right hand of the Father—to rule and reign. This is also ascending as in ascending to power—rising in power and might and majesty. This is Jesus being crowned King of the Universe. It’s His coronation. It’s the next step in the Gospel story: He came from heaven and was born, He lived, He died, He rose from the dead, and He ascended back to heaven.
He did this with the flesh He took on in the incarnation. He still has a human body along with His divine nature. Go ahead and let that blow your mind. He intercedes for His people from this exalted place in heaven. He is our King, our High Priest, our advocate, our brother—and He’ll keep on doing this until the last day when He returns in glory, just like He left, to gather us all up—the living and the dead—to begin a perfect expression of His kingdom on a new earth under a new heavens. We can’t even imagine how glorious that’s going to be.
This coming Thursday is Ascension Day—forty days after Easter.
And while they were gazing into heaven as he went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes, and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven? This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw him go into heaven.” Acts 1:10-11
They’re squinting at the sky, looking up like chickens—how long you think they would have stayed there? I would have been thinking, “But Jesus, you can’t go, you just got here!” “Wait for it, guys! He’ll be right back.” Peter and John were probably remembering the Transfiguration, which also ended with a glory cloud—then all of a sudden it was just Jesus.
I think they would have been there a while. Probably built a clubhouse. Keep a 24 hour vigil going. No one else would have ever known the Gospel.
So, God sent a couple angels to get them moving. Change their focus from heaven to earth. They have things to do. It says “two men” but it’s just like at the tomb when Luke said there were two men in dazzling apparel and later told us they were angels.
The angels promise that Jesus will return in the same way they saw him go into heaven. They’ll see Him again. Jesus had spoken a lot about how the servants were to keep working while they waited for the master to return. I’ll bet some of those parables started coming to mind.
Jesus’ last words about being His witnesses to Jerusalem, Samaria, and to the end of the earth—coupled with Him going up into the clouds and the angels telling them He went to heaven—that had a profound impact on them. They went from loss to purpose. Sadness to joy. They had something to do now. Jesus promised to come back but they had work to do in the meantime.
Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. Acts 1:12-14
A Sabbath’s day's journey is the maximum distance a person could travel on the Sabbath—2,000 cubits—a little more than a half mile. They went back to the place they were staying in Jerusalem.
It’s probably the same place where they had the Last Supper. It’s going to be the place where Pentecost happens. We get a list of the people who continued to get together and pray. The twelve disciples minus Judas, along with some women (including Jesus’ mother—this is the last time Mary will be mentioned in the Bible). Luke also tells us that Jesus’ brothers were there—which is surprising because they were not believers before the resurrection. They had tried to talk Jesus out of what He was doing a couple times. Probably thought He was going to get Himself killed or something. Probably thought the crucifixion brought shame on their family. But here they are, praying as believers in their big brother, the Christ, the king of the universe. I wish I knew exactly what changed their minds. Paul says in 1st Corinthians 15 that after the resurrection, Jesus appeared to His brother James. I love that. Wonder what that conversation was like, “Hey James. What you been up to? Me? You know—dying, rising from the dead, saving the world.” Unlike Mary, we’re going to hear about James quite a bit—He’ll become the leader of the church in Jerusalem. He and one of Jesus’ other brothers, Jude, are each going to write a book in the New Testament.
So, the family’s all in now. The core followers of Jesus are waiting for the promise of the Father, The Holy Spirit.
But while they were waiting, Peter had an idea…
In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” Acts 1:15-17
This is Peter’s first act of leadership since the betrayal. Jesus had appeared to him and reinstated him as the leader of the apostles.
There were about 120 people there—a lot was riding on that little group. I can’t help but notice how there’s about 120 of us, too. Do not despise the days of small beginnings.
Peter is noticing that The Twelve were one short. Judas had sold Jesus out, leaving a vacancy. Peter is going to put some of that “all the Scriptures point to Jesus” teaching to work and do a little Bible study. But first, Luke is going to tell us what happened to Judas…
(Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) Acts 1:18-19
Not a happy end for Judas. We know a few more details from Matthew. Apparently, Judas tried to return the money to the priests but they wouldn’t accept it. He bought a field and hung himself in it—after he died and bloated a bit, the rope broke and he exploded when his body hit the ground.
There’s a church in Houston that has twelve stained glass windows, one for each disciple. Eleven of them are bright primary colors—but the Judas window is dark, muddy brown and black. How would you like to be the other disciple named Judas?
Peter starts his Bible study…
“For it is written in the Book of Psalms, “ ‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and “ ‘Let another take his office.’ Acts 1:20
Peter knew his Psalms. It’s not like he had the Bible App on his phone. He had them all memorized—like all good Hebrew boys would have back then. He grabs a line from Psalm 69 and applies it to the complete abandonment and ruin of Judas. He grabs another line from Psalm 109 and uses it as a justification for appointing someone else to the vacant position.
Then he explains what he considers to be the job qualifications…
So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.” Acts 1:21-22
Jesus said the apostles were to be His witnesses to the end of the earth—Peter is taking Him at His word. Jesus chose twelve, so we need twelve. Probably thinking of the twelve tribes of Israel. We need twelve witnesses to kick this thing off.
Got to be a man. Who was with us since Jesus was baptized by John. Until the ascension. Someone who is a witness to the resurrection.
And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. Acts 1:23-26
They found two guys who fit all the requirements. The best of the best. They couldn’t decide between the two so they did the only logical thing: they prayed and flipped a coin. That’s basically what casting lots is. It was something done in the Old Testament to make decisions. Proverbs 16:33 says
“The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”
Matthias won the toss and Justus probably said, “Best two out of three?”
This is the last time casting lots is ever mentioned in the Bible.
Same with those two guys—but other than Peter and John, neither are any of the Twelve. Some people think Peter jumped the gun, that Paul was supposed to be the twelve man—that impetuous Peter should have just waited for the Holy Spirit like Jesus told him to. But the text doesn’t criticize Peter for what he did, so I don’t think we should either.
So, that’s chapter one. Cruising right along! There was a lot to take away from the first chapter. Our little church of 120 people has also been chosen, called, and sent with the power of the Holy Spirit to be witnesses for Christ. We’re also supposed to pray and wait for the Spirit’s guidance in all the things we do. What does the Great Commission look like at NewChurch? How are you supposed to be part of it? What role do you play in making it happen in our corner of the kingdom? We need to have patience and faith in God’s timing—all the big things He’s chosen us to do aren’t going to happen overnight. Have the courage to keep pushing forward even when immediate results aren’t obvious.
We are witnesses of the most important thing that has ever happened. We can’t let that stall here. You’ve seen too much to stay silent. Just like those believers in the upper room, you’ve experienced too much to keep it to yourself.
You have the assurance of salvation—faith in the death and resurrection of Jesus. Your sin is covered, forgiven, and you are restored to God. What a comfort to know this. Because of Jesus, you have victory over death—there’s no reason to fear it, it’s not the end—this is the promise of everlasting life. This is why you can have peace now, no matter what you’re facing. All this is right there in the first chapter of Acts. Because Jesus ascended to heaven, He constantly intercedes for you, He’s your advocate, and nothing can separate you from the perfect love of God. AMEN