TOM · The Owner's Manual · New Testament

Acts 1

Before you read Acts: who, when, why

BOOK 44 OF 66 · NEW TESTAMENT · HISTORY

Luke Part 2

AUTHOR: Luke, the doctor and Paul's friend, who also wrote the Gospel of Luke. In some chapters Luke switches from they to we (starting at 16:10), which shows he was there for parts of the trip. The early church named him as the author by about AD 180.
EVENTS TOOK PLACE: About AD 30 to 62, from Jesus going up into heaven to Paul under house arrest in Rome for two years.
DATE WRITTEN: Many conservative scholars say about AD 62, because the book ends before Paul's trial and death. Many others say AD 80 to 90.
WRITTEN TO: Theophilus, the same man Luke wrote his Gospel to (Luke 1:3, Acts 1:1). His name means friend of God.
ANCIENT MANUSCRIPTS: Acts survives in hundreds of Greek manuscripts. One old copy, Codex Bezae, has a longer form of Acts, about 8 percent longer than most.
KEY VERSE: Acts 1:8. You will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

An Early Piece of Acts

This scrap is Papyrus 48, copied in the 200s and kept in the Laurentian Library in Florence, Italy. This side holds Acts 23:25 to 29, the letter the Roman commander wrote to Governor Felix about Paul. You can still read the Greek words for to the most excellent governor. The other side holds Acts 23:11 to 17, where the Lord tells Paul he will testify in Rome. Its wording is close to the longer form of Acts found in Codex Bezae. Papyrus 45, from about AD 250, holds larger parts of Acts.

The Setting

Rome rules the whole Mediterranean world. Roman roads and peace make travel easier than ever, and almost everyone speaks Greek. Jewish synagogues stand in cities across the empire, ready made places for Paul to start preaching. But the church begins small, about 120 people praying in an upstairs room in Jerusalem (1:15). Their leader has just left. All they have is His promise: Wait for the Holy Spirit.

What Was Going Wrong

Jealous Leaders. The high priest and his friends were filled with jealousy and threw the apostles in jail (5:17 to 18).
Faking It. Ananias and Sapphira lied to look more generous than they were. Peter said they lied to God, not just to men (5:4).
Money Over God. Simon tried to buy the Holy Spirit (8:18 to 20), and the silversmiths of Ephesus started a riot because Jesus was bad for business (19:24 to 27).
Who Gets in. Some taught that Gentiles had to keep the law of Moses before they could be saved (15:1).
Mob Rule. In the Ephesus riot most of the crowd did not even know why they were there (19:32).

Where to Find Jesus

Acts 1:11. This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go. Still to come.
Acts 2:16 to 21. This is what was spoken by the prophet Joel: I will pour out My Spirit on all people. Fulfills Joel 2:28 to 32.
Acts 2:25 to 31. You will not abandon My soul to the grave. Peter says David was speaking about the resurrection of the Christ. Fulfills Psalm 16:10.
Acts 8:32 to 35. He was led like a sheep to the slaughter. Philip starts with Isaiah 53 and tells the Ethiopian the good news about Jesus.

Cool Stuff Most People Miss

Part Two of Two. Luke ends his Gospel with Jesus telling the disciples to wait in Jerusalem for power from on high (Luke 24:49). Acts picks up right there. Same author, same reader, one story.
We Were There. In 16:10 Luke stops saying they and starts saying we. The we sections, through the shipwreck in chapter 27, read like a travel diary, with ports, winds and days counted.
Luke Got the Titles Right. Roman titles changed from city to city, and Luke uses the right one every time: politarchs in Thessalonica, a proconsul in Cyprus and Corinth, and the first man of the island on Malta. Digs have found the same titles carved in stone. See the Field Notes pages.
The Book With No Ending. Acts stops with Paul still waiting for his trial. Many say the story is not over, because the church is still writing it.

Did Anybody Listen?

About 120 believers in one room became churches in Jerusalem, Antioch, Ephesus, Corinth and Rome in about thirty years. Church tradition says Peter and Paul were both killed in Rome under Nero in the AD 60s. Less than three hundred years later the Roman emperor himself became a Christian. Today about one in three people on earth call themselves Christians.

Chapter 1 in 30 seconds

For forty days the risen Jesus teaches His followers. He tells them to wait in Jerusalem for the Holy Spirit, then goes up into the clouds while they stand there staring. Two angels basically say, Why are you looking at the sky? He is coming back the same way. They pray, and Matthias is picked to replace Judas.

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Prologue// Luke 1:1–4

¹In my first book, O Theophilus, I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach, ²until the day He was taken up to heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the apostles He had chosen. ³After His suffering, He presented Himself to them with many convincing proofs that He was alive. He appeared to them over a span of forty days and spoke about the kingdom of God.

ACTS 1:1[TEXT]Acts comes down to us in two forms. Most manuscripts have the shorter one, which this Bible follows. Codex Bezae, from about AD 400, and a few other early copies have a longer form, about 8 percent longer. For example, Bezae adds the Golden Rule to the letter in 15:20 and 15:29. The story is the same in both.

⁴And while they were gathered together, He commanded them: “Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift the Father promised, which you have heard Me discuss. ⁵For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.”

ACTS 1:5[PROPHECY]In a few days the disciples would be baptized with the Holy Spirit → ACTS 2:1-4
ACTS 1:5[FULFILLS]The One coming after John would baptize with the Holy Spirit ← MT 3:11; MK 1:8; LK 3:16; JN 1:33

The Ascension// Mark 16:19–20; Luke 24:50–53

⁶So when they came together, they asked Him, “Lord, will You at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?”

⁷Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority. ⁸But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be My witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”

ACTS 1:8[PROPHECY]The witnesses would carry the gospel to Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth → ACTS 2:41; ACTS 8:5-8; ACTS 13:46-47; ACTS 28:30-31
ACTS 1:8[FULFILLS]The Servant exalted after suffering ← IS 52:13

⁹After He had said this, they watched as He was taken up, and a cloud hid Him from their sight. ¹⁰They were looking intently into the sky as He was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. ¹¹“Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky? This same Jesus, who has been taken from you into heaven, will come back in the same way you have seen Him go into heaven.”

ACTS 1:9[MIRACLE]Jesus' bodily ascension; angels appear
ACTS 1:9[FULFILLS]He would ascend into heaven (the Son of Man) ← DAN 7:13-14a
ACTS 1:9[FULFILLS]Hereafter you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Power, and coming on the clouds of heaven ← MT 26:64; MK 14:62
ACTS 1:11[PROPHECY]This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven → STILL TO COME

Matthias Replaces Judas

¹²Then they returned to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives, which is near the city, a Sabbath day’s walk, a little over half a mile away. ¹³When they arrived, they went to the upper room where they were staying: Peter and John, James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. ¹⁴With one accord they all continued in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.

¹⁵In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (a gathering of about a hundred and twenty) and said, ¹⁶“Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled that the Holy Spirit foretold through the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide for those who arrested Jesus. ¹⁷He was one of our number and shared in this ministry.”

ACTS 1:16[FULFILLS]The unrepentant death of the betrayer ← PS 55:15MEDIUM

¹⁸(Now with the reward for his wickedness Judas bought a field; there he fell headlong and burst open in the middle, and all his intestines spilled out. ¹⁹This became known to all who lived in Jerusalem, so they called that field in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)

²⁰“For it is written in the book of Psalms:

‘May his place be deserted;

let there be no one to dwell in it,’

and,

‘May another take his position.’

ACTS 1:20[FULFILLS]The betrayer's place would be left empty ← PS 69:25
ACTS 1:20[FULFILLS]Another would take the betrayer's position ← PS 109:8

²¹Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have accompanied us the whole time the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, ²²beginning from John’s baptism until the day Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

²³So they proposed two men: Joseph called Barsabbas ( also known as Justus) and Matthias. ²⁴And they prayed, “Lord, You know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two You have chosen ²⁵to take up this ministry and apostleship, which Judas abandoned to go to his rightful place.”

ACTS 1:24[HEART]The apostles pray to the Lord who knows every heart before choosing Matthias.

²⁶Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias. So he was added to the eleven apostles.

ACTS 1:26[FULFILLS]Another would take the betrayer's position ← PS 109:8

Acts 1

An Early Piece of Acts

The Setting

What Was Going Wrong

Where to Find Jesus

Cool Stuff Most People Miss

Did Anybody Listen?

Prologue// Luke 1:1–4

The Ascension// Mark 16:19–20; Luke 24:50–53

Matthias Replaces Judas

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