Acts 1

Acts 1:1-3 - Prologue

  • Acts 1:3
    • The first narrative Luke wrote was the book of Acts:
Luke Acts
They are written to the same person: Theophilus “to write to you in an orderly sequence, most honorable Theophilus” - Luke 1:3 “I wrote the first narrative, Theophilus” - Acts 1:3
Acts picks up where Luke left off (the ascension). “he left them and was carried up into heaven” - Luke 24:51 “about all that Jesus began to do and teach until the day he was taken up” - Acts 1:2
The apostles are in Jerusalem waiting for the “promise.” “I am sending you what my Father promised. As for you, stay in the city” (Luke 24:49) “he commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for the Father’s promise” (Acts 1:4)
  • Acts 1:3
    • Since Luke no longer uses a title for Theophilus, some suggest that Theophilus had become a Christian. Christians in those days did not address each other using titles.
    • Jesus ascended forty days after the resurrection. Then ten days later was Pentecost, when the apostles received power from the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:1-4).

Acts 1:4-8 - The Holy Spirit Promised

  • Acts 1:8 - See John 14:26; Matthew 3:11. This verse is a good summary of Acts.
    • The promise of Holy Spirit baptism:
      • The promise was to the “apostles” (not all Christians).
      • They were to wait for it in “Jerusalem” (not Benchley).
      • It would come “in a few days” (not 2,000 years later).
      • They would be empowered to testify as “witnesses” of Jesus (we are not eyewitnesses today).
    • The events in Acts were prophesied in Isaiah 2:3.

Acts 1:9-11 - The Ascension

  • Acts 1:11 - See I Thessalonians 4:16-17. Jesus will return the same way He left.

Acts 1:12-14 - United in Prayer

  • Acts 1:12 - This is a measure of distance, not time - 2,000 cubits or about 0.6 miles. This distance was not explicitly specified in scripture. It is something the Jews worked out for themselves based on a few Old Testament scriptures.

Acts 1:15-26 - Matthias Chosen

  • Acts 1:18 - The phrase “acquired a field” here is referring to how the chief priests used the money Judas returned to them.

Acts 2

Acts 2:1-13 - Pentecost

  • The Old Covenant authorized three annual feasts (Exodus 23:14-17; 34:23; Deuteronomy 16:16)
    • Feast of Unleavened Bread (including Passover)
    • Feast of the Harvest (Feast of Weeks, Feast of Firstfruits … called “Pentecost” in the New Testament)
    • Feast of the Ingathering (Feast of Tabernacles / Booths)
  • Only apostles - miracles and tongues
    • Acts 2:7 - “Look, aren’t all these who are speaking Galileans?” (refers to apostles, who were “Men of Galilee” Acts 1:11)
    • Acts 2:14 - ”Peter stood up with the Eleven, raised his voice …”
    • Acts 2:37 - ”… said to Peter and the rest of the apostles, ‘Brothers, what should we do?‘”
    • Acts 2:38, 40 - ”Peter replied … With many other words he testified”
    • Acts 2:42 - “They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching”
    • Acts 2:43 - “many wonders and signs were being performed through the apostles”