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- Preaching the Living WORD through
the Written WORD - 2 Tim 4;:2 - |
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INTERLUDE
BEFORE PENTECOST Acts 1:12-20
(4/28/13) Grace Bible Church,
Gillette, Wyoming Pastor Daryl Hilbert I. THE RETURN FROM THE ASCENSION (12-14) A. From the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem (12) 1. They returned to Jerusalem, following
Jesus’ previous orders to wait for the Holy Spirit (Ac 1:4). 2. They had come from the Mount of Olives,
where the angels stated that Jesus would come at the Second Coming in the
“same way” (tropos - manner or fashion)
that He ascended. He would come back “in the clouds” (Mt 24:30; 26:64; Re
1:7; 14:14) and to the Mount of Olives (Zc 14:4). 3. Luke described the distance between the
Mount of Olives and Jerusalem as “a Sabbath
day's journey away.” This would be approx. a half a mile (2,000 cubits or
3,000 ft.), the distance derived from tradition which permitted one to walk
to the Tabernacle on the Sabbath (Ex 16:29; Jos 3:4; Nu 35:5). B. Gathered with the Other Disciples (13,
14b, 15b) 1. The apostles went to the place where they
had been staying. It was in an “upper room” (huperōon
- upper story or room). This quite possibly may have been the same place
where Jesus gave the initial part of His Upper Room Discourse (Jn 14-17), the
place where they partook of the Last Supper (Mk 14:15), and where He first
appeared to the disciples after His resurrection (Jn 20:19). 2. Luke names the eleven apostles gathered
together, minus Judas Iscariot. They were: “Peter and John and James [the brothers] and Andrew
[Peter’s brother], Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew [also called Nathanael - Jn
1:45-49; 21:2] and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus [also called
James the Less - Mk 15:40, not James the brother of John], and Simon the
Zealot [with reference to his previous connection with the Zealot Party,
aimed at overthrowing Roman dominion], and Judas the son of James.” 3. “Judas the son of
James” is distinguished by Luke twice to show that he was not Judas Iscariot (Lk
6:14-16; Ac 1:13). Matthew and Mark distinguish him
from the other Judas by calling him Thaddaeus (Mt 10:3; Mk 3:18). John
identifies him as “Judas (not Iscariot)” in Jn 14:22. 4. Luke records that there were other
disciples gathered in the room as well. In fact, he estimated that there
about 120 people gathered together (Ac 1:15b). It is to be
noted that some of them were women, among which were at least the
women who witnessed his resurrection on the first day (Mt 28:9-10). 5. In addition, Luke specifically identified
Mary, Jesus’ mother (Ac 1:14b). This is the last mention of Jesus’ mother in
Scripture. Mary, of course, was at Jesus’ crucifixion (Jn 19:25-27) but there
is no record when she witnessed Jesus’ resurrection. Obviously, she did, and
she believed in Christ for salvation (cf. Lk 1:47) for she was a part of the
Christian community (Ac 1:14). Does not the silence of the rest of the life
of Mary argue that she was no more than a sinful human being saved by the
atonement of Christ? 6. Luke mentions that Jesus’ brothers were
also there giving indication that they too were believers, despite their
apparent unbelief during Jesus’ life (Mt 13:55; Jn 7:5). The Scriptures
reveal that the resurrected Christ appeared to His brother James (1Co 15:7). C. For the Purpose of Prayer (14a) 1. “All” (pantes)
of these disciples, including the women were gathered together in a spirit of
prayer and waiting. 2. The purpose of being in Jerusalem was to
wait for the Holy Spirit (Ac 1:4). The state of their
hearts were “continually
devoting themselves to prayer.” “Continually
devoted” is the strong Greek word proskartereō.
It shows that they were steadfast (kartereō
- steadfast, even staunch) to or toward (pros) prayer. The word
carries within it the idea of a continuous action as to “attend to
constantly.” To add to the idea of constant devotion is the use of a present
participle indicating ongoing action. Literally one might say that they
“continued in constant devotion” to prayer. Often in the NT, especially in
Acts, the word is in connection with prayer (Ac 1:14; 2:42; 6:4; Ro 12:12;
Col 4:2). This they did with “one mind” (homthumadon
- unanimously by common purpose and consent) unified on one purpose. 3. It reveals the spirituality of their
lives, the unity of the early church, the understanding of their future
ministries through the Holy Spirit, and the model for the church today. II. THE EXPLANATION ABOUT JUDAS (15-20) A. Peter’s Explanation of Scripture and Judas (15-16) 1. Peter stood up “in the midst of the brethren,” as he now began
to fulfill his role as one of the pillars of the early church (Ga 2:9; Ep
2:20). 2. He spoke to them concerning the prophecy
of Scripture, being fulfilled concerning Judas. a) He asserts that the Holy Spirit was the divine agent in
prophecy (“foretold” proeipon - to say
beforehand). b) He asserts that the Holy Spirit was the
divine agent in inspiration through (dia
- through) David (cf. Ps 45:1; 2Pe 1:20-21). c) Judas was the one who “guided” (hodēgos - show or lead the way) the
Pharisees in order to arrest Jesus, leading to His crucifixion (Jn 18:2-12). B. Peter Describes Judas’ End (17-19) 1. Peter first mentioned that Judas was “counted (perfect
participle of katarithmeō - count and number, assocation) among us and received his share in this
ministry” (17). This suggests that the overall view still counted Judas as
part of the disciples. 2. It also suggests that Judas “shared” (klēros - share a lot or portion) in
the earthly ministry of Christ and the disciples. In addition, Judas will
forever share in the gospel as the “the son of perdition” (Jn 17:12), who
betrayed the Son of God. 3. At this part of Luke’s narrative, Luke
adds the detail that Judas acquired a field with the money he received for
betraying Jesus (18). Some could take this as a contradiction because Judas, being riddled with guilt, gave the money back to the
Pharisees (Mt 27:3-5). However, the Greek word here is ktaomai,
which usually means to buy, but sometimes means gain through some other
means (Pr 1:5). The Pharisees could not and would not keep the money because
blood money could not be accepted in the temple (Mt
27:6). They in fact purchased a field called the “Potter’s Field” as a place
to bury strangers. Both Matthew and Luke say that the field was then called
the “Field of Blood” (Aramaic - Hakeldamach, Mt
27:8; Ac 1:19). Therefore, Judas “acquired” the field, not personally,
but through the actions of the Pharisees and with the “price (misthos - payment or wages) of his
wickedness.” 4. Luke also described that Judas, “falling
headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out” (Ac
1:18). Some see this as a contradiction to Matthew’s account whereby it is written that Judas hanged himself (Mt 27:5). This is easily explained that Judas probably hung himself on a
tree overhanging a cliff. Either the branch or the rope broke causing the
corpse to “become headlong” (trēnēs
genomenos - “having become headlong,” meaning to
fall head first or prostrate). When the bloated dead corpse hit the
ground, the “middle” (mesos - middle
section, i.e. waist area) area of the body “burst open” (laskō - crack noisily and burst apart)
and his “intestines” (splagchnon - inward
parts) “gushed out” (ekchunnō -
spill or pour out). With a gruesome divine justice, the betrayer of the
Son of God came to a gory conclusion in this life, not to mention his
unconscionable eternal torment. C. Judas Fulfilled the Sovereign Plan of God
(20) 1. At this point, Peter refers to the
prophetic Scripture by David that was fulfilled in
Judas’s death. At first, one might suppose that Peter randomly ascribed any
Psalm to Judas’ death. But after further
investigation Ps 69 is one of the most quoted Messianic Psalms in the NT. 2. Jesus, Himself alludes to His zeal for
His Father’s house found in Ps 69:9 (cf. Jn 2:17). Jn 15:25 refers to the
hatred of Jesus without a cause from Ps 69:4. Paul quoted Ps 69:22-23 to
prove Israel’s hardening in Ro 11:9. 3. Therefore, Peter was well within
interpretation consistency to apply the curse of God against Messiah’s
enemies, namely Judas. This is not the only time Scripture refers to Judas.
Mt 27:7-10 actually mentions the thirty pieces of silver Judas received (Ze 11:12) as well as the mention of the Potter’s Field (Ze 11:13). 4. Perhaps the more difficult issue, which
Peter asserted was, that Judas’ betrayal was according to the sovereign plan
of God. How could that be possible? 5. Peter’s understanding of the sovereignty
of God was correct. God did not cause Judas to betray Jesus as if to make a
good disciple go bad. Rather God, in His sovereignty and wisdom knew what
Satan and Judas (Jn 13:2) would do in that given circumstance, and He allowed
them to do so. Satan and Judas’ evil act of betrayal would ultimately
accomplish God’s purposes and plans, namely bring about the atoning death of
His Son for the sin of mankind. In fact, in Ac 2:23,
Peter asserts this explicitly in that Christ was “delivered over by the predetermined plan and
foreknowledge of God.” At the same time, those who
crucified Christ, were culpable. 6. Judas’ act of betrayal was no surprise to
a sovereign omniscient God. All throughout the Gospels, Judas was identified as the one who would betray Jesus (Mt
26:21, 23-24, 46; Mk 14:18, 21, 41-42; Lk 22:21-22; Jn 6:64, 70-71; 13:11,
21). III. OBSERVATIONS AND APPLICATIONS A. The continual devotion to prayer
characterized the early church and is the model for the church today (Ro
12:12). B. Though the role of men and women are
different, the inclusion of women in prayer shows the equality of women in
the spiritual life of the church (Ro 16:1-2, 3-4, 6; Php 4:3; 1Pe 3:7). C. Being sovereign, God has not only
predetermined the redemption of man, but the existence of the church as well
(Ac 2:23; Ac 5:38-39 cf. Mt 16:18). D. In fact, God sovereignly predetermined the
continuance of Christ’s church today, in spite of her enemies, persecutors,
and betrayers (Ep 3:9-11). |
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