CHAPTER 1

(A.D. 33)

POST-RESURRECTION

¹The former treatise have I made (refers to the Gospel of Luke, which was probably finished a year or so before the writing of this account called, The Acts of the Apostles), O Theophilus (the same person addressed by Luke in that Gospel), of all that Jesus began both to do and teach (is the Standard, the Principal, and the Foundation of the Gospel),

²Until the day in which He was taken up (the Resurrection), after that He through the Holy Spirit (refers to the fact that the Spirit of God is the Speaker and Actor in this Book) had given Commandments unto the Apostles whom He had chosen (refers to our Lords Ministry of some three and a half years, which the Apostles witnessed):

³To whom also He showed Himself alive after His passion by many infallible proofs (many people saw Him after His Resurrection, and before His Ascension), being seen of them forty days (from the time of the Resurrection to the time of His Ascension), and speaking of the things pertaining to the Kingdom of God (it seems that much teaching was included during this period of time):

HOLY SPIRIT

⁴And, being assembled together with them(speaks of the time He ascended back to the Father; this was probably the time of the above five hundred [I Cor. 15:6]), Commanded them (not a suggestion) that they should not depart from Jerusalem (the site of the Temple where the Holy Spirit would descend), but wait for the Promise of the Father (spoke of the Holy Spirit which had been promised by the Father [Lk. 24:49; Joel, Chpt. 2]), which, said He, you have heard of Me (you have also heard Me say these things [Jn. 7:37-39; 14:12-17, 26; 15:26; 16:7-15]).

PROPHECY

⁵For John truly baptized with water (merely symbolized the very best Baptism Believers could receive before the Day of Pentecost); but you shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days hence (spoke of the coming Day of Pentecost, although Jesus did not use that term at that time).

⁶When they therefore were come together, they asked of Him, saying (seemingly presents the last meeting before the Ascension), Lord, will You at this time restore again the Kingdom to Israel? (He would later answer this question through the Apostle Paul [II Thess., Chpt. 2].)

⁷And He said unto them, It is not for you to know the times or the seasons, which the Father has put in His Own power (the Master is saying that it is not the business of the followers of Christ to know this information, but rather to occupy till I come [Lk. 19:13]).

POWER

⁸But you shall receive power (Miracle-working Power), after that the Holy Spirit is come upon you (specifically states that this Power is inherent in the Holy Spirit, and solely in His Domain): and you shall be witnesses (doesnt mean witnessing to souls, but rather to one giving ones all in every capacity for Christ, even to the laying down of ones life) unto Me (without the Baptism with the Holy Spirit, one cannot really know Jesus as one should) both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the Earth (proclaims the Work of God as being worldwide).

THE ASCENSION

⁹And when He had spoken these things (refers to His last instructions to His followers), while they beheld, He was taken up (refers to Him ascending before their very eyes); and a cloud received Him out of their sight (represents the Shekinah Glory of God, which enveloped Christ as He ascended).

SECOND ADVENT

¹⁰And while they looked stedfastly toward Heaven as He went up (these statements are important because they affirm His actual Ascension testified to by eyewitnesses), behold, two men stood by them in white apparel (these two men were actually Angels);

¹¹Which also said, You men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into Heaven? (This does not mean that it was only men who were present, but rather that this was a common term used for both men and women.) this same Jesus, which is taken up from you into Heaven (refers to the same Human Body with the nail prints in His Hands and Feet, etc.), shall so come in like manner as you have seen Him go into Heaven (refers to the same place, which is the Mount of Olivet).

THE UPPER ROOM

¹²Then returned they unto Jerusalem from the Mount called Olivet (represents, as stated, the place of His Ascent, which will also be the place of His Descent), which is from Jerusalem a Sabbath Days journey (represents a little over half a mile).

¹³And when they were come in, they went up into an upper room (was probably the same room where they had eaten the Passover with Christ [Lk. 22:12]), where abode both Peter, and James, and John, and Andrew, Philip, and Thomas, Bartholomew, and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon Zelotes, and Judas the brother of James (this Judas is also called Lebbaeus and Thaddaeus [Mat. 10:3; Mk. 3:18]).

¹⁴These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication (proclaims the manner in which these meetings were conducted), with the women, and Mary the Mother of Jesus (concerns the women who followed Christ from Galilee [Mat. 27:55-56]), and with His Brethren.

THE SUCCESSOR TO JUDAS ISCARIOT

¹⁵And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the Disciples (represents Peter taking the lead), and said, (the number of names together were about an hundred and twenty,) (in essence forms the beginning of the Church).

¹⁶Men and brethren, this Scripture must needs have been fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit by the mouth of David spoke before concerning Judas, which was guide to them who took Jesus (is derived from Ps. 69:25-28).

¹⁷For he was numbered with us, and had obtained part of this Ministry (means he was one of the Apostles, and chosen by the Lord).

¹⁸Now this man purchased a field with the reward of iniquity (refers to Pharisees taking the blood money from Judas, and buying his burying place [Mat. 27:6-8]); and falling headlong, he burst asunder in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out (he committed suicide [Mat. 27:3-8]).

¹⁹And it was known unto all the dwellers at Jerusalem (actually means that it became known); insomuch as that field is called in their proper tongue, Aceldama, that is to say, The field of blood (was also known as the Potters Field).

²⁰For it is written in the Book of Psalms, Let his habitation be desolate, and let no man dwell therein (the indication is that the name of Judas had been in the Book of Life, but had been blotted out because of his sin): and his bishoprick let another take (refers to his Apostleship).

²¹Wherefore of these men which have companied with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us (probably spoke of the seventy [Lk. 10:17]),

²²Beginning from the Baptism of John, unto that same day that He was taken up from us (spans the entirety of the three and one half years of the Ministry of Christ), must one be ordained to be a witness with us of His Resurrection (we learn from this that the Resurrection of Christ from the dead is a Cardinal Doctrine of the Gospel).

²³And they appointed two, Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias (they would present these two to the Lord for His choice).

²⁴And they prayed (shows their utter dependence on the Lord for leading and guidance), and said, You, Lord, which knows the hearts of all men(tells us where alone the Truth can be found), show whether of these two You have chosen (proclaims their desire for Gods Choice, and His Choice Alone),

²⁵That he may take part of this Ministry and Apostleship (the Foundation of the Church), from which Judas by transgression fell (tells us plainly that Judas once knew the Lord, for how can one fall from something to which one has never attained), that he might go to his own place (self-will will take one to eternal hell, even as it did Judas).

²⁶And they gave forth their lots (was similar to the Urim and Thummim with which the Disciples would have been familiar and the Lord, in Old Testament times, gave leading to His People [Deut. 33:8-10; Num. 27:21]); and the lot fell upon Matthias (probably means that the names of the two men were placed on two stones, pieces of parchment, or wood, and then placed into an urn, with one lot drawn out [Lev. 16:8-9; Josh. 14:2]); and he was numbered with the Eleven Apostles (indicates that he was Gods Choice).