“Prepare for Take Off”
Acts Chapter
1
Mark Kolbe
INTRODUCTION
The Bible is the most popular and sought-after books in human
history. It is such a fixture in our
world even non-Christians quote passages from it. One of the most common scriptures people quote is John 8:31-32 where Jesus said, “If you continue in
My word, then you are truly My disciples; and you will know the truth, and the
truth will set you free.” Sadly, many
who have referred to or heard this verse, ignore the first portion, don’t know even
know what truth is, and in reality, would just prefer to have freedom to do
whatever they want without consequence.
Rather than seeking truth to become free, it is much more common for
people to hide from the truth to remain slaves to sin.
One of the most obvious settings absent of truth is a political
press conference. On one side of the
coin, there are reporters who phrase questions in ways that seek to capitalize
on someone else’s gullibility, or to receive responses they can use to make scandalous
allegations. And on the other side of
the coin, there are our supposed leaders, who answer questions with misleading statements
or deflections from the specific issue at hand.
This tendency to suppress truth runs rampant all throughout
society, not just in politics. Why is
this the case? People know…when the
truth gets out, there are inevitable and sometimes powerful consequences! Sometimes truth is obvious like a blaring car
horn that causes people to cover their ears.
Other times, truth is more subtle, like carbon monoxide leaking into a room.
When it comes to truth, the New Testament gospels could be
compared to an active volcano spewing an extraordinary amount of ash and lava,
or like the lit fuse on a stick of dynamite.
Images that warn of something big about to happen! The book of Acts is what happened – it’s the
explosion of Truth! It is a perfect example of the dramatic effects of truth
becoming known. The author doesn’t use
hollow words to subvert or hide anything.
Instead, this book of the Bible, like all the rest, is an intentional
effort to lay out truth in plain sight for the world to see.
POST RESSURRECTION
In our overview of Acts last week, we learned that this book is
the second letter Luke wrote to Theophilus.
The first letter was the gospel of Luke. Here is a brief statement of
what Luke said was the reason he wrote him the first time.
Luke 1:1- Inasmuch as many have
undertaken to compile an account of the things accomplished among us, 2 just as
they were handed down to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses
and servants of the word, 3 it seemed fitting for me as well, having
investigated everything carefully from the beginning, to write it out for you
in consecutive order, most excellent Theophilus; 4 so that you may know the
certainty of the things you’ve been taught.
So, the gospel of Luke was his way of making a compelling argument
for Christianity based upon what happened during the time when Christ was
alive. In that letter, he wrote about
the certainty that Jesus was a real person and the amazing things He did. The gospel of Luke also contained evidence
for the fact they Jesus died and was raised from dead.
Luke starts the book of Acts with a reminder of what he had written
in his previous letter to Theophilus:
Acts 1:1-2: In my former book, Theophilus, I
wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach 2 until the day he was taken up to
heaven, after giving instructions through the Holy Spirit to the
apostles he had chosen.
Now, in this second letter, Luke is going to make additional arguments
about the reality of who Christ was by describing the great impact Jesus had on
the world even after He ascended to heaven. This time Luke is going to focus on the
growth of the early Christian Church that occurred when His disciples spread
His teachings from beyond Jerusalem, out into lands that made up the Roman
Empire (many scholars believe Theophilus was a prominent Roman).
In Acts 1:3, Luke starts this next letter where the other one left
off. He provides more details about the
last days of Christ on earth after the resurrection.
3 To these He also
presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs,
appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things
concerning the kingdom of God.
Jesus remained on earth for 40 days between His resurrection and
ascension. The group of people that
Jesus presented Himself to during this time included the remaining 11 apostles
(Judas had committed suicide) as well as additional “disciples” (followers) of
Jesus who travelled with them.
A. Luke said that Jesus made “appearances and convincing proofs” during this
time. These appearances, which are
documented in the gospels and in 1st Corinthians, include cases
where Jesus physically appeared before individuals, small groups, and one before
a group of 500 people. As far as
convincing proofs go, Jesus’ first one was showing up alive after having been
dead. But, to disprove potential theories
that people only thought they saw Jesus, or that He was a kind of ghost, Jesus talked
with people, allowed people to touch Him, and He ate food with them. And to make
sure everyone knew that He hadn’t lost any of His abilities, He performed
another fish catching miracle (John 21).
B. Jesus also spoke about things concerning the kingdom of God during these 40
days. In general, the things He talked about fell
into two categories.
1. The first thing He did was to continue the education process
by providing the disciples with a better understanding of what they had been
taught up until now. Jesus, being the Great Teacher knew how to
educate people. One way the process of
education occurs is when we provide someone information about something
before-hand. This would be similar to
the way we’d warn a young toddler not to touch a hot stove. Another way to educate is to remind the
person what we said after it has happened.
“Do you feel that pain and burning on your finger right now? That’s why I told you not to touch the
stove.”
Jesus was doing a lot of “reminder education” during this time. He helped connect the dots between what He
had warned them was going to happen and what had just come true. He also showed them that these occurrences that
they had witnessed were also predicted in the Old Testament scripture hundreds
of years before. Here is what Luke said in the gospel of Luke about the way
Jesus taught during this time…
Luke 24:45 Then he opened their
minds so they could understand the Scriptures. 46 He told them, “This is what
is written: The Messiah will suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, 47
and repentance for the forgiveness of sins will be preached in his name to all
nations, beginning at Jerusalem. 48 You are witnesses of these things.
2. Jesus also gave the disciples new instructions on what they
were to do going forward. One thing
He told them to do was “make disciples of all the nations, baptize them in the
name of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, teach them to observe all things that
I have commanded you.” (The Great Commission - Matthew 28:18-20). But Luke tells us of another thing Jesus
instructed in Acts 1:4.
4 Gathering them together,
He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had
promised, "Which," He said, "you heard of from Me; 5 for John
baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many
days from now."
Luke had included this same instruction from Jesus about staying
in Jerusalem and waiting for the Holy Spirit in the gospel of Luke as well:
49 I am going to send you what
my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with
power from on high.”
The event that Jesus was referring to, for which the disciples
were supposed to wait, was that which was going to occur at Pentecost in Acts chapter
2. Jesus was giving instructions as to what the
church as supposed to do after He left the earth, and He was letting them know that
the things He was calling them to do required power and guidance by means of the
Holy Spirit.
In some ways, what Jesus did after His resurrection and before His
ascension into heaven reminds me of what someone might do who is passing their
family business down to the next owner. A
person who has poured his or her heart and soul into the business would talk
about the value and benefits of why it should be kept running, and they would
spend time teaching the new owner on how the business should be run. The soon to be new owner would surely ask a
lot of questions before the old owner left too.
Well, that’s exactly what the disciples did. In this case, they responded with questions
about what was going to happen in the days to come.
6 So when they had come
together, they were asking Him, saying, "Lord, is it at this time You are
restoring the kingdom to Israel?"
The disciples assumed that Christ was going to somehow defeat the
Romans and restore the land of Israel back to the Israelites. But Jesus had to set their priorities
straight. He let them know that other
things were about to take place instead.
7 He said to them, "It
is not for you to know times or epochs (periods) which the Father has fixed by
His own authority; 8 but you will receive power when the Holy Spirit has come
upon you; and you shall be My witnesses both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and
Samaria, and even to the remotest part of the earth."
Jesus basically said that something else was about to happen that was
more important than the Israelites having their land restored. He told them about the process by which they
would spread the news about Jesus to the entire world. And, as a result of what they were going to
be involved in, Jews and Gentiles alike, including those of many future
generations would have the opportunity to hear the gospel, respond to it in
faith, and receive an inheritance in heaven.
THE ASCENSION
Perhaps you are a fan of movies with multiple film releases that
make up a series? I can think of
examples in some of my favorites like Lord of the Rings, Star Wars, Rocky, and Back
to the Future, where the movie sequel immediately begins by repeating the final
scene where the previous release left off.
Luke does the same thing.
When we get to Acts 1:9, Luke writes about the ascension of Jesus
into heaven for the second time. This
event provides an appropriate conclusion to the gospel of Luke (which centers
around the life, death, and resurrection of Christ), as well as the book of
Acts (which centers around the growth of the early church). The first time Luke described this event in
the gospel of Luke, he didn’t provide a lot of details.
Luke 24:50 - When he had led
them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them.
51 While he was blessing them, he left them and was taken up into heaven. 52
Then they worshiped him and returned to Jerusalem with great joy. 53 And they
stayed continually at the temple, praising God.
However, this time around, he provides a more thorough
description.
9 And after He had said
these things, He was lifted up while they were looking on, and a cloud received
Him out of their sight.
This event occurs on the Mount of Olives, which is about ¾ mile east/northeast
of Jerusalem (the equivalent of what Jews were allowed to travel on the
Sabbath-Acts 1:12).
The Mount of Olives is approximately
2600’ tall (1/2 mile). Compare this to the
Empire state building, which is 1454’ tall.
Let’s make some observations about
this ascension scene that Luke has included in both of his letters. First, when Jesus left the earth, it was not a
disappearance, but His body
literally went up, into heaven, gradually. The Greek word – Epairo is used in this verse - it means to be taken up, or
lifted up. Psalm 68:18 describes the future event as an “ascension”. Mark 16:19 describes it as a “directional”
event - “…He was received up into heaven…”, and
Paul said Jesus was “taken up” in 1 Timothy 3:16. This ascension took long enough such that
Jesus was visible for a while, until He got high enough to go into a cloud in the sky.
Second, the event was witnessed
by multiple people. There were at
least 13 individuals present, and most likely several more than that. You’ll
see how we can conclude this in a little bit. The event reminds me of the way people sometimes gather to release
balloons, filled with helium, to remember a loved one who has died. They stand there, continuing to gaze into the
sky until the balloons are out of sight, in an effort to hold on to the
memories for as long as possible.
What an extremely fitting and symbolic end to Jesus’ ministry
while on earth! Rather than leaving this
earth was a quick “poof”, leaving the disciples looking around scratching their
head, Jesus uses a much more dramatic and obvious method. The relative “slowness”
of leaving fits perfectly with the intentional, thorough, out in the open
manner that Jesus had lived with these men all along. This event was one last
proof of who He was! Earthly magicians
are careful to hide their secrets to make you think they are more than they
really ae. Jesus was no magician - what
He did was real, He didn’t hide anything.
Instead, Jesus intentionally did things to get people’s attention, which
then forced them to respond, and their response would impact their lives.
10 And as they were gazing
intently into the sky while He was going, behold, two men in white clothing
stood beside them. 11 They also said, "Men of Galilee, why do you stand
looking into the sky? This Jesus, who has been taken up from you into heaven,
will come in just the same way as you have watched Him go into heaven."
Right about the moment that these men were catching their last
glimpse of Jesus as He disappeared into the cloud, two angels appeared. The bible records appearances of angels at
numerous key points within the context of Jesus’ life on this earth:
1.
They predicted His birth (Luke 1:30-33).
2.
They were present at His birth (Luke 2:13-14).
3.
They warned Joseph about Herod’s plot to kill
Jesus (Matthew 2:19-20).
4.
They ministered to Him when He was being
tempted in the wilderness by Satan (Matthew 4:11).
5.
An angel rolled the rock away from the tomb
(Matthew 28:2).
6.
An angel announced Jesus’ resurrection
(Matthew 28:5-6).
7.
They were present when Jesus ascended (Acts
1:10).
8.
They will be present at His second coming
(Matthew 24:31).
*On a side note, it is interesting that from the time Jesus was
betrayed, up through His crucifixion, there is no mention of angels being
present. In fact, in Matthew 26:53,
Jesus said that He could have had angels come to His assistance to stop those
things from happening, but He didn’t.
Based upon what the angels said and from what the disciples do
shortly thereafter, it wasn’t appropriate for these people to stand around
looking at the sky. This event signaled
the next phase of Christianity, the torch was being passed from Christ to His
disciples, and it was now their responsibility to carry it.
THE UPPER ROOM – CHOOSING THE REPLACEMENT APOSTLE
12 Then they returned to
Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath
day's journey away. 13 When they had entered the city, they went up to the
upper room where they were staying; that is, 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. 14 These all with one mind
were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary
the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.
Luke says that they went to “the upper room”. The fact that Luke calls it “the upper room”
doesn’t necessarily mean it was literally the same upper room as where they had
their last supper with Jesus. In those
days, it was common to use upper rooms of buildings to congregate for
fellowship, communion, prayer, teaching.
That is exactly what they did, and appropriately so, in this place.
We know that the group of people who witnessed the ascension and
were now returning to Jerusalem included all the eleven remaining
apostles. We can also see that by the
time they arrived to the upper room the group included Jesus’ mother Mary, “the
women”, and Jesus’ brothers. This
means it’s possible these same people were also present at the ascension. The “women” could have included Mary
Magdalene, Mary the mother of apostle James (wife of Alphaeus), and Joanna –
women who were referred to at other points when Jesus was alive. The group also
included Jesus’ actual brothers (James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas/Jude) – men who were now believers in
Jesus, but had previously been skeptics (John 7:1-10).
15 At this time Peter stood
up in the midst of the brethren (a gathering of about one hundred and twenty
persons was there together), and said, 16 "Brethren, the Scripture had to
be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning
Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 17 "For he was
counted among us and received his share in this ministry." 18 (Now this
man acquired a field with the price of his wickedness, and falling headlong, he
burst open in the middle and all his intestines gushed out. 19 And it became
known to all who were living in Jerusalem; so that in their own language that
field was called Hakeldama, that is, Field of Blood.)
20 "For it is written in the book of Psalms, 'LET HIS HOMESTEAD BE MADE
DESOLATE, AND LET NO ONE DWELL IN IT'; and, 'LET ANOTHER MAN TAKE HIS OFFICE.'
When Peter stood up to talk, the
number people who were there was about 120.
We don’t know if all 120 of them had necessarily witnessed the
ascension, but that was the number who were gathered after the event. Regardless, Peter takes this opportunity to educate
in the way Jesus did – he also connected the dots between current events and
Old Testament prophecies (John 5:39, Luke 24:44). Standing among this group of Jesus followers,
Peter refers to the former apostle, Judas Iscariot. He makes sure that everyone understands that
this man who had betrayed Jesus, for financial gain, who then committed
suicide, was the one who David had wrote about hundreds of years earlier (see Psalm
41:9, 69:25, 109:8). Based upon their understanding of scripture,
and believing in the importance of restoring the number of apostles to be the
same as what Jesus had originally appointed, they set out to choose a
replacement. * Zechariah 11:12-13 provides additional prophecy about the
betrayal, specifically concerning the money that exchanged hands.
21 "Therefore it is
necessary that of the men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord
Jesus went in and out among us- 22 beginning with the baptism of John until the
day that He was taken up from us-one of these must become a witness with us of
His resurrection." 23 So they put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabbas
(who was also called Justus ), and Matthias. 24 And they prayed and said,
"You, Lord, who know the hearts of all men, show which one of these two
You have chosen 25 to occupy this ministry and apostleship from which Judas
turned aside to go to his own place." 26 And they drew lots for them, and
the lot fell to Matthias; and he was added to the eleven apostles.
Peter describes the qualifications that Judas’ replacement must
have. It must be someone who has been a
part of this Jesus “movement” right from the beginning. This person didn’t have to be someone whom
Jesus called to be His disciple personally, but the replacement did have to be
someone who made a personal decision to believe in the coming Messiah. The
specific qualifications included three primary things. First, it needed to be someone who was
baptized by John the Baptist, right around the time John baptized Jesus’ (v 22).
John brought the good news of Christ to
a lot of people and a fairly significant area.
Mark 1:5 says that “the whole Judean countryside and all the people of Jerusalem
went out to him. Confessing their sins, they were baptized by him in the Jordan
River”. John 3 says
that John the Baptist, “…went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching
a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins” – this included people
like tax collectors and soldiers.
The second qualification was that the
person also had to have been among the group of followers with whom Jesus had
regular, personal contact. And third, it
had to be someone who witnessed the ascension of Jesus on the Mount of Olives. This final qualification proves that the
ascension was witnessed by well more than the eleven apostles.
Since this was such an important
decision in the beginning of the “New Testament church”, they prayed about the
situation asking that God would supernaturally intervene by choosing the one
whose heart would remain fully devoted to the task to which they were being
called.
SO WHAT
1.
It is not accurate to call someone an apostle today if the implication
is that the person has special authority in the church above and beyond any
other believer. As we’ve seen from Acts
1, modern day believers do not qualify to fill the “office” of apostle:
baptized by John, having spent time with Him in person, and present at the ascension. As such, Paul calls apostles a foundation
(built once) in Ephesians 2:20. Part of
the confusion for what it means to be an apostle is because the Greek word,
Apostolos, is used in the New Testament to describe someone who was a delegate,
messenger, or one sent forth with orders, in two ways. The first way was in regards to the apostles appointed
by Christ. In this sense, the word implied special designation or
authority. In addition, the word is used
in a broader sense applied to other Christian leaders who had a special gift of
teaching or spreading the gospel. Men
like James (1 Corinthians 15:7; Galatians 1:19), Barnabas (Acts 14:4, 14; 1
Corinthians 9:6), Andronicus and Junias (Romans
16:7), possibly Silas and Timothy (1 Thessalonians 1:1; 2:7), and Apollos (1
Corinthians 4:6, 9) would fall into this category of apostle. Since the word can be so easily confused,
terms like teacher, evangelist, pastor, elder, or overseer seem better words to
use today.
2. However, we can still be disciples
of Christ, and more specifically, leaders in the church. Similar to apostles, leaders in the church
should have the proper qualifications.
We should be careful about who we
elevate into the limelight because this can affect believers and
non-believers. I bet you can think of
cases where the church has allowed new or questionable believers to become
spokesmen or cover stories for Christianity, merely because they were
famous. New Testament scripture like 1st
Timothy 3 reveals qualifications of leaders.
Instead of popularity, skill, and beauty, Godly leaders should be known
for their faithfulness, honesty, dependability, and courage. They need to be
people who have been believers long enough to have developed a solid foundation
through study and contemplation of God’s word.
Instead of being eager for personal power or position, they need to be
servants, filled with power of Holy Spirit.
3. There are a lot of people today
who are masters at “hoodwinking” and there are a lot of people who are willing
to be hoodwinked if they believe they’ll benefit from it. Christianity is based upon reality and
truth through presentation of a strong, evidential case. Luke, like other biblical authors, provide
names of specific people and places, and describe events in detail. These writers tell us that Jesus lived His
life in the open surrounded by witnesses, performing miracles without smoke,
mirrors, or cleverly edited video. People
become believers in Jesus through an intentional presentation of the evidence
and then thoughtful consideration of the evidence. People
who decide to follow Christ, prove the certainty of their decisions by actions,
and these actions often put their lives at risk.
4. Jesus did it all, perfectly, with
style, and with power. His deeds
span the entire spectrum of what a good person would do - things like spending
quality time with people, crying over the death of his friends, and concern for
His mother. But, His actions went far
beyond that. He did numerous things, in
front of crowds of people, that proved He was not a mere man. Whether from the miracles He performed before
He died, His resurrection, or His ascension into heaven, Jesus proved He was
God Himself. Sometimes we get mesmerized
by the everyday, monotony, or predictability of life on earth. One day, this natural world is going to overwhelmed
by the supernatural return of Jesus, the same way He left it! When that occurs, people are going to know
that this man named Jesus, who they were warned about in the past, is truly who
He said He was.
Acts Chapter 1 “Prepare
for Take Off” Mark Kolbe
The book of Acts is the explosion of
Truth! It is a perfect example of the dramatic effects of truth becoming
known. This book of the Bible is an
intentional effort to lay out truth in plain sight for the world to see. Luke makes arguments about the reality of who
Christ was by describing the great impact Jesus had on the world, even after He
ascended to heaven.
POST RESSURRECTION
During the forty days between the resurrection and ascension, Jesus:
A.
Made a and convincing p____________.
B.
S__________ about things concerning the
kingdom of God.
1. He continued the e_____________ process
by providing the disciples with a better understanding of what they had been
taught up until now.
2. Jesus also gave the disciples n________
instructions on what they were to do going forward. The most important instruction was to
w________ for the H________ S________.
THE ASCENSION
This event occurs on the Mount of Olives.
A.
When Jesus left
the earth, His body l__________ went up, into heaven, gradually.
B.
The event was
w______________ by multiple people.
THE UPPER ROOM – CHOOSING THE REPLACEMENT APOSTLE
A.
The total number people who were there was
about ______. The group included the a____________, Jesus’
m_______ Mary, the women (i.e. Mary
Magdalene, Mary the mother of apostle James, Joanna) , and Jesus’ b____________ (James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas/Jude).
B. Peter
c____________ the dots between current events and Old Testament prophecies
(John 5:39, Luke 24:44).
C.
Peter describes the q___________________ that
Judas’ replacement must have. It had to
be someone who:
1.
was b____________ by John the Baptist.
2.
was among the
group of followers with whom Jesus had r__________, personal contact.
3.
witnessed the a_______________
of Jesus on the Mount of Olives.
SO WHAT
1.
Modern day believers do not q__________
to fill the “office” of apostle. Since the word can be so easily confused,
terms like teacher, evangelist, pastor, elder, or overseer seem better words to
use today.
2. Modern day disciples of Christ should have
certain q_______________. Some of which
include:
3. Christianity is based upon r_________ and
t_________, through presentation of a strong, e_____________ case.
4. Jesus did it all, perfectly, with
style and p________. One day, this
natural world is going to overwhelmed by the supernatural return of Jesus, the
same way He left it!