Acts 1:12-26

⬅️

❤️

🙏

✔

⬆️

Review

Last time, we learned that Luke wrote the Gospel of Luke to document all that Jesus said and did while he was here on earth, and he wrote Acts to document everything Jesus continued to do through his apostles after he went to heaven. 

Acts also shows us how the church started and that the church is God's people.

We read in Acts that Jesus appeared to many people after he was resurrected, and he commanded the eleven disciples to stay in Jerusalem until the Holy Spirit came.

We also read that his eleven disciples saw Jesus go into heaven, and two of God's messengers told them that he will return.

Before the disciples saw Jesus after he rose from the dead, I imagine they were mourning his death and were not sure of what they were now going to do with their lives.

Most of them had left their jobs, their families, and their lifestyles to follow Jesus, and now he was dead.

They were probably wondering if they should return to their jobs, their families and their old lifestyles. 

Maybe they wondered why Jesus called them to follow him, and why he taught them everything he did. 

They were probably confused by all of it.

Then, seeing Jesus after his resurrection from the dead, they were probably super excited and their hope was restored!

Their mourning had turned to joy!

He appeared to them several times, proving to them that he was alive and that he had defeated death.

Can you imagine how excited and joyful they must have been?!!!

He showed himself to them so that they would be witnesses of his resurrection. They were already witnesses of his life and death.

He met with his eleven disciples on the mountain in Galilee, and commanded them to go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything that he commanded them.

He said to them, "I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

He also commanded them to wait in Jerusalem until they were baptized with the Holy Spirit, because the Holy Spirit would empower them to go and be his witnesses throughout the world.

Jesus was already with them even though he was in heaven, but he was also going to send them the Holy Spirit, in order to help them make Jesus known throughout the world. 

Then, Jesus ascended to heaven, where he now sits at the right hand of God, in kingship over his Kingdom and his people.

As he was going up to heaven, his disciples were told by two messengers that Jesus will return.

Backtrack to share some important information about Jesus's ministry, and about the Holy Spirit:

The mission Jesus came down to earth for and that he passed on to his disciples, was to reconcile people back to God by seeking and saving that which was lost, so they could enter the Kingdom of God.

Jesus traveled from place to place, teaching, healing, casting out demons, and calling people to repent and believe in him.

While Jesus was alive on earth, many, many people came to hear him preach, to have demons cast out, and to be healed.

But he was in only one region on the entire planet, so his mission only reached a relatively small number of people.

Jesus was not everywhere, or with everyone.

If you remember before his death, Jesus promised his disciples that he would send them a "helper" because he was leaving to go and be with the Father.

The "helper" that he promised is the Holy Spirit. 

The Holy Spirit would be with each of them at all times, no matter where they were, and he could be with each of them at the same time.

The apostles could not carry out the mission Jesus started and then passed onto them without the help of the Holy Spirit.

Jesus started his mission of reconciling people back to God in Judea, Galilee and the surrounding areas, but God's plan is to use people to make Jesus known to the rest of the world.

So, Jesus called twelve disciples, whom he passed his mission onto, by teaching them to do the same things he was doing - to heal the sick, raise the dead, cast out demons, and call people to repent and believe in Jesus, so that those people could be reconciled back to God and enter the Kingdom of God.

Jesus's disciples saw his life by living their lives with him. The following are some of the things they were witnesses to:

They were taught important lessons by Jesus about the kingdom of God.

They saw how Jesus stood against opposition.

They saw Jesus turn water into wine, calm a storm and multiply bread and fish.

They saw Jesus cast out demons, heal the sick, heal the blind, heal the lame, heal lepers, and raise the dead.

They saw Jesus love and care for the outcasts.

They saw Jesus suffer by being ridiculed, humiliated, beaten, and tortured.

They saw how Jesus responded to the suffering.

They saw Jesus die by being crucified on a cross.

They heard Jesus ask the Father to forgive the men who were killing him.

They saw Jesus forgive a criminal who was dying beside him on a cross.

They understood that they should live their lives like Jesus lived his.

They saw Jesus after he rose from the dead.

They saw Jesus ascend to heaven.

They saw two messengers who told them that Jesus will return.

These are the things they were witnesses to, and these are the things they would tell others about after Jesus commanded them to be his witnesses in Jerusalem, all of Judea, Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.

After they were baptized by the Holy Spirit after Jesus's death, the disciples, who then were called apostles, began traveling from place to place to tell the people living in those places what they saw Jesus do, and calling them to repent and believe in him.

Many of the people they told did repent and believe, and they also became disciples of Jesus.

The apostles baptized the new believers with both water and the Holy Spirit, and they taught them everything they knew about Jesus and what he commanded them to do.

The Holy Spirit then helped the new disciples go and make more disciples. 

This is how the good news of Jesus began to spread throughout the world and how the church started.

This is also how the good news of Jesus continues to spread throughout the world today, and how the kingdom of God grows. 

An important sidenote:

Jesus and the Holy Spirit are one in the Father.

God the Father, Jesus the Son, and the Holy Spirit are each God. Each of them have different functions and work together in unity to accomplish God's purposes.

Introduction Acts 1:12-26

Acts 1:12-26 is about how Jesus's disciples re-grouped after his death in order to obey the commandment he gave them after his resurrection, to go and make disciples of all nations with the help of the Holy Spirit.

Acts 1:12-26 is also about the formation of the church. 

When we read we will see that the eleven disciples returned to the place they were staying in Jerusalem after meeting with Jesus on the Mount of Olives, where they saw him go to heaven.

The eleven disciples, along with the women, and Jesus's mother and brothers, all gathered together constantly for prayer.

There were about 120 believers at that time.

Through reading the Scriptures, Peter thought it was necessary to replace Judas, who shared in their ministry, but betrayed Jesus and killed himself.

The man they chose to replace Judas was required to have been with them the entire time Jesus was among them, beginning with John's baptism to the time Jesus was taken up to heaven.

This man would become a witness with the others of Jesus's resurrection, and an apostle. 

They proposed two men, Barsabbas and Matthias, and praying, they asked God which one should take Judas's place as an apostle.

Then they cast lots, and Matthias was chosen and added as an apostle.

🙏

📕 Acts 1:12-26

👍 What do you like about the passage?

👎 What is challenging or difficult about the passage?

👤⬆️ What does the passage teach about God?

👥⬅️ What does the passage teach about people?