Acts 1: 9-26

[9 Now when He had spoken these things, while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. 10 And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up, behold, two men stood by them in white apparel, 11 who also said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand gazing up into heaven? This same Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.”]

Verses 9 & 10 -  “… while they watched, He was taken up, and a cloud received Him out of their sight. And while they looked steadfastly toward heaven as He went up,” Have you ever had someone you deeply love, perhaps a close friend or family member, leave you knowing that you will not see them for a very long time? As they drove away or walked through the airport line, did you watch them until you could no longer see them anymore? If so, you understand what was happening with the disciples. 

Verse 11- “... will so come in like manner as you saw Him go into heaven.” We are assured that Jesus will return from heaven in the flesh, just like he left us. Understand this, because this could happen soon, we should be all the more diligent to be found working at our King’s business.

[12 Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey. 13 And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room where they were staying: Peter, James, John, 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 continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.]

Verse 12 - “a Sabbath day’s journey.” This equates to about a ½ mile distance.

Verses 13 & 14 - This group not only included the apostles but some of Jesus’s family. And they were all in “the upper room”, following the orders of Jesus to wait for the Holy Spirit (verse 4). “These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers.”

It’s interesting to note that at one point, some of Jesus’ own family did not believe Him to be anyone more than their older brother (John 7:3-5). Oh, but that had changed! Now they believed in Jesus as their Messiah. Also worth noting- this is the last time Mary, the mother of Jesus, is mentioned in the New Testament. 

[15 And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the disciples (altogether the number of names was about a hundred and twenty), and said, 16 “Men and brethren, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke before by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus; 17 for he was numbered with us and obtained a part in this ministry.”]

Verses 15 -17 -  “And in those days Peter stood up”. I wonder, did Peter become impatient? After so many days of praying and waiting, did it feel like they weren’t accomplishing anything productive and needed to “just do something”? God had basically told everyone to, “Go sit back and relax and wait for Me to work in your lives”. I find it unfortunate that these men and women became sidetracked. They stopped obeying Jesus’ command, and in their “great wisdom” (tongue in cheek) decided it was their job to appoint a replacement for Judas. 

Can you tell, I think this was a mistake on their part? If we look back at the Gospels and ask, “Who appointed the Apostles?”, we answer that it was Jesus who appointed them. So why should they expect to be in the place to appoint a “replacement” Apostle? Only Jesus has the right to appoint an Apostle. There is no one in this room with a high enough “pay grade” to do the job. But this is not what happened. 

Now that I’ve been totally critical of this group, let me stop and say that we are no better. I’m afraid I would have also lost my patience. Learning to wait on the Lord is a very hard lesson to learn - one of the most difficult. And remember, these men and women were at a disadvantage - they had not yet received power (Verse 8) by the filling of the Holy Spirit. 

Still, we can learn from the disciples' mistakes. The bottom line lesson here is this: when God tells us to do something, we shouldn’t get sidetracked by our own thoughts! And when it comes to patiently waiting, understand that our God didn’t just create time, He is the one who defines its very meaning. Therefore, we can confidently and patiently wait for the Lord.

[18 (Now this man purchased a field with the wages of iniquity; and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out. 19 And it became known to all those dwelling in Jerusalem; so that field is called in their own language, Akel Dama, that is, Field of Blood.)]

Verse 18 - “Now this man purchased a field”.  Some people imagine problems here because of what Matthew recorded in Matt. 27:5 where it says that Judas “threw down the pieces of silver in the temple and departed.” How could Judas purchase a field if he threw the money back at the Jewish leaders? However, Matthew goes on to explain that the Chief Priest bought the field. This field could have easily been bought in Judas’ name. 

The other imagined problem here is the way Judas died: “and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out”, which is contrasted to what Matthew 27:5 says, “and went and hanged himself.”
But these two facts are not mutually exclusive. It is not hard to imagine the branch or rope breaking and what started out being suicide by hanging, ending up being both a hanging and a very messy fall. Differences we see between the authors are of the same incident being seen and written about from two different perspectives. 

[20 “For it is written in the Book of Psalms:

‘Let his dwelling place be desolate,

And let no one live in it’;

and,

‘Let another take his office.’

21 “Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”

23 And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias]

Verses 21 & 22 - They were instructed to wait for the Holy Spirit, and though they chose not to wait as instructed, at least they were being logical in setting up the qualifications: Men who were there with Jesus from the beginning and who were witnesses to Jesus' resurrection. 

Verse 23 - “And they proposed two: Joseph called Barsabas, who was surnamed Justus, and Matthias.” Here again, we can learn from the disciples' mistakes. I think we can make the same mistake of “giving God a choice” between two of our best, bad possibilities. That’s right - bad is the best we can do, yet God sees all, and His plans are perfect. You see why it’s so important that we pray and wait on the Lord? And the Holy Spirit will empower us with the patience and direction we need. 

That being said, we should understand that our “best bad possibilities” will not ultimately limit or hinder God from accomplishing His intent. As we will see later in Acts, God chooses the one He wants, and it becomes obvious that He chose the most unobvious choice of Saul - the guy who hated Christians. If you wish to read about it, here are some references: 1 Cor. 1:1, 2 Cor. 1:1, Eph. 1:1, Col. 1:1, 1 Tim. 1:1, 2Tim. 1:1, and notice as you read that unlike what we see here in Acts 1, Paul was chosen as an apostle by the will of God. 

[24 And they prayed and said, “You, O Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which of these two You have chosen 25 to take part in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas by transgression fell, that he might go to his own place.” 26 And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.]

Verse 24 - “And they prayed,”  “OK - here you go God, these are the best two we can find - now You choose God!”

Verse 26 - “And they cast their lots, and the lot fell on Matthias. And he was numbered with the eleven apostles.” Matthias gets the position… and… we never hear from him again. 

But on the bright side, after the Holy Spirit falls on these men, we never see them making decisions like this again either. They become listeners to the Holy Spirit so that the Holy Spirit directs them. An example of this is Acts 13:2, “As they ministered to the Lord and fasted, the Holy Spirit said, “Now separate to Me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.” 

Let me clarify here that I don’t believe God wants us to wait for His direction for every decision we make. But I do believe we need to wait on Him every day, listening for His Spirit to direct us in whatever areas He points out. We can have the same tendency as Peter, to go forward with things without stopping and listening for the Lord’s direction.

Let me close out this chapter by sharing this quote from A.W. Tozer: “If the Holy Spirit was withdrawn from the church today, 95% of what we do would go on and no one would know the difference. If the Holy Spirit had been withdrawn from the New Testament Church, 95% of what they did would stop, and everyone would know the difference.” Unfortunately, I’m afraid Brother Tozer is right. Perhaps his words should cause us to stop and examine ourselves. Maybe we need to slow down our busy lives. Perhaps we need to allow God to soften our hearts to become more sensitive to His leading and our minds better directed by the Holy Spirit (Revelation 2:7,11,17,29 and 3:6,13,22). Think and pray about this for you, as I think and pray about this for myself. 

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1. Never appears in his published works. 

See https://www.azquotes.com/author/14750-Aiden_Wilson_Tozer/tag/holy-spirit