Luke opens his second letter to Theophilus by picking up the thread of his first book, the Gospel that bears his name. If that first account was the record of all that Jesus began to do and teach, this second account is the record of what Jesus continues to do and teach, now through His apostles, by His Spirit, in the early Church. Luke’s careful research does not end at the empty tomb. It carries on into the streets of Jerusalem, into the upper room, and into the lives of ordinary men who were about to be sent into the world without their Rabbi walking beside them.
Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait for the gift my Father promised, which you have heard me speak about. For John baptized with water, but in a few days you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit.
Acts 1:4-5 (NIV)
Why did Jesus ask the disciples to wait and not venture out to the world before receiving the Helper?
This was not the first time the disciples had been sent out. They had already gone to the masses, healed the sick, and driven out demons, all while Jesus walked with them. But this time was different. They were about to go into the world to spread the good news for the first time without their Rabbi physically present among them. The Holy Spirit was not to be some distant aura hovering over their lives. He was to be the very presence of Jesus in their lives, with them in every step they took, guiding them just as Jesus had guided them during His earthly ministry. Before they could carry Christ to the world, they had to wait to receive The Spirit of Jesus Christ within them.
The Question on Everyone’s Mind
Then they gathered around him and asked him, “Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom to Israel?” He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.”
Acts 1:6-8 (NIV)
Why did the disciples want to know the time of Jesus’ return?
The same question has been pondered, speculated upon, and debated for two thousand years, and even today people seem more concerned with knowing the end times and the details of His second coming than with actually following what He taught while He was here. Jesus shut down this line of questioning. He told them plainly that it was not for them to know the times or the dates the Father had set by His own authority. Instead of satisfying their curiosity about the future, He told them to wait for His Spirit and to live according to His leading rather than worry about matters that did not concern them.
Our spiritual lives can look a lot like someone who skips the whole book and simply reads the last page to find out how everything turns out. We do not want the slow learning and gradual molding that comes from God’s correction. We want to know how it ends. Where will our lives land? What about our future and our security, both in this life and the next? These are the things that consume us, rather than sitting at the feet of Jesus and learning from Him the way Mary did. Instead, we are all Marthas, busy organizing and arranging things we have no control or even understanding about.
They were looking intently up into the sky as he was going, when suddenly two men dressed in white stood beside them. “Men of Galilee,” they said, “why do you stand here looking into the sky?”
Acts 1:10-11 (NIV)
The disciples are not meant to remain idle, staring upward in awe, but to return to Jerusalem, wait for the Spirit, and begin their mission. At the same time, the angels reassure them that Jesus will come back in the same way He departed, anchoring their hope in His promised return. The disciples are redirected from passive spectatorship to active participation in God’s plan, called to live faithfully in the present while anticipating Christ’s future return. Let us not stand in one place, gazing at the sky, waiting for His return, but instead act on His leading and fulfill His will for our lives.
The Fellowship of Believers
Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
Acts 1:14 (NIV)
When did Jesus’ brothers come to have faith in Him and join the early church movement?
Jesus’ brothers had once been His harshest critics. They had called Him mad, and had even challenged Him to appear before the Pharisees rather than hide from them. They had a great deal to lose: their reputation, their standing in the temple. Jesus was not liked among the religious leaders, and His own death would have brought them a measure of relief.
So it is remarkable to see the brothers of Jesus now joining the disciples in prayer, especially given how they had treated Him while He was alive. They were not even present at the crucifixion, when Jesus hung alone and was buried by strangers. Perhaps their hearts had turned after hearing the witnesses speak of their brother’s resurrection. Or perhaps, like Judas, they saw an opportunity and wanted to make their mark on this new movement. Whatever the reason, they had now made their choice. By associating with the followers of Jesus, they had separated themselves from the Jewish synagogue.
Filling the Empty Seat
…it is written in the Book of Psalms:
‘May his place be deserted;
let there be no one to dwell in it,’
and, ‘May another take his place of leadership.’
Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us.
Acts 1:20-21 (NIV)
Why did they want to fill the vacancy?
Perhaps, as the number of believers grew, the apostles needed help with leadership. We later see James, the brother of Jesus, rise as a leader in the early church, and now that Jesus’ brothers were on board, they too would likely be asked to take up positions of responsibility. The apostles seem to have been preparing themselves for the work Jesus would send them to do, and, remembering how they had once been sent out two by two, assumed they needed to restore their number to twelve. We never hear of Matthias again after his initial appointment. Perhaps he went in a different direction, away from the ones who were writing about their travels, such as Luke, Paul, and Peter.
Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
Acts 1:26 (NIV)
Is casting lots a valid way of knowing the heart of God?
This was a very fresh and uncertain stage in the lives of the disciples. It was the first time in years they were without Jesus, and they did not yet have the guidance of the Spirit to lean on. It seems that, during this period, they fell back on precedent and on what they already knew. They knew Jesus had appointed twelve among them, even if they did not yet understand why. So they simply followed that pattern and assumed they needed to fill the seat left empty by Judas. They even quoted the Psalms concerning Judas’s betrayal, taking it as an instruction from God that another should take his place. They also carried the knowledge of Jewish law and practices, things like the Urim and Thummim, which likely shaped their decision to cast lots.
Their prior knowledge took precedence over waiting on God’s leading, and the disciples drew lots to appoint a twelfth apostle without His direct guidance. We often fall into this same trap, unwilling or unable to wait and listen for the voice of God and instead making decisions based on our own judgment and experience. When a GPS map goes offline in the middle of a trip, as soon as it comes back online, we recalibrate our position. Sadly, we do not do this with God when we have gone off track in the absence of His leading. Instead, we double down on our rash decisions and call it His will after the fact when it was us simply driving blind and taking our own roads along the way. Let us always look for the leading of the counselor sent in our midst for this very purpose, so that we may recalibrate our hearts according to the leading of God.
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