Day 32 - Acts 1

Congratulations! If you've been following since the beginning, you have now read through 1,151 verses of the Bible, which is 14% of the New Testament or 4% of the entire Bible. On this pace, we'll be done with the whole Bible on or around February 12th, 2014 (Jenny's 24th birthday).  Don't worry, after finishing Acts we'll start to cruise through the two gospels of Matthew & Mark because they are so similar to Luke. We'll shave some time off that estimate, guaranteed!


Even though we're done with the book of Luke, that doesn't mean that we're done with the writer of Luke (which is...Luke). He also is the author of the book of Acts, as well.


Now do you see why we're going through these two books back-to-back?


I'm also super excited about the new flavor that has been added on to CDM! I'm really hoping to get some debate, discussion and honest conversation going through our new Facebook page (find it here)!  Even though I've been a Christ-follower for more than 12 years, this is probably the most excited I've ever been about going through God's word because I'm not doing it alone.


Show that you're with me! Comment, subscribe, join the FB page, share it with your friends!


Now on with Acts...

Acts 1 (read it here)

Theophilus was mentioned Luke 1 and is mentioned again here in Acts 1. In fact, within the first 5 verses of Acts 1, Luke simply recaps everything that was just covered in the previous book. The only thing that may be a little extra would be in verse 3 where Luke says that Jesus appeared off and on to his disciples for 40 days after his crucifixion. In Luke we only get details from one interaction with the two followers and the 11 disciples (which Luke refers to here in verse 4). Also Luke didn't give a specific time of when the Holy Spirit would arrive in Luke 24, but here in Acts 1:5, Luke says it would be in "just a few days."

Here's the word apostle again in verse 6.  Remember that Luke is writing about the past.  In his present time, ALL of the disciples were known as apostles.  So if you see disciples and apostles being used interchangeably when referring to the 11 men Jesus picked to specifically follow him, that's why.

The apostles wanted to know if part of Jesus' mission was to "free Israel and restore our kingdom."  They know all about the Kingdom of God, but they wanted to know what would happen with our kingdom. The common assumption for all Jews was that the Messiah would not only be a religious feature that offered eternal life but also a warrior/political figure that would overthrown the oppression and occupation of Rome.  The apostles wanted to know if Israel would have its own land to themselves.

Jesus, again, says that the timing for that to happen was up to God not him. (v. 7) What they were to focus on had nothing to do with overthrowing a government, but everything to do with spreading the gospel (Greek for good news) of Jesus to everyone everywhere! (v. 8)

Jesus leaves them again, but this time he would not return to them.  The apostles stood there, mesmerized, starring into the clouds.  Then, out of nowhere, two white-robed men appeared (yes, the same word used to refer to the "men" at the tomb) with some in-the-know info (as an angel would have) about the whereabouts of Jesus and his return. (v. 11)

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The apostles returned to the upper room (the site of the last supper with Jesus) and constantly prayed together with Mary (Jesus' mother), other women (which most likely included the two women who first discovered Jesus missing from the tomb) and the brothers of Jesus (two of them would have included James and Jude, who both wrote books of the New Testament by the same names).

One day, when 120 believers were present, Peter confirmed the prophecy that was fulfilled by the treachery and death of Judas Iscariot by King David. (vs. 15-16) In verse 17, Peter seemed to speak about Judas with compassion and warm memories, saying that he was "one of us and shared in the ministry with us.” Matthew, the apostle and former tax collector even mentions that Judas changed his mind and felt remorse about betraying Jesus (see Matthew 27:3).

Not everyone felt that way, John (the writer of the gospel of John) almost always referred to Judas as "the one who betrayed Jesus" whenever he talked about him.  He even noted that Judas stole money from the treasury by saying this in John 12:6, "Not that [Judas] cared for the poor—he was a thief, and since he was in charge of the disciples’ money, he often stole some for himself."  No doubt John was bitter, but the great thing is that God still used him to write one of the most influential gospels of Jesus Christ.

Now back to the prophecy of which Peter was speaking.  Matthew 27:5 says that Judas hangs himself but here in Acts 1:18, Luke says that Judas fell headfirst causing his body to burst open.  So which is correct?  The key to answering this question is held in the Greek word preves, which here is translated headfirst.

It also has a secondary meaning of swollen. The plausible and likely story that can connect these two seemingly contradicting verses is that Judas' body could've been hanging for so long that his body began to swell and ultimately start to fall apart because of the deteriorating dead tissue.  His body would have ultimately fell from the noose causing a rather nasty splash of exposed body organs.

Hmm, that's enough of that, agreed?

Peter leads a motion to replace Judas with another man who has been traveling with Jesus the entire time. Two men fit the requirements and were nominated.  They prayed and cast lots (which would be like us flipping a coin) and Matthias was selected.


Tomorrow, the Holy Spirit comes and we'll see what the beginning of the apostles' ministry looks like!




Questions

1.) The apostles thought that Jesus would be the military leader/political figure to overthrow Rome and free Israel so they could have their kingdom on earth.  Do you get Jesus' meaning confused when we only concern ourselves with everything that revolves only around our personal lives? If Jesus' mission as Messiah was to offer forgiveness, healing and eternal life for ALL who accept him, how should that change the way we pray, give and interact with others? In other words are you part of Jesus' mission or do you just want to be a recipient of the perks?

2.) The ministry of Jesus started out with 120 Christ-followers in one room. Today 1 out of every 3 people on earth (or 2.3 billion) say they are Christians! Are you a part of a ministry or group of Christ-followers (no matter how small) who want to reach your city or community with the good news and servanthood of Jesus? If not, why not?

3.) How does it make you feel when one of the gospel writers (John) seemingly is bitter about the treachery of Judas? Does it make the Bible feel more human and believable or do you believe that John may have scapegoated Judas unfairly? Why do you think that?


BONUS Question! Find it on Facebook, too! 
Have you ever found or been told of a contradiction within the Bible?  If so, did you get to the bottom of it?  If so or if not, what was the contradiction?