1
Theophilus, I wrote about Jesus in my earlier book. I wrote about all he did and taught 2 until the day he was taken up to heaven. Before Jesus left, he gave orders to the apostles he had chosen. He did this through the Holy Spirit. 3 After his suffering and death, he appeared to them. In many ways he proved that he was alive. He appeared to them over a period of 40 days. During that time he spoke about God's kingdom. 4 One day Jesus was eating with them. He gave them a command. ‘Do not leave Jerusalem,’ he said. ‘Wait for the gift my Father promised. You have heard me talk about it. 5 John baptised with water. But in a few days you will be baptised with the Holy Spirit.’ 6 Then the apostles gathered around Jesus and asked him a question. ‘Lord’, they said, ‘are you going to give the kingdom back to Israel now?’
7 He said to them, ‘You should not be concerned about times or dates. The Father has set them by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you. Then you will tell people about me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria. And you will even tell other people about me from one end of the earth to the other.’
9 After Jesus said this, he was taken up to heaven. The apostles watched until a cloud hid him from their sight.
10 While he was going up, they kept on looking at the sky. Suddenly two men dressed in white clothing stood beside them. 11 ‘Men of Galilee,’ they said, ‘why do you stand here looking at the sky? Jesus has been taken away from you into heaven. But he will come back in the same way you saw him go.’
1:1–11. Luke began by reminding Theophilus about the first book he had written. Luke's gospel told the story of Jesus' life and work on earth. In the book of Acts Luke wrote about the work of the Holy Spirit through Jesus' followers. Jesus spent time with his disciples after he rose from the dead. The disciples were also called apostles. He ate meals with them and continued to teach them for 40 days. The apostles didn't fully understand the kingdom of God. They still thought Jesus was going to make Israel a powerful nation again. Jesus' final instructions to them were to wait until they were baptised with the Holy Spirit. He was talking about when he would send the Holy Spirit to his followers. Their lives would be completely changed when this happened. They would have the strength and power they needed to continue Jesus' work on earth. They would spread the message about Jesus in areas near and far. The disciples were with Jesus on the Mount of Olives. Then they saw Jesus leave earth. He went to rule as King with God in heaven. The two men dressed in white clothing were angels. They reminded the apostles about Jesus' return to earth in the future. This was good news that had to be announced to all the people in the world.
12 The apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives. It is just over half a mile from the city. 13 When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Here is a list of those who were there.
Peter, John, James and Andrew,
Philip and Thomas,
Bartholomew and Matthew,
James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot and Judas son of James
14 They all came together regularly to pray. The women joined them too. So did Jesus' mother Mary and his brothers.
15 In those days Peter stood up among the believers. About 120 of them were there. 16 Peter said, ‘Brothers and sisters, a long time ago the Holy Spirit spoke through David. He spoke about Judas Iscariot. What the Scripture said would happen had to come true. Judas was the guide for the men who arrested Jesus. 17 But Judas was one of us. He shared with us in our work for God.’
18 Judas bought a field with the payment he received for the evil thing he had done. He fell down headfirst in the field. His body burst open. All his insides spilled out. 19 Everyone in Jerusalem heard about this. So they called that field Akeldama. In their language, Akeldama means the Field of Blood.
20 Peter said, ‘Here is what is written in the Book of Psalms. It says,
‘ “May his home be deserted.
May no one live in it.” (Psalm 69:25)
The Psalms also say,
‘ “Let someone else take his place as leader.” (Psalm 109:8)
21 So we need to choose someone to take his place. It will have to be a man who was with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us. 22 That time began when John was baptising. It ended when Jesus was taken up from us. The one we choose must join us in telling people that Jesus rose from the dead.’
23 So they suggested the names of two men. One was Joseph, who was called Barsabbas. He was also called Justus. The other man was Matthias. 24 Then the believers prayed. They said, ‘Lord, you know everyone's heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen. 25 Show us who should take the place of Judas as an apostle. He gave up being an apostle to go where he belongs.’ 26 Then they cast lots. Matthias was chosen. So he was added to the 11 apostles.
1:12–26 Jesus had chosen 12 disciples to be his closest followers (Luke 6:12–16). Those were the 12 apostles. After Judas killed himself there were only 11 apostles left. Peter made it clear that there must be 12 apostles again. All 12 needed to have worked with Jesus from the beginning. All 12 needed to have seen him alive after he died. All 12 needed to have seen him be taken up to heaven. To choose the person to take Judas' place, the apostles spent time in prayer and reading God's word. Then they cast lots. This is the only story in the New Testament about Jesus' followers casting lots. Other times church leaders were chosen in other ways.