Acts - Lesson 03

First we had a question a couple of weeks ago that I forgot to address. Phil asked about where the use of AD and BC came from and about the way it essentially affirms the historical presence of Christ.

The system was developed by a monk named Dionysius Exiguus (Short Dennis because of his humility) in AD 525. By birth, he was a Scythian and that means he was probably Iranian or Turkish or Russian by birth (an easterner anyway) but he was a Roman. There was no consistent (universally accepted) use of a numbering system for years at the point. In fact, even after AD 525 the system suggested by Dionysius was not used. He was concerned about getting the dates for Easter worked out. It wasn’t until Bede used it to date events in his work of AD 731 titled “Ecclesiastical History of the English People” that it became big in Western Europe.

You probably have seen some use of CE instead of AD and BCE instead of BC because AD stands for anno Domini or the year of our Lord and BC stands for before Christ. The messengers to the Southern Baptist Convention, meeting in Orlando, Florida, June 13-14, 2000 A.D., resolved to encourage Southern Baptist individuals, churches, entities, and institutions to retain the traditional method of dating and avoid this revisionism. This has been a point of conflict for some folks. Apparently the Jehovah’s Witnesses have been using CE and BCE since 1964 in the "Watchtower". Trinity University in Texas had a complaint about a Muslim’s diploma that said “year of our Lord” and apparently this young lady didn’t notice the big letters at the top that said “Trinity”. So it was a monk in AD 525 who didn’t like counting years in which Diocletian was emperor of Rome who started the process. And these arguments do bring us back to the key point of the historical Jesus and His Church. 

One thing that I’m concerned to make sure that you take away from the first lesson is the historical reality and the historical necessity of the physical death and resurrection of Christ. This is because it is essential to biblical Christianity. We need to pick up our stuff and just go home if Christ was not physically dead and physically resurrected in approximately AD 33.

In the second lesson, we need to remember our utter dependence on the Holy Spirit for our witness to the Gospel of Grace. As the 2000 Faith and Message says, “Regeneration, or the new birth, is a work of God's grace whereby believers become new creatures in Christ Jesus. It is a change of heart wrought by the Holy Spirit through conviction of sin, to which the sinner responds in repentance toward God and faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.” We also need to see that our witness is to the reality of the Gospel message of forgiveness of sins and a right standing with God through the work of Jesus on the Cross.  In addition, the testimony of Luke in the Book of Acts is that each time someone was filled with the Holy Spirit they became witnesses to the work of Jesus.

Today we will start reading just after the ascension of Jesus and right after the disciples were told to stop staring off into space and do what Jesus told them to do. 

Acts 1:12-14 …Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away. And when they had entered, they went up to the upper room, where they were staying, Peter and John and James and Andrew, Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot and Judas the son of James. All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

The travel from the site of the ascension to Jerusalem was very short so it was as far as you could travel on the Sabbath without breaking the restrictions on travel. That would have made it about ¾ of a mile. 

They were spending their time together in prayer and in one accord. We see the leadership mentioned in this list but when Peter spoke there were about 120 people present. This is the last mention of Mary in the Bible. Note also that the mention of Jesus’ brothers would include any sisters that He had. The word is better translated siblings but we just don’t speak that way.

During the 10-day period between the Ascension and Pentecost the disciples were called on to practice patience and obedience. Acts can be thought of as a bridging book like the book of Joshua as a people enter into the promises of God. Like Joshua there is a waiting period at the beginning of the book. They people of Israel crossed the Jordan and then they were told to wait and consecrate themselves. We generally like immediate action. We immediately want to know why we need to wait. Well in this case to be obedient to what Christ said to do. Of course it is easy to say that for the disciples and hard to practice that in our life.

This is to be an active waiting. We often waste our preparation time with a lack of discipline. When we wait we just wait rather than prepare. It is telling on our attitude that we tend to spend more time in spiritual disciplines when things are going wrong than when things are going well. This is a lack of discipline that we need to overcome in our lives.

The Disciples practiced obedience, they enjoyed fellowship, and they prayed ACTS (adoration, confession, thanksgiving, supplication). Each of these categories would be filled to overflowing by the group in the upper room that numbered about 120 after 10 days. The revelation of Christ’s divinity would have produced adoration, they would have confessions of being cowardly, they would give thanks for forgiveness and healing, and they would have poured out their hearts in supplication for the power to be His witnesses. Revival is preceded by prayer.

Acts 1:15-16 … In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said, “Brothers, the Scripture had to be fulfilled, which the Holy Spirit spoke beforehand by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested Jesus. 

In addition to prayer, they had been instructed in the Scriptures by Jesus and they were studying Old Testament Scripture. Here Peter makes the connection of Old Testament literature to Judas. The time in prayer and Bible study was changing them already. I think it would be hard to overestimate the impact of Jesus teaching ministry on these folks over the period of 3 years. Now, as the Holy Spirit was working, they were seeing connections that they didn’t see before. Peter previously couldn’t even see that Jesus had to die and be resurrected. Now he sees the relevance of Scripture to the death of Judas.

Acts 1:17-20 … For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.” (Now this man acquired a field with the reward of his wickedness, and falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his bowels gushed out. And it became known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the field was called in their own language Akeldama, that is, Field of Blood.) “For it is written in the Book of Psalms, “‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’ (Psalm 69:25); and “‘Let another take his office’ (Psalm 109:8).

The field was acquired by the money that Judas returned to the priests as a result of remorse but not repentance. Matthew tells us that Judas went and hung himself. This appears to have been done in private and consequently, thanks to Dr. Luke, it appears the rope broke at some point, he fell (although this word is only used once and may mean he wasn’t found until he swelled up), and he burst open. His suicide wasn’t necessarily at the Field of Blood. Given that, first, this seems to be a parenthetical comment, and secondly that Luke was a physician with interest in human life and death, it seems possible that this was a comment on Judas’ death being isolated and his decomposition being advanced when he was found. In either case, the Scriptures don’t conflict but instead give a fuller account of what happened.

Peter quotes two portions of Scripture from the Psalms and I’d like to read more of these Psalms because they are remarkable in this context.

First we can read a bit more of Psalm 69 with Christ speaking prophetically through the Psalmist.

Psalm 69:19-21 … You know my reproach, and my shame and my dishonor; my foes are all known to you. Reproaches have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none. They gave me poison for food, and for my thirst they gave me sour wine to drink.

How many hours do you imagine Peter wept after reading that? He denied Christ three times with cursing and then the Holy Spirit took him to the phrase, “Reproaches have broken my heart, so that I am in despair. I looked for pity, but there was none, and for comforters, but I found none.” All of the disciples must have been broken by this Psalm. And that is not to say that we would have done any more than run and hide. We should also be moved by this verse because we too are in need to the Holy Spirit every moment of every day to be obedient and faithful.

Psalm 69:22-26 … Let their own table before them become a snare; and when they are at peace, let it become a trap. Let their eyes be darkened, so that they cannot see, and make their loins tremble continually. Pour out your indignation upon them, and let your burning anger overtake them. May their camp be a desolation; let no one dwell in their tents. For they persecute him whom you have struck down, and they recount the pain of those you have wounded.

The table was the snare for Judas and by extension, as Paul indicates in Romans, for all Jews. He was confident that he was getting what he wanted but the bread was a trap that gave away his identity as the betrayer. Jesus told him to do what he had to do quickly and his eyes were darkened. It is important to remember that Judas, in each moment, did what he wanted to do. No violence was done to Judas’ will but God judged him for his actions.