Day #320

Sermon - Audio
Acts 1-3 - Reading
Acts 1-3 - Audio

Daily Insights - Please Comment

Acts 1-3

Chapter 1

v. 8 – “witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth.” The book of Acts unfolds according to this strategy. The Jews from every nation who heard and believed carried the message far and wide. The rest of Acts gives further details of how the gospel was spread to Jerusalem, to Judea and Samaria, up to Antioch of Syria and to the ends of the earth.

v. 12 – A Sabbath day’s journey was a maximum distance one could travel on the Sabbath without it constituting work. This was not an explicit OT law but a later Jewish tradition. The rabbis set the limit at 2,000 cubits (about .6 miles).

v. 14 – The main activity in the upper room was prayer. Jesus had told them “to wait for the promise of the Father”, but waiting on God in prayer are closely related in several places in the OT, and therefore it is likely that they were praying constantly that the promised Spirit would descend.

Chapter 2

v. 1 – Pentecost was the second of the annual harvest festivals, coming 50 days after Passover. The connection between the outpouring of the Holy Spirit and the celebration of Pentecost fits well with the teaching that the Spirit’s NT manifestation is the first fruits of the harvest of salvation.

v. 1 – “all together in one place” – All of the apostles were present as well as probably all of the 120 mentioned in Acts 1:15. Possibly the upper room, which must have been located close to the temple grounds for the thousands of Jews attending the Pentecost feast, were close enough to hear the sound of the wind.

v. 4 – The languages spoke ecstatic utterances but clearly the various languages spoken by those who had come from all parts of the eastern Mediterranean region, from Rome to as far east as Eastern Iran.

v. 4 – The coming of the Holy Spirit is the fulfillment of Luke 24:49 and Acts 1:5. The Holy Spirit was also present and working with God’s people in the OT, but now his presence is felt in much greater ways because he gifts far more people than ever before.

v. 9-11 – The list of nations demonstrates that already at Pentecost the Christians were stating their worldwide witness.

v. 14-41 – Peter’s sermon is the first in a series of speeches and discourses in Acts. As a sermon to Jews it consists primarily of scriptural proofs: v. 14-21 interpret the miracle of tongues as a fulfillment of Joel 2; v. 22-26 present Christ as Messiah in fulfillment of Ps. 16 and 110; v. 37-41 conclude the sermon with a call to repentance and baptism.

v. 15 – It was customary to fast on feast days until at least the 4^th hour. Thus the alleged drunkenness was most unlikely.

v. 17 – The women in the upper room participated in the gift of the Spirit at Pentecost, further confirming Joel’s prophecy.

v. 19-21 – Peter’s quotation from Joel ended with a key verse (Joel 2:32), which assures that “everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved.” Although the audience would have thought the God of Israel is meant here, for Peter the “name of the Lord” that saves is Jesus. Peter’s application of the title “Lord” points to Jesus’ deity.

v. 38 – The gift of the Holy Spirit does not mean some specific spiritual gift as in 1 Cor. 12-14 but rather the gift of the Spirit himself coming to dwell within the believer.

v. 44 - Though some people have referred to this situation as “early communism”, this is clearly not the case. The giving was voluntary. The people still had personal possessions because they still met in their homes. Further, Peter told Ananias and Sapphira that they did not have any obligation to sell their property and give away the money. In contrast to communist theory, the abolition of private property is not commanded or implied here.

Chapter 3

v. 11-26 – Peter’s second sermon took place in the temple precincts. His Pentecost sermon emphasized Jesus’ messianic status. This one was primarily a call for Jews to repent of their rejection of Jesus as Messiah.