Acts 1:12-26

17 hours ago
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Acts 1:12–26 (ESV)

¹²Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s journey away.

¹³And 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.

¹⁴All these with one accord were devoting themselves to prayer, together with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers.

¹⁵In those days Peter stood up among the brothers (the company of persons was in all about 120) and said,

¹⁶“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.

¹⁷For he was numbered among us and was allotted his share in this ministry.”

¹⁸(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.

¹⁹And 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.)

²⁰“For it is written in the Book of Psalms, “ ‘May his camp become desolate, and let there be no one to dwell in it’; and “ ‘Let another take his office.’

²¹So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us,

²²beginning from the baptism of John until the day when he was taken up from us—one of these men must become with us a witness to his resurrection.”

²³And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias.

²⁴And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen

²⁵to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.”

²⁶And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles.

Devoted in prayer:

I imagine the short walk back into Jerusalem in one of two ways; Stunned silence or everyone talking at once. Jesus was gone, this time he had said goodbye, given instructions and said he would return. No timeline, but a comforting promise none the less. The two men in white robes had nudged them on their way and now it was time to go home and wait. “He would be with them”, still ringing in their ears. Flashbacks to parables, lessons, and sermons Jesus had given began to fall into place like the last few pieces of a puzzle. Prophecies they memorized in synagogue as young boys, became clear as YHWH’s plan to save humanity solidified in their minds. Any doubt was banished, and the disciples fused their identity eternally to Christ. Knowing Jesus was the Messiah permanently set their resolve, he died for them, and they too, would die for him.

After being given a list of the disciples, we are told in verse 14 that they devoted themselves to prayer. The Greek word here for ‘devoted’ is, “proskartereō”, which means; to stick by or be close at hand, attach oneself to, wait on, be faithful to someone. It also means to persist in something, to busy oneself, to be busily engaged in, and lastly to hold fast to, continue in and persevere in something. The disciples did not go just go chill in the upper room. They persisted in prayer, they attached themselves to the LORD asking for direction, courage, his presence that was to come. The disciples that would endure persecution and a martyr’s death because they were steadfast, and committed themselves, persisted in, and busied themselves in the business of prayer.

What is your relationship with prayer? Are you devoted to prayer? Is speaking to Jesus natural to you? When do you find yourself in prayer? Are you intentional or spontaneous in prayer, or both?

I believe our tendency is to approach prayer with a passive or rote attitude. We pray before meals with words we learned as a child. We pray before bed with a list of demands for God. What would prayers look like with a healthy dose of devotion? If one is persisting in something, then they have encountered resistance. Our prayers should scare our enemy, we should be praying in direct opposition to the accuser, persisting, persevering and resolute in our conflict with evil. Proskartereō means we are diligently engaged in the work of prayer. Lazily asking the Savior of the world to make life easy on us is not the posture of prayer we see exemplified here in the upper room. They are hanging on tightly to the only form of communication with Jesus they have left. Seeking to know him more and understand his will and plan. Preparing their hearts for what He will ask of them in the future. When was the last time you examined your devotion in your conversations with YHWH? Are there skeletons in your prayer closet?

Mary and the Women

The second half of 14 reveals that the women and Mary were there as well as his brothers. Scripture is consistent in revealing the many ways in which Jesus included women in his ministry, giving them an identity as well. Here is a reminder that the women who were “ministering to him” (Mark 15:41) saw everything. Women were a major part of building the church. With testimonies to share and work to be done, the women had mouths to feed, and arrangements to be made. They were of “one accord” with the disciples. The unity was palpable. They were to wait for the baptism of the Holy Spirit, then go and make disciples. One vision of the Church, one goal. A realistic look at the birth of the Church is always going to include those fervent women, who would not deny Jesus to save their lives. Don’t forget dear woman, you have a ministry, you have a part to play. Follow in the footsteps of your sisters, devote yourself to prayer and ready yourself to be used by the Holy Spirit.

Replacing Judas

While gathered, Peter, calls for the replacement of Judas. Which is prophesied about in Psalm 69:25 and Psalm 109:8. Peter lays out the requirements for the replacement and says it must be someone who had been with them since Jesus’ baptism. Verse 15 says that the group was about 150. That is a large group, the 11 disciples left, Jesus’ family, the women that had ministered to them for the whole of Jesus’ ministry and what seems to be a whole host of other close followers. With that many people there was bound to be one that the Lord thought worthy to replace Judas. Two were nominated and we see here that the Lord knows the hearts of men. The New American Commentary explains this section of the passage well,

“The prayer concluded, they then “cast lots” (v. 26). The Greek text reads literally “they gave lots to them.” The meaning seems to be that they assigned lots for them. The method was likely the one depicted in the Old Testament. Marked stones were placed in a jar and shaken out. The one whose stone fell out first was chosen (cf. 1 Chr 26:13f.). Some have wanted to see Matthias selected by vote of the church,⁶⁶ but the text points more to the ancient procedure of lot-casting. One should not be put off by the “chance” element. In the Old Testament the outcome was always seen to be determined by God. That was probably the consideration in this case. Before Pentecost, before the presence of the Spirit to lead it, the church sought the direction of God and used the Old Testament procedure of securing divine decision. After Pentecost the church in Acts made its own decisions under the direction of the Spirit. In this particular instance it was all the more important that the decision be the Lord’s, not theirs. Like his first selection of the Twelve, its constituency was his to determine.”⁶⁷ ^[1]

Actively Waiting

The 120 followers of Jesus were waiting for the Holy Spirit, the “helper” Jesus was to send, but they did not just sit around, they waited actively. They devoted themselves to prayer, they filled Judas’ vacancy. They were proactive in the wait. We spend a lot of our life waiting on various things. Our impatience comes out faster when we are waiting on God. I don’t know about you, but I know His timing is always perfect and yet I am always wanting him to do whatever it is I am waiting on, right now! God is never late, he knows when I need what he is sending. What are some things you have waited on? Maybe you are waiting right now? A Job? A baby? A child’s return? We wait for the next step, we wait for good things, we wait for dreaded things. We wait for recovery; we wait for the pain to subside. We wait for our loved one to understand or try.

God knows what you are waiting on right now, and as we wait, we can do so, actively. We can pray, devoted to him, attaching ourselves to his goodness, knowing he is trustworthy. We don’t like when he tells us to wait, it is confusing. However, our Creator has the plan. We actively wait, knowing he has told us to live for him, share the gospel with our neighbors, loving them with the love of Christ.

TGP Journal Questions:

To whom or what are you devoted (proskartereō)?

Remind yourself in your journal what the word proskartereō means.

Are you devoted to prayer?

Read James 5:16, Philippians 4:4-7, and Matthew 6:9-13. There are so many examples of devoted prayer in the scriptures, write down a few more in your journal.

With whom are you devoted to prayer? Small group? Friends, family? Church?

How can you be intentional about your prayer?

What are you waiting for right now?

Read Psalm 27:13-14, Psalm 130: 5-6, and Lamentations 3: 22-25, then choose one to rewrite in your journal, or on your mirror with a dry erase marker.

How can you wait actively, acting on what God has told you to do in the waiting season?

What do you learn about God’s character in this section of Acts?