Acts 2:14-21

Peter quoting the prophet Joel… A couple of things come to mind. First, Joel is writing more than 500 years (maybe even 800-900 years) before Jesus’ birth and is predicting the coming of the Spirit. I wonder what Joel’s contemporaries thought Joel had in mind. Were they wondering, what is this “Spirit” thing? Both Moses (Numbers 11:29) and Ezekiel (Ez. 36:27) had spoken of the Lord sending His Spirit, so maybe they were simply harkening back to these prophecies. And with that, I wonder how well-known this passage was to first-century Jews.

Second, Peter is quoting at length from Joel; I wonder the extent to which the Jews thought of these verses as a Messianic prophecy. That is, was it a well-known Scripture that might have been oft-quoted as a prediction of the Messiah? Third, I wonder if Jesus might have taught His disciples about this prophecy and its fulfillment in Him and in the Holy Spirit which He had promised. I wonder…!

Slava Bohu!

Acts 2:5-13

RTB 2020!! And at this sound the multitude came together, and they were bewildered, because each one was hearing them speak in his own language. (v. 6) I continue to be intrigued as to where the disciples had gathered when the Holy Spirit descended. Verse 1 says “one place” while verse 2 says “entire house”. I posted yesterday that it made sense to me that they were gathered somewhere in the temple precincts. To me that is confirmed today in the verse quoted above. As I read verse 6, it seems to me that they are somewhere that is reasonably public, not shut up in the interior of a residence. Otherwise how could a “multitude” hear “this sound” and come together? And this “multitude” is from so many parts of the known world that the temple area seems most reasonable.

Slava Bohu!

Acts 2:1-4

Pentecost… And suddenly there came from heaven a sound like a mighty rushing wind, and it filled the entire house where they were sitting. (v. 2) I’ve always had this picture of Peter and the eleven coming down the front stairs of a house onto a residential street. But my Study Bible suggested they were probably in the temple precincts; maybe “house” is a loose translation, since verse 1 says “they were all in one place.” Being in the temple area makes a lot of sense – Luke 24:53 said that they were continually in the temple…, and as they leave the “place” they encounter a large crowd of people from many nations. So yeah, the temple area…

So now I have a new visual / conceptual perspective of Pentecost and Peter’s speech!

Slava Bohu!

Acts 1:15-26

An add-on from yesterday: “…and His brothers.” (v. 14b) This is the first mention of Jesus’ brothers being counted among His followers. Presumably His death and Resurrection had won them over?

This choice of Matthias to be the 12^th… Somewhere else, probably in a sermon somewhere, it was pointed out to me that this is the last occurrence in the Bible of casting lots. From now on decisions are made with prayer and the guidance of the Holy Spirit.

This description of Judas’ death (v. 18) is quite graphic, more so than anything else that we read in Scripture – but Herod being eaten by worms comes in a close second (Acts 12:23)!

As a final note, the word “apostle” is standard for us today, like when we refer to the twelve apostles. But today’s note of Matthias being numbered with the eleven apostles (v. 26) is not a common usage. I can only find the word “apostle” twice in the Gospels, first in Luke 6:13 where Jesus chose twelve from his disciples “whom he named apostles,” and in Mark 6:30 where the twelve are called apostles when mention is made of their return from the mission of preaching and healing (https://www.britannica.com/topic/Apostle.) Although “apostle” also appears in verse 2 in this chapter, more commonly the apostles are referred to as the twelve or the eleven.

Slava Bohu!

Acts 1:9-14

RTB 2020!! And while they were gazing into heaven as He went, behold, two men stood by them in white robes and said, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven…”? (vv. 10-11a) Yes, it’s a small point, but it struck me funny. The Ascension happened at the Mount of Olives, so the disciples are about a mile from Jerusalem, yet the angels address them as “Men of Galilee” – which they were!! It just struck me funny that the angels knew that! The only apostle who was not from Galilee was Judas Iscariot. Interesting.

“…This Jesus, who was taken up from you into heaven, will come in the same way as you saw Him go into heaven.” (v. 11b) So the angels continue their address to the disciples with the second half of verse 11. The angels tell the disciples that Jesus will return in the same way that He left. To me, initially, that means He will come in a “cloud”, somehow. Or thinking further, maybe not a cloud, but an “emerging appearance”, seen by everyone in the entire world, simultaneously. I try to picture that and put myself into that picture. What GLORY!!

Slava Bohu!

Acts 1:1-8

RTB 2020!! Welcome to RTB 2020!! I just could not not post…!! He presented Himself alive to them after His suffering by many proofs, appearing to them during forty days… (v. 3a) The phrase, “…by many proofs…” struck me. Luke recounts his long story of two disciples meeting Jesus on the road to Emmaus, in addition to the women and Peter at the tomb and Jesus appearing to the disciples in the upper room. But here he says “many proofs”, so there must have been quite a few more that he did not discuss.

Slava Bohu!