Acts 3:11-26

Read another four verses into chapter 4 if you want to see how this incident ends. My Study Bible again enlightened me, this time about Solomon’s Portico. This structure was a porch on the east side of the inner wall that enclosed the outer court. (You might want to find a picture of Herod’s Temple and Solomon’s Portico. Here’s a link with a number of pics: https://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?p=solomon%27s+portico&fr=mcafee&imgurl=http%3A%2F%2Fdustoffthebible.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2018%2F02%2FHerods-Temple-and-Solomons-Portico.jpg#id=18&iurl=https%3A%2F%2Fcdn.neverthirsty.org%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2F2019%2F01%2Fsolomons-portico.jpg&action=click). My Study Bible continues – there were rows of 27-foot-high stone columns and a roof of cedar. Here’s another reference: “Solomon’s Porch was a long, covered but open gallery created by two parallel rows of columns supporting a long wooden roof. Solomon’s Porch ran along the eastern edge of the temple area, overlooking the Kidron Valley and facing the Mount of Olives to the east.” (https://www.bibleversestudy.com/acts/acts5-solomons-porch.htm) All this information is noteworthy. This area could well have been the regular gathering place for the Apostles and their followers who “met daily in the temple” – an open, covered structure, a place to gather out of the hot sun, but still open to bystanders. It could have even been the place where the disciples were gathered when the Holy Spirit descended at Pentecost, where Acts 2:1-2 describes the location as (gathered in) “one place” and (the Spirit filled the) “whole house”. I can now see dozens or even hundreds of Apostles and disciples gathered daily at this long, open-porch area, sharing with one another and preaching to bystanders. It is so much more vivid in my mind!! GLORY!!

Slava Bohu!

Acts 3:1-10

Peter and John together seems to me a strange pairing. We’ll see them together for the next week or so. We know Peter as the leader of the Apostles, and we always picture John as one of the younger Apostles. Yet here they are going to the temple together. They had run to the tomb together on Easter morning. And later they will be sent to Samaria to pray for new believers there that …they might receive the Holy Spirit. (Acts 8:14-15) They were two of the three (Peter, James, and John) who witnessed the Transfiguration (Matthew 17), who were with Jesus at the raising of Jairus’ daughter (Matthew 5:37), and who went forth with Him when He prayed at Gethsemane (Matthew 26:37). So these two, a strange pairing. And where’s James?

And leaping up, he stood and began to walk, and entered the temple with them, walking and leaping and praising God. (v. 8) What’s strange to me here is that the man leaps up and is immediately walking and leaping. In today’s world when someone has a stroke or has a body part replacement, there is a period of physical therapy and rehabilitation, often re-learning basic life functions. But this man, lame from birth, is immediately “up and at ‘em”!! Glory!

Slava Bohu!

Acts 2:40-47

My Study Bible pointed out the likelihood of two different meanings to “breaking bread”. Verse 42 has And they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and the fellowship, to the breaking of bread and the prayers. The likely meaning here is their regular Eucharistic celebration, possibly in the temple area or in some larger gathering place. Verse 46 has And day by day, attending the temple together and breaking bread in their homes, they received their food with glad and generous hearts… Here it looks more like a regular meal “in their homes”. “Breaking bread…” Interesting.

I’m trying to imagine the witness these Apostles had. Yes, Jesus had been around for 40 days after His Resurrection, but my sense is that He spent most of that time with His followers – and much of that time in Galilee. As I said earlier, I’ve already imagined the Apostles to be in the temple area when the Holy Spirit appeared at Pentecost. And in the temple area, I could imagine some 3000 “souls” being baptized in one day. (I’m also imagining that pools of water would have been available in the temple area, for personal cleansing and for cleaning up after animal sacrifices.) But what intrigues me most is the last verse, And the Lord added to their number day by day those who were being saved. (v. 47b) The Apostles’ witness is a daily occurrence. They are in the temple together (v. 46 above) and …having favor with all the people (v. 47a). Surely it was their words that brought people to salvation, but I’m also guessing that their collective demeanor, their love for one another was also an attraction to an interested bystander. Walk the walk and talk the talk.

Slava Bohu!

Acts 2:29-39

Sometimes I wonder if there is not a hierarchy within the Trinity. No doubt, greater minds than mine have resolved this issue and have all three members of the Godhead as co-equal with one another. I wish I could give you something from one of our Creeds or from the 39 Articles to support a non-hierarchy, but I can’t find one. Here is one institution’s statement: “We believe that the one God eternally exists in three Persons: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit; and that these three are one God, co-equal and co-eternal, having precisely the same nature and attributes, and worthy of precisely the same worship, confidence, and obedience.” (https://www.christianity.com/god/trinity/god-in-three-persons-a-doctrine-we-barely-understand-11634405.html)

So why do I bring up this hierarchy question? It begins back in the Garden of Gethsemane, with Jesus praying “…not My will, but Your will be done.” It carries over in His many prayers, addressing God as His Father and, as I see it, seeking the Father’s will and direction. But I see it anew in today’s reading: This Jesus God raised up, and of that we all are witnesses. Being therefore exalted at the right hand of God, and having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit… (vv. 32-33a) Somehow I see the Father calling the shots, especially with the phrase “…having received from the Father the promise of the Holy Spirit…” To me there is a real sense here of the Father’s authority – essentially having the Holy Spirit “at His disposal” and having “gifted” Jesus with the promise of this Holy Spirit. It struck me differently this time when I read it.

Please don’t take me for a heretic. As I said earlier, greater minds than I… However, the topic might merit a good discussion!

Slava Bohu!

Acts 2:22-28

A few items from Peter’s speech… First, Peter has a long speech, 23 verses, and I’ve broken it down into three days’ readings. So we lose a bit of continuity, but we can always re-read the previous day’s reading so as to better see the flow.

Second, my Study Bible pointed out some general Acts speech items that we will see again in similar fashion in chapters 3, 10, and 13: (1) an explanation of events; (2) Jesus’ life, death, Resurrection, and Ascension; and (3) an exhortation to repentance and baptism/salvation. Steven’s speech in Acts 7 has element (1) in detail, but very little on (2) and none on (3) before he was shut down by the crowd.

Third, a comment for today… Verse 22 includes the phrase, “…as you yourselves know.” How well does Peter know this crowd? How does he know that they know? Have they been bystanders as the Apostles have been regularly meeting in the temple? When did they have the opportunity to see Jesus performing signs and wonders? But Peter said it, so it must have been true!

Finally, …this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men. (v. 23) The “definite plan and foreknowledge” could merit a good discussion, but I was more interested in the “lawless men”. Always I had imagined something like Peter referring to a bloodthirsty mob, when in reality it simply refers to “men without the Law”, that is, Gentiles. A very different take on my old thinking!!

Slava Bohu!

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!