
The Waiting
Jesus was enthroned as King of the universe to continue His ministry; His word would be advanced by the power of the Holy Spirit, through the work of the apostles and the church. But that work had not yet started in an official sense, and they had been told to WAIT for the coming of the Holy Spirit.
WAITING IS AN IMPORTANT SKILL, which God constantly teaches His people. Adam waited alone for his helper to come. Noah waited for the waters to come and wash away the wicked. Abraham had to wait for the promised heir. Israel waited 400 years for the exodus. They then waited in the wilderness, largely due to their own fault, before they could enter the promised land. Then during the time of the judges, they waited for a righteous king. David waited for the building of the temple. Israel then waited in exile to be brought back to the land. Ultimately they waited for the Messiah. And we wait for the second coming of Christ. Phil 3:20, Jude 1:21, Rom 8:23. The waiting period in Acts 1 is only 10 days. They were told that the message would then explode across the world, but before that, they had to wait for the empowerment.
WAITING TIME WAS NOT WASTED TIME. While they were waiting, they did what they could do, gathering, staying united, praying, looking into the scriptures to learn how to interpret what happened to Judas, and organising themselves to replace Judas. As we wait for Christ's return and for our glorification, along with waiting for many of the other things we pray for, we must not waste our time. We must seek to conform our lives to His will, remembering that this place is not our destination and that we are in a time of waiting. This waiting period in Acts 1 is characterised by how the community of disciples operate, the judgement of Judas, and the replacing of Judas with Matthias.
COMMUNITY OF THE DISCIPLES
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.
This little church seems to be as perfect as is possible. None of these people were sinless, but the way they conduct themselves in these days of waiting is exemplary. What are the markings of this earliest church? They gather across MULTIPLE GENERATIONS AND BACKGROUNDS and they are UNITED Peter seems to have taken over the reigns, but we do not see any infighting over leadership. They are committed to prayer and to the seeking of the scriptures to understand what had happened with regards to Judas. We see the HUMILITY of Mary who was present along with Jesus' brothers. We see Mary's humble transition from having raised Jesus as her infant to worshipping Him as her Lord. (Mary was probably one of the first Christians, with possibly only Elizabeth and John the Baptist having recognised Him . Luke 1:41-44,46) She saw people intensely loving Him and others hating Him. We see how Mary was at the scene of the cross, where she would have wanted to take His place to save Him. But in fact He was on the cross to save her. Jesus' brothers were not believers growing up. At various times, they were opposed to Him, perhaps because of the degree of familiarity among siblings. (Jn 7:5, Mark 3:21). James later became a revered leader in the church in Jerusalem. Both James and Jude were writers of the New Testament. We see from 1 Cor 15:4-7 that after His resurrection, the Lord Jesus graciously met with James, who may have witnessed to the other brothers. If this was when they were converted, then they were hardly a month old as believers.
CONDEMNATION OF A DISCIPLE
Acts 1:15-20 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. 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’; and “‘Let another take his office.’
Judas was willing to betray Christ to be killed, whereas everyone else was willing to die for Him. This did not take God by surprise, instead it was part of God predetermined plan from the start. Peter equates the words of David with the words of the Holy Spirit. David knew himself as the type and shadow of the One who was to come. We know this from the Messianic Psalms such as Psalm 110 and Psalm 22, and some less obvious Psalms like Psalm 69 and Psalm 109. These Psalms and other passages like Zech 11 not only prophesy about the Messiah but also about His enemies including Judas. It is clear from Acts 2:23 and Acts 4:27-28 that Judas along with Herod and Pilate and the devil himself were part of God's sovereign plan all along. This raises questions about how God's sovereign plan can include such evil. Was Judas guilty of this most heinous of sins, considering that it was foreknown and predetermined? The answer is Yes. (Mark 14:21). Two important theological principles come into play. 1. By nature, every human being is hostile to God. Rom 8:7. Judas was hostile to God by nature. 2. Because God is restraining sin, using His restraining grace, no one is as hostile as they would otherwise be. The Bible describes God taking His hands off to a certain degree in Rom 1:21, handing them over to their depraved minds, as an act of judgement. When God freed Judas to act according to his hostile nature, Judas freely chose to betray the Son of God. (If God ordains a person to do something good, it is by causing the person to do so, but a person destined to do evil, does so by his own will when God lifts His restraining hand.) By this method, Jesus went to the cross for our sins. The most evil act the world has ever seen has to be this act of Judas betraying the Son of God. And yet the best thing that has ever happened in the world is the result of this very 'most evil act,' the murder of Christ. Can we not then believe that great suffering like cancer or other tragedies can mysteriously serve the ultimate purposes of God?
Some people think that the accounts of Matthew (that Judas hanged himself) and Luke (that he fell headlong . . .) contradict. It is not difficult to reconcile these accounts; for instance, people may have thrown Judas headlong after he hanged himself, or the rope may have given way when Judas hanged himself. The difference in the accounts is because Matthew deals with the tragedy of Judas' death, while Luke focusses on the judgement of God on Judas, pointing out that he was not laid to rest with any honour or dignity.
CALLING OF A DISCIPLE
Acts 1:21-26 So one of the men who have accompanied us during all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning 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.” And they put forward two, Joseph called Barsabbas, who was also called Justus, and Matthias. And they prayed and said, “You, Lord, who know the hearts of all, show which one of these two you have chosen to take the place in this ministry and apostleship from which Judas turned aside to go to his own place.” And they cast lots for them, and the lot fell on Matthias, and he was numbered with the eleven apostles. It was clear to the disciples that it was God's will that there be 12 apostles, just as there were 12 tribes, 12 spies, 12 judges, and now 12 apostles through whose work, God would continue His redemptive purposes. So a 12th apostle was called to join the ranks. He had to have certain qualifications: He had to have been with them from the beginning, he had to have been a witness of the resurrection, and he also had to have been called specifically by Christ, and the way they discerned this calling was by casting lots. They knew that God was sovereign over every roll of the dice. This was an approved practice in the Old Testament but is not an approved practice for us, now that the Spirit has come. All instructions are now given through the apostles. Even when making decisions that are not clearly dictated in scripture, the early church relied on members making those decisions, The selection of deacons by the congregation is an example. We also see this in the way the decision of the Jerusalem council was made. "For it has seemed good to the Holy Spirit and to us to lay on you no greater burden than these requirements . . ." (Acts 15:28). It is a ministry of the Spirit of God through the people of God. The lot fell to Matthias to replace Judas. Matthias is not mentioned again. Did they get it wrong? Was Paul, who was very significant, in fact the 12th apostle? But Paul did not satisfy the qualifications that were listed in Acts 1:21-22 in the way the 12 did. Nevertheless, Paul was able to give testimony of the resurrection because he had seen the resurrected Christ but not in the way prescribed. In the three accounts of Paul's testimony in Acts, his calling is retold every time.
This earliest church was waiting in obedience for the promised Holy Spirit. Today we await the second coming of Christ. We are a small window of time before us. What are we doing to prepare for Christ's second coming. Are we treating this mission that we have been given seriously? Are we sharing the gospel regularly? Are we using this window of time to grow in holiness?