Jerusalem Jews for Jesus, Part One
(Acts 1:1-8, part one)
1. Sometimes we do not know as much aobut people as we think.
2. A true story from Reader’s Digest:
Recently my girlfriend, Karen, got a job at a local hardware store. "The owners don’t want us hanging out with our friends," she said. "If you stop by, tell them you’re my brother."
On my first visit, I walked to the customer service desk and asked the older woman there, "Is Karen around?" When she looked at me quizzically, I added, "I’m her brother."
She smiled. "What a nice surprise. I’m Karen’s mother."
3. You would think that a couple dating would have met one another’s parents. Knowing ones family and friends contributes toward knowing the person in particular.
4. Luke, the author of the Gospel that bears his name and the Book of Acts, knew many of the early leaders in the church. He wanted to learn everything He could about the Lord Jesus Christ and how Jesus was working in the church. He was qualified to write the two books he penned.
5. "By counting the pages written by Luke in both his Gospel and Acts, it is clear that Luke wrote more pages of the New Testament than any other writer, including Paul and John."
Thomas McCall www.levitt.com/essays/luke.html
6. Luke’s Gospel: What Jesus began to do while on earth.
Acts: What Jesus continued to do through His Apostles and the Holy Spirit.
7. The book begins with the Ascension of Christ in either 30 or 33 A.D., and ends with Paul being under house arrest in 61 A.D. or so. Thus we can date the book to 61A.D.
8. Since we are trying to do a thorough study of the texts we will cover, we will look at Chapters 1-7 in this series; they highlight the very earliest believers in Jesus: Jerusalem Jews.
9. I do not intend to cover this entire text in detail today, but I want us to look over the same texts two weeks in a row so we can see how they are connected. Today, I’ll focus on vs. 1-5 and lightly touch 6-8. Next week, I’ll do the reverse.
Main Idea: Our Faith has roots that go back to the beginning: we are connected.
I. The Church: Connected to Jesus Through the APOSTLES’ Teaching (1-3)
A. By READING what Jesus’ did (1-2a)
1. Note the Biblical use of the word "all" here in Acts 1:1
"I wrote about all that Jesus began to do and to teach."
Contrast this to John’s statement in John 21:25, "Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written."
A good interpreter does not view Scripture as a legal document, nor does he focus upon absolute meanings of words; instead, he observes how tightly or loosely the human authors use their words because he realizes that we use many figures of speech without even realizing it. In both instances here, the figure called hyperbole or amplificatio.
It is like saying, "Everybody around here eats hamburgers."
2. Until He went to heaven
Jesus is still active in leading the church. In Revelation, He is seen as walking among the churches. He is declared to be "Head of the Church," so the job of our elders is to discern what He wants done so He can truly lead our flock.
The same is true of us individually. Jesus is meant to be our Lord, so we should seek to understand the direction He has for us. Often, that direction is simply the path of wisdom. But not always.
B. By the TESTIMONY and ministry of the Apostles (2b-3)
1. The Apostles were APPOINTED by Jesus Himself
2. The Apostles were FOUNDATION layers
3. The Apostles were WITNESSES to the resurrection
The idea of 40 days is significant.
It contrasts to the alleged 40-day warning the Jews gave of Christ’s death in the Talmud:
On the eve of the Passover Yeshu was hanged. For forty days before the execution took place, a herald went forth and cried, ’He is going forth to be stoned because he has practiced sorcery and enticed Israel to apostasy. Any one who can say anything in his favor, let him come forward and plead on his behalf.’ But since nothing was brought forward in his favor he was hanged on the eve of the Passover! — Ulla retorted: ’Do you suppose that he was one for whom a defense could be made? Was he not a Mesith [enticer], concerning whom Scripture says, Neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him? With Yeshu however it was different, for he was connected with the government [or royalty, i.e., influential].’
Sanhedrin, folio 43, vs. 33ff
• The numbers 3, 7, 12, and 40 have special significance in Scripture. 40 days and 40 nights, 40 years in the wilderness, Jesus fasts in the desert 40 days --these are a few obvious examples. And Jesus appears to the disciples for 40 days.
4. The Apostles were TRAINED in matters of the KINGDOM of God
John 20:21-22, "Again Jesus said, ’Peace be with you! As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.’ And with that he breathed on them and said, ’Receive the Holy Spirit.’"
• Whatever spiritual dullness the apostles may have had in the past, now, having receive the Spirit, they are comprehending what Jesus is teaching…
Application
1. Our subjective sense of being connected to Jesus is based upon the objective teachings of the Apostles and the entire Word of God in general.
2. The teaching of the Apostles is the foundation of the church…Ephesians 2:20
"Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, 20built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone."
3. The Tower of Pisa
Our Faith has roots that go back to the beginning: we are connected.
II. The Church: Connected to Jesus’ Power By the SPIRIT (4-5)
A. We Experience the same Spirit that EMPOWERED Jesus (4)
• Note that Jesus is eating with the disciples
• Did Jesus eat for energy or health?
• Eating together in Scripture is a form of fellowship
• As Christians, it is not enough for us to bond over spiritual matters, we need to bond as human beings, too…
• The Bible pictures our entrance celebration as a big banquet: "The wedding feast of the Lamb"
• All you Food Network fans want to know if there is eating and drinking in heaven: the answer is yes, there is at least the equivalent of such things…
1. Jesus says, "Do not leave Jerusalem"
2. They may not have been there yet, but they would go up for the Feast soon; but wait (don’t be in too much of a hurry)
3. Ministry preparation involves both thorough learning and spiritual power… not in a desperate hurry.
4. What we see urged in the NT is zeal, which is not quite the same as the fad word "passion" (which implies the necessity of emotional exuberance and is emotionally driven) or "urgency" (which implies a desperate God and is usually guilt driven). Zeal is a spiritually driven energy grounded in a faithful, long-term attitude within a servant-like heart. It energizes a marathon, not a sprint. Zeal is practical and tenacious.
B. The Spirit Would BAPTIZE them (5)
1. As the Spirit came upon Jesus’ at His BAPTISM, so the Apostles would be baptized by the Spirit
• The initial promise of the Spirit was given to the apostles, in this context
• But, when Pentecost actually comes, ALL believers present were baptized by the Spirit
• Why was this? Because all believers are ministers; all believers are priests; all believers have a role to play.
2. Both the Spirit’s dwelling and baptism are a gift
• In OT, the HS regenerated, but did not indwell
• In NT, the HS indwells all believers and baptizes them into the Body of Christ
• How water baptism contrasts to Spirit baptism
• Note a principle: spiritual does not eliminate physical baptism
Our Faith has roots that go back to the beginning: we are connected.
III. The Church: Connected to ISRAEL (6-8)
A. God’s promises to Israel still STAND (6)
2. Acts 3:17ff
"Now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did your leaders. 18But this is how God fulfilled what he had foretold through all the prophets, saying that his Christ would suffer. 19Repent, then, and turn to God, so that your sins may be wiped out, that times of refreshing may come from the Lord, 20and that he may send the Christ, who has been appointed for you—even Jesus. 21He must remain in heaven until the time comes for God to restore everything, as he promised long ago through his holy prophets. 22For Moses said, ’The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet like me from among your own people; you must listen to everything he tells you. 23Anyone who does not listen to him will be completely cut off from among his people.’
24"Indeed, all the prophets from Samuel on, as many as have spoken, have foretold these days. 25And you are heirs of the prophets and of the covenant God made with your fathers. He said to Abraham, ’Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed.’ 26When God raised up his servant, he sent him first to you to bless you by turning each of you from your wicked ways."
3. Since God is Sovereign, He will regenerated the Jews and exalt their nation because all these matters are in God’s hands, not man’s
Jeremiah 31:31ff
31 "The time is coming," declares the LORD, "when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah. 32 It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them, " declares the LORD.
33 "This is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after that time," declares the LORD. "I will put my law in their minds and write it on their hearts. I will be their God,
and they will be my people. 34 No longer will a man teach his neighbor, or a man his brother, saying, ’Know the LORD,’ because they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest," declares the LORD. "For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more."
35 This is what the LORD says, he who appoints the sun to shine by day, who decrees the moon and stars to shine by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar—
the LORD Almighty is his name: 36 "Only if these decrees vanish from my sight," declares the LORD, "will the descendants of Israel ever cease to be a nation before me."
37 This is what the LORD says: "Only if the heavens above can be measured
and the foundations of the earth below be searched out will I reject all the descendants of Israel because of all they have done," declares the LORD.
B. But God’s Concern is WORLDWIDE (7-8)
• God does not negate his promises to Israel, He simply adds blessings to others
• The Apostles probably originally understood this as, "Go the Jews who are dispersed throughout the world." They probably understood the Great Commission in a similar manner. As we progress through Acts, we find out that God wants to include gentiles within His New Covenant people as well…but this understanding came slowly…
