The Chosen Key Word in this Chapter is “Witnesses” it comes from the Greek Word “martys” which means “witness.”
Jesus gives His disciples one final instruction before disappearing into the clouds. Welcome to Bible Life Basics Chapter Reviews, I am Chris and this is Acts 1.
Luke opens this second volume addressed again to Theophilus, recounting how Jesus, after His resurrection, showed Himself alive by many infallible proofs over forty days, speaking of the kingdom of God. Jesus instructs His disciples not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for “the promise of the Father,” explaining that John baptized with water, but they would soon be baptized with the Holy Ghost. When they ask if He will now restore the kingdom to Israel, Jesus redirects their focus instead. “Ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me,” the Greek word for witnesses being “martys,” reaching from Jerusalem to Judaea, Samaria, and the uttermost part of the earth.
As Jesus finishes speaking, He is taken up before their eyes, and a cloud receives Him out of their sight. Two men in white apparel appear, telling the disciples that this same Jesus will return in the same manner they watched Him go. The disciples return to Jerusalem and continue together in prayer with the women, Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brothers.
Peter stands among the roughly 120 believers gathered together and addresses the need to replace Judas, who betrayed Jesus and died tragically afterward. They propose two candidates, Joseph called Barsabas and Matthias, and after praying for the Lord to show which one He has chosen, they cast lots, and the lot falls on Matthias, who is numbered with the eleven remaining apostles.
Jesus redirected His disciples’ question about political restoration toward their actual mission, becoming witnesses empowered by the Holy Spirit. The entire book of Acts that follows is essentially the outworking of that single redirected focus, ordinary people becoming witnesses whose reach would eventually stretch to the ends of the earth.
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