BIBLE STUDY LESSON 01

SERIES U --- THE EARLY CHURCH

POWER FOR MISSION

LOOKING INTO HEAVEN

From Acts 1:1-26

My Dear Theophilus, friend of YHVH: [In my previous letter to you, the book of Luke, I told you how Yeshua lived and taught from the time of His coming until the day He returned to heaven.] Before leaving for home, Yeshua was empowered by Ruach HaKodesh to instruct His apostles about their new work. During the forty days following His crucifixion, Yeshua visited the apostles several times, proving to them that He was alive again. On these visits, Yeshua taught them much about the Kingdom of YHVH. Once, when they were meeting together, Yeshua gave the apostles some specific instructions. [Do not leave Jerusalem, but wait here for My Father to keep a promise He made to you. I have told you before about this, for as John baptized you with water, so you will be baptized with Ruach HaKodesh.] Those who were with Yeshua began to ask Him about this. [Has the time now come when You will take the Kingdom from Rome and give it back to Israel?] they wondered. [It is YHVH’s work to set such a timetable,] Yeshua cautioned. [You have no business trying to learn His secret events and dates. But you will receive unusual power when Ruach HaKodesh comes upon you, enabling you to talk about Me in Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and even to the ends of the earth.] After He had finished talking to His friends, Yeshua rose into heaven and was soon out of sight beyond the clouds. While the disciples stared up into the sky, hoping to catch one last sight of Him, two white-robed figures stood beside them. [Why are you standing around here, staring up at the sky?] these visitors asked. [The same Yeshua Whom you saw ascending into heaven today will come again, returning in the same way that He left.] At last, the disciples descended from the Mount of Olives and went the half-mile back into Jerusalem. When they arrived in the city, they gathered for a prayer meeting in the upper room of the house where they had been staying. At the meeting that day were Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James the son of Alphaeus, Simon the patriot, and Judas the son of James. The brothers of Yeshua were also there, along with several women, including His mother, Mary. Day after day these people met there to pray. At one meeting, when there were one hundred twenty people present, Peter stood up to speak. [My brothers,] he said, [long ago, Ruach HaKodesh spoke through King David, telling how Judas would betray Yeshua and lead men to arrest Him. As you know, this Scripture had to be fulfilled, even though Judas was one of the apostles, chosen for that work as we were. Now, with the money Judas received for betraying Yeshua, he bought some land. It was there that he fell to his death, bursting open so that his intestines poured out upon the ground. This field has become known to the people of Jerusalem as Akeldama, the Field of Blood. In the Book of Psalms, it is written: ‘May his home be desolate, may it be without inhabitant.’ It also says in the Psalms: ‘May another take his place of service.’ It is time to choose an apostle to take Judas’ place, to work with us in witnessing to Yeshua’ resurrection. We should choose someone who has been with us from the beginning when Yeshua was baptized by John until the day when Yeshua was taken into heaven.] The disciples nominated two men: Joseph, sometimes called Barsabbas or Justus, and Matthias. The disciples prayed about their choice, saying, [Adonai, because You know which man is right, show us whom You have chosen to become an apostle, to do the work Judas left to go to the place he deserves.] Then they drew lots. Matthias was chosen and his name was added to those of the other eleven apostles.

COMMENTARY

DR. LUKE AND THE GREAT PHYSICIAN

In the ancient Near East, medicine was mixed with magic. Because demons were blamed for all illnesses and accidents, the prescription for a fever was not much different from the treatment for a broken leg. The priest pronounced a spell over the patient and gave him a potion of magic herbs. By Roman times, medicine was much more advanced. The physician had replaced the priest as the medical expert. Many of the best doctors in the Empire were Greeks who were skilled at surgery. Some of their instruments were very much like the ones modern doctors use. Yet in other ways, their knowledge was far behind our own. Because they did not have anaesthetics, operations were performed without putting the patient to sleep. Many people survived surgery only to die of infection because they did not know about the need for strict cleanliness and danger of bacteria. Luke, author of the Acts of the Apostles and the third Gospel, was a Greek doctor who travelled with Paul on his missionary journeys. Thus, as far as we know, he was the first medical missionary. When Luke reported the miraculous healings performed by Yeshua, he spoke as a doctor confirming healing greater than he or his fellow-doctors could aid with their medicines. Luke, the physician, respectfully told of the healings of Yeshua, the Great Physician.