Click here for the Acts 1:12-14 PODCAST
12 Then they went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. (This mountain is about half a mile from Jerusalem.) 13 When they entered the city, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon (known as the Zealot), and Judas son of James were there. 14 They all continued praying together with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus’ brothers. ~ Acts 1:12-14
Today, we continue our study of Acts 1 where the Lord Jesus has met with His disciples for the final time before He returned to His Father in heaven. The Lord Jesus had taught His disciples the message of the Gospel and He had revealed Himself to them in His glorified post-resurrection body in order that they might be confident that He was enabling them to live and to teach the life of faith He had called them to. And now, He has ascended to His Father so that the promised Holy Spirit would come and empower them to walk with Him.
In v.12 of today's passage we read, "Then they went back to Jerusalem from the Mount of Olives. (This mountain is about half a mile from Jerusalem.)"
After meeting with the Lord this final time the disciples returned to Jerusalem. Earlier the Lord Jesus had told them to stay and wait in Jerusalem for the promise of the Father, the promised Holy Spirit. The Lord Jesus had also made it clear that when the Holy Spirit came His disciples would have the power to fulfill His call on their lives. So, the disciples stayed in Jerusalem for the power that would fuel their mission. They had to wait and by waiting they displayed their submission to the will of the Lord.
Waiting is hard to do especially when we have been granted such a life-changing true story. The word "wait" is used some 135 times in the Bible. One of the Hebrew words for waiting combines tension with a sense of anticipation or looking ahead. The word’s origins are connected to the twisting or stretching of a cord giving the idea that tension is part of what it means to grow in the Lord. We do not naturally enjoy this tension. The discomfort makes it seem like something is wrong. We waste a lot of waiting because we resist the sense of powerlessness that comes with it. When we give up on the power of the self life, it is then that we gain the wisdom of God. The ultimate issue herein is that we are granting control to Him instead of keeping it ourselves. And so, the disciples waited on the arrival of the Holy Spirit in Jerusalem.
In v.13 of today's passage we read, "When they entered the city, they went to the upstairs room where they were staying. Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon (known as the Zealot), and Judas son of James were there."
When the disciples arrived in Jerusalem, they went to the upper room where they resided for the time being. It was common for the houses in Jerusalem to have these upper rooms. Often these rooms were useful for prayer. This room was a big "upper room" to be able to fit so many people there. They obviously went to this room to pray and to wait on the arrival of the Holy Spirit. But, God didn't send the Holy Spirit to them while they were in the upper room praying.
Patience is so important in our walk with the Lord. Max Lucado once said, "Impatience is selfishness with time." Although most consider patience to be a passive waiting or a gentle tolerance, the Bible paints a different picture. Patience is being selfless with our time. The idea of "patience" in the Bible includes the idea of "endurance." We run the race patiently by persevering through the trials that show up in our lives from day to day. These trials are key at slowing us down and focusing us upon the Lord. In the Bible, patience involves perseverance, enduring trials, and expectantly waiting for God's promise to be fulfilled. The development of our understanding of God’s power and His goodness are crucial to the development of our patience.
In v.14 of today's passage we read, "They all continued praying together with some women, including Mary the mother of Jesus, and Jesus’ brothers."
This is the last mention of Mary, the mother of the Lord Jesus, in the Bible. After this, she is not mentioned. The early church didn't venerate her as others. Even the Lord Jesus didn't give any undue adulation to Mary as the mother of God. Mary is never exalted in the Scriptures. In fact, she is only exalted in reference to the child who was born to her, not of her. You will remember that on one occasion in Mark 3, the Lord Jesus was teaching in a house. His brothers and mother came, and they sent somebody in to tell Him that they wanted to talk to Him. To that the Lord Jesus replied, "Who is My mother? Who are My brothers and sisters?" And then He pointed to the audience and He said, "Whoever does the will of my Father, the same are my family." You see, the Lord Jesus minimized the spiritual significance of Mary and His biological family. Underscored in His response was the fact that His family had to be redeemed just like everyone else. There is no theology about the mother of the Lord in the Scriptures. Paul never mentions her in any of his doctrines of redemption.
It is no small thing that the brothers of the Lord Jesus are mentioned here in today's passage. In Mark 6 four of His brothers are mentioned. This means after the Lord Jesus was born, Joseph and Mary had children. At least four other boys and some sisters. That smacks in the face of the idea that Mary was a perpetual virgin. In John 7:5 we learn, "His brothers and sisters did not believe in Him." This changed when the Lord Jesus appeared to His brother James after His resurrection. After seeing His brother who was crucified alive, James very likely became the catalyst for the rest of the family to believe in the Lord Jesus as the Messiah.
So, they all gathered together in this upper room with the disciples and Mary and some other women to pray. We mustn't misunderstand this: the coming of the Holy Spirit did not depend on their prayers. They didn’t have to ask for Him to come. The Holy Spirit was "the promise of the Father" according to the Lord Jesus. These followers of the Lord Jesus were praying, because for the first time, they were physically removed from Him, and the only communication they had with Him was through their prayers which was a new thing. And, when the Holy Spirit came in Acts 2:2, they weren’t praying at all, they were just sitting around. The cultural posture of prayer was to stand or to kneel but they were just sitting. Their prayers had nothing to do with whether or not the Holy Spirit came. It had everything to do with their ability to wait. Waiting on God is a big theme in the Bible. Especially when we have come to the end of our will and we are postured to appreciate His.
