WWUTT 2542 The Gathering of the Brethren (Acts 1:14-16)

The Apostles were gathered in the upper room and in one accord. They prayed together, praised

God together for all the things that Jesus had done and were about to go and proclaim it when we understand the text.

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Here once again is Pastor Gabe. Thank you, Becky. In our study of the book of Acts, we come back to chapter 1, picking up where we left off yesterday.

The apostles are gathered in the upper room to choose a twelfth apostle to replace

Judas Iscariot. I'll begin reading once again in verse 12 and go through verse 20.

Hear the word of the Lord. 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 the city, they went up to the upper room where they were staying, that is,

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. These all with one accord were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus and his brothers.

And in those days Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers. A crowd of about 120 persons was there together and said,

Men, brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled which the Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested

Jesus. For he was counted among us and received his share in this ministry.

Now this man acquired a field with the price of his unrighteousness, and falling headlong, he burst open in the middle, and all his intestines gushed out.

And it became known to all who were living in Jerusalem, so that in their own language that field was called hacheldamah, that is, field of blood.

For it is written in the book of Psalms, Let his residence be made desolate, and let no one dwell in it, and let another man take his office.

And then from there, they decide who is the most qualified man to fill

Judas's spot. And that'll be the section that we read tomorrow. But for today, we consider what it is that the apostles were doing there in the upper room in those days between Jesus ascension into heaven and the arrival of the

Holy Spirit, which will come at the beginning of Acts 2. And we're told right here in verse 14, that they were with, they were all in one accord and were continually devoting themselves to prayer.

You'll notice that the word brothers comes up three times in the section that I read in verses 14, 15, and 16.

So we see this collection of the brotherhood there and what is basically the first gathering of the church in the spirit of the gospel of Christ that Jesus had told them to go out and proclaim and to preach.

Now, you've probably heard this joke before, but what car was it that the apostles used to drive?

They all drove a Honda because as it says here in Acts 1, 14, they were all in one accord.

Yes, I can hear you groaning now, but you'll repeat that joke to somebody else later. So we have the names of the 11 apostles that were given to us in verse 13, and then saying these all with one accord, they're all of one mind.

They are all of the same mission together. They have the same passion, the same enthusiasm for Christ and even what he has commissioned them to do.

As we read previously in verse eight, Jesus saying to them, the Holy spirit will come upon you and you will be my witnesses both in Jerusalem and in all

Judea and Samaria and even to the end of the earth. And after Jesus was lifted up from them, we had at the end of the gospel of Luke that they came back to Jerusalem, rejoicing and praising

God. And they were even in the temple praying regularly. So this prayer that they are enjoying together was not just in the upper room.

They were even doing so in public. They are not going back to their places of residence yet.

Remember, they've been in Jerusalem since Passover, and this is the same upper room that they gathered in when they ate the

Passover meal with Jesus, the last supper, when he also instituted the Lord's table. So they're still staying in that place, a large enough space that it would not just be the 11, but a crowd of 120 persons altogether as said in verse 15.

So they are together. They've been out praying in the temple. They're praying together here in this room, and it says that they continually devoted themselves to prayer.

Next line in verse 14, along with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus and his brothers.

So let's consider those groups in order as we have them. First of all, we have the mention of the 11 apostles in verse 13, and this is like what

Luke wrote in Luke chapter 8. Remember, Luke is the author of both books, the gospel of Luke and Acts.

Where he mentions these women here, it's probably that same group of women that were talked about in Luke 8.

Let me read there in Luke 8 verses 1 through 3. Soon afterward, Jesus went on through cities and villages, proclaiming and bringing the good news of the kingdom of God, and the 12 were with him.

So the 12 apostles, just like we have here in Acts 1, where the 11 apostles are listed in verse 13.

Now, here's what comes right after that. Verse 2, and also some women who had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities.

Mary called Magdalene, from whom seven demons had gone out, and Joanna, the wife of Chusa, Herod's household manager, and Susannah, and many others who provided for them out of their means.

So that's the way Luke presents that in Luke 8, mentioning the 12 and then these women. And what do we have here in Acts chapter 1?

We have the mention of the 11, because it's the 12 minus Judas, and then these women.

Likely the same group of women that we have in Luke 8. Only the women are named in Luke 8 and not here in Acts 1, whereas the apostles are not named in Luke 8, but they are mentioned here.

They are listed by name in Acts 1, but it's the same pattern. It's Luke mentioning the apostles, then these women.

So likely that same group of women. And in addition to those women, it is said that Mary, the mother of Jesus, is among them and his brothers.

So how many women would there have been? Quite a few. Though we have three names that are given in Luke 8, verses 2 and 3.

You have Mary, Magdalene, Joanna, and Susannah, but Luke also says, and many others who provided for them out of their means.

And so you have many women that are included in this group as well.

Now, as the apostles are staying in this upper room, the women may not be, they may be in another place.

And it may be that a lot of those women probably lived right there or had relatives there or something to that degree.

The apostles are from Galilee, obviously, most of them from Galilee. So they are there in Jerusalem as Jesus told them to stay there until the

Holy Spirit comes upon them. But as they're gathered in this room that's been reserved for them and the owner of this home being so kind as to let them remain there, the owner may very well be a part of this group that's talked about in the upper room.

You also have these women who are likewise praying. So this is that first church gathering before they even go out and start proclaiming the gospel.

That's what's going on here. They're in, they're gathered in one accord. So they're gathered in the name of the gospel and in devotion to the

Lord and everything that he has done and has said to them. Probably talking at length about some of those things that Jesus taught them in the 40 days between his resurrection and his ascension into heaven.

And you have, in addition to the women, the mention of Mary, the mother of Jesus and his brothers.

You know, I've talked occasionally about the show, The Chosen, because it's one of the most popular TV shows in the world right now.

Translated into multiple languages. If you listen to the end of year news countdown that I did on Friday, it's been translated in over 80 languages or something like that.

So the creators of The Chosen are trying to use the show even as outreach, though, according to the creator of the show, 95 % of what's in that show isn't even in the

Bible. So it's not leading people into truth. It's leading them into a lot of myth and speculation, unfortunately, concerning Jesus and the apostles.

A lot of a lot of side narratives that the Bible doesn't even mention at all. And the show actually goes to some length to include

Mary, the mother of Jesus, in a lot of what they do, almost as if she's one of the disciples.

She's there so often, at least in the in the first and second seasons that I've watched. I don't know. I'm not sure what her involvement is beyond that.

But Mary would not have been traveling at all with Jesus and his disciples.

Not at all. Because of the way that she comes up in the Gospels, like, for example, where it is said at the end of Matthew 12,

Jesus is teaching to the people and someone comes to him and says, hey, your mother and your brothers are outside and they want to speak to you.

And Jesus says, well, who is my mother and who are my brothers? Stretching out his hands toward his disciples, he said, here are my mother and my brothers.

For whoever does the will of my father in heaven is my brother and sister and mother.

So Mary did not travel with Jesus and his disciples. And in fact,

Jesus' half brothers at this time anyway, talking about his earthly ministry, his half brothers tried to stop him from what it was that he was doing.

Tried to even get him to come home, stop this madness and come and take care of your mother, take care of your family, probably because Joseph was gone at this point and Jesus is the oldest.

But here we have Mary, the mother of Jesus, who is part of the upper room gathering.

And Luke is specifically saying that she's there. She was there at the cross when

Jesus died. I made the argument for how she was not likely at the tomb.

Although it's often depicted that Mary, the mother of Jesus, came to the tomb. But the gospel accounts don't tell us that.

So Mary was at the crucifixion of Jesus. And here she is in the upper room with the gathering of the apostles after Jesus ascension into heaven.

And then it is also mentioned his brothers. We had his brothers mentioned in Matthew chapter 12.

His brothers are also mentioned in the very next chapter in Matthew chapter 13. Jesus comes to Nazareth and he's preaching in his hometown.

And in doing so, the people say, where did this man get this wisdom and these mighty works?

Is not this the carpenter's son? Is not his mother called Mary? And are not his brothers

James and Joseph and Simon and Judas? And are not all his sisters with us?

Where then did this man get all these things? And they took offense at him. So they're not astonished by Jesus in any way, because they know him.

He grew up in our town. Where does he suddenly have this ability to preach these great sermons and perform these great miracles?

They identify Jesus as being the carpenter's son, knowing that his mother is called

Mary. And they even name his siblings. It would have been his half siblings, of course, because Jesus is born to Mary, but does not have an earthly father.

He was conceived by the Holy Spirit, is not a descendant in the sense of deriving from the seed of Adam.

So he is the last Adam. Adam is not his federal head, so that all who are in Christ are in the new

Adam and not in the Adam in whom we were naturally born. OK, we are supernaturally born again in Christ Jesus.

So Jesus does not have an earthly father. And so, therefore, his siblings that would have been born to Joseph and Mary are

Jesus' half siblings. So you have the names that are given there in verse 55. This is, again,

Matthew 13, 55, James and Joseph and Simon and Judas. And then verse 56, and are not all his sisters with us?

Now, of course, the tradition that maintains that Mary was a perpetual virgin.

So she never did consummate her marriage. She never had any other children with Joseph. That's that's what those who believe in in this perpetual virginity of Mary view think about this relationship that she had with Joseph.

She actually was already a virgin, always a virgin. She was a lifelong virgin, never consummated her marriage with her husband.

They will claim that these names in Matthew 13, 55 are cousins.

These are just cousins. James and Joseph and Simon and Judas. And they all grew up in the same town. But it doesn't merely mention cousins.

That word brothers being taken in a very loose sense to refer to cousins. It doesn't just mention those four names.

But it also says in verse 56, are not all his sisters with us?

And it would be very unusual to mention, well, aren't his male cousins and his female cousins with us?

That wouldn't even really make sense. This is mentioning his household, this family that we know that grew up together under the same roof.

The carpenter's son, Mary, along with Jesus. And here these four brothers names,

James, Joseph, Simon and Judas sisters, which is mentioned plural. So Jesus had at least six half siblings.

That is the plain reading of the text. And it really doesn't make any sense to try to maintain or argue for the perpetual virginity of Mary.

Like you gain nothing theologically arguing for that. Of course, the Roman Catholics have made it a dogma so that if you deny it, you are anathema.

That's that. That is how they uphold that. They believe that Mary is is some kind of co -redemptrix with her son.

And so Mary's presence even here in the upper room in Acts one has some sort of theological significance to it in that sense.

But this is the last time Mary is ever mentioned in the New Testament. In Acts 114, she's never mentioned again.

And there's nothing at all about the apostles being in submission to her in any way or even showing any great honor to her.

Yes, they do honor her. It's an honor that Luke is mentioning here. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was along with this group in the upper room.

He does revere this woman and hold her in high esteem, but not in any kind of sense that the church was in any way in submission to her.

She is not the mother of the entire church. In fact, it's it's in the book of Galatians that the apostle

Paul says Jerusalem is our mother. Doesn't make any reference to Mary being our mother.

So Mary, the mother of Jesus, being there mentioned in Acts 114 is simply to say his family now believes who he is, though his brothers had mocked him previously.

And more is said about that in John, I think, than any of the other gospels, though he was mocked previously by his brothers.

They now come to believe the apostle Paul even talks about that in first Corinthians chapter 15, that Jesus even appeared to James, his half brother, who ends up becoming the leader of the church in Jerusalem.

He's the author of the book of James in the Bible, and he is among the gathering here in the upper room that is talked about in Acts chapter one,

Mary, the mother of Jesus and his brothers, that same listing of brothers that's given to us in Matthew 13, 55.

So now they becoming believers, exalt the Lord, honor him as Christ.

And they too would become instrumental in the spread of the gospel and the building of the church, the building or the gathering of those saints in the first declaration of the gospel, which is coming up in Acts chapter two.

I would maintain, and I've made this argument before, that when Jesus says in Matthew 16,

I will build my church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it. That declaration was not to say that this was going to be the first existence of the church ever.

The word that's used there for church in Matthew 16, 18, which in Greek is

Ekklesia, is the same word that's used for Israel in the Septuagint, which is the

Greek translation of the Old Testament. So this is not a new label like Jesus is coming up with a new label and say,

OK, I'm going to establish something. I'm going to call it the church. It's going to be called the Ekklesia. No, it's still the gathering, the called out assembly of people, just as Israel was.

They were called out from Egypt and gathered to the Lord, referred to as his

Ekklesia. It's not a new word. It's still the same word that's being applied to the gathered people of God.

Only this people is going to be marked by their faith in Jesus Christ and their belief in the gospel.

So we have the first gathering of the church that is happening here, the first gathering in the spirit of the gospel that is in the upper room.

And it's a crowd of about 120 persons altogether, as Luke tells us in the next verse.

Verse 15, in those days, Peter stood up in the midst of the brothers. Now, we don't know exactly what day this was because Luke is very general with this.

He says in those days. So it would have been in the days somewhere in between Jesus ascension into heaven and before the

Holy Spirit comes upon them at Pentecost, which is in chapter two. So there's 10 days in between there.

As we've been told at the start of Acts one, that Jesus was with them for 40 days between his resurrection and his ascension.

Pentecost is 50 days after Passover. So in that span of a week or so in between Jesus ascension and the coming of the

Holy Spirit is when Peter stands up in the midst of the brothers. And this is a crowd of about 120 persons altogether.

And as I've presented to you before, it's likely that most of these people were on the

Mount of Olives when Jesus ascended up from them into heaven. It could have been even more than that.

We could make the argument that it was more than that. And maybe after Jesus ascension into heaven, a lot of them kind of went to their own homes or they disperse from there or something like that.

They're going to come back later into Jerusalem when Pentecost arrives.

But at least for this gathering, we have 120 persons there, many of them probably having seen

Jesus ascension, certainly all of them having seen Jesus being resurrected from the grave, the resurrected

Christ. They've been with him and in his presence. So Peter stands in the midst of them and says, we have this third mention of brothers here in verse 16, men, brothers, the scripture had to be fulfilled, which the

Holy Spirit foretold by the mouth of David concerning Judas, who became a guide to those who arrested

Jesus. And then Peter is going to quote from David talking about the or making reference to the scripture itself.

In verse 20, we have two references to the scriptures where it was prophesied that in the

Psalms it was said Judas's residence would be made desolate and let another man take his office.

So that's what the apostles are going to be there to do is to pick another man who is qualified to fill that role in Judas's absence.

And we'll come back and talk about that one tomorrow, especially this record of how

Judas died. He fell into a field and his guts gushed out. That wasn't what

Matthew said about how Judas died. Well, the two accounts are not in conflict with one another, and we'll consider that when we come back to this text tomorrow.

Heavenly Father, we thank you for what we have read, and I pray that it would be upon us to enjoy and delight in the brotherhood of believers that we are a part of.

We have been called out from the world to be part of your church, that we would be holy and blameless before you in love as we are growing in sanctification by your spirit and being made more into the image of Christ.

So continue to mold us in this way. May we look to Christ and care for one another as we pray together, praise together, hear the preaching of the word together and partake in the

Lord's table together. In all of these things, we do as accountable to one another until the day that Christ returns or we go to be with him in glory.

Lead us in paths of righteousness. For your name's sake, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Join us again tomorrow as we continue our study in God's word when we understand the text.