A Study of Acts: The Proof and the Promise
Acts 1:3-5; Multiple verses about the “convincing proofs” - We have the proof and we have the promise from the Son of God.
“To these He also presented Himself alive after His suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of forty days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God. Gathering them together, He commanded them not to leave Jerusalem, but to wait for what the Father had promised, “Which,” He said, “you heard of from Me; for John baptized with water, but you will be baptized with the Holy Spirit not many days from now.””
Acts 1:3-5 NASB1995
In this first part of this passage, Luke talks about the appearances that Jesus made over a period of 40 days after His suffering and resurrection to “these”, being His disciples and others. He made many convincing proofs during these appearances of the miracle of His Resurrection and spoke of things concerning the kingdom of God. None of those things he spoke about were secrets or anything that required special knowledge to understand.
There are several passages in Acts that are convincing statements for skeptics about the power and divinity of Jesus. This is the first of those key passages. Jesus offered many proofs of His physical existence after the Resurrection. He was not a ghost (He was alive) and He bore the marks of His suffering and crucifixion on His body, but He could also disappear and reappear in closed rooms and to larger crowds and to people walking on the roads. He asked for food at one of these appearances (Luke 24:41) and cooked food for a few disciples by the Sea of Galilee (John 21:12).
Conveniently, a commentator cited on Precept Austin has a comprehensive list of those appearances; here are the appropriate Biblical passages (from Pastor Bob Utley):
To the women at the tomb: “And behold, Jesus met them and greeted them. And they came up and took hold of His feet and worshiped Him. Then Jesus *said to them, “Do not be afraid; go and take word to My brethren to leave for Galilee, and there they will see Me.”” Matthew 28:9-10 NASB1995
To the eleven disciples at a set meeting in Galilee: “But the eleven disciples proceeded to Galilee, to the mountain which Jesus had designated. When they saw Him, they worshiped Him; but some were doubtful.” Matthew 28:16-17 NASB1995
To Simon (Peter): ““And they got up that very hour and returned to Jerusalem, and found gathered together the eleven and those who were with them, saying, “The Lord has really risen and has appeared to Simon.”” Luke 24:33-34 NASB1995
To the two men on the road to Emmaus: “And behold, two of them were going that very day to a village named Emmaus, which was about seven miles from Jerusalem. And they were talking with each other about all these things which had taken place. While they were talking and discussing, Jesus Himself approached and began traveling with them.”. Luke 24:13-15 NASB1995
To disciples and followers in the upper room, including the two from the road: “While they were telling these things, He Himself stood in their midst and *said to them, “Peace be to you.” But they were startled and frightened and thought that they were seeing a spirit. And He said to them, “Why are you troubled, and why do doubts arise in your hearts? See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see that I have.”” Luke 24:36-39 NASB1995
To Mary Magdalene: “Jesus *said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping? Whom are you seeking?” Supposing Him to be the gardener, she *said to Him, “Sir, if you have carried Him away, tell me where you have laid Him, and I will take Him away.” Jesus *said to her, “Mary!” She turned and *said to Him in Hebrew, “Rabboni!” (which means, Teacher).” John 20:15-16 NASB1995
To the ten disciples in the upper room (Thomas is absent): “So when it was evening on that day, the first day of the week, and when the doors were shut where the disciples were, for fear of the Jews, Jesus came and stood in their midst and *said to them, “Peace be with you.” And when He had said this, He showed them both His hands and His side. The disciples then rejoiced when they saw the Lord.” John 20:19-20 NASB1995
To eleven disciples in the upper room (and probably others): “After eight days His disciples were again inside, and Thomas with them. Jesus *came, the doors having been shut, and stood in their midst and said, “Peace be with you.” Then He *said to Thomas, “Reach here with your finger, and see My hands; and reach here your hand and put it into My side; and do not be unbelieving, but believing.” Thomas answered and said to Him, “My Lord and my God!” Jesus *said to him, “Because you have seen Me, have you believed? Blessed are they who did not see, and yet believed.”” John 20:26-29 NASB1995
To the seven disciples at the Sea of Galilee: “After these things Jesus manifested Himself again to the disciples at the Sea of Tiberias, and He manifested Himself in this way. Simon Peter, and Thomas called Didymus, and Nathanael of Cana in Galilee, and the sons of Zebedee, and two others of His disciples were together.” John 21:1-2 NASB1995
To Cephas (Peter) and to the twelve: “For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.” 1 Corinthians 15:3-5 NASB1995
To the 500+: “After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep;” 1 Corinthians 15:6 NASB1995
To James (His half-brother) and all of the apostles: “then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles;” 1 Corinthians 15:7 NASB1995
To Paul: “and last of all, as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.” 1 Corinthians 15:8 NASB1995
Several things to ponder from these appearances, reflecting the innate stubbornness that humans have when it comes to recognizing the miraculous things of God:
Not all of the disciples were convinced by His appearance in the account in Matthew (“some were doubtful”).
The two followers of Christ on the Road to Emmaus did not recognize Him until after He left them.
Mary Magdalene did not recognize Jesus after the Resurrection until He spoke.
Thomas was only completely convinced after seeing Jesus in person and would not take the word of other disciples.
The disciples gathered at the Sea of Galilee in John 21 did not recognize Jesus at first when He directs them on how to fish.
James and the other earthly half-siblings of Jesus were convinced He was insane during His ministry and tried to intervene. It took an appearance to James after the Resurrection by Jesus to turn him into a devout apostle.
A few other things to ponder about these appearances:
Jesus first appeared to the women who were following Him. Women had no authority whatsoever during this period in history and their word about something was not considered a valid testimony; in fact, they were considered less authoritative than male children. These anomalous witnesses, however, lend validity to the Gospel testimonies. No one would consider making up a story about women being the first witnesses unless it was true.
Jesus appeared to many followers in many different places, establishing His credibility. He used more than one opportunity to demonstrate He was still human yet still divine.
Skeptics like Thomas, James and Paul were utterly transformed by His appearance.
As a devoted skeptic for many years, I tried to find as many articles as I could in those dark days disavowing the truth of the Gospels and the accounts in Acts and in later epistles. Now that I am a devoted believer again, these appearances are so wonderful and so trustworthy (they are truly infallible). If Jesus had just ascended without any witnesses to His resurrection, then the doubts and conspiracy theories would have grown and the early church would have failed. The convincing proofs were necessary to many witnesses to ensure His story would perpetuate.
It is worth noting that this period of time between the Resurrection and His ascension was 40 days. This number has been seen to have significance in the Bible. However, I like the cautionary statement from Gotquestions.org about trying to find any hidden meanings in Biblical numbers:
In the New Testament, Jesus was tempted for 40 days and 40 nights (Matthew 4:2). There were 40 days between Jesus’ resurrection and ascension (Acts 1:3).
Whether or not the number 40 really has any significance is still debated. The Bible definitely seems to use 40 to emphasize a spiritual truth, but we must point out that the Bible nowhere specifically assigns any special meaning to the number 40.
Some people place too much significance on numerology, trying to find a special meaning behind every number in the Bible. Often, a number in the Bible is simply a number, including the number 40. God does not call us to search for secret meanings, hidden messages, or codes in the Bible. There is more than enough truth in the plain words of Scripture to meet all our needs and make us “complete and thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 3:17).
In the second part of this passage, Jesus tells His followers to stay in Jerusalem and wait for what the Father has promised, which is a baptism of the Holy Spirit. This commentary from Enduring Word is quite good:
He commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem: Jesus had nothing else for the disciples to do other than to wait for the coming of the Holy Spirit (the Promise of the Father). Jesus knew that they really could do nothing effective for the Kingdom of God until the Spirit came.
To wait means that it was worth waiting for.
To wait means that they had a promise it would come.
To wait means they must receive it; they couldn’t create it themselves.
To wait means that they would be tested by waiting, at least a little.
He commanded… the Promise of Father… baptized with the Holy Spirit: This is another example of how the fact of the Trinity – that there is One God in Three Persons – is woven into the fabric of the New Testament. Here we see that He (Jesus) told of the Promise of the Father, which is the coming of the Holy Spirit.
It is significant that this coming, filling, and empowering of the Holy Spirit is called “the Promise of the Father.”
It shows that we should wait for it with eager anticipation; a “Promise of the Father” could only be good.
It shows that it is reliable; the Father would never Promise something He could not fulfill.
It shows that the Promise belongs to all His children, since it comes from God as our Father.
It shows that it must be received by faith, as is the pattern with the promises of God throughout the Bible.
“The ‘promise of the Father’ now became also the promise of the Son.” (Arthur Pierson)
You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit: The idea of being baptized is to be immersed or covered over in something; even as John baptized people in water, so these disciples would be “immersed” in the Holy Spirit.
It may be more useful to describe the baptism of the Holy Spirit as a condition than as an experience. We should perhaps ask, “Are you baptized in the Holy Spirit?” instead of asking, “Have you been baptized in the Holy Spirit?”
Not many days from now: They knew that this Promise of the Father would come, but not immediately. It would be days from now, but not many days. Jesus had a purpose in not telling them exactly when it would come.
The disciples must wait a short time (10 days) to be baptized by the Holy Spirit, as promised by the Father and by the Son. Please go read this Sermon by Pastor Ray Pritchard (linked from Precept Austin) on being in God’s waiting room - it is wonderful. But after this wait for the followers of Jesus, there is another amazing transformation that takes place that is another most convincing proof of God’s truth!
My next devotional examines Acts 1:6-8 - A final question to Jesus, His reply about being His witnesses.
Heaven on Wheels Daily Prayer:
Dear Lord - I thank You for the many ways that You appeared to Your disciples to convince them of the truth of Your Resurrection. I pray for the patience to wait on the Holy Spirit and not rush into things without Your guidance. Amen.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Precept Austin was accessed on 7/6/2024 to review commentary for Acts 1:3-5.
Gotquestions.org was accessed on 7/6/2024 to answer the question, “What is the significance of 40 days in the Bible?”.
Commentary from Enduring Word by David Guzik is used with written permission.