Question 1

Who is Theophilus and why is he mentioned at the start of this passage?

Accepted Answer

Theophilus is the person being addressed at the beginning. He had already received an earlier account about everything Jesus began to do and teach. Here he is reminded that what comes next is a continuation of that story. Mentioning him shows that what follows is not random stories, but a careful record meant for someone who had already started to learn about Jesus. It also hints that this history of Jesus and His apostles is for real people in real life, not just for religious leaders or experts.

Question 2

What does it mean that Jesus showed Himself alive by “many infallible proofs”?

Accepted Answer

The phrase means Jesus did not give His followers only one quick glimpse after He died. Over forty days He appeared to them again and again. He talked with them, walked with them, ate with them, and let them see and touch Him. These repeated, everyday actions were strong proofs that He truly rose from the dead in a real body. This was meant to remove their doubts, comfort their hearts after His death, and prepare them to speak boldly that God had raised Him from the grave.

Question 3

What is “the promise of the Father” and being baptized with the Holy Ghost?

Accepted Answer

“The promise of the Father” is the coming of the Holy Spirit in a new and powerful way. Jesus tells the apostles not to leave Jerusalem but to wait for this promise. John the Baptist had used water to baptize people, but Jesus says they will be baptized with the Holy Spirit. This means the Spirit would come upon them, fill them, and give them strength to do the work Jesus was giving them. It is not about a small, private feeling, but about God giving power for witness and service.

Question 4

Why did the disciples ask about restoring the kingdom to Israel?

Accepted Answer

The disciples still expected Jesus to set up a visible kingdom for Israel, like a restored national rule. When they ask if He will restore the kingdom at that time, they are thinking in terms of earthly power and timing. Jesus does not answer their schedule question. Instead, He tells them that knowing exact times belongs to the Father and is not their business. Their calling is to receive the Holy Spirit’s power and be witnesses about Him, starting in Jerusalem and spreading out to the very ends of the earth.

Question 5

What is the meaning of Jesus’ ascension and the angels’ message?

Accepted Answer

When Jesus is taken up and a cloud receives Him out of their sight, it shows that His visible time on earth is finished and He is going to the Father. The disciples keep staring up, almost frozen by what they see. Two men in white clothes, understood as angels, tell them not to just stand there gazing. They promise that this same Jesus will come back in the same way He went into heaven. So the ascension points to Jesus’ present reign in heaven and to His future return, while calling His followers back to their task on earth.

Question 6

Why were the disciples gathered in an upper room, and what were they doing?

Accepted Answer

After Jesus was taken up, the disciples went back from the Mount of Olives to Jerusalem, just as He had said. They went into an upper room that had become their meeting place. The eleven apostles were there, along with some women, Mary the mother of Jesus, and His brothers. They did not scatter or plan on their own. They stayed together and kept on in united prayer and pleading. They waited for the promised Holy Spirit and asked for help in the dangers and uncertainties they were facing.

Question 7

Why did Peter say Scripture had to be fulfilled about Judas?

Accepted Answer

Peter speaks to about one hundred and twenty believers and explains that what happened to Judas was not a surprise to God. He says the Holy Spirit had already spoken through David about someone whose place would become empty and whose leadership would be given to another. By quoting these words, Peter shows that Judas’s fall and death did not undo God’s plan. Instead of wrecking the work, it fits into what God had already said, and now the group must respond by filling that empty place in the right way.

Question 8

What happened to Judas and why is the field called the field of blood?

Accepted Answer

This passage says Judas used the money he gained from his betrayal to obtain a field, and that he died there in a terrible way, falling and bursting open. Because of this, and because the money came from his evil act, people in Jerusalem called that place “Aceldama,” which means “field of blood.” The wording about how Judas died is hard for some readers and is discussed in different ways, but the focus here is that his sin led to a shameful end, which became well known and even fixed in the name of that field.

Question 9

Why did the apostles choose Matthias, and how was he selected?

Accepted Answer

Peter says that someone must be chosen to take Judas’s place and share in the ministry and apostleship he left. The person had to be someone who had been with them from the time of John’s baptism until the day Jesus was taken up, and who could be a witness of the resurrection. They put forward two men, Joseph called Barsabas and Matthias. Then they prayed, asking the Lord who knows every heart to show which man He had chosen. They cast lots, and the lot fell on Matthias, so he was counted with the eleven apostles.

Question 10

How does this passage about waiting for the Holy Spirit apply to believers today?

Accepted Answer

In this passage the disciples are not told to rush out in their own strength. They are told to wait in Jerusalem until God gives what He promised. While they wait, they stay together and pray. For believers today, this points to our need to depend on God’s Spirit instead of our own ideas or energy. It encourages patient trust in God’s timing and a shared, prayerful life with other believers. The focus is not on trying to control the future, but on being ready to speak about Jesus when God gives opportunity and strength.

Acts 1:1

The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,

Prologue

The Ascension

Matthias Replaces Judas

Prologue

Cross References

Acts 1:1

The former treatise have I made, O Theophilus, of all that Jesus began both to do and teach,

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The Ascension

Matthias Replaces Judas

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