Day 321 – Peter – Ascension & New Apostle

• Acts, also known as “The Acts of the Apostles”, is exactly that. It’s a record of the acts of the disciples and other apostles as they started the work of the Great Commission, which was to spread the good news about Jesus throughout the world. It’s a book of great encouragement and exciting insight into the challenges of the early church. We’ll be reading almost the entire book together.
• What event occurred at the start of the book? As Jesus left the disciples, how do you think they must have felt?
• Who spoke to them in Acts 1:10-11? What – or who – were they?
• As the disciples met up, they discussed the person who was to replace Judas. Judas, of course, had betrayed Jesus. Did you know what he chose to do, as he bitterly regretted his betrayal of Jesus? Acts 1:18-19 give the rather gruesome details. Don’t mix up the Judas who died and the other Judas in the group (there were two of them).
• What do you think the mood of the group would have been? Consider the fact that Jesus had left them, Judas was dead and the Romans and the church leaders had a grudge against them. On the other hand, they knew the Truth and were determined to share it! What must it have been like for them?
• We read today how Jesus left this earth, and the passage in Luke talks of what it will be like when He returns. Do we know when or where this will be? Does Luke say that it will be quiet, like His first birth in a stable, or glorious and loud? How can we be prepared for it? We’ve thought about this already in this reading plan, haven’t we?
• Do you ever feel like the psalmist who wrote today’s psalm? Instead of feeling anger and bitterness towards people who falsely accuse you, how can we show grace and kindness to them? Why should we?

You might have found Psalm 109 uncomfortable to read. In it, David, the author, called for the destruction of his enemies. Verses 9 and 10 even call for the sinner’s family to suffer. It’s not a PG rated psalm, is it? It might bring up memories of other moments in the bible where prayers for the punishment of sinners are mentioned.

Why is this something we’ve read today, then? Well, I think it may be linked with the judgement and the death of Judas, and Peter quoted it in verse 20 of Acts 1.

A good way of thinking about Psalm 109 is to consider the things of this earth that should outrage us to the extent that David seemed to be, as he penned the angry words of the psalm. Turn on the news any day and you’ll see pain, suffering, injustice and evil. We should be horrified at these. The more we desire justice for these situations, the more we consider how right God would be to deal severely with the people involved, and the more astonishing it is that God can show grace to even these evildoers if they turn to Christ. It shows the human limit of our grace, and the limitless nature of God’s.