Acts 1:22

<a></a> Sunday, 17 October 2021 <p> </p> <p>beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.” Acts 1:22</p> <p>To get a better sense of the contents of this verse, it is good to read it together with the previous verse –</p> <p>“Therefore, of these men who have accompanied us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John to that day when He was taken up from us, one of these must become a witness with us of His resurrection.”</p> <p> </p> <p>The idea is that a selection to replace Judas was to be made from someone who had witnessed the entire time of Jesus’ ministry “beginning from the baptism of John.”</p> <p> </p> <p>The intent of Peter’s words is that of the time when Jesus was baptized by John, not from the time that John began to baptize. John already had a ministry to the people of Israel, calling them to repentance and preparing the way of the Lord. But the focus of Peter’s words is on the time of Jesus’ ministry, not John’s. Thus, he is referring to the moment when the two ministries came together in John’s baptism of Jesus. The one selected as an apostle should have a personal knowledge of this event “to that day when He was taken up from us.”</p> <p> </p> <p>This is referring to the ascension of the Lord recorded in Acts 1:9. What seems evident is that this means that there were more than just the eleven apostles on the Mount of Olives with Jesus at that time. If that were not the case, Peter could not make this statement. Though the focus was on the apostles (see Acts 1:2), it is clear that they were a part of a larger group to have been with the Lord as He ascended.</p> <p> </p> <p>From this larger group, Peter then says, “one of these must become a witness.” The word translated as “witness” is martus. It means a witness, but it not only conveys the sense of having seen, but of “bearing testimony of.” The act of witnessing (the seeing) is to be procl