Confidence in Jesus’ Unstoppable Kingdom: 7 Days in ActsSýnishorn

Unstoppable despite a friend’s betrayal

Read Acts 1:12-26

Written by Luke, a doctor, and historian, Acts starts where Luke’s Gospel finishes. As Acts begins, we see Jesus speaking with the apostles, His key eyewitnesses, about His kingdom (1:3). He makes amazing promises: that they will soon receive the Holy Spirit, God within them, and be His witnesses—first in Jerusalem, then in the surrounding areas and then to the ends of the earth (1:8).

But as we join Acts in 1:12, these promises look uncertain. Jesus has returned to heaven. Not only are the apostles just a small group, but they are still dealing with the impact of Judas’ betrayal. As we read in 1:15-19, Judas had been one of Jesus’ closest friends but betrayed Jesus for money. He himself is now dead.

It seems like a strange thing for Luke to write about just after the promises of Acts 1:8. You might even wonder why these verses are in the Bible. Surely it would be better to forget about Judas and get on with talking about the spread of God’s kingdom!

But let's think about what Peter says in verses 16 and 20. In verse 16, he underlines that what Judas did had been prophesied by King David, 1,000 years before Jesus was born. In verse 20, he quotes the two Old Testament songs, Psalm 69 and Psalm 109, that predicted Judas’ betrayal: God always knew this was going to happen.

And that’s not the end of the story. In Acts 1:20-26, Jesus acts directly so there are just the right eyewitnesses to everything He had said and done. Look at 1:21-23. Jesus’ witnesses needed to have been with Jesus from the start, for the whole of His ministry. Two men fit the job description—Joseph and Matthias—and then the apostles ask the Lord Himself, Jesus, to choose. Jesus appoints the founding members of His kingdom, so we can trust their witness (what we now call the New Testament).

In other words, rather than pretending that Judas’ betrayal never happened, Acts shows us that Jesus is in charge from heaven, making sure His plans for the apostles to be His witnesses are still on track. Even the mess and sin of a friend’s betrayal is not outside of God’s control. What a comfort! We can be totally certain that God is in sovereign charge of the spread of His kingdom—and we can put our full confidence in the apostles’ witness.