MPV Commentary

Proceedings to the Assembled Disciples--They Engage in Prayer--The Astonishing Answer and Results.

23-30. After being released, they went back to their own community. Observe the two opposing groups that were about to come into conflict: those who represented the interests of the Jewish leaders and those who stood with Peter and John.

24. The assembled disciples lifted up their voices in a unified prayer, echoing every word as one. They addressed God, using the term "Lord" (see Luke 2:29), which expresses absolute authority over heaven and earth.

25. By the mouth of David, they quoted Psalm 2, where he saw with astonishment the nations, kings, and rulers of the earth joining forces against God's anointed one (Messiah or Christ). The disciples recognized this same fierce confederacy in action, as Herod and Pilate, along with the Roman authorities and the people of Israel, gathered together to oppose Jesus.

28. They acknowledged that God's hand and counsel had determined what was about to happen. Now they asked the Lord to look upon their persecutors' threats, not to hide from them but to grant them courage to speak His word fearlessly.

29. They prayed for boldness to testify to their Master, asking for divine attestation to their testimony through miracles of healing and other signs in Jesus' name.

31-37. The room was shaken, a glorious sign of the commotion the Gospel would bring (Acts 17:6; compare Acts 16:26), and the overthrow of all opposing powers that would result from it.

They were all filled with the Holy Spirit and spoke with boldness, just as they had asked. This experience melted down their selfishness and absorbed individual feelings into a deep realization of Christian unity. The community's sharing of goods was an outward expression of this spirit.

33. Their words had a powerful effect on people's minds.

34. Great favor rested upon the entire community.

35. Many people laid their belongings at the apostles' feet, not just out of obligation but as a voluntary act of generosity.

36. Joses, also known as Barnabas (son of consolation), was an example of this spirit. He was a Levite who had acquired property despite his tribe's lack of inheritance (Deuteronomy 18:8).