One Accord
The Early Church was in One Accord at all times, everywhere.
1:14 Verse 14 mentions others who were present in the upper room—“the women,” Mary, and Jesus’ brothers. The women may have included the wives of the apostles and certainly the women who accompanied Jesus from Galilee and witnessed his crucifixion (Luke 8:2; 23:55; 24:10).46 Mary may have accompanied the beloved disciple (John 19:26), but it is likely she was a member of the believing community in her own right. Like Jesus’ brothers, she was confused by Jesus’ ministry (Mark 3:11; John 7:5). Like them she may have experienced an appearance from the risen Jesus. Paul mentioned such an appearance to James, the oldest of the brothers (1 Cor 15:7). According to Mark 6:3, Jesus had four brothers—James, Judas, Joseph, and Simon. There is no reason to take Mark’s words in any other sense than that they were Jesus’ half-brothers, the natural offspring of Mary and Joseph after the birth of Jesus.47 James assumed the leadership of the Jerusalem church in the latter portion of Acts (12:17; 15:13; 21:18), and according to tradition Judas later assumed the same position and authored the Epistle of Jude.
Verse 14 is often viewed as the first of the “summaries” in Acts, those passages where Luke gave a generalized review of the activity of the Christian community. The primary characteristic that marked their life together in this period was prayer, as they anticipated together the promised gift of the Spirit. Prayer was a hallmark of the church in its early days (cf. 1:24; 2:42; 3:1; 4:24; 6:6).48 The time before Pentecost was a time for waiting, a time spent in prayer undoubtedly for the promised Spirit and for the power to witness. There is no effective witness without the Spirit, and the way to spiritual empowerment is to wait in prayer.49
14. Continued (ἦσαν προσκαρτεροῦντες). Participle and finite verb, as above. The verb is from καρτερὸς, strong, stanch, and means originally to persist obstinately in. In this sense here, and in Rom. 12:12; 13:6. Hence to adhere firmly to. So in Mark 3:9, “that a small ship should wait on him;” i.e., keep near at hand. The idea of steady persistence is supplied by the Rev., steadfastly.
With one accord (ὁμοθυμαδὸν). See on agree, Matt. 18:19.
In prayer. The best texts omit and supplication.
Mary. Mentioned here for the last time in the New Testament.
14 The presence of the women and the Lord’s family are important to Luke. The Eleven and the women had been followers in the gospel accounts, but Jesus’ family had been less enthusiastic (Mk. 3:21–35; Lk. 8:1–21; see also Lk. 23:49; 24:10). Jesus’ brothers included James, who, according to Paul, had seen the risen Jesus (1 Cor. 15:7) and who would become an important figure in the church during the period covered by Acts.
14. If the Holy Spirit is the divine gift which empowers and guides the church, the corresponding human attitude towards God is prayer. It is as the church prays that it receives the Spirit. So at the outset Luke emphasizes that the disciples spent the time of waiting for the Spirit in an attitude of continuous and united prayer (cf. 2:46f; 4:24ff.). They included among their number the women who were disciples of Jesus (Luke 8:2f.; 23:49; 24:10), at least some of whom had seen the empty tomb, and in particular Mary, the mother of Jesus, together with his brothers (Mark 6:3; John 7:3–5). The family of Jesus were thus among those who became part of the church, and one of them, James, was to assume a leading position in it.4
14 bThese all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with cthe women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with dhis brethren.
These all continued with one accord, with great resolution, notwithstanding all opposition and contradiction they met with, in prayer and supplication, for mercies they wanted, or preventing of the evils they feared. The women; their wives, or such women especially as we read of Matt. 27:55, 56. His brethren; that is, his relations and kinsmen, which frequently in Scripture are called brethren.
Waiting for the Spirit: The Election of Matthias (1:12–26)
Luke’s report of the disciples’ activities as they waited for the Spirit’s promised coming at Pentecost gives a pattern we would do well to emulate if we would prepare for an outpouring of the Spirit in revival. Though Pentecost was a unique inaugural event in the church’s life, the steps that preceded it are essential for any fresh work of the Spirit.
United, Persistent Prayer (1:12–14)* Obedient to their Lord’s command to await the Spirit’s coming in Jerusalem, the disciples return to the city (compare 1:4). They gather in a spacious room above the tumult and prying eyes of street traffic.
The assembly included three elements: the eleven apostles, women and Jesus’ relatives. Luke explicitly names the eleven and in that way establishes the continuity between Jesus’ ministry and the apostolic foundation of the church (compare Lk 6:14–16). Luke also draws attention to the faithful women who accompanied and physically supported Jesus in his ministry. They had witnessed his death and received the first news of his resurrection (Lk 8:1–3; 23:49; 24:1–11). Luke’s discussions of women serve to indicate that barriers of gender are abolished among those who will participate in the church’s witness in power. In referring to Jesus’ family, Luke not only foreshadows the leadership that some of those relatives would exercise (Acts 12:7; 15:13; 21:18) but also highlights Jesus’ messiahship and the link between the church and Israel.
This core of disciples, along with others, engaged in united, persistent prayer. They had not been commanded to pray, only to wait. But Jesus’ own example at his baptism and his teachings, especially regarding how the Spirit would come in response to prayer, probably provided enough guidance (Lk 3:21; 11:13; 18:1, 8). The disciples’ prayer was united, a quality that would characterize their common life under the Spirit’s blessing (Acts 2:46; 4:24; 5:12). Their prayer was persistent. They devoted themselves to set times of daily corporate prayer until God answered from heaven.
The Fulton Street prayer meeting that sparked a revival in America in 1858 began with six people. Within six months there were ten thousand businessmen gathering daily for prayer in New York City, and within two years one million converts were added to the American church (Orr 1953:13). A. T. Pierson said, “There has never been a revival in any country that has not begun in united prayer, and no revival has ever continued beyond the duration of those prayer meetings” (quoted in Orr 1937:47). We must prepare for any fresh outpouring of the Spirit by united, persistent prayer.
14 Singlemindedly. Greek omothumadon, used 10 times? in Acts. The community of believers must be united in heart and mind in order to have power in prayer. The word is used in the Septuagint at Exodus 19:8, where the people of Israel “answered together [Hebrew yachdav, Greek omothumadon], ‘All that Adonai has said we will do.’ ”
Along with the women. Judaism always granted an important place to women; however, in the synagogue men and women are traditionally separated by a dividing wall or curtain (m˒chitzah; see Ep 2:14N). The reason given is that it diminishes sexual attention and passion, which interfere with prayer. But in a powerful prayer meeting such concerns vanish as all turn to God. Moreover, this group functioned more like a family than a congregational assembly. Nevertheless, it is not clear that the phrase, “along with the women,” implies that women and men were together.
Miryam (Yeshua’s mother), and his brothers. See Mt 1:16–2:11, Lk 1:26–2:52, Yn 2:4, 7:3–5 and notes there. Yeshua’s family, however uncertain they may have been before, were convinced of Yeshua’s Messiahship after his resurrection.
1:14 continually devoting themselves to prayer. The pattern of praying in the name of Jesus started at this time (cf. Jn 14:13, 14). with the women. Doubtless they included Mary Magdalene, Mary the wife of Clopas, the sisters Mary and Martha, and Salome. Some of the apostles’ wives also may have been present (cf. 1Co 9:5). Mary the mother of Jesus. See notes on Lk 1:27, 28. Mary’s name does not appear again in the NT. brothers. Jesus’ half-brothers, named in Mk 6:3 as James, Joses, Judas, and Simon. James was the leader of the Jerusalem church (12:17; 15:13–22) and author of the epistle that bears his name. Judas (Jude) wrote the epistle of Jude. At this time they were new believers in Jesus as God, Savior, and Lord, whereas only 8 months earlier John had mentioned their unbelief (Jn 7:5).
–19).
1:14 The first disciples were united in worship, fellowship, and prayer (see also 2:42, 46–47; 4:24–31; 5:12; 12:5; 13:1–3). The faithful women who had been witnesses of Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection were present (Luke 23:49, 54–56; 24:1–10, 22). • The brothers of Jesus had not believed in him during his ministry (John 7:3–5; cp. Matt 12:46–49), but became his disciples after his resurrection (see “James, the Brother of Jesus” at 15:13–21, p
14 Those linked with the apostles at this stage are specifically the women, Mary the mother of Jesus, and his brothers. Doubtless the women were those who had gone up to Jerusalem from Galilee with Jesus. They supported him out of their personal incomes and were the first witnesses of his resurrection (cf. Lk. 8:2–3; 23:55–24:10).62 Jesus’ mother, Mary, who figured so significantly in the outworking of God’s redemptive plan and who is presented in Luke 1–2 as a model of trust and submission to God’s will, is mentioned for the last time. The disbelief of Jesus’ brothers is recorded in Mark 3:21–35 and John 7:2–10. Perhaps Jesus’ resurrection appearance to James (1 Cor. 15:7) was responsible for the conversion of Joses, Judas, and Simon also (cf. Mk. 6:3). James became the leader of the Jerusalem church (cf. 12:17; 15:13–21; 21:18), and ‘the Lord’s brothers’ were acknowledged alongside the apostles as a distinctive group in the Christian community (cf. 1 Cor. 9:5).63 Luke’s description of the activity of the apostles and those with them at this stage (they all joined together constantly in prayer) is quite emphatic in Greek (houtoi pantes ēsan proskarterountes homothymadon tē proseuchē).64 As they continually devoted themselves to prayer, they did so together (homothymadon), as a fellowship of like-minded believers. If this narrative is read in the light of 1:15–26, it could be argued that the leadership status and authority of the apostles needed confirming after the betrayal of Judas. Luke highlights the unanimity of the Eleven with the women and Jesus’ family because they were significant disciple groups among the believers in those early days.65
The context suggests that they focused their prayers on what they had heard and seen in recent days and asked for the fulfillment of Jesus’ predictions. ‘As they patiently wait on God’s timing, the disciples are praying and readying themselves for their task as a group.’66 Luke 24:53 also makes the point that after the ascension they ‘stayed continually at the temple, praising God’. It is striking that at almost every important turning point in the narrative of God’s redemptive action in Acts we find a mention of prayer (e.g., 1:24; 8:14–17; 9:11–12; 10:4, 9, 30; 13:2–3). Turner observes:
This portrayal is never in danger of suggesting that the true initiative in salvation-history lies in believers, in their determination to pray for specific events to come to pass. God is only fulfilling what he long before promised. Such decisive acts of God as (e.g.) the descent of the Spirit on Jesus, on the disciples at Pentecost, and at Cornelius’s home, take place in a context of prayer, but not obviously as an immediate response to a specific request for the same. Nevertheless, without answering questions of cause and effect, the whole tableau gives a unified picture of the close relationship between prayer and God’s decisive acts of salvation, right up to the parousia (Lk. 18:1ff.).67
14. continued with one accord—knit by a bond stronger than death.
in prayer and supplication—for the promised baptism, the need of which in their orphan state would be increasingly felt.
and Mary the mother of Jesus—distinguished from the other “women,” but “so as to exclude the idea of her having any pre-eminence over the disciples. We find her with the rest in prayer to her glorified Son” [WEBSTER and WILKINSON]. This is the last mention of her in the New Testament. The fable of the Assumption of the Virgin has no foundation even in tradition [ALFORD].
with his brethren—(See on Jn 7:3).
