Acts starts with Jesus and He is back!.. He will be here for forty days. So while Jesus is hanging around, He gives the disciples (whom Luke calls apostles) some advice. Don't leave Jerusalem—good stuff is about to start happening. Also, don't worry so much about how Jesus is gonna fix all the Jewish people's problems. He's totally going to. He's just not telling when.
One day, while on the Mount of Olives, Jesus tells the apostles that they're gonna be His "witnesses in Jerusalem, in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Just then, Jesus is lifted up into the air and a cloud takes Him away. The apostles are all shocked when two other guys dressed in white robes come along. And, the two guys tell the apostles. Jesus went up into Heaven and He's gonna come back in the same way. So look for that. It will happen again! After that, the apostles head back into Jerusalem. There's a whole group of them staying in a room in the city. You've got Peter, John, James, Andrew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, Matthew, James son of Alphaeus, Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. That brings their number to eleven. In addition them, there were also some women who stayed with them, Mary the mother of Jesus, and some of Jesus's brothers, too.
Around this time, Peter gives a little speech to a crowd of about 120 believers. He explains that Judas was part of the inner circle before he became a traitor. Now he needs to be replaced. So, we need a new apostle #12. Peter lays down the qualifications: this new man has to have been hanging around since the baptism of John and until Jesus was taken up into Heaven. Surprisingly, two different guys fit the bill exactly—Joseph called Barnabbas and Matthias. The apostles pray for God to help them choose. Then they cast lots and Matthias comes out on top. He is not mentioned again in the New Testament, but I'm sure he did his duties.
Fifty days after Passover, Pentecost comes around. All the apostles are hanging around together when the sound of a really strong wind rushes through the house. "Tongues of fire" that drift into the house and then settle on each of the apostles. Now, all the apostles can now speak in any other language. Other Jewish folks in Jerusalem hear this ruckus and come to check it out. They're pretty amazed that the twelve apostles—who they know are from Galilee—can perfectly speak dozens and dozens of different languages. This is what they call talking in tongues.. different languages. Some people are awed and others just think the apostles are a bunch of crazy drunks. ….Peter decides to give a speech. He claims the apostles aren't drunk, its like 9 o’clock in the morning, so gimme a break! instead that what's happening here is what the prophet Joel (from the Hebrew Bible) predicted would happen, 800 years before!!! God is just pouring out his spirit so that everyone is able to prophesize. Joel said this would all happen before God decides to end the world. This will also probably involve the moon turning to blood. Peter then goes on to tell them a little bit about Jesus and how He is the fulfillment of everything it says in Hebrew scripture. He quotes a couple psalms to prove that Jesus is the Messiah they've all been waiting for. They're Converted…..and this convinces about 3,000 people in the crowd. They all decide to repent and be baptized so that their sins can be forgiven and, they also receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. These new Christians spend their time hanging with the apostles and each other, breaking bread together, and praying. They also sell all their stuff and distribute the money among the whole community so that everyone can be equal. One day, Peter and John are taking a stroll through the temple in Jerusalem when they see a man who can't walk. He is begging for money at one of the gates. Peter tells the man to look at him and the guy does. Peter tells him he doesn't have any money for him . Instead he does bring some miracles in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth. He grabs the man's hand and pulls him up. He can walk now. In fact, he's so strong, he can jump and shout and praise God all over the temple.
So, the temple goers see the guy and realize he's been amazingly healed. Peter tells them there's no need to be so amazed. The same God that they worship in the temple brought Jesus into the world. The apostles now can perform miracles in His name. Of course, these same people in the temple weren't too interested in hearing this a little over fifty days ago when they turned Jesus over to the Romans to be executed. Peter forgives them and tells them. If the people repent and get right with Jesus their sins are totally gonna be forgiven. Peter name checks Moses, Samuel, and Abraham to let the people know he means business. The Jewish people need to start listening to Jesus!
As Peter is giving his big talk, some of the priests and Sadducees stroll by. As usual, they're not happy that Peter and John are still going on about Jesus. So they have Peter and John arrested. They are not going to tolerate this! Good things are happening though, thanks to Peter's little speech, about 5,000 people decide to start following Jesus.
The next day, the religious authorities get together to question Peter and John. They want to know exactly how Peter and John healed the man who couldn't walk. Peter is filled with the Holy Spirit and goes off on another long defense. First of all, what they did was a good deed (not a crime). Second of all, they did it by the power of Jesus Christ. Now the religious authorities are between a rock and a hard place. They know that Peter and John were with Jesus from the beginning. They also know that they're just a bunch of uneducated commoners. And yet somehow, they managed to convert 5,000 people to their cause. Even the guy they healed is standing beside them in defense. What are they supposed to do? The religious authorities decide that, if they can't deny what happened, they'll just order Peter and John not to talk about it. Yeah, this plan should work. Peter and John straight out tell them, they're not gonna stop talking about Jesus. Then the religious authorities release them since they can't think of any way to punish them.
Peter and John head back to the other apostles and company and let everyone know what happened. Everyone prays that God will protect them from these people and let them keep healing people because they're not gonna stop doing His good work. After they finish praying, the whole place starts to shake and everyone is filled with the Holy Spirit. Meanwhile, the followers of Jesus keep on living their lifestyle. No one owns anything; they just pool all their resources together to live. People sell their houses and donate the proceeds to the community. No one is poor or needy, and everyone shares everything.
There's this one guy, though—Ananias—who sells some property in order to pass along the proceeds to his fellow Christians. His wife, Sapphira, knows about it, but they agree between themselves that, while they will give money to the apostles, they won't give all of it. Ananias comes to bring the money and Peter instantly knows that the community is being short-changed. Peter calls Ananias out as a liar and Ananias falls down dead right in front of him. Later, Sapphira stops by to check in and Peter accuses her of being not so great at sharing either. She drops dead, too. The moral of the story: don't lie to God, just don’t do it. There is always a price to pay.
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