While you wait on God, you should obey what you already know and stay engaged in connection, prayer, and Scripture. In Acts 1:12-26, the disciples return to Jerusalem as Jesus commanded and wait for the promised Holy Spirit. They don’t know exactly what’s coming, but they don’t sit idle. They gather together, pray constantly, study the Scriptures, and choose Matthias to replace Judas. Waiting on God isn’t passive. It’s active trust, practiced through timeless spiritual disciplines.
Setting the Scene in Acts 1:12-26
In the previous lesson, Jesus promised his disciples the power of the Holy Spirit and then ascended into heaven, while two angels asked why they were still staring at the sky (Acts 1:6-11). The message was clear: get to work. But there was a catch. Jesus had also told them to wait.
Luke 24:49 I am going to send you what my Father has promised; but stay in the city until you have been clothed with power from on high.
So the disciples found themselves in a familiar place. They had great expectation but little understanding. They knew something big was coming, but they didn’t know exactly what it would look like or when it would happen. Most of us know how that feels. We wait on God for deliverance from an addiction, for a spouse, for a job, for healing in a relationship, or for relief from anxiety. The question is the same one a frustrated friend once asked his pastor: “But what should I do?” This passage gives some practical answers.
Obey What You Know
The first thing the disciples did was simple. They went back to Jerusalem, just as Jesus told them to.
Acts 1:12-14 Then the apostles returned to Jerusalem from the hill called the Mount of Olives, a Sabbath day’s walk from the city. When they arrived, they went upstairs to the room where they were staying. Those present were Peter, John, James and Andrew; Philip and Thomas, Bartholomew and Matthew; James son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot, and Judas son of James. They all joined together constantly in prayer, along with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brothers.
The Mount of Olives sits just east of Jerusalem, across the Kidron Valley. A “Sabbath day’s walk” was the distance Jewish tradition allowed a person to travel on the Sabbath, a bit more than half a mile. Luke’s point is that the disciples didn’t wander off. They went exactly where Jesus told them to go.
They gathered in an upstairs room where they were staying. Some think it was the same upper room where Jesus ate the Last Supper. Others suggest it may have been the home of Mary, the mother of John Mark, where the church later met to pray (Acts 12:12). We can’t be sure, but it seems to have served as a kind of headquarters for the early believers.
When you don’t know what God is going to do, start by obeying what you do know. Do the next right thing, and trust God to open the next door in his timing.
Connection and Prayer
Luke lists the names of the eleven remaining apostles. The list matches the ones in the Gospels, with one difference: Luke has “Judas son of James” where Matthew and Mark have Thaddaeus, likely two names for the same man. Everyone Jesus called was still there, except Judas. That’s a reminder that people who start out close to Jesus don’t always finish with him, but most of these men stayed faithful for the rest of their lives.
Luke also mentions the women who followed Jesus, along with Mary, the mother of Jesus. This is the last time Mary is mentioned by name in the New Testament, and fittingly, we find her praying with the church. Jesus’ brothers were there too. During Jesus’ ministry, his brothers didn’t believe in him (John 7:5; Mark 3:21). But the risen Jesus appeared to his brother James (1 Corinthians 15:7), and James eventually became a leader of the church in Jerusalem (Acts 15:13-21).
Notice two things they did. First, they met together. They didn’t wait alone. You won’t find a lone-ranger Christian anywhere in the New Testament. Luke’s Gospel says they spent their time in the temple praising God (Luke 24:53), and Acts shows them meeting together in homes as well. Seasons of waiting are exactly when we need other believers most.
Second, they were “constantly in prayer.” Prayer is one of Luke’s favorite themes. At almost every major turning point in Acts, someone is praying. Prayer reminds us that the mission belongs to God, not to us. When we pray while we wait, we’re admitting that only God can make it happen, and we’re putting ourselves in a position to be ready when he does.
Turning to Scripture
Next, Peter stood up to address the believers.
Acts 1:15-17 In those days Peter stood up among the believers (a group numbering about a hundred and twenty) and said, “Brothers and sisters, the Scripture had to be fulfilled in which the Holy Spirit spoke long ago through David concerning Judas, who served as guide for those who arrested Jesus. He was one of our number and shared in our ministry.”
About 120 believers had gathered by this point. Peter, the same man who had denied Jesus three times just weeks earlier, now led the group and explained what had happened in light of Scripture. Jesus had opened his mind to understand it (Luke 24:45), and it showed.
Luke adds a grim note about Judas’ death and the field bought with his payment, which locals called Akeldama, Aramaic for “Field of Blood” (Acts 1:18-19). Matthew says Judas hanged himself (Matthew 27:5), while Luke describes his body falling and bursting open. A common explanation is that both details are true: Judas hanged himself, and his body later fell. Either way, his end was tragic.
Acts 1:20 “For,” said Peter, “it is written in the Book of Psalms: ‘May his place be deserted; let there be no one to dwell in it,’ and, ‘May another take his place of leadership.’”
Peter quoted two psalms. The first, Psalm 69:25, comes from a psalm the early church often applied to Jesus’ sufferings (John 2:17; John 15:25). The second, Psalm 109:8, comes from a psalm where David prays about a friend who betrayed him. In the psalm, the wicked plot against the righteous sufferer. Peter saw Judas fitting the pattern of the betrayer. The disciples weren’t just waiting. They were reading their Scriptures and letting God’s Word guide their next steps.
Choosing a Replacement
Peter then explained what kind of person should replace Judas.
Acts 1:21-22 Therefore it is necessary to choose one of the men who have been with us the whole time the Lord Jesus was living among us, beginning from John’s baptism to the time when Jesus was taken up from us. For one of these must become a witness with us of his resurrection.
Why did they need a twelfth apostle? Twelve wasn’t a random number. Jesus chose twelve apostles to represent the twelve tribes of Israel (Luke 22:30). Before the gospel went to the ends of the earth, it would be offered first to a restored Israel, represented by the Twelve. That’s why Luke later says Peter stood up “with the Eleven” on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:14).
The requirements also show why the apostles were unique. An apostle in this sense had to be an eyewitness of Jesus’ ministry and resurrection. That role couldn’t be passed down. When James the brother of John was executed around AD 44, the church didn’t replace him (Acts 12:2). Judas was replaced because he abandoned his post, not simply because a seat was empty.
Acts 1:23-26 So they nominated two men: Joseph called Barsabbas (also known as Justus) and Matthias. Then they prayed, “Lord, you know everyone’s heart. Show us which of these two you have chosen to take over this apostolic ministry, which Judas left to go where he belongs.” Then they cast lots, and the lot fell to Matthias; so he was added to the eleven apostles.
Casting lots was an accepted way of seeking God’s will in the Old Testament, used for things like dividing the land (Numbers 26:55). Proverbs says the lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord (Proverbs 16:33). Notice that the believers prayed first and trusted God to choose. Interestingly, this is the last time lots are used to make a decision in the Bible. After Pentecost, believers are led by the Spirit who lives within them.
Some Christians have argued that the apostles jumped ahead of God and should have waited for Paul to become the twelfth apostle. Most commentators disagree. Paul hadn’t been with Jesus during his earthly ministry, Luke speaks of “the Twelve” afterward without any hint of correction (Acts 6:2), and Paul described his own apostleship as unusual (1 Corinthians 15:8). We don’t hear about Matthias again in Scripture, though early church tradition, recorded by the historian Eusebius, says he was one of the seventy disciples Jesus sent out during his ministry (Luke 10:1).
What This Means for Us
Every believer goes through seasons of waiting. It’s tempting to either sit back and do nothing or rush ahead and force things to happen. The early disciples show us a better way. They obeyed what Jesus had already told them, and they practiced three disciplines: connection with other believers, prayer, and Scripture.
These aren’t complicated, and they aren’t new. But too many Christians try to wait on God alone, without prayer, and without God’s Word. If you’re in a season of waiting, ask yourself how you’re doing in each of these areas. Waiting on God means actively engaging in these timeless habits and trusting him to act at the right time. For the disciples, the wait was only about ten days. In the next lesson, the Spirit arrives (Acts 2:1-13).
The Takeaway
What should you do while you wait on God? Follow the example of the first disciples. They obeyed Jesus by returning to Jerusalem, and while they waited for the Spirit, they stayed connected with other believers, prayed constantly, and let Scripture guide their decisions. Waiting on God isn’t doing nothing. It’s faithfully practicing connection, prayer, and Scripture while trusting his timing.
