In Acts 1:14 we read: These all with one mind were continually devoting themselves to prayer, along with certain women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with His brothers. I would like to highlight 2 points of interest from this one verse.
- The these were the 11 apostles listed in verse 13, who were staying in the upper room in Jerusalem and continually devoting themselves to prayer. This was in obedience to Jesus’ commands back in verse 4 where He instructed them: 1) not to leave Jerusalem, but 2) to wait for what the Father had promised. The promise was referenced back in Luke 24:49 and given in Acts 1:5; namely, the promise that the apostles would be baptized in the Holy Spirit – He would come upon them (1:8). We know from verses 3-9 that Jesus’ ascension took place forty days after His suffering, and that the Holy Spirit came upon them very evidently on the day of Pentecost (Acts 2:1) which was 50 days after the Passover, the day of Jesus’ suffering. Thus, the apostles obeyed Jesus’ command to wait in Jerusalem by remaining in prayer for a period of ten days.
- The apostles were accompanied in the upper room by about 120 persons (v. 15), all of whom are referred to as brethren. Among the brethren are certain women, likely including the list of women given by Luke in Lk. 8:2-3. Jesus’ mother, Mary is also listed, as are His brothers. That Jesus’ brothers were numbered among the believing brethren is significant. Less than a year earlier, as recorded in John 7:1-5, we are told that not even Jesus’ brothers were believing in Him. What happened? No doubt they had heard of His teaching that He existed before Abraham (Jn. 8); and heard that Jesus had raised Lazarus from the dead (Ch. 11). But they had heard Jesus’ teachings before and witnessed some of His miracles. No doubt the real turning point was their Brother’s death and resurrection, the witness of which was the heart of the message of the apostles and other witnesses of Christ in the months and years to come.
That is a good pattern for our ministry to the lost around us: obeying Jesus’ commands to talk to God about men – then talk to men about God in the power of His Holy Spirit, with a focus on the death and resurrection of the Lord Jesus.