17 for he was numbered amongst us, and had received a part in this service. 18 (This [man] then indeed got a field with [the] reward of iniquity, and, having fallen down headlong, burst in the midst, and all his bowels gushed out. 19 And it was known to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that that field was called in their own dialect Aceldama; that is, field of blood.) 20 For it is written in [the] book of Psalms, Let his homestead become desolate, and let there be no dweller in it; and, Let another take his overseership. 21 It is necessary therefore, that of the men who have assembled with us all [the] time in which the Lord Jesus came in and went out among us, 22 beginning from the baptism of John until the day in which he was taken up from us, one of these should be a witness with us of his resurrection.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Acts 1:17-22
Commentary on Acts 1:15-26
(Read Acts 1:15-26)
The great thing the apostles were to attest to the world, was, Christ's resurrection; for that was the great proof of his being the Messiah, and the foundation of our hope in him. The apostles were ordained, not to wordly dignity and dominion, but to preach Christ, and the power of his resurrection. An appeal was made to God; "Thou, Lord, who knowest the hearts of all men," which we do not; and better than they know their own. It is fit that God should choose his own servants; and so far as he, by the disposals of his providence, or the gifts of his Spirit, shows whom he was chosen, or what he has chosen for us, we ought to fall in with his will. Let us own his hand in the determining everything which befalls us, especially in those by which any trust may be committed to us.