These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication, with the women, and Mary the mother of Jesus, and with his brethren.
These all continued with one accord - knit by a bond stronger than death. The word х homothumadon (G3661)] "with one accord," is worthy of notice as a characteristic of Luke's diction, and of this book; being used by no other New Testament writer, except his own associate Paul, and by him only once (Romans 15:6); but by Luke eleven times, and all in the Acts.
In prayer and supplication - for what? In the first place, no doubt, for the descent of the promised Spirit, and for preparedness to receive the gift; then for courage to fulfill the high commission they had received, and for the success of it. These topics-about all of which there still hung that darkness which would only deepen their anxiety and quicken their cries-would suggest other topics; and as we can hardly suppose that they would pray on without interruption from beginning to end of each meeting, it seems reasonable to suppose that the intervals would be filled up by the free interchange of recollections and reflections on the great scenes of the life on earth of their now glorified Lord, and the encouragements thence arising. The sense of their own fewness and feebleness, in view of the great work that lay before them, would exercise a chastening influence upon their spirits, and drive them into more entire dependence upon that promised Spirit who was to supply their Lord's place. And thus would the great day of Pentecost, when at length it arrived, find them far better prepared for its high events than if the Spirit had descended upon them immediately after their Lord's departure.
`Apostles, Prophets, Pastors, all Shall feel the shower of mercy fall, And starting at the Almighty's call, Give what He gave, Till their high deeds the world appal And sinners save.' - KEBLE
With the women - those precious women whose love to their Lord our historian had himself held up once and again before the readers of his Gospel (see the notes at Luke 8:1-3; 19:49,55; Luke 24:10).
And Mary the mother of Jesus - here emphatically mentioned by herself, instead of her presence being assumed as one of "the women." But it is as one of the worshippers of the now glorified One that she is here introduced. This, it should be observed, is the last mention of her in the New Testament. The Romish fable of her Assumption is (as Alford remarks) void of all foundation even in tradition; still less foundation is there for the monstrous figment of her Immaculate Conception, now erected into a doctrine of the Infallible Church.
And with his brethren. These "brethren" of our Lord, whose names are given in Matthew 13:55, had serious misgivings as to His Messianic claims up to within a few months of His death (see the notes at John 7:2-5); but as we find them now among the disciples in the upper room, their difficulties must before this time have all vanished. Probably His resurrection and subsequent manifestations, crowned by His glorious ascension, dispelled their last doubts. On the vexed question, whether James the son of Alphaeus, and James the Lord's brother, were one and the same person, this verse and the preceding one have a most important bearing. It is difficult to see how they could possibly have been the same, when we find the apostles here enumerated, including the son of Alphaeus, as one of the classes that assembled in the upper room, while the "brethren" of Jesus (including "James the Lord's brother," we must suppose) are expressly distinguished from them as another class. We may, indeed, suppose that "His brethren" here mean only such of them as were not apostles (that is, however, three of them out of four); but this, surely, is most unnatural. Every reader of the words before us would naturally suppose that the Lord's "brethren," mentioned immediately after His mother, included all His family relations properly so called, and that they were a distinct class from the apostles.
The Vacancy in the Apostleship filled up (1:15-26)