• Then they returned to Jerusalem from the mount called Olivet, which is near Jerusalem, a Sabbath day’s jouney. (13) And when they had entered, they went up into the upper room Where they were staying: Peter, James, John and Andrew; Philip and Thomas; Bartholomew and Matthew; James the son of Alphaeus and Simon the Zealot; and Judas the son of James. (14) These all continued with one accord in prayer and supplication , with the women and Mary, the mother of Jesus and with His brothers .

Luke was the author of the Acts of the Apostles, and the theme of Acts is historical apostolic witness to the gospel and the beginnings of the Christian church. The frightened disciples had fled Just weeks before when Christ was arrested and now, after the resurrection of Christ Jesus, and the many witnesses to the risen Lord, Luke’s purpose was to show that the supernatural events he was unfolding were the ultimately the work of the Christ and not just enthusiastic followers. Something had drastically changed in these men and Luke is giving an orderly account of the rise and progress of early Christianity. The disciples had just witnessed the ascension of our Lord and had been given the great commission to evangelize the known world. As Christ disappeared from sight two angels addressed them as men of Galilee – it’s interesting that only the absent Judas Iscariot was not from Galilee but from Judea. The Ascension in the gospel is the end of the earthly life of Christ and in Acts it is the beginning of the story of the church.
A feature of our verses was the submission of the disciples who were told to wait in Jerusalem for the Spirit. Jesus had said he could not send the Spirit until He left and the Spirit was the key and power for the apostles to witness to the world. In mentioning the journey was a Sabbath days journey from mount Olivet we now have the location of the Ascension. Luke is careful to mention it was an allowable distance for travel on the Sabbath. This distance came from the wandering of the Israelites in the desert where the tabernacle was positioned in the middle of the encampment and the farthest distance to travel to the tabernacle was 2000 cubits.
In verse 13 Luke tells us who was gathered in waiting and submission for the Spirit. The history always included the women and of course the apostles and disciples and the brethren of Jesus. This mention was important because we are told that the half brothers of Jesus did not believe He was the Christ but now apparently they did. Mary, the mother of Jesus, was also mentioned – here for the last time in the Scriptures. The message here is that Mary had no place of superiority and she also needed to be redeemed.
The arrival of the Spirit didn’t depend on their prayers – the Spirit was and is the sovereign dispensing of God’s grace apart from prayer. There was nothing man could do to affect this sovereign act of God. In my mind the Spirit gives us grace and power and discernment to live our lives as we need to behave as we believe.